EDUCATION CORNER PODCAST
EDUCATION CORNER PODCAST INTERVIEW WITH VICE PRINCIPAL
Mrs. Grace McCahery FROM THE WHITE HOUSE PREPARATORY SCHOOL
Mrs. Grace McCahery speaks about The White House Preparatory School, which is also affiliated to Woodentops nursery. The school is situated in Clapham, South London and was established in 1985. It provides a warm, friendly and inviting place for children to discover, learn and grow in confidence. Could you tell us a little about Woodentops nursery and how it is affiliated to the school (for parents with babies and young children)?
The White House Prep was founded nearly 40 years ago, and from that the Woodentops nursery was founded ten years ago. We began to see a demand from our parents at The White House Prep who wanted more childcare, especially during the holidays. We wanted to accommodate this by first creating an outstanding setting within our school grounds. This was a huge success, and led to us opening our second site a few years later. Both nurseries are rated as ‘outstanding’ as well, which is fantastic. The school and nurseries are all owned and run within our own family, so together with my mum and my sisters we have lots of fun. Many decisions are made over our Sunday lunches. Our family Whatsapp chat goes from us sending photos of our children to what our next big strategic move is going to be. It is always very exciting and we are able to support each other with our different ventures. Family really is at the core of our school ethos as well. Family is the bedrock, and we are living 1 8 | EDUCATION CHOICES MAGAZINE | AU T U M N 2 02 2
proof of that. Working together, we have six of my mum’s grandchildren in the school now, including my baby, who is attending the Woodentops nursery. If you send your own child there, that is always a good sign. I also went to the school from age two and a half until the age of seven whilst we were still a small pre-prep. Through demand we were able to then evolve that into a prep school that went all the way to eleven plus. I think that more parents are starting to value the bigger picture and we are a school that is focused on strong academic outcomes. We are also very focused on how you do that journey and the nurturing environment that we create so that our children feel supported, unique and important. We want our children to feel listened to, so that they know that they will be heard. The young men and women that leave us are interesting, they are interested, they are kind, they have beautiful manners and they have a love of learning. Could you tell us about how best to register for Woodentops nurseries?
Choosing a school is a huge decision for parents, especially with your first child. I know myself how nerve-racking it can be to put a young baby into the care of people that you don’t know. When you go on visits to nurseries it is so important that you have to have a good gut reaction, great interaction between the staff and the children. You might go to a nursery and there might be a few babies crying,
