St James Preparatory School is Independent Primary school in Hammersmith and Fulham for kids aged 2 to 11 (Gender - Mixed )
Originally from Bolton in Lancashire, Kris Spencer read Geography at the University of Hull where he went on to take his PGCE. He moved on to the University of Cincinnati where he taught undergraduates whilst studying for an MA. After the US, Kris won a scholarship to pursue postgraduate research at Jesus College Oxford.Kris gained significant experience in senior management as Assistant Head at Latymer Upper School from 2005 until 2016. After a short stint at Jersey College for Girls, he became Deputy Head Academic at Notting Hill Prep School in 2018, where he had been a Governor for four years. Before that he worked at Westminster School, St Paul’s Girls’ School (Head of Geography) and Abingdon School (Head of Geography/Day Housemaster).
Y1 & Y2
Learning in Key Stage 1 is more formal and structured, however the humour and warm relations that the children were introduced to in Reception only continue to grow as we support them to realise their potential. We have high expectations for the children to achieve their best and celebrate success in our weekly commendations assembly, through awarding them St James Shells for excellent work or recognising them as Artist of the Week.
Y3&Y4
Y3 & Y4 are an exciting and challenging time for the children in equal measures. We broaden the curriculum, moving away from topic led learning, introducing new subjects and more in-depth work. The children spend more time with specialist teachers and begin to make significant steps towards a more independent style of learning.
Y5&Y6
The children’s final years at St James are a wonderful time – they flourish as leaders in the school and grow in maturity both socially and academically. They have specialist teachers for English, Maths, ICT, French, Music, Drama, Sanskrit and Sport, and as the oldest pupils, there are many opportunities to represent the school in sports matches, as well as perform at school concerts and music assemblies, at The Sanskrit Speech Competition or Spelling Bee Championship or at the Y6 Play as part of the Shakespeare Festival.
Nursery
Early childhood lays the vital foundations upon which everything else is built. That’s why we’ve opened a state-of-the-art nursery in the former lodge in Marcus Garvey Park – just a few minutes walk from the Prep School.The nursery, which opened in September 2019, welcomes children the term in which they turn 3. It is a bright open-plan space with access to its own little adventure playground, mud kitchen and sandpit, as well as the little forest in the park.
Trips, holidays and workshops
School trips and workshops are a fantastic way of bringing the curriculum to life, enhancing classroom learning, knowledge and skills in a fun and exciting environment. We make full use of our central London location with regular outings planned for all children to local educational and historical sites such as The Albert Memorial, The Houses of Parliament, The Wetlands Centre and The National Gallery.
Outdoor Education
Outdoor education and caring for the environment is an important part of life at St James. As a school in central London, they consider ourselves very lucky to have two Forest School sites at which the children can play, learn and discover. One is an area that we developed with the council in Marcus Garvey Park, just outside our school gates. The other is at Gunnersbury Park Nature Reserve.
0.04 miles
