Independent Schools Feb 2020

Thursday, February 6, 2020

Newbury Weekly News

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Independent Schools February 2020

Newbury Weekly News

Nursery Open House SATURDAY 14 MARCH 10am - 12pm

09:00 - 11:00AM Open Day -!2 06 FRIDAY 9am - 11am MARCH

P I CK YOUR PATH AT. . .

The Mount, Highclere, Newbury, RG20 9PS Tel: +44 (0) 1635 253172 www.thorngroveschool.co.uk

Thursday, February 6, 2020

Newbury Weekly News

Open Mornings Independent Day School Boys 6 months - 11 years Girls 6 months - 18 years

Nursery & Junior School Thursday 13 February 9.30 - 12.00

Senior School & Sixth Form Friday 13 March 9.30 - 12.00

EXCELLENT & OUTSTANDING in all areas ISI 2019

Pupils display extremely high OHYHOV RI VHOI FRQÀGHQFH ZLWKRXW any sense of arrogance. “ ” Independent Schools Inspectorate Report November 2019

To reserve your place contact admissions@stgabriels.co.uk

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01635 555680 www.stgabriels.co.uk St Gabriel’s Sandleford Priory Newbury RG20 9BD

Thursday, February 6, 2020

Newbury Weekly News

PREP SCHOOL FOR BOYS AGE 4-13

Where Boys Thrive

Open Morning Friday 28th February 10am To book a visit please email registrar@horrishill.com

www.horrishill.com

Thursday, February 6, 2020

Newbury Weekly News

Elstree School

ELSTREE School is a day and boarding school for children aged three to 13 in Woolhampton, Berkshire. Set in idyllic grounds of 150 acres, only an hour by car from West London, Elstree offers a secure and stimulating environment for children to be nurtured and inspired. Proud of its rich history and reputation as a school with high academic, creative and sporting achievements, pupils from Elstree have gained places to some of the country’s top senior schools, including Bradfield, Eton, Harrow, Marlborough and Wellington. Forty-five scholarships and exhibitions have been awarded to Elstree pupils since 2015. Elstree is becoming fully co-educational from September 2020. Girls are already accepted in Nursery to Year 3, but will now be able to stay until the end of Year 8. There are spaces available in September 2020 for girls wanting to join in Years 3, 4 and 5, who can come and experience a taste of Elstree at the Girls’ Discovery Morning on Saturday, March 7. While success is something celebrated, Elstree recognises that being open, compassionate and tolerant of others, is equally important. Through enrichment programmes and an outstanding array of extra curriculum activities, Elstree provides an environment where both girls and boys can develop the skills neces- sary to thrive in today’s world.

on Saturday, March 7, visit elstreeschool.org.uk/admissions/ girls-discovery-morning/ It’s a great way to get a feel for the school, and meet other girls and parents.

To book your place, visit elstreeschool.org.uk/admissions/ open-days/ or call the registrar on (0118) 971 3302. To sign up to the Girls’ Discovery morning (and lunch)

Reading and Basingstoke, and the school day can be extended with after school care provision. Elstree’s next open morning is on Saturday, February 29, between 10am and noon.

Elstree is large enough to accommodate two state-of-the-art science laboratories, a new music school, full-size all-weather pitch, outdoor pool, woodland for outdoor learning,

and a lake for kayaking, yet with an intake of around 200 is small enough to be personal, family-focused and intimate. Buses run daily from Hungerford, Peasemore, West

Independent Schools supplements next published March 19th 2020 & September 10th 2020 to advertise your school in the Newbury Weekly News and online

please contact Abigail on 01635 886612 or email abigail.reddin@newburynews.co.uk

Thursday, February 6, 2020

Newbury Weekly News

Moulsford

In addition to these schools, others to which Moulsford boys progressed this year include Marlborough, Eton, Shiplake and Pangbourne. Moulsford’s reputation for sport, and particularly rugby, remains extremely strong. While sporting glory is always the goal, and often achieved, the primary aim at Moulsford is to achieve opportunity across the ability range with all boys in teams A to F regularly playing competitive matches across the major sports. The Moulsford Extra-Curricular Activities programme is a vital part of school life. The river offers multiple water-based opportunities including sailing, kayaking and paddleboarding and last term we had over 80 boys on the river weekly. Other popular outdoor choices include fishing, photography, gardening, cyclocross and geocaching. At Moulsford there’s something for everyone with the aim of finding that elusive activity that ignites a spark in every child beyond the classroom. Moulsford Prep School is an independent day and boarding school for boys aged four to 13. Set in idyllic grounds of 30 acres beside the Thames near Wallingford, it provides boys with a first-class education and an excellent start in life. A network of bus and minibus routes service the area. Contact the school for details.

