Welcome to Holmwood House Pre Prep School
An Independent pre prep school in Lexden, Near Colchester, Essex for Years 1-3
A letter from Miss Ashton, Head of Holmwood House Pre Prep
In Year 1 our children move into Pre Prep which encompasses Years 1, 2 and 3 and is located in our superb, spacious building which hosts its own personalised playground especially designed for these years. We are incredibly lucky to have an amazing team of inspiring class teachers and assistants who dedicate themselves to delivering our broad, rigorous and enriching curriculum which prepares children to fulfil our mission statement of being lifelong, curious learners who are on a quest for knowledge.
Our specially designed IGNITE Pre Prep Curriculum utilises the learning skills that our confident children have developed in our EYFS environment. It is underpinned by the premise that learning which blends excitement and challenge is integral to developing intrinsically motivated, confident and engaged children who have a growing curiosity and understanding of the world around them. Our intention is to equip our pupils to be resilient, effective communicators who ask questions about their learning, who are collaborative and reflective and who think critically for themselves and solve problems.
Our curriculum provides opportunities for ownership, creativity and leadership with the purpose of building essential, transferable core skills through challenging and immersive learning. It is also anchored by our learning philosophy – the 5Rs. Our 5Rs encompass much of what we do in the Pre Prep. These learning skills encourage our children to be Resilient Rhinos, Resourceful Raccoons, Responsible Reindeers, Reasoning Ravens or Reflective Rabbits! The children demonstrate these skills daily, reflect on areas they need to improve on and enjoy working towards weekly awards as a result of their hard work.
Throughout the different subject areas, we develop the children’s knowledge and skills preparing them for a seamless transition into the Key Stage 2 curriculum which they begin in Year 3. As the children progress through the year groups, our teachers support the children to develop their confidence and independence to ensure a seamless transition into our Prep School. To assist this, our Pre-Prep children are gradually introduced to more specialist teachers and a wider variety of activities, thus allowing the children to develop their independence and responsibility within a safe and controlled structure.
In the Pre-Prep, we pride ourselves on providing bespoke pastoral care and ensuring we endeavour to have open communication with our parents. A happy child requires a triangular support system of parent, teacher and child working collaboratively to ensure success each day and ultimately throughout each year. It means that our teachers and assistants build up good relationships with all of the children and support them on their bespoke learning journey. Throughout the Pre-Prep, good behaviour and positive attitudes are role modelled and consequently celebrated in our weekly Golden Awards Assembly. We celebrate children who have achieved a 5R and Golden Award for their excellent work in the week.
As Head of Pre Prep, I enjoy working with the parents and children to support the children’s learning journeys and to make sure they leave pre-prep as happy, confident children who have a life-long love of learning.
Miss B Ashton
Head of Pre Prep & Reception
First Class Hons, BEd Primary
Our Curriculum Philosophy
At Holmwood House our curriculum philosophy is underpinned by the premise that learning which blends excitement and challenge is integral to developing intrinsically motivated, confident and engaged children who have a growing curiosity and understanding of the world around them. Our intention is to equip our pupils to be resilient, effective communicators who ask questions about their learning, who are collaborative and reflective and who think critically for themselves and solve problems. Our curriculum provides opportunities for ownership, creativity and leadership with the purpose of building essential, transferable core skills through challenging and immersive learning.
Our Ignite approach for the Pre Prep years
Our IGNITE curriculum has been specially designed for our Pre-Prep Years, Year 1 to Year 3. Running through and at the heart of this learning is the building of essential English skills, which we achieve through literature rich lessons, linked to our themes and opportunities for writing in context and centred around high quality texts.
We carefully interweave this with a Global Studies approach to our curriculum, bringing as much of the learning back to meaningful and relevant experiences that our pupils can relate to in their own lives, whilst raising awareness of what it is to be a global citizen and equipping them with the important skills and knowledge for each individual subject. This means that they can connect their learning, whilst experiencing a growing understanding of what it is to be a scientist, a geographer or an historian in the context of interconnected thematic learning.
Maths is taught discretely, although connected where appropriate so that children can see the value of their learning and the exciting opportunities that maths in real life contexts can provide.
Each of our themes creates a ‘hook’ for the learning, sparking curiosity and igniting wonder from the outset, culminating in a showcase of the children’s learning journey.
