It's been a fabulous year at Caversham Prep:
Our Year 6's in 2024 have won an incredible 14 scholarships to their senior schools in academics, art, drama, music, and sport, with places to 11 Independent schools and 7 grammar school places offered. |
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In March we won the Muddy Stilettoes National Pastoral Care Award. |
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2023 started with a Double Excellent and Compliant Independent School Inspection. The children told the inspectors “We choose kindness here.” They wanted to tell the inspectors about their school – and they did - in spades! |
Caversham Prep is a small family owned and family run Prep School for local families with excellent results. We invest heavily in your children, with outstanding technology embedded in our curriculum with one to one IT (including Microsoft Surface Pro's in the Juniors), to our fantastic teaching staff providing individualised learning.
We are a small school, but being next to Queen Anne's School is to our advantage. We use their sports fields and tennis courts, swimming pool, theatre, and chapel for our bi-weekly achievement assemblies.
Our fees are the most competitive of all mainstream independent schools in Reading and the surrounding area, the Nursery and Reception years are £625 per month for 2024/25.
Our Saturday Open Mornings are typically 4-6 families to give you time to talk individually with the Proprietor (Jacqueline Lawson) or the Bursar (Andrew Lawson, son of Jacqueline). Please feel free to bring your children, the talk will be in the Reception classroom, so there is lot's of fun to be had.
If you cannot make this Open Morning, then we will have one soon, but if you register your interest on the main website following this link, or start a live chat with Andrew we can get you booked in.
We're looking forward to meeting you!
At Caversham Prep we teach your children to read. When they can read, they can write, and when they can read and write, they can access the whole curriculum.
We do not just teach phonics. We teach real books, tricky words and phonics.
• We follow a ‘real’ reading approach by linking our writing and continuous provision to a weekly book (real book).
• We follow blended phonics in a daily phonics lesson.
• We have a mixture of phonics based reading books and ‘real’ reading books.
• We have a fantastic reading corner and library with a variety of books, both fiction and non-fiction.
"The children in the EYFS demonstrate a love of learning and thirst for knowledge which amplifies and matures into scholarship, especially in English and mathematics at the top of the school."
ISI Inspection 2023.
We have free flow between the Reception and Nursery Classrooms, and the outside Learning Garden.
Our Early Years children love:
• To dig up worms at their weekly Forest School sessions
• Playing with their Year 6 Buddies
• Writing on their Surface Pros
• French Breakfasts with croissants
• Music and Drama Lessons
• Parents get regular updates via Class Dojo
It's the second year in a row where our pupils have won both music and drama scholarships to their senior schools. Most of our pupils take individual LAMDA or Music Lessons (including piano, clarinet, bassoon, recorder, violin, singing, and guitar) at the school.
Class music is part of the curriculum, with pupils in Year 2 learning the recorder. They then learn violin and keyboards. Every Friday we have whole school singing, and every pupil gets a chance to show what they've learned at the bi-weekly achievement assemblies, music mornings, 'Shakespeare in the Garden' in the summer, and the annual nativity and school plays.
The video below is of our brass band playing 'God Save The King' at the Coronation party - this band started as an after school club December 2022 and none of the pupils played brass before, so we're really impressed!
Some C's from the A-Z of Caversham Prep!
We have a robust STEM curriculum, coding and electronics clubs, supported by cutting edge whiteboards and fast networks.
All pupils in the Juniors (Years 3-6) are issued a personal laptop (Surface Pro) for use in school and at home.
Pupils write their own acceptable use policy for how they use technology that is adopted by the Juniors.
In February 2024 our Juniors took part in a discussion of the use of generative AI in education as Co-Pilot became available.
When school finishes at 3:30pm, we have an hour of after school clubs to 4:30pm. These clubs range from Academic, to Sports, Art, Drama, Music and Languages.
Clubs are run by our teachers, or by specialists such as Little Musketeers, who run our fencing club in the Autumn Term.
After 4:30pm those staying in After Care are treated to Tea in the dining room and then settle into activities and play before being picked up at 6pm.
More information can be found here
Caversham Prep has a fantastic parent community, spearheaded by the Friends of Caversham Prep.
They organise Movie Nights and Disco's for the children, and events such as 'Elfridges' at Christmas, and Cheese and Wine, and Mums and Dad's Curry Nights for the parents.
The annual big event is the Summer Fete, which we'd love to invite you next year in June.
More information can be found here
Dear Parents
It gives me a great deal of pleasure to send you our ISI Inspection Report. We have been judged as Compliant and Double Excellent in the two over-arching judgements of Academic and other Achievements and Pupils’ Personal Development.
There are many lovely comments to read and I hope you will take time to do so. I have included a few, below.
Ian and I thank all of the staff for their hard work during the inspection showcasing what we do so well at Caversham Prep. We also thank you all for the very positive comments that you made in the Parent Questionnaire. But of course it was your children who were the stars of the show.
Our excellent results at each Key Stage and Senior School entry are measured over a period of time, but the teaching and learning and the children’s comments, behaviour and enthusiasm for their school was measured over the three inspection days and the inspection team were blown away by what they saw and heard. We could not be more proud.
As it says at the end of the report the inspectors gathered evidence from lesson observations including going to games at Queen Anne’s and Forest School up in Balmore Park. They talked to groups of children and staff, trawled through the children’s work, analysed the pupil, staff and parent questionnaires, talked to the Head Teacher and Deputy Head Teacher, analysed published exam data and sampled all the paperwork that is kept in a school – and there is a lot! They popped in to Breakfast club, had lunch with the children and observed aftercare and clubs. They read Governors meeting minutes and met with Ian and I. Two inspectors spent a whole day on Compliance checks leaving no training certificate, risk assessment, safe-guarding and health and safety audit or staff reference unturned. They even spoke to our gardener!
They wrote:
Pupils have a heart for humankind, with a mature capacity to think beyond their own immediate lives. Core values of respect and kindness permeate the school. “People choose kindness here”.
The pupils are excellent mathematicians. All pupils are highly articulate and have strong communication skills.
Pupils appreciate the strong ‘I Can’ culture and sense of family which underpins their desire to do their best at all times.
The school provides a family environment where children build confidence and enjoy learning in order to achieve their potential. They are aware of the schools high academic and social expectations of them, yet they feel comfortable in making mistakes in order to learn.
Teaching is tailored to individual needs and technology greatly enhances pupils learning.
Pupils are successful in achieving a place at the senior school of their choice and a number are awarded academic, sports, drama and music scholarships.
The children in the EYFS demonstrate a love of learning and thirst for knowledge which amplifies and matures into scholarship, especially in English and mathematics at the top of the school.
Pupils have excellent performance skills in singing and drama. Pupils of all ages sing beautifully. play musical instruments competently, and recite words with real talent, enjoyment and empathy.
Excellent staff-to-pupil ratios ensure every pupil has the opportunity to shine.
The pupils see the school as a harmonious and engaging community where everyone is respected and treated as unique individuals. Without exception the pupils all feel safe and appreciated within the school’s family environment.
We believe that the inspection team captured the essence of Caversham Prep through the children’s lens. These “articulate children” cumulatively told it how it is to complete strangers, and we are all very proud of them.
Yours Sincerely
Jacqueline Lawson
March 2023
Gold Artsmark Award 2023
Muddy Stilletos Best Schools Awards 2023 - National Winner for Outstanding Pastoral Care
ISA Awards 2020 Winner
Eco-Schools Green Flag Award 2023