LD: Hello Mrs. Barr, thank you for inviting me to Chepstow House School today. This is such a fabulous building, and it's pretty rare to find such a phenomenal space with such a variety of playgrounds, and a nursery with its own fantastic facilities attached.
Last time I was here, you were explaining how the school was to be grown organically.
AB: Yes, that’s correct the school will continue and go up to year 8.
Can you please explain your entry process?
Entry into the nursery is at two and a half. There is a choice of either a morning or an afternoon session. The morning session starts at 9 AM and finishes at 12 PM, then the afternoon session begins at 1 PM and finishes at 4 PM. If children come to us for the full 2 years of nursery, they are automatically given a definite place in the school.
Can you offer any advice to parents on how to prepare their child for nursery?
For nursery, we generally would like the children to be potty trained, have enough self awareness to be able to separate from their parent, and be happy playing. Nursery isn’t about whether they can they read; it’s more about how the child socialises, whether they can feed themselves, put a coat on, carry their own bag, and be relatively independent.
So entry into the nursery is via registration. Are there any specific tests prior to entry?
No, if you register with a school at birth they automatically register into the nursery as well. Just before they start at the nursery, around 6 months prior, we write to the parent asking if they would like to take up a place at the nursery either in the afternoon or the morning session.
Do people that have children born from September to December have priority because they put their names down first?
No, because we only offer 6-7 places a month at the beginning, middle and end of the month to ensure spaces are distributed evenly rather than on a first come, first served basis.
And then entry into your pre-prep is automatic if you're already in the nursery and have registered with the school?
We only have 40 places in our nursery and 66 places in the reception. We know which children who will be leaving us, and therefore offer places accordingly.
And are there any specific assessments or tests that are required?
No, just as long as they are ready to be able to take on the curriculum.
Is it possible to leave the school or join the school at 7/8+?
We no longer prepare for a 7+ exit. We expect most of the children to come with us and stay all the way up to 11. If they want to go on to boarding or a London day school that starts at 13, they can stay here up till then as well. We hold our own 7+/8+ and 11+ assessments in January for children wishing to enter the school the following September.
Does the school prepare children for the 11+/pre-test exams in Year 6?
Yes, we do. We prepare all the children for an assessment at 11 because now there are many more schools that do a pre-test at that age, so they all have to be prepared for some sort of assessment at 11, even going into the 13+ schools.
Do you find that you have a good balance of boys and girls?
Yes, we try and make it 50/50 as much as we can in reception and then it tends to stay that way throughout. Obviously after the transfer into Yr 7, there will probably be more boys than girls. However, girls who decide to go to a boarding school will be prepared for a further 2 years for the common entrance exams.
With the change in the exam process for the girl's consortium schools, can you advise as to how you are preparing girls? Do you know whether it will be similar to the boys ISEB test?
Because we came in with a lot of systems changing, as a new school, we are not really changing how we prepare our children. We focus more on teaching children to learn rather than teaching children to take an assessment. Our aim is not that we are constantly looking at the 11+ or 13+ or how to take an assessment; we are teaching them about learning and only in the last term of Yr 5 do we look at how to take an assessment.
Would you say in your experience that boys and girls, regardless of whether they are in a single-sex or a co-ed school, need to be taught differently?
No, I think all children have to be taught differently. I don’t think there’s a difference between a boy or girl in their learning. We are very much of the opinion that you should teach children to learn and teach in a variety of different styles, for example kinetic, visual, and oral learning. If you are told, boys learn this way, and girls learn in another, you are narrowing the educational system. Children learn in different ways and we have to develop their weakness as well as their strengths; therefore we have a rounded, creative way of teaching.
What sort of facilities do you offer for extra curricular subjects, sport, arts, and drama?
Well we are incredibly fortunate and I think probably the only school within the Notting Hill area that is on one level. We’re not in a little town house, and are fortunate to offer various outside spaces. We have a garden, where we have a gardener who comes in and shows the children how to grow vegetables and a wild area where the children can climb trees, roll down hills, and play with sticks.
The reception children have their own playground area. We also have an onsite pitch as well as a gym. We have a large hall which is also used as a dining room and drama room.
Which is fantastic. Do you go outside for any activities?
We do because we like the children in Yr 3 upwards to have the correct sized pitch to play on, and at Yr 3 we start looking at fixtures with other schools as well. Because of our outside facilities, the children develop a natural hand eye coordination awareness.
Do you have a SEN department?
Yes, we have a SEN department so we can cater for those children within school who may have dyslexic tendencies or a global learning delay. We’re not a specialist school and we don’t have specialist facilities as such, or on site occupational therapists, but we do cater for children who need support.
You have a fantastic dining area downstairs. Does everybody eat at the same time?
No, it’s staggered over 3 sittings. There will eventually be 400 children in the main school. Currently it’s 315, so we’re not far off our full capacity. The reception children eat on their own because we feel if they were in with the bigger children, it would be quiet intimidating.
What year do you currently go up to?
Year 7.
Are the children given the chance to learn and vie for leadership positions within the school?
Yes we do, we have a head boy, a head girl, house captains, sports captains, and for those that remain within the school after Yr 6, we have ambassadors for Yr 7 & 8 . This allows all the children to have the opportunity to experience leadership skills and positions of responsibility as they go forward.
Do you have sibling policies?
We do have a sibling policy, absolutely.
Parents are often keen to keep their children together for as long as possible, especially for logistical reasons.
It only works if your eldest is at the school and then the younger ones get the sibling priority, although you still have to register.
We do have parents who forget to register their last or 4th child because it’s their 4th child and think they don’t need to through that process, but if we don’t know that you want them to come to the school, we can’t give you the sibling priority.
So will this year be your first year of 11+/ pre test exam?
No, our Yr 6 have already gone through their first round of tests and they’ve all got places, and gone off to a variety of schools, such as St Paul's, Godolphin & Latymer, and Francis Holland, as well as boarding schools.
We have achieved what other schools are doing that have been around for years in our first year.
Congratulations! That is amazing.
It’s lovely to see the success via solid foundation work put in at reception by both the teachers and the children continue right the way through the school until they leave us.
How has the school helped alleviate exam stress for the children?
We’ve spoken with the parents about this and put things in place for the children to give them the opportunity to talk to someone if they wish.
Conversations tend to take place at the end of term time. What we tend to find and what I’ve spoken to parents about is that actually the stress is sometimes parent-created rather than child-created. Once we have the child in school they are very calm; it’s what go’s on outside the gate that can cause stress to the parent.
So, communication...
Yep.
Do you have parent conversations as a group or individually?
Unless requested we tend to speak to parents in year groups. This year we’ve invited and spoken to the current Yr 6 and Yr 5 parents about what the children are experiencing and what we’ve done at school to help.
I believe the fear and exam anxiety often boil down to the unknown. Knowing the process, being supported by your school, and working as a team definitely help alleviate the majority of the stress.
Absolutely and it’s like you say, if it’s your first child you don’t know what everyone is going through or what to expect, so it’s very reassuring to hear from other parents with similar experiences who can draw on this for support and guidance from others.
Would you say children like the familiarity of being in one school from nursery to the end of prep school? Do you think it makes the children more confident, and does it ensure a smoother transition to secondary school?
Absolutely, I think there’s something lovely about the children coming in through nursery. They certainly come in very confident because they know the building, a lot of them have siblings.
That continuity really does help the children; they don’t need the added stress of changing schools unless necessary. Having been in education for many, many years, I know that children get to where they need to get to of their own accord.
Thank you very much for your time.
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