Description
The Downs Preparatory School is Independent Secondary school in Not applicable for kids aged 4 to 13 (Gender - 4 to 13 )
Academic study is important and they expect all our pupils to adopt a healthy work ethic and achieve high standards but they believe to truly educate one must celebrate the creative, the physical and the spiritual as much as the intellectual. Our overwhelming experience is that those children who derive pleasure and enjoyment from a wide range of activities outside of the classroom are those who go on to perform exceptionally well in their academic work. Whilst our children may perceive they have options, in reality they are obliged to wholeheartedly engage in the multitude of opportunities the school will present before them.Character at The Downs is shaped over time by a strong set of traditional values and expectations. Constantly mindful of these, we nurture happy, civilised, accomplished young adults who go on to make a telling contribution towards their future communities.
Facilities
Bertie’s
Bertie’s is our outstanding, inspirational nursery. Here our young children learn with laughter: they have the close attention of caring, interested staff, they enjoy diverse activities in the lovely house and they relish the immediate extensive outdoor opportunities.There are no particular academic expectations but they are cheerfully & carefully nurtured so that they are ready to begin more formal learning as they enter the Reception Year at school.It is a charming, happy nursery, an idyllic start for little children from 6 months to 4 years.
Pre-Prep
Children join the Pre-Prep Year Reception, aged four. They spend four years in this particularly happy and caring setting, being encouraged to learn in a safe and secure atmosphere. The unique rural environment affords imaginative and purposeful play, where children can have direct access to the large and varied school grounds. The nurturing style ensures that each individual is taken forward from their starting point; challenged and excited in their learning journey. The enriching curriculum provides children with a strong social and academic foundation from which they gain confidence and self-esteem, the essential building blocks for their future education.
Prep School
The Prep School offers a broad, diverse curriculum that seeks to develop each child’s individual strengths and interests in a multitude of areas whilst simultaneously preparing them for senior school entry. The Common Entrance Syllabus enables the pupils to approach 13+ senior school entry exams with confidence, be they scholarship, Common Entrance or Bristol Schools. Talent is fostered in all areas, many also take scholarships in drama, art, music, and sport. The preparation for 13+ exams begins in Year 6 but Year 7 and 8 are in many ways the essence of an education at The Downs. At this point the pupils begin to reach the ‘top of a small pile’, an experience reserved much later in most schools. The benefit of greater independence, responsibility and according privilege at this vital stage is immeasurable and the resulting confidence is tangible.
Features
Things to note
Sport
Sport is an integral part of each child’s development at The Downs. We understand the enormous benefit of sporting involvement; the willingness to commit wholeheartedly to a contest, the challenge of handling victory and defeat with grace, the disciplines of training and the opportunities to represent others. Sport is not just about physical aptitude, it develops the whole person.
Arts
Every pupil is involved in our imaginative and dynamic arts programme that seeks to ignite their creative imagination and to make the very most of their artistic talent. The year culminates in Arts Week, a time late in June when professional artists of numerous genres host exciting workshops at the school. These are eagerly attended by our enthusiastic children. The unusually high level of participation has made it necessary over recent years to steadily increase the facilities for the performing arts, these being considerable. They aim to foster in all our children a lifelong appreciation of the arts.
Wellbeing
To nurture a child’s full potential it is necessary to know and understand them as individuals. For this reason each child at The Downs is placed in the midst of a network of exceptional pastoral care. We spend an unusual amount of time getting to know our children and their families even before they join the school. Once members of the community we seek a close partnership with parents, based on shared values and expectations in the development of each child.
Extra Curricular
Please check the school website link for details.
7.95 miles
