Independent Schools Guide February 2017

INDEPENDENT SCHOOLS

GUIDE

T H E FIN EST IN DEP ENDENT S C HO O LS IN THE U K

INDEPENDENT SCHOOLS GUIDE

Learning Your

A,B,Cs

Our definitive guide to help you make all the right choices for your children

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here are 2,500+ independent schools in the UK which are independent of local or central government control. Independent schools offer a wealth of facilities and high teaching standards that enable students to achieve great results year after year. Independent schools are in the unique position to provide a truly bespoke education for your child. Choosing the right school for your child is an important decision that takes plenty of time and research. There are a wide range of independent schools specialising in different age groups and needs.

PRE-PREPARATORY SCHOOLS (AGES 2 YEARS - 7 YEARS) Pre-preparatory schools - also called nursery schools or kindergartens - correspond to nursery and infants stages in local authority schools. In pre-preparatory schools children are taught to read, write, develop numeracy and learn to play. Pre-prep schools are often attached to specific junior schools.Pre-prep school is the first time most children will experience education, as opposed to the daycare provided by kindergartons. Children will have to learn the basics of mathematics, science and English, and a host of other subjects. Outside the classroom, many of the children will be having their first proper experience with team sports, music and/or choral tuition, and the arts.

PREPARATORY SCHOOLS (AGES 7 YEARS -11+ OR 13 YEARS) Preparatory or prep schools, have a full range of subjects leading to admission to senior schools at 11+ or through the 13+ Common Entrance Examination.

As their name implies, the preparatory schools are focused primarily on preparing boys and girls for their senior education, and the important public exams that come with it.

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Free of the National Curriculum, prep schools can differentiate their curricula according to what they think best prepares children for their later education. Most prep school children will be learning a foreign language from the very first year, and don’t be surprised to see subjects like Latin, Philosophy and Physics in the classroom, with cricket, rugby and tennis all on offer during games.

As children reach the end of their time at prep school, most will look to the Common Entrance Exam as their gateway into the senior schools. It is during this transition process that senior schools are also looking for talented pupils for scholarships and other awards, so the very able students may be asked to attend further examinations/recitals/matches &c, depending on where their particular strengths lie.

In the state system, children are tested by the Government SATs, however many schools in the independent sector will have their own internal methods of measuring the performance of the children. There are around 499 prep schools in the Independent Association of Prep Schools, one of our constituent Head’s Associations, collectively educating over 134,000 children.

SENIOR SCHOOLS (AGES 11 YEARS -18 YEARS) Most of the pupils in independent education are in senior school, educating over 350,000 senior school students in almost eight hundred schools.

Independent Senior Schools offer approaches to education, subjects, facilities and sports unparalleled in the state sector – students can study History of Art, Government, Russian and Japanese, and try their hands at Astronomy, Ceramics or Equestrianism. They could be on their school judo or sailing team, and take trips all over the world.

Whatever your child’s particular strengths, passions and interests, there is almost certainly a school which can offer the chance to try all of them.

INDEPENDENT SCHOOLS GUIDE

The Fairley House School, described by the Sunday Times as the ‘Gold Standard’, is London’s leading day school for children with Specific Learning Difficulties.

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Standard

ddressing the needs of children from the age of five, who require assistance due to dyslexia and dyspraxia, the school has a staff/ pupil ratio of 1:3.5 and the average stay at the school is between two to three years. Children then return to mainstream schooling with a new ‘can do’ attitude.

Fairley House now offers Key Stage 4. This enables pupils to carry on their education in an

...and all of a sudden, nothing is impossible.

environment that ensures that their needs are fully met. While our intention is to enable your child to re-join mainstream education as quickly as possible, our provision now offers the possibility of remaining in our school to undertake the first major examinations that a pupil will face.

Many of our alumni have enjoyed great success at GCSE and A-Level and they have progressed to top universities and have successful careers in a range of professions.

London’s leading day school for specific learning difficulties 020 7976 5456 fairleyhouse.org.uk

INDEPENDENT SCHOOLS GUIDE

‘Private schools should be praised for producing

influential people’ A new study by Debrett’s, the etiquette experts, reveals that two-fifths of the 500 most powerful and influential people in Britain went to private schools.

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rucially this cuts across all spheres of influence, including not only traditional careers, like business and politics, but areas like architecture and acting too: witness the amazing global success of Eton-educated Eddie Redmayne, still only 33, as Professor Stephen Hawking, in The Theory of Everything.

