Kew College Prep
24 – 26 Cumberland Road, Richmond, Surrey TW9 3HQ
Telephone:
Fax: +44 (0)20 8332 9945
General Enquiries:
Admissions:
Bursar: bursar@kewcollegeprep.com
Welcome
A warm welcome to Kew College Prep.
Choosing your child’s school is one of the most important decisions you’ll ever make on their behalf. We’ve prepared this brochure to give you a flavour of what we have to offer, and help you make an informed school choice for your child. Since printed words and pictures only tell part of the Kew College Prep story, we always recommend that you come and see our wonderful school for yourself.
Ours is a vibrant, active and nurturing school community, full of life, energy and colour which you can only fully appreciate when you’re here. Who we are and what we do is best represented by the children themselves. They are our greatest ambassadors: respectful, responsible, hard-working, fun-loving and well-rounded individuals, with a strong sense of their own worth and talents, and those of others.
We believe Kew College Prep offers children the best possible start in life, fostering skills and attitudes that will stay with them long after they’ve left us. It’s our privilege and pleasure to be a key part of their lives.
Jane Bond Head
A community Prep School
Founded in 1927, our nonselective Prep School provides a small, supportive and vibrant school community for girls and boys from Nursery to Year 6. The minute you walk through the door, the ethos of the school is apparent; it is a friendly and caring environment which is relaxed but purposeful. The relationship between staff and pupils is warm and open and there is a tangible buzz of creativity in the air.
The curriculum is designed to provide pupils with opportunities to create, connect and collaborate both within and beyond the classroom. Children are encouraged to ask questions and think creatively. Technology is used to enhance learning across all subject areas, and sports and arts feature prominently in school life. The school’s Junior House (Years 3-6) is also the springboard for our unique 11+ programme. From Year 5 onwards, each child is provided with a tailored learning plan. The results of entrance exams to secondary schools are excellent with children attaining numerous scholarships.
Pastoral Care
Our Pastoral Curriculum underpins everything we do at Kew College Prep. We work as a team to ensure all children are listened to and feel valued. The mutual respect between staff and pupils is perfectly exemplified by our School Council, where elected representatives from each class put forward suggestions to improve the school, with many of these ideas put into practice.
The strong sense of community at Kew College Prep is enhanced by our governors and parents, all of whom are fully committed to the school’s ethos and values, and work tirelessly on its behalf. It is this cooperation and bond between everyone in our school community that makes Kew College Prep such a happy, successful and popular school.
Our Nursery
Your child’s first experiences of school can shape their entire education and life beyond. It’s a huge responsibility – but while we take it incredibly seriously, we never let that get in the way of the children’s enjoyment!
Every day in Nursery is different, full of exciting new challenges, games and directed activities. Our Nursery offers a stimulating and vibrant environment where children learn primarily through play. Daily activities include specialist-taught Music, Movement, Library Time, ICT, French, Dance and Cooking as well as a traditional introduction to phonics and number work. We also enjoy getting our hands dirty and children benefit from a host of wonderful art activities, helping them to learn and explore new information with their senses.
Our Nursery children are truly part of the prep school community and take part in many joint events with other Year groups, such as the Easter Bonnet parade, Founder’s Day and school plays. As a result, the children slowly get used to the school environment and transition more readily into Reception the following year.
Our Reception
Following the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) framework, children in Reception are given a thorough grounding in phonics and reading and are taught to recognise and use numbers with a real understanding. The children also receive lessons from our specialist staff in Art, PE, Music, ICT, French, Dance and Cooking.
We provide a safe, challenging, stimulating, and caring community which is sensitive to the needs of each individual child. During their Reception year with us, each child is supported in becoming more independent and self-confident.
Ours is truly a happy, inclusive school and Reception children naturally absorb the principles of friendship, caring for and respecting each other, working together and accepting that everyone is different. It is something you’ll see throughout Kew College Prep – and what makes us truly special.
Infant House (Years 1-2)
The Infant House continues to build on the secure foundation established in EYFS, gradually moving to a more formal learning approach. Each class is taught by their own class teacher for their core subjects. This allows teachers to really get to know each pupil and to support them to achieve their full potential. Particular attention is given to developing numeracy and literacy skills.
