Our Prep School focus is on creating independent thinkers and active learners.
Children transition from the Pre Prep and start their Prep School journey in Year 3 where they are reassigned into two new classes. The children remain in these classes until the end of Year 4, and then are mixed again as they move into Year 5.
The Prep School’s day begins at 8.30am and finishes at 3.45pm and the children are required to have a school backpack and Games bag.
All children from Year 3 to Year 6 are given a Prep School Planner at the beginning of the year which is used to record their homework and their daily reading. This is a place where parents have the opportunity to write comments or give notices directly to their child’s class teacher.
Throughout the Prep School, all Year groups continue to develop their skills in lessons taught by our Specialist teachers of PE, Games, Music, Drama, Computing and MFL.
As the children progress through Years 5 and 6, they are expected to become more self reliant; make good choices for themselves; to do their best at all times and to represent the school as ‘outstanding St Christopher’s citizens’ based on our school ethos and Character Values in whatever circumstance they find themselves.
Parents of Year 5 and 6 pupils also receive regular support and plenty of opportunity to hold consultations with the Headteacher, our Head of Prep School and our experienced Year 5 and 6 teachers regarding the important decisions that parents need to make around their choice of secondary school.
Formal assessment, in digital and paper format, continues on a regular basis throughout the Prep School, both as a means of informing our teaching but also as sound practice for the 11+ process. The focus on secondary school examinations begins in earnest in the summer term of Year 5 where the children hone in on exam techniques in English and Maths as well as practising their Verbal and Non Verbal Reasoning skills on a weekly basis.
Pupils leave us in Year 6 as happy, confident, resilient, kind, courteous and well rounded citizens, well prepared for the next step in their education.