Of course private schools are always going to produce far more than their fair share of Society’s most powerful “players”. This is inevitable, given the fact that most successful people educate their own children privately; thus the system is guaranteed to be perpetuated, with success breeding success.

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For example, high-flying parents will have all the key contacts, whether in commerce or theatre, to help ensure their own offspring have that first, vital helping hand up the career ladder.

Work experience slots inevitably go to the children of top business people or lawyers, for example as inevitably their parents have the contacts to find precious openings. And anyone who has been to a private school, whether big or small, famous or not so famous, will know that there will be many such high-achieving parents. Their added influence opens doors more easily and, crucially, other pupils can also benefit from their contacts.

For example, successful parents are often instrumental in prompting high-profile acquaintances to visit schools as speakers: spending time with pupils and offering invaluable advice on “How to succeed” in the process. That way, everyone benefits from their expertise. This is indeed how the system works on a termly basis: little nudges here and there, but nothing too blatant or nepotistic.

Private schools are exceedingly good at producing successful pupils...

Teaching children to fly The House Schools Group is made up of three non-selective, co-educational preparatory schools for 3 – 11 year olds.

The group collaborate closely, sparking off new ideas for ever more successful teaching practices.

Whilst each school has a unique character, they share a common ethos: that every child is different, but deserves to learn to fly regardless of early learning abilities. high-flyers are encouraged to soar, whilst children who need extra support are given wings for their journey.

The powerful combination of highly trained staff and tailor-made teaching opens up young minds to endless possibilities, encouraging them to think for themselves.

Our pupils mostly call it having fun. We call it being the best they can be.

The enthusiasm of our pupils has to be seen to be believed. We invite you to come along and judge for yourself at one of our weekly tours.

Open days: Orchard House Sat 11th March am.

Bassett House Sat 20th May am. Prospect House Thurs 25th May pm.

Chiswick 020 8742 8544 orchardhs.org.uk

North Kensington 020 8969 0313 bassetths.org.uk

Putney 020 8246 4897 prospecths.org.uk House Schools Group

INDEPENDENT SCHOOLS GUIDE

Developing children to their full potential at St Benedict’s School The Catholic, co-educational school in leafy Ealing enables children to benefit from a seamless education which can begin at the age of 3 and continue through to the Sixth Form.

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t Benedict’s has strong academic standards, with considerable ambition for future academic success. The School is committed to supporting all children to develop their full potential, by treating them as individuals, and catering for their particular needs and talents at every stage. Inspirational teaching, tutorial guidance and exceptional pastoral care are at the heart of the education we offer.

The Junior School and Nursery provide a supportive and vibrant environment in which to learn. Sharing excellent facilities with the Senior School and a programme of cross-curricular activities help ease the transition at 11+ to the Senior School, which is on the same site.

At St Benedict’s, there is a vital focus on personal development, and our outstanding co-curricular programme helps pupils to thrive by enabling them to find and develop their unique gifts and talents. St Benedict’s has a distinguished sporting tradition: while many boys and girls train and compete at county and national level, everyone is encouraged to enjoy sport, teamwork and fitness. Music and Drama are both excellent; there is a strong choral tradition, renowned Abbey Choir and many instrumental ensembles. Termly drama productions have recently included Amadeus, West Side Story and A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

We encourage principled leadership, resilience and character in our pupils, and promote the Christian values of integrity, fairness and generosity to others. This is a hallmark of the School, informed by the 1500 year-old Rule of St Benedict, and there could be no better way of equipping young people for the future.

Recent developments include a fine new Sixth Form Centre and Art Department, opened in 2015. A new Nursery and Pre-Prep Department will open in September 2017, providing our youngest pupils with a first-rate learning environment.

St Benedict’s School is unique. Come and visit, and see what we have to offer. You can be sure of a warm Benedictine welcome.

THE DETAILS For more information about St Benedict's School Telephone 020 8862 2254 or visit the website at www.stbenedicts.org.uk

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St Benedict’S School Ealing a

m i n i m i s

i n c i p e

Outstanding Catholic Independent school for boys & girls aged 3 - 18

Additional Year 6 class now available

Open Mornings Nursery Tuesday 21 February Senior School Thursday 04 May Nursery & Junior School Thursday 18 May

New Nursery & Pre-Prep building opening September 2017

View our website for a full list of our Open Events or arrange a personal visit with our Registrar, Louise Pepper, on 020 8862 2254 www.stbenedicts.org.uk

Independent Co-educational 3-11 years. Founded 1942. ISA & IAPS

Hawkesdown House School

For boys aged 3 to 8 years Endeavour Courage Truth

Inspiring Brilliant Futures

Open Mornings Wednesday 8th March 9.30-11.00 Tuesday 13th June 9.30-11.00 Tours of the school are held on Tuesday mornings Bursaries available

27 Edge Street, Kensington, London W8 7PN Telephone: 0207 727 9090 Email: admin@hawkesdown.co.uk www.hawkesdown.co.uk

Kensington Prep School in Fulham has been transformed. It now has some of the best facilities of any prep school in London with the completion of an innovative £2.7m ‘Creating Spaces for Growing Minds’ building programme.