MOULSFORD offers boys superb opportunities for learning while having fun. A restructured curriculum has moved away from the traditional Common Entrance preparation, with the focus on not only preparing boys for senior schools, but also ensuring they have the skills for life beyond. By removing the need to do CE, children have the opportunity to take more control of their own learning experience and feel empowered to be more creative in their responses. The new curriculum encourages boys to have a go, take a well-thought out risk and, on occasion, fail. Exploration and enquiry is strongly encouraged and Moulsford life aims to develop boys’ resilience. The World Economic Forum states that creativity is number three on its list of desirable skills in the workplace from 2022 and so key to the Moulsford curriculum is exploring ways for the boys to be more inventive in their work, particularly in humanities. With the constraints of CE removed, Moulsford now has three assessment points over the course of the academic year, rather than just one written exam in May. The aim is to give the boys opportunities to be assessed over a wider variety of skills than just the traditional written examination, allowing boys to play to their own strengths.

learn much more than how to score highly in summative tests and regurgitate learned facts. With more freedom in the curriculum, there can be more breadth in lessons. Enormous value is placed on boys being able to spend as much time as possible outside and in

the fresh air, both at work and at play. With plenty of outside space, teachers are encouraged to use it at every opportunity, in any lesson. One measure of Moulsford’s success is the broad range of scholarships and exhibitions awarded by them each year.

For 2019 at 13+, three boys gained awards to Abingdon School, three to Radley, three to Magdalen College School, two to Cokethorpe, one to Bradfield, one to St Edward’s Oxford, one to Wellington and one to The Oratory, all across a range of academic, sports, music, drama, art, design and technology, and all rounder awards.

Alongside the more formal written material, boys are encouraged to produce spider diagrams, play scripts, models, comic strips, presentations and videos that all fulfil the success criteria of the task at hand. While exams remain an important part of school life, Moulsford boys continue to

BOYSWILL BE... active at Moulsford Prep day and boarding school of 360 boys aged 4 – 13 years

To attend please email admissions@moulsford.com or call 01491 651438 or visit our website Moulsford Prep School, Moulsford-on-Thames, Oxfordshire OX10 9HR OPEN DAY FRIDAY 15th May 2020

WWW.MOULSFORD.COM

Thursday, February 6, 2020

Newbury Weekly News

Thorngrove School

and so much more. Children can also take part in wider school events such as Sports Day and World Book Day. Every year the school runs a literary festival where famous writers are invited to run workshops, talk about the writing process and, of course, the books that they have published. Due to demand, the school has decided to increase its provision by creating two nursery classes that will be housed next to each other with a washroom between them. The two nursery classes will have direct access to the outdoors and the ratio of children to staff will be kept deliberately low. Sessions are flexible with both morning and afternoons available with or without lunch. There is also wrap around care available for working parents. Drop off is from 8.15am and pick up can be as late as 5pm. From Reception class, a breakfast club is also available from 7.30am. You really must come and see for yourself. Although the school is having a School Open Morning on Friday, March 6, from 9am-11am, there is also a Nursery Open House on Saturday, March 14, from 10am-noon, where you can meet the team and see for yourself the beautiful nursery setting. Call (01635) 253172 to book your place with the registrar Bev O’Brien.

THORNGROVE’S Nursery is an exciting place to be. Children can join the nursery once they are two-and-a-half years old and later move up to the reception class, which is just next door. There is always a happy buzz, with loads of activities and challenges for the children to ‘have a go’ at and enjoy. Thorngrove’s team of experienced teachers and teaching assistants actively support the children in their learning. The ratios are kept low so that the child can be assisted, nurtured and encouraged to foster a love of learning. The curriculum is an exciting one with ballet, music and movement, PE, French and Forest School taking place during the week. Ballet is taken by Miss Holly, and boys and girls enjoy these lessons, which focus on building up core stability, balance, self-discipline and working together. The school has its own woods where its qualified Forest School teacher is on hand to guide the children in their creative play, well-being and above all having fun. Recently, the nursery children have participated in the Big Schools Birdwatch run by the RSPB. The school even has its own pair of egrets (white heron) that paddle in the stream that runs

