Prep

Pre Prep – Year 3 to Year 8

Our Prep School takes children on an exciting journey from which they emerge as confident, accomplished teenagers who are ready to leave us and excited to join their senior schools.

In years 5 and 6 we lay the foundations for the ISEB Common Entrance (CE) syllabuses which are then taught in years 7 and 8 as children prepare to sit examinations in English, maths, science, and French. Like many schools, we have opted out of the ISEB CE Humanities examinations which allows us to take a much more flexible and creative approach to teaching history, geography and religious studies. In geography, this sees our children undertaking an extensive field study in the local area and then analysing, evaluating and presenting their findings.

Alongside the academic subjects, children in the Prep School also have timetabled lessons in art, DT, music, PE, life skills, ICT and games.

Throughout the curriculum, we ensure that we prepare children not just for the world of today but also the world of tomorrow – giving them the foundational skills for job roles that may not even yet exist. In ICT, for example, our pupils can be found not only designing websites but also learning to program Lego robots.

We constantly look to improve and innovate in our curriculum and have recently introduced an exciting enrichment programme. Running on Saturday mornings throughout the school enables children to explore a range of creative and personal development subjects outside the constraints of academic learning such as photography, philosophy and cookery as well as outdoor activities.

As our children grow into teenagers, the close community we provide at Forres Sandle Manor creates a safe haven, one which encourages them to spread their wings and take on new responsibilities. Our year 8 children become part of our ‘Fiendishly Sensitive Mentoring’ scheme which pairs them with three or four children in years 3-6, receiving training with the Deputy Head to ensure they know when issues should be escalated to an adult. They also take on leadership roles as prefects, captains of our sports teams and within the boarding house.

With the support of a Personal Tutor during their final year, our children achieve highly in their Common Entrance examinations and win places at a wide range of leading boarding and day schools, with many awarded academic, all-rounder, art, music and sports scholarships. While we are always delighted to celebrate their exam success, we feel that they are leaving us with something even more valuable – a genuine love of learning, an ability to take risks and a readiness to take on the world!