020-8670 5865 email: admissions@rosemeadprepschool.org.uk www.rosemeadprepschool.org.uk

DEVONSHIRE HOUSE SCHOOL 2 Arkwright Road, Hampstead, NW3 6AE

Registration is now open for 4+ entry in 2018.

The quality of the pupils’ achievements and learning is

ISI Inspection Report, May 2015 596 Fulham Road London SW6 5PA Phone: 020 7731 9300 Email: enquiries@kenprep.gdst.net www.kensingtonprep.gdst.net

Kensington Prep School is an award-winning school in Fulham for girls aged 4-11 set in spacious grounds with netball and tennis courts. We win praise for our nurturing approach, rich curriculum and outstanding academic results.

Entry at all levels is by assessment.

A co-educational IAPS Prep and Pre-Prep School for children from 3 to 13 with its own Oak Tree Nursery for children from 2½ to 3½ OPEN MORNINGS Wednesday 3rd May 2017 Thursday 4th May 2017 For more information contact Admissions: 020 7435 1916 enquiries@devonshirehouseprepschool.co.uk www.devonshirehouseschool.co.uk

Cherishing

Challenging

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11 Woodborough Road, Putney, London, SW15 6PY

Co-educational Junior · Senior · Sixth Form

“A godsend for the discerning parent” Good Schools Guide

School Tour Dates Wednesday, 1 February (11:20am) Thursday, 2 March (8:45am) Tuesday, 21 March (8:45am)

Contact us to arrange a visit.

020 7307 8700 | admin@portland-place.co.uk | www.portland-place.co.uk FEBRUARY2017 107 9630-APG PPS Half page advert 130h x 195w.indd 1

09/02/2017 11:16

INDEPENDENT SCHOOLS GUIDE

The collaborative

classroom of the future A

Mobile technology, truly embedded into the classroom, encourages students to develop communication, critical thinking, creativity and collaboration skills. But technology has to be inbuilt into the curriculum, if students are really going to reap the rewards.

CS Hillingdon International School developed its showcase collaborative IT Lab, with mobile technology at its heart as an integral part of the school day to encourage students to develop essential skills. High School students recently created, coded and built the ‘100 iPad Wall’ within the school’s IT Lab - a huge screen able to receive and display images simultaneously in real time.

Younger students also collaborated on the project by producing a piece of artwork, using a microscopic camera lens attached to an iPad. 700 pictures of the school were collected and used to create a piece of art streamed on the iPad Wall.

As a result of this project, a student team from all age groups were asked to exhibit the iPad Wall at the Apple Leadership Summit held in London to over 400 international delegates.

Through the use of collaborative technology, students learnt key communication and life skills by presenting and filming their creation; critical thinking and problem solving through the design and build of the iPad Wall and developed a creative mindset by producing the ‘live’ artworks.

THE DETAILS For more information or to register for an open day visit www.acs-schools.com

Through learning, inspire all to make a difference

OPEN MORNING Saturday 11 March 2017, 10am –12 noon Boys and girls aged 4-18. To find out more, visit acs-schools.com/opendays

‘The quality of the pupils’ personal development is excellent’ ISI Report

Did you know, in 2016…

• 63% of our students earned the equivalent of 3 A*s or above at A Levels.

• Our students won places at leading universities around the world, and over half of these were in the UK.

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Fulham Prep School

To learn is to grow Education is about developing the curiosity, confidence and security to learn and try. Fulham Prep is a co-educational pre-prep and prep school providing continuous education for children between the ages of 4+ and 13.

Find out how your child can reach their full potential by calling 020 7371 9911 (reception to year 2) or 020 7386 2444 (years 3 to 8).

For year 9 enquiries please call 020 7386 2444.

F

S www.fulhamprep.co.uk

INDEPENDENT SCHOOLS GUIDE

Why Choose an Independent Sixth Form College?

