ADMISSIONS GUIDE 2023-2024
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Admissions Guide
WELCOME Choosing a school for your child is a big decision. We pride ourselves on providing a personal, dedicated approach at such an important time in your children’s lives. Our Admissions team are on hand to help you by arranging visits and taster days and answering questions, however big or small they might be. Ours is a very special school with a unique structure in this part of the world. We have a co-educational Pre-Prep of boys and girls aged two and a half to seven. At the end of Year Two our Pre-Prep girls join Derwent Lodge and our Pre-Prep boys join Yardley Court. Our pupils are taught in single sex classes from the age of seven but very much in a co-educational setting. Ours is a mixed ability school. We have very bright and capable pupils, some of whom will go on to win scholarships at academic schools. We also have boys and girls who find aspects of their learning more challenging and receive some measure of additional support. We are in a very strong catchment area for local grammar schools; Judd, Skinners, TWGSB, TGS, Weald and TWGGS. That said, many of our pupils will move on to independent secondary schools. For the boys, this includes Tonbridge, Sevenoaks, Bedes, Caterham, Sutton Valence, Hurstpierpoint, Kings Canterbury and Eastbourne. For the girls this includes Sevenoaks, Benenden, Caterham, Mayfield, Walthamstow Hall and Kent College. A full list of destination schools can be found on our website www.somerhill.org in About Us: Academic Record.
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We seek to help each of our pupils to achieve the greatest all-round development and success of which they are capable. This includes promoting their academic, personal, spiritual, social, and moral growth. We aim to give each child self-esteem, resilience and a determination to make their lives as fulfilling as possible both here at Somerhill and as members of a global community. We encourage our pupils to work hard and take a pride in achievement, to think honestly and independently, to face up to challenges, to accept responsibility, to show concern for others and the environment and to develop a broad range of skills and interests. In a caring and happy community, we want our children to make the most of their talents and promote the well-being of themselves and others. Whilst Somerhill is one of the largest prep schools in the country, its division into three separate school sections means that each section is able to tailor its teaching to best suit the children within it. We have the best of both worlds with small school care and linked pupil/teacher ratios in a campus of large school facilities with extensive social development and learning opportunities.
JOIN US Most children join us in Pre-School, Reception and Year Three. Additional places are made available in Year One, Year Two and Year Seven. Places do become available in other years from time to time, so please do enquire if you would like to know more about mid-year admissions or admission to other year groups. Our youngest Pre-Prep pupils can join us as soon as they are two and a half years old. This year group is called ‘Nursery’. They join us at any point during the school year subject to availability. Children are also welcome to join Pre-Prep directly in to Reception. We have three terms in an academic year. They are Michaelmas (September to December), Lent (January to March) and Trinity (April to July). Term dates are available on our website at www.somerhill.org in the Parents area. Fees for each academic year are shown on the Admissions page of www.somerhill.org, in a ‘Scale of Fees’ document which also provides information about Free Early Education and sibling discounts.
The admissions team can be contacted on any school day via; admissions@somerhill.org or 01732 375951. 3
Admissions Guide
THE ADMISSIONS PROCESS There are seven steps in a successful admissions process:
Enquire and Visit When you enquire, we arrange a visit that includes a tour and a meeting with the Headmaster or the relevant Headteacher. If you are overseas or unable to visit, we can arrange to meet virtually by video call. If you wish to visit us again or speak to specicalist staff members, please let us know and we will be happy to arrange that for you. We can also introduce you to Somerhill families if you would like a parent’s view of school life and/or advice on school runs and places to live from families who have recently moved to Kent from London or overseas. Registration Once you have decided that you would like your child to join us, we ask you to complete registration by filling in a form and paying a fee of £150 per child. This fee is non-refundable. We will also ask you to supply copies of your child’s most recent school reports, if applicable.
When a taster session is complete we contact you within a few days to share feedback. A taster session incurs no obligation on either side. Where attendance at a taster session may not be possible due to travel constraints, current reports, samples of work will be required along with references from your child’s current school. Offer of a Place Offers are made in writing and only when a confirmed space is available. If your child is attending a school that is a member of IAPS, we need to speak to that school before we can offer a place, to check that they are aware of the potential move and that everything is in order. This will only happen with your consent. Acceptance Acceptance of an offer of a place involves the payment of an acceptance deposit of £500 and a commitment to pay termly fees, with a notice period of one term. The deposit stays on your child’s school account and is returned to you when they leave us, minus disbursements.
