Boys and Girls from the age of 2 to 5 attend the Pre-Prep departments in Westcliff and Thorpe Bay. On each site there are 3 classes, Pre-Nursery, Nursery and Kindergarten, which cater for each appropriate age group – rising 3s, 4s and 5s.

Children are given an excellent start to their education in these settings; both departments having been classified as Outstanding by Ofsted and widely considered as Beacon settings locally by the appropriate authorities.
Each class is led superbly by a Montessori trained teacher and an assisting teacher and the Montessori approach is found to be most conducive to meeting the requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) curriculum. The Montessori approach starts from the fundamental belief that all children are unique individuals with immense potential, who want to learn and be busy. Montessori methods give children the freedom to make choices and to pursue them without interruption, encouraging them to respect the choices of those around them and take pleasure in their accomplishments.
Whilst focusing on the 6 key areas of learning ( Personal, Social & Emotional Development; Communication, Language & Literacy; Problem Solving, Reasoning & Numeracy; Knowledge & Understanding of the World; Physical Development and Creative Development), there is great emphasis on the individual child’s own development through child-initiated learning and play. Outdoor areas are also valued as an extension of the classroom and both sites have well developed outdoor learning opportunities.
Children in the Pre-Prep have specialist teaching for music, whilst Kindergarten classes also start to learn French.

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