BY JAMES WARDROBE

Independent VI Form colleges are now established as very reliable and successful providers of pre-university education. Most of the best colleges are members of the Council for Independent Education (CIFE). CIFE, founded in 1972, is a national association whose colleges are spread widely over the country. Details of each college can be found at www.cife.org.uk

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major advantage of independent VI Form colleges over a school's sixth form lies in the wider range of choice of subjects and much greater flexibility of subject combinations. Most colleges allow you to pick virtually any combination of subjects.

Different types and lengths of A-level course are also available. More and more students are joining colleges just for the second year of A-level and most colleges will allow you to combine A2 courses with a complete new A-level taught in one year. So, apart from the variety of subjects, you 110 FEBRUARY2017

will find standard two-year, final-year (ie second year), one-year and retake courses (even short, half-year pre-June courses!). GCSEs are also offered at all colleges. Intensive Easter Revision courses at both A level and GCSE are available at many colleges.

CIFE colleges have experienced and enthusiastic teachers who are A-level subject specialists. They are familiar with all the requirements of the various examination boards and are often examiners for the syllabuses they teach. They often have the advantage of being able to specialise in their subject at a particular level for a particular exam syllabus throughout their whole teaching timetable, unburdened by any lower school teaching requirements.

The colleges offer small group teaching, usually with a maximum of eight students

per class. The informal, relaxed nature of the small-group environment enables the teacher to establish quickly and maintain a very productive and beneficial working relationship with you, with close supervision of your work and plenty of individual attention, encouragement and advice, including for your UCAS application.

Academic and pastoral support is a high priority, with some colleges running very sophisticated and targeted programmes of support for students applying for the most challenging university courses, e.g. Medicine.

THE DETAILS For more information, go to the website at www.cife.org.uk or telephone 020 8767 8666

Make the grade at A level A

t CIFE we're not just about getting the right grades or getting you into the best university. We're about bringing out the best in you as an individual. That's why our 2-year A level courses have so much choice and flexibility built in. In fact it's what our association of highly accredited independent sixth form colleges is all about.

Yes, we'll help you meet others' standards – but fulfill your own promise too.

To discover how CIFE can enable you to achieve your full potential, call 020 8767 8666 or visit www.cife.org.uk

INDEPENDENT SCHOOLS GUIDE

Ashbourne College, London

Keys to success at A level What are the factors that maximize performance in sixth-form students? How should schools prepare pupils who are about to face university life? Ashbourne College, a co-educational school in Kensington, aims to create independent learners who take responsibility for their work within a supportive environment.

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he school combines an informal atmosphere with careful supervision. All pupils know exactly what is expected of them in terms of behaviour, punctuality and effort. Each student has a personal and UCAS tutor, and the groups consist of, on average, seven pupils, allowing an adult, seminar-based approach to learning.

Ashbourne’s small class sizes and personal-tutor system enable teachers to engage directly with the developing needs of each individual.

All the students benefit from rapid, detailed and constructive feedback, which is essential to their academic success. Students are continually

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challenged to take on more complex concepts: difficulties are seen as opportunities rather than threats.

At Ashbourne College no assumptions are made about a student’s previous knowledge, and understanding is established in a step-by-step manner. The teaching style aims to be positive and sympathetic. As a result, this year 51% of the grades were A* or A and 76% were A*, A or B. This is despite the fact that Ashbourne accepts students with a range of abilities, some of whom have just missed the GCSE grades required by their previous school’s sixth form.

Ashbourne provides excellent preparation for applications to top universities, with specialist programmes for Oxbridge, medicine, engineering and law, and 50% of the students go on to Russell Group universities. This year 5 students met their offers for undergraduate courses at Cambridge University. The school is rated as Outstanding by OFSTED and has a vibrant extra-curricular programme, helped by its superb location in the heart of London.

THE DETAILS For enquiries about Ashbourne College contact 020 7937 3858 or admissions@ashbournecollege.co.uk www.ashbournecollege.co.uk

A level Scholarships

APPLY NOW FOR 2017 SCHOLARSHIPS

One of London’s best private college for A levels offers full or partial scholarships for: • maths • science • economics • humanities • art • performing arts • Emphasis on study skills, independent thinking and individual attention has produced excellent exam results and university destinations • Informal, university-style approach and wide range of cultural activities Telephone: 0207 937 3858 admissions@ashbournecollege.co.uk

ashbournecollege.co.uk

WESTMINSTER SCHOOL To request a prospectus or find out about Open Days, please call 020 7963 1003 or email registrar@westminster.org.uk For information about entry to Westminster Under School at 7+, 8+ or 11+ please call 020 7821 5788.

Westminster School is a charity (No. 312728) established to provide education.