Induction Registration places your child's name on our waiting Depending on the age of your child we run a variety list. When a place becomes available they will be of programmes to help ensure a smooth transition offered the place (Pre-School) or invited to a taster into Somerhill. This will include meet and greet session (Reception to Year Eight). sessions with new teachers, organising “buddies”, invitation to holiday courses, (age dependent) as well Taster Sessions as linking new families with class representatives and Taster sessions give your child an experience of invitations to school social events. school life at Somerhill alongside an opportunity for our teachers to observe their social and academic Assisted Places skills in relation to their year group. Enquiries regarding financial assistance should be made in writing to The Bursar, Somerhill, Tudeley Road, Tonbridge, Kent, TN11 0NJ. 4
THE SCHOOL DAY Our children’s days are filled with fresh air, good food and lots of learning and playing. Somerhill offers wrap around care from 7.30am until 5.45pm. Before School Care Breakfast Club, for pupils from Kindergarten to Year Eight, runs from 7.30am and is an additional cost. Pupils in Kindergarten are able to use this service as long as they are able to cope with the longer day. Early Drop Off Pupils can be dropped off at 7.45am and go directly to the Early Drop assembley point where they are supervised until 8.00am The School Day All pupils may arrive in school from 8.00am. Registers are taken and lessons begin at 8.30am promptly.
After School Care (Litte Somers and Somers) is a dedicated service for our SPP pupils and incurrs a fee due to the age and supervision required for this age group as well as covering costs of the light tea provided. Late Stay is for our Prep aged pupils. A light snack is provided. There is no fee for this service. Clubs and Activities Programme This programme of over 100 clubs and activites runs from the end of a pupil’s school day. The programme starts on the second week of term and ends the week before the end of term. Seasonal changes are made each term giving pupils the opportunity to try new activities each term. Most are teacher-led with no extra cost involved. Some are run by external companies, with a modest termly charge.
Recent clubs include: Construction, Cookery, Ballet, Chess, Paper Crafts, Circus Skills, Yoga, Water Polo, Judo, Sewing, Beekeeping, Golf, Tennis, Board Games, Tap, Camp Building, Cello Group, Taekwondo, Brass Group, The school day for Yardley Court and Derwent Lodge Year Three and Four pupils ends at 4.00pm Orchestra, Junior Flutes, Swim Squad, Science Quiz, General Knowledge Quiz and Indoor Cricket. The school day for Yardley Court and Derwent Lodge Years Five to Eight ends at 4.30pm except Holiday Courses on Wednesdays when it ends at 4.00pm. We run multi-activity holiday camps and intensive swim courses for our pupils run by our staff during the school After School Care and Late Stay Supervised care is available to all pupils from the holidays. end of their school day or the end of their Clubs and Activites programme until 5.45pm. Admissions Guide 5 The school day for Pre-Prep ends at 3.15pm to 3.30pm.
STAYING CONNECTED A wide range of resources are available on our website www.somerhill.org.
Somerhill parents receive information from school by email and can check information on a web based Parents’ Portal and/or in an iParent app. Some information for parents of Pre-School and Reception children is provided via Tapestry, an online learning journal. Parents of older children can check their children’s sports fixture arrangements and results at sport.somerhill.org
The Parents area of www.somerhill.org has lots of useful information about term dates, uniform, medical care, the Parents’ Association and more. The school calendar is shown on the website and can be synchronised with phones and other mobile devices. For up to date news and events parents can check our newspages on the website or stay updated by following us on social media - @SomerhillKent
DROP OFF AND COLLECTION
We are lucky to have more than 150 acres of parkland containing extensive parking on a site that is very close to Tonbridge Station and the A21. We are also around 40 minutes from London on the train. We have two entrances gates in to school. Both gates are accessible from wide, well surfaced roads that are easy to navigate. We have a very helpful team of grounds staff who assist parents with parking each morning and afternoon.
MINIBUS
The Tunbridge Wells service runs in the mornings and afternoons.
Minibus services to school are operated on five routes: From Tunbridge Wells via Southborough From Kings Hill via Mereworth and Hadlow From Horsmonden via Brenchley and Matfield From Ightham via Sevenoaks and Hildenborough From Langton Green via Speldhurst All buses are driven by drivers who have attended Kent County Council’s Minibus Awareness Course and have been DBS checked.
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The Kings Hill, Horsmonden, Sevenoaks and Langton Green services run each morning. Our minibus services are competitively priced to encourage as many children as possible to take advantage of the services. These prices are reduced further by our discounts for siblings. Children in Year One and above may use the minibus service.
OUR COMMUNITY
Most Somerhill families live in Tonbridge, Tunbridge Wells, Kings Hill, Sevenoaks and the surrounding villages but some drive in from much further away.
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Admissions Guide
www.somerhill.org 01732 352 124
admissions@somerhill.org @SomerhillKent
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