Children are encouraged to play an active role in their learning, to think for themselves and to make connections with their own experiences and the world around them. Through engaging and stimulating lessons, children develop a passion for reading through individual and class reading sessions. They progress through the reading scheme and conduct weekly visits to our beautiful school library.
In addition to learning the core subjects, our pupils benefit from lessons with specialist teachers in Art, French, Music, ICT, Dance and Games. Class teachers communicate regularly with these specialist teachers, to ensure that each pupil is making progress in all areas of the curriculum.
Junior House (Years 3-6)
In the Junior House, our children receive a rigorous yet rounded education. The curriculum is designed to provide them with opportunities to create, connect and collaborate both within and beyond the classroom. Children are encouraged to ask questions, take risks and think creatively. Technology is used to enhance learning across all subject areas, and Sports and Arts feature prominently in school life.
The Junior House is also the springboard for our unique 11+ programme. From Year 5 onwards, each child is provided with a tailored learning plan. They receive specialist Maths, English and Reasoning courses and are securely guided on their journey towards the 11+ entrance exams, as well as life beyond Kew College Prep.
Our unique 11+ Programme
The school’s successful 11+ programme ensures that each child in Year 5 and Year 6 is provided with a tailored learning programme. Housed in a separate bright and modern building, the children have specialist Maths, English and Reasoning courses, as well as TAs, to help them with their preparation for 11+ and life at senior school.
As part of Kew College Prep’s unique 11+ syllabus, children in Year 5 gain additional Year 6 teachers in February, giving them an almost full calendar year with these teachers to help guide them towards the senior school entrance exams. Children in Year 6 also profit from extended school days in the Autumn term for bespoke learning, exam prep and interview practice.
The school’s extensive 11+ planning is complemented by the efforts of an experienced team, including teachers and the Head, relieving any stress and pressure in the senior school decision process. Children are free to focus on their learning and personal development in a positive, encouraging environment.
Creative Arts
Dance
Dance is taught by a specialist teacher throughout the Kew College Prep curriculum. Children learn to develop confidence and creativity through their physical expression of rhythm. They develop an appreciation of dance as an art form and an improved fitness and overall health. Many children continue their dance journey through the extracurricular Jazz Dance Club or Ballet Club.
Drama
At the end of the Autumn Term, each EYFS and Infant House class performs its own Christmas Play, while Junior House children hold their Christmas Carol Service in St Anne’s Church. The Summer Plays are an annual highlight, with children from all year groups working alongside class teachers and our Head of Music to create truly spectacular productions. For Year 6, the Leavers’ Play provides a fitting, memorable and very moving end to their time at Kew College Prep.
Music
Our lively and well-resourced Music Department gives each child an opportunity to develop their love of singing, playing, listening and composing music. We also provide a wide range of opportunities for them to develop their musical experience both in and outside the curriculum. For example, the Junior House Spring Music Concert features recorder groups, strings, the wind band and the brass ensemble, as well as the school choirs, Beatz Club, instrumental and vocal soloists and small singing groups.
Art
In our Infant House, children learn to explore imaginative themed projects such as space, robots, plants and nature. The children are introduced to a range of different drawing and painting techniques as well as clay work. In our Junior House, children are introduced to more formal drawing techniques and a larger emphasis is placed on observational drawing. They learn about artists such as Pablo Picasso, Wayne Thiebaud, William Turner, Alberto Giacometti and Georgia O’Keefe.
Sports
Sport is an important part of life at Kew College Prep. We want our pupils to leave prep school having enjoyed as wide a range of sports as possible, either through our school curriculum or through our extracurricular clubs. We believe that exposure to Sports can boost self-confidence and social skills, and we encourage our pupils to develop their physical fitness in both team and individual sports.
Our Sports department regularly arranges matches and tournaments with other schools, and all our children get to experience the thrill and challenge of playing as team members, irrespective of sporting ability.
An eventful education
There’s always something going on at Kew College Prep. These are just some of the annual highlights you and your children can look forward to:
Sports
Every summer, we hold our annual Sports Day, which involves all children from Nursery to Year 6, at the King’s House Sports Ground in Chiswick. Children from Years 3 to 6 also have a chance to compete at our Swimming Gala.