TAP3297_LifeMagazine_137Hx210mmW_V1.indd 1

www.westminster.org.uk 16+ ENTRY FOR GIRLS AND BOYS Online registration opens next year for entry in September 2018.

13+ BOYS ENTRY Register now for entry in 2020.

12/10/2016 13:22

INDEPENDENT SCHOOLS GUIDE

The Study Opens its Doors The Study Preparatory School, Wimbledon, is one of London’s leading prep schools for girls aged 4-11.

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lthough academic rigour is at the heart of this successful school, its highly creative and nurturing ethos ensures that its girls enjoy a well-rounded and broad based education.

Particularly strong in music, sport and the performing arts, the opportunities for the girls to showcase their talents and develop their skills are many; with specialist teaching from the start, a wide array of extracurricular clubs, and an individual approach to learning.

Academic success stems from happy, confident and respectful girls who go on to some of the leading senior schools in the country. The Study’s 11+ success record is remarkable, with many offers and scholarships awarded each year; the total of scholarship offers over the last five years is an impressive 92.

Come and see for yourself why The Study is such a special place at its forthcoming Open Morning on Saturday March 11 between 9.30am and 12noon.

THE DETAILS Call 020 8947 6969 for further details.

The Study Preparatory School Wilberforce House, Camp Road, Wimbledon SW19 4UN www.thestudyprep.co.uk 114 FEBRUARY2017

Saturday 11 March 2017 9.30 -12.00 Wilberforce House Camp Road SW19 4UN For further details, contact Jane Davis on 020 8947 6969 www.thestudyprep.co.uk Registered Charity No. 271012

Preparatory School for girls aged four to eleven

INDEPENDENT SCHOOLS GUIDE

The world's most exclusive boarding school It is known as the school of kings, counting among its alumni the Shah of Iran, Prince Rainier of Monaco and King Farouk of Egypt. Its catchment area was once the glittering palaces that housed the grandest families on the continent: the Metternichs, the Borgheses and the Hohenlohes.

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ut Institut Le Rosey, is now spreading its net to Britain. For the first time in its 135-year history, the prestigious Swiss boarding school has been recruiting gilt-edged pupils, aged 7 - 18, in London.

At £80,000 a year, London has become the city of choice for the world’s richest parents so is also home to the world’s richest kids. And it is they who have formed the target audience for Le Rosey’s recruitment drive.

There has long been a tiny British contingent at the school, making up five per cent of its 400 pupils. Sir Roger Moore and Elizabeth Taylor sent their children there.

John Lennon’s son Sean studied there too, as did the Duke of Kent and Winston Spencer Churchill, grandson of the wartime Prime Minister.

Opened as a boys school in 1880 by Paul Carnal, in 1967 the school opened a girls campus. Classes are in French and English, in

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a system called “à la carte bilingualism”. The teacher-pupil ratio is an enviable 1:5.

Facilities include a 25m indoor swimming pool and Wellness Centre (including a sauna, steam bath and jacuzzi), a skate park, an open air theatre, 10 tennis courts, a shooting range and a 1,000-seat concert hall. Few other schools have their own 38-foot yacht on Lake Geneva, let alone a spa for stressedout pupils to unwind in at the end of the long school day.

Off-campus students have unlimited access to an equestrian centre with 30 horses and 18-hole golf course.

The winter term is spent in Gstaad, with lessons finishing by lunchtime so the children can hit the slopes for the afternoon.

In spring, they head to the school’s Château du Rosey campus nestled on the site of a Gothic, 14th-century château in the village of Rolle on the shores of Lake Geneva. But for those who can afford the fees, perhaps none of this seems out of the ordinary.

The school is keen to stress it’s not just for those who have money but no brains. All pupils sit official external examinations - the International Baccalaureate (IB) or the French baccalauréat. Only those who can expect to get into university are offered a place . And only one in three applicants are accepted.

Go to Le Rosey or, even better, marry another Ancien Roséen, as Old Roseans are called - and you’re set up for life. There’s an Anciens Roséens alumni programme and a strictly private directory that lets you network with other super-rich old boys and girls. With that exclusive alumni network, along with the school’s fabulous settings and eye-watering fees, it’s hard not to agree with F Scott Fitzgerald: the very rich “are different from you and me”.

