Prep: Years 3, 4, 5 & 6

Our Prep children enjoy the home-from-home environment of our Parkway site, where well-equipped, purpose-built classrooms, a library, Art Studio, Science Lab and halls sit alongside beautiful garden areas and a much-loved and well-used playground, housing specialist play structures including our beautiful tree house. Children also enjoy the use of the extensive fields at Court Park for Games lessons and co-curricular activities.

Academic, sporting, musical and dramatic knowledge and skills are acquired at a rapid pace during the Prep School years. Core subjects are taught by class teachers, who develop close and caring relationships with pupils and parents, while specialist teaching increases to include Spanish, music, drama, PE/games, art and computing. Opportunities outside the classroom abound as ever more co-curricular clubs become available too.

As members of the Upper School, children move around the school to specialist teaching rooms, take on ever greater responsibility for themselves, and enjoy representing the school in many sports and competitions, as well as at incredibly high quality concerts and dramatic productions.

The curriculum is creative and engaging, and pupils achieve excellent academic results. Through inspiring teaching by subject specialists and careful, constructive marking, feedback and assessment, children continue to develop as brave, confident learners. Meta-learning is key to life at St. Helen’s College; our pupils reflect on how they learn so that they are able to improve their own learning style. By the time they leave us at the end of Year 6, pupils are exceptionally well-prepared for a lifetime of learning.

Pupils’ personal development is also outstanding. The upper years offer many opportunities for pupils to take on positions of responsibility, to speak publicly, to conduct guided tours of the school and to represent the school in the wider community. Residential trips in Years 3, 4, 5 and 6 help to develop personal maturity and independence and our innovative PSHCE programme teaches children Positive Psychology, Philosophy, Mindfulness and Peer Support.

Our children and parents are carefully prepared for their transition into the senior school of their choice and St. Helen’s College has a superb record of entry success for pupils into academically selective independent and grammar schools. Our Year 6 leavers achieve excellent results and transfer at 11+ to some of the best independent and maintained schools in the country.