Confident girls are confident learners and so in lessons the teachers build and nurture an  individual’s talents and skills whilst helping her to understand that mistakes are an essential part of the learning process.

Each girl at Tormead Prep is considered unique and the school’s academic programme reflects this. Our teachers engage their classes with activities that require fluidity, creativity and out of the box thinking. We look to challenge our girls to be prepared for jobs in the future. Building on the firm foundations set in Pre-Prep, the girls take an active part in their own education.

Timetabled Lessons

As an independent school, we go above and beyond the National Curriculum and offer the following weekly lessons to our pupils:

Reception: The Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum is followed and in addition the pupils have a German, Music, Games, PE and Swimming lesson taught by specialist teachers.

Year 1 and Year 2:  Art, DT, Critical Thinking (Year 2 only), Drama, English (daily), Games, Humanities (History and Geography), German, IT, Library, Mathematics (daily), Mindfulness, Music, PE, PSHE, R.E, Science, and Swimming.

Year 3 and 4: Art and Textiles, Critical Thinking, Drama, English (daily), French, Games, German, Humanities (History and Geography), IT, Mathematics (daily), Mindfulness, Music, PE, PSHE, R.E, Science, and Swimming.

Year 5 and 6: Art and Textiles, Latin, Critical Thinking, Drama, English (daily), French, Games, German, Humanities (History and Geography), IT, Mathematics (daily), Mindfulness, Music, PE, PSHE, R.E, Science and Swimming.

Using Higher Order Thinking skills, such as curiosity, creativity, perseverance and resilience (taught and modelled by the teachers), the girls are encouraged to build on their knowledge and understanding, through a multi-faceted approach to their understanding. This includes learning that takes place in Wild Side, our outdoor woodlands environment, through the varied and broad selection of after school clubs, visiting speakers, trips to museums and residential trips.

In Pre-prep, girls will be taught German from Reception. In addition, French will be introduced in Year 3 along with Latin from Year 5.

All girls enjoy specialist teaching in Music, Games and Gymnastics, and from Year 2, also in Design Technology. 

From Year 2 onwards, girls are taught ‘Critical Thinking’. This covers a broad range of topics encompassing  Philosophy, Independence and Critical Thinking.

Parents are encouraged to speak in assemblies – sharing their knowledge and passion of subjects outside of academic achievement, for example: climbing Mont Blanc or swimming the channel. These assemblies inspire and motivate the girls to be confident, independent individuals who can follow their own ambitions and dreams.

In addition, former pupils and speakers from a variety of fields are also invited to share their experiences in the world.

We believe an essential part of preparing our girls for the future is to ensure they are adept with the use of new technologies and we are proud to be an Apple Distinguished School.

From Reception to Year 4, class sets of iPads are used in lessons. From Year 5 the girls use their own devices. We are proud of the creativity and intellectual curiosity our girls display and, by using technology safely and responsibly, IT lessons build up the skills and confidence of our girls in areas such as coding, e-safety and data handling. 

Our girls are enthusiastic, confident and independent learners, aware that a love of the pursuit of knowledge will take them to great places- and it all starts in the Pre-Prep and Prep school.