To finish off the Autumn Term, Years 3 to 6 take part in a netball and football tournament for The Rudolph Cup, while Year 2 enjoy our festive-themed Jingle Bell Races. There are also numerous sporting fixtures against other schools, and charity fundraising events with a sporting theme.
Charity
Children take an active part in our fundraising work. Each year, each House presents a charity, chosen by the children themselves, to the Junior House, staff, Kew College Friends (KCF) and governors, with the final choice decided democratically in an election. Pupils then raise money through cake sales, mufti days in school and through other activities.
Founder’s Day
Every March, we celebrate Founder’s Day, to commemorate Mrs Hamilton-Spry, who gifted the school and its buildings to our charitable trust in 1985. She bought the school in 1953 from the original founder, Mrs Ellen Upton, who started out in rooms over a shop in Kew Village in 1927.
Founder’s Day is an off-curriculum day in school, with children given an opportunity to enjoy new experiences and activities that extend and challenge them, as well as providing immense enjoyment.
Book Day
We celebrate Book Day every year with an off-curriculum timetable to immerse ourselves in the joy of reading and related activities such as author events, the Big Read and reading with the younger years.
Other Subject Days
Throughout the year, we run specialist days when the whole school timetable is devoted to a single subject, such as History, Art, or Science. These are great opportunities for children to study different aspects of these important subjects, above and beyond the requirements of the curriculum.
Life outside the classroom
A wide range of after school clubs is available to children each term. Some of these activities are led by Kew College Prep members of staff, while others are led by outside providers and parent volunteers. We try to plan our extra-curricular clubs so that they cater to a variety of interests. Many of the clubs are open to mixed year groups, giving opportunities for our children to make new friends and to work with children of different ages.
Examples of some of our term-time clubs available for Years 1 and 2 include:
• Film and Photography
• Sewing
• Young Voices Choir
• Netball
• ICT
Examples of some of our term-time clubs available for Years 3 to 6 include:
• Debating Club
• Arts and Crafts
• Fencing
• Jazz Dance
• M: Tech (Creative music composition course)
• Keyboard Club
• Wind Band
• Kew Strings
• Recorder Groups
• Junior Vocal Club
Trips and residentials
We like to take children out of the classroom and into the real world as often as we can. We’re lucky enough to have some fantastic opportunities right on our doorstep including, of course, Kew Gardens - but we also travel across London and further afield in search of new and enriching experiences for our children.
• French
• Robotics
• Multi Sports
• Yoga
• Tennis
• Arts and Crafts
• Dinky Dancers
• Chess
• Upper School Choir
• Chess
• Yoga
• Netball
• Strings Group and Quartet
• Spanish
• Fine Art
• Touch Typing
• Origami
• Film Club
• Robotics
• Judo
• Musical Theatre
• Ukulele Club
The EYFS children enjoy trips to Bocketts Park Farm, Kew Gardens and the Wetland Centre. Years 1 and 2 have been to Chiltern Open Air Museum, Florence Nightingale Museum, Gunnersbury Park Museum, London Zoo, Painshill Park and Neasden Temple. Year 3 pupils have visited The National Gallery, St Paul’s Cathedral, Fishbourne Roman Palace near Chichester and make a one-night residential trip to PGL. In Year 4, children undertake a two-night residential trip to Bowles Activity Centre in East Sussex, while in Year 5, they enjoy a weekend experiencing Tudor life at Hooke Court in Dorset.
Children in Year 6 have two residential visits. In the Autumn Term, there’s an unforgettable ‘back to nature’ camping experience. On the overnight trip, children build campfires, sleep in shelters they’ve built themselves, and make and cook their own food. In the Summer Term, they spend a memorable week in Normandy, immersing themselves in French life and culture. Other trips include the Houses of Parliament, theatre and Junior Citizen.
Our parent community
Kew College Friends (KCF) is run by a group of parents at the school. The group organises key events including the Summer Fair, Children’s Discos, Quiz Nights and more. The aims of KCF are to organise fun events during the academic year, to provide a forum for social activities for children and parents and also to raise funds for the school and its nominated charity.
In the past, Kew College Friends has supported; Sport for All, The Sick Children’s Trust, ‘Médecins Sans Frontières’, Just a Drop, Small Steps, RNIB, Riding for the Disabled, Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) and REACT.