Alleyn’s Co-educational excellence in a caring community for boys and girls aged 4-18 Bursaries and scholarships are available. Visit our website for details.

www.alleyns.org.uk / @Alleyns_School / 020 8557 1500 / Townley Road, Dulwich SE22 8SU 160712-NappyValleyNet-Schools-Guide-Senior2.indd 1

11/01/2017 12:14

IF YOU WANT TO ST SEE 21 CENTURY LEADERSHIP OPPORTUNITIES FOR GIRLS, COME TO RUGBY #wholepersonwholepoint www.rugbyschool.co.uk

INDEPENDENT SCHOOLS GUIDE

‘Little people day nursery knew they were good, but how did they become

‘OUTSTANDING?”

This was a question posed after the last Ofsted inspection at Little People of Fulham. Like many nursery managers, Jane Gleasure concentrated on the “foundations…which lay with the quality of staff and their skills” focusing on keeping them motivated, well qualified, develop in-house and external training, regular team meetings and following best practice.

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ane believes you can see the improvements in the happy contented children at play. Recent achievements such as achieving Bronze & Silver awards by the Healthy Early Years Partnership and the Millie’s mark for excellence in First Aid training and practice result from inspirational and passionate leadership.

All settings will follow the Early Years Foundation stages of learning, but inspectors are looking for the children to be truly engaged with the learning process. Much of this you can see in the children’s work, development folders or on the display boards. One recent practical improvement

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by Dawn Cove at Little People of Willow Vale was the introduction of “Forest School’- trips in wellies and wet weather gear, to local parks to see and learn about the natural environment, taking calculated risks like climbing trees, identifying birds and insects. Children make their own decisions about their play and their environment in an adventures way. School trips to the local farm, fire stations, local markets and a small children’s theatre excite not just the children but energise staff too.

At this age learning is fun and the Montessori method of teaching helps “Children learn their early number, writing and reading skills brilliantly. They are extremely well prepared for their next stage of learning”. Ofsted 2016.

What must never be lost is putting the children first. Safeguarding policies and procedures together with regular reviews and training ensure that an Outstanding nursery’s primary focus is always the children in their care.

If you would like to know more about what makes Little People Day Nursery outstanding please call Alison Truss – Manager on 0207 386 0006 or email alison@littlepeople.co.uk THE DETAILS For more information about Little People of Fulham 250a Lillie Road, Fulham SW6 7PX visit the website at www.littlepeople.co.uk

T STAN DING”* U O “ 1 Montessori education

Call:

1 Open 8am – 6pm (50 weeks per annum)

Fulham 020 7386 0006

1 Extra curricular activities including French, Ballet, Baby Massage Football Coaching, Swimming & Gymnastics

or

Shepherds Bush 020 8749 2877

www.littlepeople.co.uk

*26/03/09

Taking care of Little People since 1978

INDEPENDENT SCHOOLS GUIDE

Resilience in girls starts with Nursery WRITTEN BY RACHAEL FORDHAM, DEPUTY HEAD, SCP AND RUTH LOCKYER, HEAD OF NURSERY.

Developing resilience in girls is currently a hot topic in education. Risk-taking and the ability to find positive learning in failure in an atmosphere of discovery and challenge is encouraged from the first day in Nursery at Streatham & Clapham Prep. This is supported by the introduction of Philosophy4Children and Talk4Writing and the use of outdoor learning and tablets.

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isiting the Nursery during a Philosophy4Children session, you will find a calm and engaged atmosphere suited to sharing thoughts and ideas.

A group game, such as pass the clap, helps unite the pupils towards a common purpose at the outset. The teacher may use a puppet or storybook to explore ideas and to stimulate questions and explanation amongst the pupils.

Opinions and beliefs are expressed individually, in pairs and as a group. When faced with a dilemma the pupils work together to problem solve.

Talk4Writing develops confidence and creativity around stories and performance. Girls are immersed in rich and carefully chosen literature. They 120 FEBRUARY2017

learn stories by memory and take part in artistic and role play activities. This process of learning naturally embeds story language, structure and vocabulary, and fosters comprehension skills. Progress takes place with greater ease, with the girls becoming confident creative writers, willing to explore new vocabulary choices and plot development, and to think independently.

The use of technology crosses over into many other areas of learning, with girls learning to code using e-tablets. The task of learning a story sequence alongside the skills of coding, challenges pupils in a new and exciting way. Outdoor Learning develops language, creativity and gross motor skills and helps the girls deal with new situations and environments whether it is a bug hunt in the nature garden or a welly walk through the park.

These initiatives are designed to encourage girls to use critical and creative thinking to determine their boundaries.

