Pre-Prep (age 3-7)
The Prince’s Mead Pre-Prep is a caring, nurturing environment for pupils aged 3-7. We pride ourselves on ensuring that each child flourishes and feels a sense of belonging in the Prince’s Mead family, from the moment they join us.
Throughout the Pre-Prep, our staff are highly qualified and dedicated professionals who have an excellent understanding of how to foster a love of learning in young children enabling them to thrive within the Prince’s Mead family.
Our pupils’ experience is complemented further by regular visits to our Forest School and specialist teaching in Art, Music and Physical Education (including swimming).
The Early Years
Your child’s first two years at Prince’s Mead are in Nursery followed by Reception; however, you will often see this referred to as the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS).
We believe that during those first precious years of schooling, children learn best through play, child-initiated learning and first-hand experiences. Our role is to support their efforts and help them to achieve of their best – from being able to hang up their own school bag and bring their book bag into the classroom to understanding the role of ‘Helping Hands’ to writing their names and confidently participating in new experiences.
The Early Years Curriculum
Our Nursery and Reception children learn through child-initiated learning following the seven areas of learning:
- Personal, Social and Emotional Development
- Communication and Language
- Literacy
- Mathematics
- Understanding the World
- Physical Development
- Expressive Arts and Design
We challenge children’s thinking and help them to embrace differences in gender, ethnicity, religion, special educational needs and disabilities. We also value the importance of developing our pupil’s confidence, courtesy and empathy skills so they continue to grow into children who are kind and care for others.
We hold curriculum workshop mornings during the Lent and Summer Terms, parents are invited to work alongside their children and gain some insight into how they learn.
Key Stage 1
In Years 1 and 2 a new topic is introduced each half term with the teaching and learning of other subjects being linked to the topic. We maintain the expectations of the National Curriculum, whilst also providing a broad curriculum that offers children the opportunity to develop interests in a wide variety of subjects.
This ‘topic’ approach enables children to apply their skills and transfer their knowledge from one subject to another. It supports children in making connections whilst increasing their confidence, interest, and motivation when learning. Our topics are fun and engaging, ranging from The Seaside and Old Toys to Transport and Pirates!
In Years 1 and 2, we aim to promote the following personal development goals:
- To develop an enthusiasm for sharing information whilst learning the need to listen carefully to others.
- To be able to work on short tasks until complete and move on to new tasks independently and with interest.
- To take care of their property.
- To be understanding and kind to others.
- To take pride in their appearance of themselves and their learning.
- To be able to dress and undress without help
- ……..Be the best we can!
All pupils in our Pre-Prep are encouraged to develop individual interests, explore, ask questions and have ownership of their learning journey in order to provide them with every opportunity to reach their potential. Our overall aim is to build each child’s self-esteem, confidence and independence to ensure they have the best possible start at Prince’s Mead.
