LEARNING
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The Pre-Prep team provide a warm, supportive environment with dedicated and experienced staff. every child is valued and encouraged to fulfil their learning potential. small class sizes allow staff to focus on and nurture each individual child.
Our bespoke hands-on curriculum provides an exciting and fun relationship with learning. The curriculum is designed to challenge and stimulate the imagination and provide a firm foundation for your child’s ongoing education. Literacy and numeracy are taught each morning, providing a strong base on which to build reading, spelling, writing and mathematical skills. We also work to provide ‘hooks’ to allow children to build up a net of general knowledge.
The children are also encouraged to develop their independent learning skills through the wider curriculum. This encompasses lessons in a whole host of subjects from Science, Geography, and History projects through to RE/PSHE, Music, Art, Design and Technology, ICT and the Performing Arts. Your child will also have regular sports lessons making the most of the school’s superb facilities including weekly swimming and use of the Astro pitches and gymnasium.
Independence and self-confidence are also encouraged through a busy calendar of events such as harvest and Easter concerts, chapel assemblies, nativity plays, grandparents’ days and sports days.
We aim to bring learning to life and deliver an inspiring curriculum using topic based learning each term.
The curriculum is then enriched through many real experiences, including visiting theatre workshops, trips to the space centre or being a pirate for the day!
Co Curricular
The Pre-Prep takes full advantage of the beautiful surroundings at Denstone College and often takes earning outdoors. Weekly forest school sessions also enable the children to discover and learn about our outside world and environment whilst developing lifelong skills such as teamwork and perseverance.
We pride ourselves on the number and breadth of clubs and activities that we offer here at TPDC. There is something for everyone!
The Prep School Secretary organises the after-school clubs and activities rota. At the end of each term, the clubs form for the following term will be emailed out to all parents. We have introduced over 30 new after-school activities, ranging from fencing to Zumba, Police Cadets to Bug Club.
The whole school from Reception to Prep 6 have Forest School or Outdoor Learning lessons, once a week, which are mainly focused around our outdoor classroom. We have 4 qualified Forest School teachers within the school. In normal times, Prep 3 - 6 pupils have the chance to spend time away from school in a variety of areas within Derbyshire and Staffordshire. These few days away help to build friendships, challenge themselves and learn new skills whilst having huge amounts of fun.
Sport
Sport plays a significant part in the children’s lives at TPDC. Good sportsmanship, in victory or defeat, is an essential lesson to learn in life. Every child at TPDC has the opportunity to represent their school and the pleasure that they get from the experience is very plain to see.
Skills such as leadership, teamwork and determination very much come to the fore in sports fixtures and from Prep 3 we play inter-school matches in netball, hockey, cricket, and rugby. Our site allows pupils access to Astroturf pitches, an indoor climbing wall, an EGU affiliated golf course, sports hall, tennis courts and netball courts.
With specialist coaching available in a wide range of sports, the facilities available are second to none. The children also swim regularly throughout the year in the 25m indoor heated pool.
PE lessons take place from Pre-Prep upwards. We take the children’s fitness very seriously and our coaches and teachers ensure that the children have a challenging and varied programme of physical activities and games as they move through the school. While we continue to offer the same number of major team sports each year, every sport is now open to both boys and girls and this has meant that some children are now trying out all of the main team sports over the course of the year.
Michaelmas Term - rugby and hockey, Lent Term - hockey and netball, Summer Term - cricket and tennis.
LAMDA
The London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA) began offering speech examinations to the public in the 1880’s and Mrs Hettie Beetham has been teaching pupils at the Prep for over twelve years (Including Former Prep School, Smallwood Manor). Examinations in speaking of verse and prose take place in school every term and offer a comprehensive system of performance evaluation. LAMDA tuition seeks to improve standards in communication and foster an appreciation of literature and drama. LAMDA examinations are designed to unlock imagination, refine technical artistry and ultimately equip learners with a range of skills that will serve them throughout life. EYFS lessons involve speaking and listening activities through storybooks while pupils in Year One and above have the opportunity to work toward graded public speaking examinations.
Music
There is an excellent, vibrant tradition of music at TPDC with talented professional musicians employed in the teaching team. Their love of music and skills are passed onto our pupils who often achieve above expected standards. Pre-Prep pupils may start playing the piano and Prep 3 children learn the violin as well as a variety of instruments as part of the curriculum.
Many continue to learn at least one instrument from a wide variety of choice and are prepared for ABRSM examinations each term. Music is an integral part of our chapel services, assemblies and plays throughout the school. Class music lessons are lively, interactive and informative. The Prep also has several music groups including String Group, Chapel Choir, Show Choir which take place during breaktimes.
