PREP 8 - 13 YEARS

The Prep school gives each pupil the opportunity to develop into a well educated, balanced and confident teenager with an understanding of both personal and group responsibility.

Their status is also recognised by having a uniform that differs slightly from that of the younger children.

Prep school starts at Year 4, when the children are aged 8+. To ease the transition from Pre-Prep to Prep school, each Year 4 class has a form teacher. The pupils have a ‘home room’ where many of their lessons are taught. The form teacher oversees their general welfare and teaches them English, Mathematics, History and Geography. Specialists in other subject areas support and complement the work of the form teachers.

Once in the Prep school, all pupils are appointed to one of three Houses: Abbey, Manor or Tower.

Through them, House marks are awarded for good work and commitment to the school’s ethos. We believe in, and have a healthy respect for, competition at South Lee. All of our pupils are encouraged to take part in House matches.

House Captains are elected by their peers. This gives our older children positions of responsibility within the school and provides them with an opportunity to develop leadership skills at a very important stage in their young lives.

FEEDBACK ON YOUR CHILD'S PROGRESS
We care a great deal about our pupils and are concerned that each child develops as far as possible during their time with us. Written reports are sent out twice a year and Parents'; Evenings are held in the autumn and spring terms, enabling discussion about each Child's progress. Furthermore, we encourage parents with genuine concerns to make an appointment to see their child’s teacher/tutor at any time during the school year. Continual assessment, testing and examinations allow us to closely monitor each pupil’s progress.

HOMEWORK
Homework is set according to age and the demands of the curriculum. In addition to other after-school activities, there is regular, teacher supervised ‘prep’ each evening.

The Prep curriculum includes:

• ENGLISH
  • At this level the emphasis is on good grammar, punctuation and spelling together with creative and effective communication. Children are encouraged to read and to develop a love of classical and modern literature.
• MATHEMATICS
  • Taught in sets, where appropriate.
• FRENCH
  • French is the main language at this level. In Year 7, our pupils’ linguistic skills are further developed with Spanish being introduced as a second foreign language.
• HISTORY, GEOGRAPHY AND RELIGIOUS STUDIES
  • The humanities are taught in a traditional way using modern methods where appropriate.
• SCIENCE
  • We have a traditional approach to the sciences in that they are taught as separate subjects. Experiments take place in Chemistry, Physics and Biology in our well-equipped and purpose-built laboratory.
• INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
  • Through specialist lessons and within the main curriculum, the pupils learn to use IT to enhance their work.
• MUSIC
  • Opportunities exist to perform in choirs, the orchestra and even in the school ‘pop’ band!
• DRAMA
  • Role play and enacting small scenes in the classroom is combined with performance opportunities provided by the annual Prep school production.
• PERSONAL AND SOCIAL EDUCATION
  • This subject is included in the Prep school timetable to help pupils acquire essential lifeskills, build personal relations and to discuss issues that are important to them and to society in general.
• ART AND DESIGN
  • The children study the work of famous artists and experiment with different media.
• DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY
  • Our well designed and purposebuilt facilities allow the children to fully develop their design and technology skills.
• SPORT AND PHYSICAL EDUCATION
  • Our pupils are offered a full range of games and sports skills. Inter-school matches are played weekly against schools from around East Anglia.
• EXTRA–CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES
  • At the end of the school day, children can take part in a wide range of activities for which there is generally no extra charge. These can include team sports, video and design, chess, choir, robotics, equestrianism and journalism for The Children's Chronicle, the school newspaper. The school also offers many activities during the school holidays including the highly popular South Lee Activity Month (SLAM) every summer.