Newton Preparatory School

[EduCativ]

Newton Prep children are bright and inquisitive individuals, each with unique abilities, interests, and aspirations. They have exceptional opportunities at this school – for personal development, adventure, and achievement in many directions. We encourage their curiosity and imagination at every stage of school life, and provide important foundations for a love of life and learning in this formative period.

Newton Prep is a successful and dynamic school with high standards and expectations. We are interested in education in the fullest sense, and seek to provide a proper balance of academic excellence, fun, and activity. The teaching staff is wholly committed to giving the children an outstanding educational experience during their time at Newton Prep. We value the quality of our relationships with parents and children, which are grounded in respect, trust, and honesty.

Newton Prep is a vibrant co-ed school for children aged 3-13 which offers a challenging education for inquisitive children who are eager to engage fully with the world in which they are growing up. Our aims:

• To inspire children to be adventurous and committed in their learning.
• To provide balance and breadth in all aspects of a child’s education: intellectual, aesthetic, physical, moral, and spiritual.
• To encourage initiative, individuality, independence, creativity, and inquiry.
• To promote responsible behavior and respect for others in a happy, safe, and caring environment.

Central to our mission statement is our School Council, our equivalent to a Governing Body. We are privileged to have a team of impressive individuals in a variety of fields, giving us a breadth and depth of educational, political, and community experience with which to realize our aims.

Newton Prep is an independent preparatory school and nursery in Battersea, South West London for boys and girls aged 3 to 13. Deciding your child’s schooling is one of the most important you will make as a family. We are very fortunate in London to have so many good prep schools to choose from and many of your friends and associates will have a view about the ‘best schools.

Firstly, we think you will find us to be a very happy community. Newton Prep children are full of life, spark, and character. We celebrate their individuality and do not try to force them into a particular way of being. They form strong friendships here and the relationships between the staff and the children are positive and mutually respectful. We are a big prep school. We have over 600 children on roll (about 300 in the Pre-Prep and 300 in the Prep) and yet the pastoral care is exceptional. The children know each other very well and so do their teachers. Also, we have outstanding facilities. With a 300-seat auditorium, a 120-seat Recital Hall, a music technology suite, 3 state-of-the-art science labs, a wonderful library, and spacious classrooms, the children have many opportunities to develop their interests and enthusiasms. From the outside, you might not realize that we also have a very large all-weather pitch and a huge playground for our Lower School (Pre-Prep) children to play on. When they come to apply for senior schools (at 11+ or 13+) our children are well prepared for the increasingly competitive exams and assessments they must take.

Newton Prep is academically ambitious. That does not mean to say we reduce their educational experience down to slavishly slogging through practice papers but it does mean that we have the ‘best schools in our sights - whether that be a London day school or a boarding school well beyond the limits of the M25.

The Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum is based upon the national guidelines for the Early Years Foundation Stage which incorporates seven areas of learning through three main characteristics of effective learning: playing and exploring, active learning, and creating and thinking critically. Prime areas are Personal, Social, and Emotional Development, Communication, and Language and Physical Development, and the Specific areas are Literacy, Mathematics, Expressive Arts and Design, and Understanding the World.

Alongside learning the basics of literacy and numeracy, the children develop skills and interests across a broad spectrum of enriching and exciting experiences. Most importantly, children begin their social journey - an adventure that involves building positive relationships with the adults and peers within the setting, learning and achieving through play and focused work with caring and professional practitioners.

Throughout the Early Years Foundation Stage, we understand that each child is unique. Children are engaged in whole class, small group, and individual activities which are tailored to their learning needs. Activities are planned by the staff around topic themes and the interests of the children and their families. We incorporate cultural and religious festivals that are of significance to our families. The curriculum is flexible so that it embraces significant developments in each child’s school and home life such as the birth of a sibling, a holiday, or moving house. Planning is reviewed daily to ensure the best opportunities for the development of each child.

In Year 1 we have a full-time teaching assistant in each class and in Year 2 we have two full-time teaching assistants who divide their time equally between all four classes. The role of the teaching assistant is to support the class teacher in providing pastoral care and the curriculum.

In Key Stage 1, we teach through topics, allowing us to provide an exciting and cohesive curriculum, using a cross-curricular approach. The children have lessons with subject specialist teachers in PE, French, Music, ICT and, in Year 2, Art also.

From Year 1, we begin to set the children for maths informally, in addition to differentiating within all subjects. Sets in mathematics are called maths clubs and are flexible. We offer extra support to children who require further consolidation or extension of skills learned in the classroom.

Children enjoy a wide variety of extra-curricular activities. As part of the weekly program, teachers provide clubs for Traditional Games, Construction, Origami, Art and Sewing, and Needlework. Ballet, Tap, Judo, tennis, gymnastics, yoga, chess, and many other activities are available as paid extras.

In the Upper School, we aim to create a vibrant learning environment in which all children are allowed to develop and flourish. We provide outstanding opportunities throughout the Upper School in all pursuits: academic, creative, physical, and social. We take a great deal of pride in our community and enjoy sharing in each other’s many and varied successes.

As a school, we encourage independence and aim to ensure that all members of our school feel that they are valued and respected as individuals. By using subject specialist teachers throughout the curriculum we fire the children’s imagination and inspire them to be creative, adventurous, and committed in their learning. We promote inquiry and initiative and ensure that they can enjoy the many and varied opportunities on offer in our purpose-built, state-of-the-art facilities.

Throughout the school, you will find motivated children, enjoying their learning in wonderful facilities. We have high expectations of all of our boys and girls and ensure that they receive all of the support they need to achieve their potential. We aim to provide the highest possible level of pastoral care so that each child flourishes at Newton Prep. By working closely with the family, we provide an individual experience, tailored to a child’s needs and designed to bring out the very best in every child.

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