THE DETAILS You are invited to attend the Open Morning on 7 March, for further information or to register visit www.schs.gdst.net To contact the Nursery & Prep email prep@schs.gdst.net Telephone 020 8674 6912 To contact the Senior School email senior@schs.gdst.net Telephone 020 8677 8400

Resilience in girls starts with Nursery

Empowering girls to pursue ideals and knowledge unafraid

Prep School and Nursery Open Morning

Senior School Open Morning

Tuesday 7 March 9 am - 10.45 am

Friday 10 March 9.15 am – 11.30 am

Register for Open Days at www.schs.gdst.net or contact us for an individual tour.

Register for Open Days at www.schs.gdst.net

Streatham & Clapham Preparatory School (girls 3-11)

Streatham & Clapham High School (girls 11-18)

Wavertree Road, SW2 3SR

42 Abbotswood Road, SW16 1AW

020 8674 6912 prep@schs.gdst.net Project1_Layout 1 31/01/2017 14:49 Page 1

020 8677 8400 senior@schs.gdst.net

INDEPENDENT SCHOOLS GUIDE

Private schools team up with

Tottenham Hotspur FC to open new sixth form

Highgate School and Tottenham Hotspur Football Club have announced an innovative partnership to create a new sixth form school in the heart of Tottenham, with the support of the Department for Education.

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he new London Academy of Excellence, which opens in September on the site of the new Spurs stadium, will welcome A-level students into Year 12, following the model of the highly successful first London Academy of Excellence in Stratford, nicknamed the “Eton of the East End” for its success in getting pupils into Oxford and Cambridge. They will help bright local teenagers get into the best universities or land top jobs.

Highgate School, a co-educational independent day school for pupils aged 3-18, would act as principal education sponsor of LAET and recruit and deploy the full-time equivalent of five members of the total teaching staff, as well as assisting with wider administrative, pastoral and management support.

Tottenham Hotspur would be the principal business sponsor, providing financial support, as well as the school premises and facilities management.

Adam Pettitt, Head of Highgate School, said: “Although Highgate School is situated in an affluent area of London, some of the least affluent and most

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challenged parts of the whole city are on our doorstep. With LAET, we want to enable bright, local children, especially those with disadvantaged backgrounds, to access a high-calibre academic education and first-rate preparation for university and employment. We want to create opportunity at the heart of Tottenham, in what is the most stunning educational building.

This kind of collaboration is our way of being both a charity, which fundamentally we are, whilst remaining true to our educational ethos”.

Donna-Maria Cullen, Executive Director, Tottenham Hotspur Football Club added: “What has become evident to us is both the thirst for teaching at the highest level and a real need to retain the brightest schoolchildren in Tottenham. The LAE model represents an outstanding opportunity to provide an aspirational educational offering in one of the poorest parts of Britain, supported by a leading public school. We are working hard to bring about the regeneration of this area of North Tottenham and this is another, exciting step forward”.

Other leading private schools, which include Harrow, Alleyn’s School in Dulwich, Chigwell School, Mill Hill School, North London Collegiate, St Albans, St Dunstan’s College and Haberdashers’ Aske’s Boys’, will also share facilities and activities, arrange pupil exchanges and offer support for university applications.

It is expected Harrow, alma mater of Winston Churchill and actor Benedict Cumberbatch, will invite Tottenham pupils to spend time there to prepare them for the Oxbridge experience.

Early Years | Pre-Preparatory | Preparatory

Based in the heart of Chelsea, a school with a long and proud history of academia, the arts, sports and music. “Pupils success is the result of the excellent quality of teaching�

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INDEPENDENT SCHOOLS GUIDE

Modern Boarding

BY ANDREW LOGAN, SENIOR HOUSEMASTER, CRANLEIGH SCHOOL

Traditional views of boarding are often guided by parents’ own spartan experiences decades previously or, for those new to the idea of boarding, by visions of Tom Brown’s Schooldays.

Neither view bears remote resemblance to Modern Boarding – an environment that provides huge pastoral and academic advantages for young people.

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oarding provides a highly structured routine of homework in the evenings, under close supervision from qualified teachers who are able to offer professional advice. Older students are encouraged to develop those independent working habits crucial in later life but in an environment where they can bounce ideas off their peers.

Firm and appropriate frameworks exist for the use of technology, allowing students to develop crucial skills safely and with clear boundaries.

Boarding provides a vital resource for young people in a busy world – time.

The hours lost commuting become available for a huge variety of co-curricular activities and top class facilities are open and available to students long into the evening or early in the morning. The extended day gives children the chance to try something new, or pursue an established interest.

Clearly there are advantages for busy working parents, but the true benefits lie in the holistic approach to education it provides, leading to the development of character.

