York House School is Independent Secondary school in Selective for kids aged 3 to 13 (Gender - 3 to 13 )
York House is an independent school for girls and boys aged 3-13, in school years that is for children in Nursery to Y8. The school was founded in 1910 and has been located in the stunning location just outside Croxley Green in Hertfordshire since 1966. At York House, they believe in a broad and enjoyable education. Most schools would say that, but the provision within the school day of sport, music, art, drama, outdoor education and also our 90+ co-curricular clubs is remarkable. This school is not an exam factory – those are available in the area - but we think there should be room in a child’s experience for joy, wonder, pleasure and adventure.
Pre Prep
The Pre-Prep is for children in Nursery, Reception, Year 1 and Year 2. Children then move to Lower School, Middle School and finally Upper School. The Pre Prep gives children a solid foundation in the core curriculum, focusing on giving every child a tool kit of learning to take with them for life. Daily reading, Phonics sessions, Handwriting and Literacy lessons are supported with daily Maths lessons and Oral number work to build Maths fluency. These high quality lessons sit within the broad and balanced curriculum, They allow all of the children the chance to excel in core subjects, alongside the Arts (Drama, Music and Art), Languages (French), Humanities (Geography, RS, History) and Physical activity (Swimming, PE and Games). Computing is taught to the children when they join Reception.
Lower School
The Lower School is for children in Year 3 and Year 4. The supportive environment focuses on the personal development of each pupil alongside a strong academic curriculum.The ability to think, discuss and express thoughts and concepts, helps build confidence in the children, develop strong friendships with classmates while learning to work cooperatively with one another. Our close, personal and family-like environment helps to bring out the best in each pupil, as we teach them the value of respect for others, within a structured, happy and caring department.We try to instil good listening and learning habits, which are so important throughout their lives. With our modern and excellent facilities, the classrooms are stimulating and vibrant places to learn.
Middle School
The children continue to develop their learning across a remarkably broad curriculum, including main focuses on English and Maths with daily lessons. The breadth is significant with plenty of other subjects studied including Science, History, Geography, TPR, French, Classics, Art & Design, Outdoor Learning, ICT, STEM, Music and Drama.The children are encouraged to take up instruments and to attend an extraordinary and varied extra-curriculum array of clubs. These occur before school, during break times and after school. The optional clubs available for Middle School Students include; origami, art and design, chess, rugby, mountain biking, hockey and many more. The sport curriculum provides an extensive and inclusive fixtures list that gives every Middle School Student the chance to grow and progress within a balanced and graded team environment.
Upper School
The Upper School is for girls and boys in Years 7 and 8, where the key focus is on strong academic's, personal development and ensuring all students’ transition to senior schools as well rounded individuals ready to take on their next challenge.Within the Upper School, pastoral care continues to be focused on, creating an environment where all students feel safe and inspired to be the best versions of themselves. They encourage pupils to be motivated in contributing to every aspect of school life. Throughout our Upper School, they use specialist subject teachers and dedicated subject-specific classrooms, with pupils further benefiting from small class sizes. The approach at this stage is to guide students, to empower them to think critically and to work collaboratively. They are given new opportunities such as leadership and mentoring roles, and key responsibilities in school-wide events, in order to apply their learned skills.
Music
Music is taught in a weekly lesson by a specialist teacher to all pupils throughout the school. Children in Pre-Prep participate in regular performances whilst in Year 2 they learn the violin for a term. The Lower School also take part in the instrumental Carousel Project, where they try a string, a woodwind and a brass instrument. This acts as a further introduction to learning an instrument. Many children have lessons with our peripatetic teachers in the newly-built Music Department. There is an Orchestra, Percussion and Guitar ensemble, three Choirs, a Samba band, a Rock band and Recorder, Ukulele and Music Theory clubs.
Dance
Dance is taught within the PE curriculum. Ballet, Tap, Ballroom and Cheerleading are after school clubs. Children that take Ballet and Tap follow recognised exam board syllabi and take Exams as appropriate with our links with local dance schools such as The Croxley School of Dance.
Art
Art is taught by a specialist Art teacher from Year 5 onwards and by class teachers in the younger years. The children gain experience across a wide range of creative media and are taught with high quality instruction; sparking a passion for the subject which can be lifelong.
Drama
Drama is also taught weekly from Year One, with younger pupils enjoying Drama within their curriculum. Explicit Drama lessons focus on learning, refining, and understanding the core skills of theatre studies alongside building and promoting confidence through improvisation and performance. They believe in creating opportunities to showcase children’s work in an encouraging and supportive fashion.
Sport
Sport is an integral part of life at YH with pupils timetabled to be running around and making the most of our unique sports facilities for over five hours a week, and this does not include after school and break time clubs or even morning practices.We have a ‘sport for all’ mentality across the board, and they look to develop pupils’ confidence, ability and understanding in a vast array of sports helping them prepare for the next stage of their journey. They aim to promote lifelong participants in sport and physical activity through nurturing their enjoyment and passion, providing links with our local club community over each academic year. The pupils must play a sport in the right spirit, understanding the importance of both winning and losing while realising that progression and a positive growth mindset is key to moving forward on their individual or collective sporting path.
Please check the school website link for details.
1.66 miles