through the middle of the school campus. Children at this age must take risks. However, Thorngrove children do so in a warm, caring and safe environment. The children have some amazing opportunities and can use all the facilities of the ‘big school’

other pupils from Reception to Year 2. Teachers sit and eat with the children to encourage good manners, healthy eating and socialising. Food at Thorngrove is yummy and as much as possible is locally-sourced – meat is

supplied by Vicars Game of Ashhampstead and fresh fruit, salads and vegetables are supplied by Heritage Fine Food Company in Coate, Wiltshire. Once fuelled up the children can then enjoy playing in the adventure play area, which has a muddy kitchen, climbing frame, sandpit, digging area

while being part of a cosy environment. It is truly the best of both worlds and the bespoke curriculum allows each child to develop at their own pace. Lunch is a social affair and the children walk down to the New Hall where they sit at tables with

#PickYourPath

www.thorngroveschool.co.uk/open-mornings

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The Mount, Highclere, Newbury, RG20 9PS, UK | Tel: +44 (0) 1635 253172

Thursday, February 6, 2020

Newbury Weekly News

Cheam School

development and the activity programme ensures that Pre-Prep children are given a wide range of sporting activities throughout Years 1 and 2. Once in the Prep School, weekly boarding is an increasingly popular option and parents enjoy spending quality time with their children at weekends, without worrying on a daily basis about homework and travelling to after-school clubs. Children live in a community where they are given the independence to think for themselves, make their own decisions and learn to look after each other with the support of a strong pastoral team. Cheam’s reputation for sport remains extremely strong and all children regularly play in competitive matches for rugby, football, netball, hockey and cricket. There is a heated outdoor swimming pool for use during the summer term and six all-weather tennis courts, a full size all-weather hockey ground and a nine-hole golf course. Prospective parents can arrange an individual visit to the school with the registrar Amanda Arkwright, followed by a meeting with the Headmaster Martin Harris. If you are interested in discovering what Cheam School could offer your child, please contact the registrar by email registrar@cheamschool.co.uk or telephone (01635) 268242.

CHEAM School is one of the oldest prep schools in the country. Founded in 1645 during the English Civil War it has survived four centuries on three sites, the most recent move being the one from Cheam in Surrey to the village of Headley, near Newbury, in 1934. The school offers parents a co-educational day and boarding option for children aged three to 13 years. Set in 100 acres of glorious countryside, Cheam provides the perfect environment for children to spend their early school days. Cheam strives for excellence in a wide range of activities, something the Headmaster Martin Harris is particularly proud of. “There is something for everyone here. Childhood is special and every child can succeed in something which will help to build on, and increase, their self esteem.” Cheam’s extra-curricular list is exhaustive and ensures that every child can pursue their particular talents and interests to the full. Classes are small and academic ambitions are high. Most of the children at Cheam learn a musical instrument with opportunities for all children, choirs for all ages, several orchestras and a large jazz band. Excellent facilities for learning, coupled with inspirational teaching, provides the strongest

start to their learning journey and life beyond. As well as preparing children for the country’s top senior independent schools, Cheam also has a long-standing reputation for delivering a nurturing Pre-Prep setting for children

aged three to seven years. Cheam Pre-Prep is a vibrant community set in the heart of the school and benefits from all the facilities available within the prep school, from the art, design and technology centre to rugby pitches and tennis courts.

The Early Years children enjoy Cheam’s extensive grounds – practising skills, taking risks and developing learning in all areas of the curriculum in an outdoor Woodland Learning setting. Linking with topics such as

Africa, dinosaurs and traditional tales, children explore, have camp fires, make natural artwork and build camps, as well as acting out stories in the woods and parkland. PE and sports lessons focus on the children’s physical

Co-educational boarding and day 3–13 Years

Cheam School, Headley, Newbury, Berkshire, RG19 8LD registrar@cheamschool.com | +44 (0)1635 268242 www.cheamschool.com | @cheamschool.com

Thursday, February 6, 2020

Newbury Weekly News

Independent Schools supplements next published March 19th 2020 & September 10th 2020 to advertise your school in the Newbury Weekly News and online

please contact Abigail on 01635 886612 or email abigail.reddin@newburynews.co.uk