Imagine being taught in an environment purpose built as a school, by possibly the greatest British architect of all time Sir Edwin Lutyens. Or as the editor of The Good Schools Guide writes ‘The main building is for Years 1 and 2, lucky devils’. Housed in the main building the pre-preparatory children are very much a part of the whole school and benefit from our excellent facilities.
Learning
Within our Pre-Prep setting we have two parallel classes in Year 1, aged 5-6, and in Year 2, aged 6-7. Pupils are taught by experienced classroom teachers and supported by classroom assistants.
While the Pre-Prep Curriculum is primarily delivered by class teachers there is specialist teaching in Art, French, Music, Drama, PE and Games. In Key Stage 1, the curriculum progresses from the Early Years Foundation Stage curriculum and is no longer structured around the six areas of learning, although they will continue to form an integral part of your child’s development. The curriculum is taught through topics as in Reception. These topics will be communicated to you at the beginning of each term so that you can complement your child’s learning at home if you so choose. Literacy and Numeracy are still taught as separate subjects and they consolidate and develop the work taught in the Foundation Stage.
The School Day
The school day starts at 8:30am and finishes at 3:45pm. Children have a hot lunch cooked on site, in the Dining Room served at the table by their own teachers.
There are a wide range of co-curricular activities including tennis, ballet, judo, individual music lessons, chess and drama club are that are available during break times or after school.
Head of PRE-PREP
Sam Hopwood has a BA Hons in English Language and Linguistics with Qualified Teacher Status from Roehampton University. She has worked at a wide range of different schools from Dorking to Hounslow. More recently she was at Grayshott Primary School where she was the SENCo and Reception Teacher. She has taught extensively across KS1 and has yet to find a year group she doesn’t love. She believes that happy children find learning fun, and aims to create a safe, secure, fun environment where children are encouraged to ‘have a go’, take risks and develop a love of learning. Sam has been at Amesbury for over 5 years.