Boarding environments provide a unique setting that promotes common experience, camaraderie, friendship, trust and honesty between children and adults. Schools like Cranleigh offer comfortable, pleasant and often state-of-the-art boarding spaces with communal areas such as common rooms and kitchens that are supervised, ensuring

students learn to respect other users and the facilities at their disposal.

Modern boarding is not about taking students away from their parents but rather the housemaster or housemistress developing a strong partnership with families to allow pupils to flourish. At Cranleigh parents get to know the house teams very well through numerous house and school functions, whilst family time is built into the weekend as the majority of students return home for 24 hours after a full day of endeavour on Saturday: a modern approach to boarding that recognises the importance of family.

THE DETAILS For more information about Cranleigh School Telephone 01483 276377 or email admissions@cranleigh.org www.cranleigh.org

INDEPENDENT SCHOOLS GUIDE

We’ve been here before Matthew Hilton-Dennis is Head of English at Merchant Taylors’ School, talks about teaching English at a time of dramatic political change.

A

s a teacher, I often find myself wondering on the extent I should let the real world into my classroom. When modern life becomes precarious and uncertain, it can feel comforting to retreat behind the shield of canonical texts. Here things matter but in an environment controlled by the reader or by the teacher.

What consequences there are happen to somebody else, who generally lived a long time ago and is in most cases made up. But as is so often the case with texts that transcend their own place and time, they take one look at modern life and tell the reader we’ve been here before. Over and over again.

So it is that I have found myself watching the news over the last seven months as though it were a kind of vaudeville theatre, a series of separate comic acts on both sides of the Atlantic. Pantomime sometimes appears a better analogy. Regardless of genre, I feel the odd sensation of thrill and despair as I watch people we love to hate declaim and strut and fret their hour upon the stage. They say they represent forgotten peoples in 21st Century societies; this is populism in action; in a reluctant way I am forced to agree this is how it seems. I feel like I have seen this before.

And where? Dickens with my Year 10 class first leaps to mind. I think of the exploited factory workers in Hard Times¬ whose lungs are full of coal fumes and snowy flakes of cotton dust. I see them standing before Slackbridge, the professional agitator paid for by the trade unions to incite industrial action against their cruel masters.

Slackbridge fashions himself as one of them, his cry of anger and outrage is their cry. But the truth is he comes to take their voices away with him and use them for an ulterior purpose. Sound familiar? And why are these long-suffering workers so susceptible to what effectively amounts to a political hijacking? Because their severely limited education has failed to instruct them in the art of critical thinking. They have never dreamed it possible of actually calling the establishment to account.

Unsurprising then that they fall for the first agent provocateur who comes their way: a man whom Dickens reminds the reader is in no way above the humble ‘hands’ in anything (and certainly not in morality or looks) other than the few inches of stage upon which he stands.

Listening to Nick Clegg recently at a Merchant Taylors’ school trip to the Cheltenham Literary Festival, I was inspired by his clarion call to rediscover the middle ground in British politics, not so much as a political stance but as a place where peoples of all persuasion can gather, voice their opinion and if so inclined change their mind. This sounds sensible and intelligent. The grand hope was for the Internet to become this kind of place, but the reality is that to enter into any number of different online chat rooms is to find what Clegg describes as ‘people furiously agreeing with each other’. So I look to my English classroom instead as a liminal space, one which teeters between the norm and the subversive and is always critically reflective of ideas put forward by the texts we study and by the students themselves. It seems to me that anyone who emerges from this kind of discursive culture is properly equipped to withstand today’s 24-hour supply of constant information, the Orwellian Post-Truth New Speak world of Brexit and Trump, and make their own judgement.

THE DETAILS For more information about Merchant Taylors' School Sandy Lodge, Northwood, Middlesex HA6 2HT Telephone 01923 845514 or email admissions@mtsn.org.uk www. mtsn.org.uk

126 FEBRUARY2017

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Tel. +44 (0)1923 845514 Merchant Taylors’ School, Sandy Lodge, Email. admissions@mtsn.org.uk Northwood, Middlesex HA6 2HT

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PRE - PREPARATORY SCHOOL

Over 30 Years of Happiness & Success in Education Congratulations to the Year 2 class of 2016/2017 for receiving offers from schools including: Channing School, City of London School for Girls, Highgate, King’s College School, Latymer Prep School, Merchant Talyor’s School, North Bridge House, South Hampstead High School, St Paul’s Juniors, University College School, Westminster Cathedral Choir School, Westminster Under School

Visit our website and book a tour of this small happy and successful school on during a normal school day 020 7722 7149 info@sjwpre-prep.org.uk www.sjwpre-prep.org.uk

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