In Class 3, children aged 5+ at the beginning of September will expand on the grounding received in Class 2 and are taught in two parallel classes.

History and Geography are added to the curriculum and children are encouraged to read at home as often as possible. Handwriting skills are refined and tables begin to be learnt in readiness for the more advanced maths work in the Abacus scheme. Many children will join the Pre-Prep Choir in Class 3 and will perform at School events as well as at more public events such as the Sudbury Music Festival.

Children continue to visit places of interest on their termly 'Out and Abouts' and, in the Summer Term, they are able to camp out in tents in the School grounds following their outing. For many children this will be their first experience of camping and it is an exciting experience for all, standing them in good stead for the times when they will camp out with the Prep School in the Derbyshire Dales or climb Ben Nevis or Snowdon.

Class 2 is for children aged 4/5 years who attend a minimum of 5 mornings each week. However, many children have already built-up their sessions during Class 1 and will
also be attending some, or all, afternoons. Whatever the case, the term following your child's fifth birthday is the time when they must legally attend full-time education so now is the time to start adding some extra sessions.

Mornings in Class 2 are mostly taken up with academic work and the day is often started with children completing their News Book, drawing pictures and writing a sentence or two about either something exciting they have done or about a toy they have played with. Handwriting is carefully monitored and the Folens Handwriting Scheme is followed. Children continue to follow the Abacus Maths Scheme and are able to work through books at their own pace.

With small class sizes and the help of a Nursery Assistant when appropriate, Class Teachers are able to give their children the one-to-one attention that they need. Pupils are given reading books and their reading is listened to each day.

As in Class 1, a full timetable is followed which continues to develop English and numeracy skills
through the seven areas of learning.  Simple Bible stories with a ‘moral’ are shared to encourage friendship and kindness.  Class 2 has a specialist teacher for sport, (hockey, athletics and fun games), French and music. 

In addition to the many activities taking place, the children are also offered extra-curricular activities
such as Gym Club, Ballet and Short Tennis. 

Each term, children are invited to an ‘Out and About’ and, in the Summer term, this is followed by a sleep-over in the classroom.  After a goodnight story from the Headmaster, children snuggle down in their sleeping bags in the classrooms for a good night’s sleep while the teachers keep watch over them.  In the morning, all children enjoy a hot cooked breakfast in the Dining Hall before returning home for what normally transpires to be a fairly quiet day!

Children join Class 1 in the September when they are 3 years old and attend a minimum of three mornings each week, building up their sessions gradually as and when they are ready.

In Class 1, the children follow the Early Years’ Foundation Stage seven areas of learning.  This covers basic English and numeracy as well as general knowledge and creative skills.  Children have full access to classroom computers and develop their IT skills by learning through play.  We also teach early French and have music lessons and art.  In addition, children are able to participate in extra-curricular activities such as ballet and short-tennis.  However, we are very aware that children of this age need lots of ‘fun’ activities and we therefore ensure that the timetable is flexible and includes plenty of time for free, expressive play.  We enjoy going on nature walks in our wellingtons and love to visit the horse.  We also like going over to the Prep School to visit the Headmaster, the ladies in the Offices and Sister Durrant who tells us stories about children who do not feel very well.

 Each term, children are invited to an ‘Out and About’ which can be a visit to a zoo or soft-play area.  In the Summer term, this is followed by a sleep-over in the classroom when, after a goodnight story from the Headmaster, we snuggle down in our sleeping bags for a good night’s sleep!  The next morning, we have a lovely breakfast at School before returning home, tired but very happy (teachers and children alike)!

At the age of 2, children may join the Nursery for a minimum of 3 sessions per week through to full time. There is no need for children to be 'potty-trained' and a hot cooked lunch is available each day.The day starts at 8.30am and finishes at 3.30pm, although we do have a facility for an earlier start or later pick-up for parents who are either working or who may have older children in the Prep School.

A typical day in The Nursery will include a look at the day's weather, colours and shape-of-the-week, art-work, one-to-one activities, shape-matching, phonics, music and movement, outdoor playtime, story-time and singing.

Children from 2 years old also learn French and confidently recite numbers 1-10 in French and sing simple rhymes and songs. This early introduction to another language enables them to approach confidently French lessons in the Pre-Prep Department without any worries and several of the children have even been able to teach their parents some basic French! Older children go swimming, too.