Pre-Prep at Wells Cathedral School

Pre-Prep

Inspiring children aged 4-7

Our Philosophy

In an ever-changing world, we want our children to grow into confident, motivated and enthusiastic individuals, ready to take on life’s challenges. Our pupils develop their thinking skills and a love of learning through our child-led creative curriculum that consists of excellent classroom teaching as well as a wide range of specialist lessons to provide a rounded and inspiring experience.

We facilitate creativity and originality, and we provide opportunities for children to explore links in the real world. We aim to instil a love of learning and of life, inspire young minds, fuel imagination and nurture individuality with the goal of helping your child to become the best that they can be, ultimately providing a brilliant foundation for life.

Our mission at Wells is to inspire every individual pupil to nurture their talents in a vibrant, creative, spiritual and stimulating environment to become a responsible global citizen. Our core values of Creativity, Aspiration, Responsibility and Endeavour act as the four pillars of our ethos. At a school where we put kindness at the heart of all we do, it is not a coincidence that the acronym of these values is ‘CARE’.

We strive to develop and embrace each child’s individuality through celebrating our ‘learning powers’ of risk-taking, resilience, curiosity, resourcefulness, motivation and critical thinking, all of which we teach and reward through our curriculum. Children are motivated to seek out new experiences and learn through trial and error. We give them ownership and involvement in their daily routines to develop a sense of growing independence and to fulfil their intrinsic desire to be the best they can be.

Our Mission and Values

School Day

Children arrive at School from 8.20am, ready for an 8.40am start. After a busy morning, our family-service style lunch is an opportunity for nourishment as well as social and physical development. The children enjoy our specially developed menus that provide healthy yet delicious choices. Although our actual school day ends at 3.30pm, children can choose from a variety of our free enriching clubs that are on offer until 4.00pm each day, enabling them to enjoy a range of activities and build relationships with other staff members. Or, they can choose to ‘chill’ with their friends until you are able to pick them up from After-School Care. We also offer Breakfast Club from 7.45am and Supper Club until 6.00pm, for a small fee, if you need flexibility with pick up and drop off.

The children’s experiences are shared with parents in a number of ways in order to give a ‘fly on the wall’ insight into life at school, including through the use of the online learning journal, Tapestry.

https://wells.cathedral.school/pre-prep

Our Routine

We start each day with a morning activity and a ‘wake and shake’ to get our brains and bodies going. We then explore about three topics or activities, which are broken up by a break, before heading to the Dining Hall for lunch. After lunch, we have time to delve into one or two more topics and have a short break before finishing the school day with stories or an assembly.

A typical week would have about five sessions of literacy/phonics/ grammar and five sessions of maths as well as reading, French, religious studies and Personal, Social, Health and Economic Studies (PSHE), which is also embedded in all we do. We also enjoy taking part in dance, games, swimming, drama and music. This amazingly still leaves us time to dive into the term’s special topic in order to bring alive science, history and geography. Last but definitely not least, we explore the great outdoors during our very popular Welly Wednesday. There is never a dull moment, and no two days are the same!

Academic Excellence

Our children benefit from a unique and bespoke curriculum with themed topics to ignite their interests. Lessons are delivered by highly qualified teachers, combining specialist teaching with classroom-based experiences. Our small class sizes ensure that teachers have a thorough understanding of each child’s strengths, interests and areas for development. It also enables them to give quality time to each child to plan their learning experience appropriately, facilitating independence and confidence. Our learning environments are equipped with a range of motivating and multi-sensory resources, utilising ICT and embedding creativity across topic-led activities.

Creative Arts

We spark the children’s creativity and imagination with music, drama, movement, art, craft, sculpture, role-play and social and cultural experiences, which creates well-rounded, accomplished individuals. The children also have endless opportunities to express themselves in the classrooms. We offer individual music teaching in percussion, piano, trumpet, guitar and more, and our Pre-Prep strings programme gives children the opportunity to trial a chosen string instrument and perform in a concert. Our Pre-Prep productions, held twice a year, are a true credit to the children’s growth in confidence and skills, and they delight in being the stars of the show.

Physical Education

We embed fine and gross motor skills and coordination across our busy curriculum and active environment. These fundamental movement skills have a significant influence on allround development; for example, children cannot begin to write until they can hold a pencil, a very complex skill that is facilitated by an exciting mix of physical activities.

Pre-Prep children receive specialist provision from games and swimming instructors as well as drama and dance teachers. This specialist teaching, in partnership with opportunities such as Multisports or Yoga club, plus our regular ‘brain breaks’ walking around our beautiful site, makes for a love of being active for life.

Our busy and creative curriculum extends to our inspiring outdoor classroom. With access to our beautifully maintained grounds, we always find new places to explore together! In addition to our range of outdoor play facilities, including an all-weather lawn, an adventure playground and ‘The Enchanted Forest’, all of our children receive regular, fun and active outdoor opportunities as part of their curriculum, such as scavenger hunts, building dens, pretend adventures with the Flower Fairies, digging in the vegetable patch, creating mud art and hunting minibeasts. We also enjoy a weekly Welly Wednesday session where the children benefit from the Forest School ethos, learn important skills such as fire safety and tool use, and leave the session with a real sense of achievement and fulfilment. Children are encouraged and taught to understand risks, learn the importance of boundaries and develop the skills of communication and collaboration. It is a pleasure to see our pupils come to life outdoors, thriving in confidence.

Outdoor Education

What People Say

The school has ignited my son’s imaginative, thoughtful and attentive sides. He’s so engaged and motivated to learn, and we’re convinced it’s because he feels like he’s part of something that is akin to an extension of our family - he’s got the security and support, combined with a lot of laughter and creativity, that he needs.

You only need to take a look at one of the Pre-Prep classrooms to see how determined to inspire the teaching staff are. There is always something going on, or something to bring home.

We all feel at home at School, it’s a friendly, un-intimidating environment full of diverse and interesting people. We’ll never regret choosing Wells.

- Current Parents

Children in the EYFS flourish in the caring atmosphere and make an excellent start to their education.

- ISI inspection

Independent Pre-Prep School of the Year 2022: Commended Award

Muddy Stilettos: Most Creative Learning Through Play (Early Years) 2022 Finalists

https://wells.cathedral.school/pre-prep

Next Steps

Our nurturing and highly qualified teachers take pride in the caring and thorough handover that our children are given each year. Our Pre-Prep parents report that transition is ‘easy’ due to our close community where children and staff contribute towards the friendly culture. Joint activities such as assemblies, sports days, productions, lunchtimes and playtimes, ensure that children are familiar with the wider community; this not only facilitates the skills that come with peer support, but also allows for a smooth and flawless transition. Children are gradually prepared for the next step to the Prep School throughout Pre-Prep and we pay special attention to the vast opportunities for transition during Year 2. When the time comes to pass the baton to the next teacher, we take time to meet in order to understand your child as an individual. Remember, transition is a process, not an event!

If you would like to find out more about Wells Cathedral School, please contact our admissions team on 01749 834441 / admissions@wells.cathedral.school or visit our website https://wells.cathedral.school