Preparatory School 5-11

Small Classes, Specialist Teaching, Focused Attention and Excellent Results

Pupils in Thorpe Hall’s Preparatory School benefit significantly from focused attention from a dedicated and conscientious staff who strive to understand and meet the bespoke needs of every individual.

Our pupils love to learn. Lessons are stimulating and engaging and make excellent use of technology. We aim to develop an enthusiasm and passion for knowledge which will enhance progress throughout every stage of our pupils’ education and, indeed, every stage of their lives.

We are a fully inclusive school, committed to helping every pupil develop a broad range of academic skills through an exciting curriculum and challenging lessons – many taught by subject specialists, including some by teachers from our Senior School.

We emphasise practical learning and problem solving, encouraging our pupils to be inquisitive, explore topics to gain greater understanding, and think for themselves.

To meet the needs of all our learners, teaching across the school happens in a dyslexia-friendly manner. Moreover, every child makes sustained progress due to our small class sizes, specialist staff, and robust tracking systems. In addition, we have well-developed links to external agencies, a fit-for-purpose Learning Development Centre, where interventions take place, and our staff go the ‘extra mile’ to ensure all pupils achieve their full, individual potential.

Pupils follow the National Curriculum, and this is extended and enriched with many additional subjects such as French, Drama, Dance, Music and much more. Alongside that, we offer many thought-provoking and challenging projects to stimulate learning and overall development. This includes initiatives such as the First Lego League Robotics and Coding Challenge, The National English Speaking Union Debating Competition, and a broad range of Design and Technology focused projects such as the Goblin Kit Car, built by pupils working together, and raced at speeds up to 30MPH!

Thorpe Hall has established relationships with the local Grammar Schools, and we have a long and distinguished track record of presenting candidates for the 11+. Pupils assessed (in Year 5) to be suitable for the examination receive additional support and coaching from Preparatory School staff so that they are well prepared and stand the best possible chance of success. As a result, 90% of our pupils who took the 11+ examination in 2021 passed the exam.

Our Prep School families often choose for their children to move on to our highly successful Senior School, where we attain excellent GCSE results and pupils consistently outperform predicted grades.