Humble it may be, but it’s no underdog, with academic rigour and sterling results. So how do they manage it? ‘Simple,’ says the head, ‘You prioritise children’s happiness and enjoyment then you engage them.’ Parent after parent agreed that the two magic ingredients are the school’s ability to nurture and inspire. Children going home saying, ‘Guess what I did today in science or in art!’ is the ultimate goal.
Welcome to Year 3
Due to increased demand, we are delighted to be opening a fourth Year 3 class in September 2023. There will be four parallel mixed-ability forms, the children will be mixed up with the current Year 2 children to create four new classes for the start of the new school year. Each Year 3 class benefits from a teaching assistant every morning.
Trust and communication are key elements to your child thriving throughout their time at Chesham Prep. Your trust in us as professionals, with a depth of experience of nurturing children of this age, is crucial to our working together.
Junior School has a balanced curriculum where the children benefit from teaching from specialist teachers for Spanish, French, ICT, PE, Swimming and Music. At the same time the pastoral provision is exceptionally high as they are very much under the wing of a form teacher who liaises with the specialist teachers to ensure that communication and provision are excellent.
Academic success is encouraged and acknowledged and the teachers ensure the children are challenged appropriately every step of the way. At the same time there are many qualities such as kindness, good manners and respect that are highly valued throughout the school.
Creative curriculum
We have introduced the Creative Curriculum into the Junior School classes. By linking curriculum areas under one topic we found that children work harder and it stretches their imaginations across all subjects. For example in Year 3 the children learn all about the Stone Age in History lessons and this leads on to English lessons being based on the books ‘Ug – The Boy Genius of the Stone Age’ and the ‘Stone Age Boy’. At the same time children learn all about rocks and soils in Science and Volcanoes in Geography. In Art lessons the children enjoy cave painting and creating Stone Age Hand string art.
Sport
From Year 3 all the children will experience playing as members of a team for the first time against other schools. The members of the Games staff have an inclusive approach to the teams and develop a positive ethos for all abilities. The sports include netball, hockey, football, rugby, cricket, basketball, lacrosse, gymnastics and parkour, dance, hockey and athletics.
I look forward to welcoming you and your child to Chesham Prep to experience our friendly, family-orientated school. To book an Individual Tour click here or to come to one of our Open Mornings click here.
Mrs Alex Thomas
Head of Years 3 & 4
