Early childhood education is very important, so give your child a great start with one of these exclusive pre schools in Essex
From the moment you join the Preparatory Divisions at New Hall School, you become part of a family. The School is dedicated to ensuring that children can develop as well-rounded individuals.
New Hall operates the highly successful 'diamond model' structure, that is, co-education in the Nursery and Preparatory Divisions (ages 1-11), single-sex education in the Girls' & Boys' Divisions (11-16) and co-education in the Sixth Form (16-18).
In this way, New Hall provides the best of both worlds; the benefits of a co-educational environment, together with the advantages of girls and boys being taught separately during the formative years of adolescence. This enables students to grow in confidence, whilst enjoying an education that is specifically tailored and that recognises the different ways in which boys and girls learn.
The School's Pre-Prep expansion will see an additional Reception class introduced in 2020 for day pupils, alongside the brand new, purpose built Nursery which opened in September 2019 for pupils aged 1-4. New Hall Nursery offers year-round wraparound care, with extra provision from 7.30am-6.30pm.
Please visit to see for yourself why New Hall is such a wonderful place to be educated. The next Open Morning is on Saturday 2nd May. See www.newhallschool.co.uk for details.
New Hall School, The Avenue, Boreham, Chelmsford, CM3 3HS
St Margaret's Preparatory School
St Margaret's Preparatory School is an independent co-educational school in Gosfield, for children from ages 2 to 11. Established since 1946 they are renowned for developing exceptionally well-rounded pupils with a love of learning.
Their specially designed Nursery is at the heart of the school. Offering specialist teaching across the curriculum, combined with a home from home family feel, they give your child the very best start.
As they grow, small class sizes continue into all areas across the curriculum for Pre-Prep and Prep, giving your child many opportunities to grow intellectually, physically and socially. They help them to discover the joy in new things and find out what really drives them, across a broad range of subjects and activities. From languages, science and maths, to sport and all aspects of the arts, with a particular strength in music, they have something to suit every child.
With seven acres of peaceful grounds to play, explore and build life-long friendships, they make learning fun and exciting with Forest School, curriculum enrichment and a passion for outdoor learning.
The truly preparatory ethos of St Margaret's opens up a life of choices for their next stage. At the end of their time with them, all pupils leave for the senior school of their choosing, typically being offered a scholarship, grammar school place or both. Arrange a visit to see why St Margaret's is a very special place to learn and love school.
admissions@stmargaretsprep.com | Gosfield Hall Park, Gosfield CO9 1SE
From the moment a child enters St John's, whatever their age, they are treated as an individual. Kindergarten pupils benefit from having specialist teachers for Music and PE.
Junior pupils study verbal and non-verbal reasoning and continue to have specialist teachers for the subjects above and also for French, Art and Computing.
Senior School pupils follow a broad curriculum, with GCSE courses including PE, Art, Drama, French, Spanish, Geography, History, Music, Computing, Statistics and traditional core subjects.
Pupils make excellent progress throughout the school. Their passion is to ensure that when a child leaves St. John's School they have fully achieved their potential.
They instil all the virtues of politeness, integrity and consideration of others into pupils, creating a magical atmosphere where learning, creativity and success is enjoyed by everyone. See for yourself first-hand the unique opportunities St. John's School has to offer both academically and socially.
47-49 Stock Road Billericay CM12 0AR | 01277 623070 | Facebook
Award-Winning Excellence & Innovation in Early Years at Thorpe Hall
The enriched curriculum designed by the Early Years team at Thorpe Hall School provides its youngest pupils with a wealth of opportunities for them to explore the world around them, develop their awareness and independence, grow in confidence and become successful learners.
Personal Social and Emotional Development (PSED) underpins all learning in the school's nursery and reception classes, with all team members fully appreciating the value of these skills and the role they play in every child's success.
In end of year EYFS data analysis, 98.2% of children at Thorpe Hall achieved the level expected or beyond in all areas of PSED, a level way above the national average.
Thorpe Hall's pioneering initiatives also gained national recognition from the Independent Schools Association with an Award for Excellence & Innovation in Early Years in 2017.
Thorpe Hall School, Wakering Road, Southend-on-Sea, SS1 3RD
Little Adventurers Nursery and Pre-school
Little Adventurers believe passionately that each child, with differing needs and interests, should be loved and supported as they grow. Their nursery aims to offer the greatest possibility for discovery, exploration and adventure within a home from home environment.
As a family-run nursery, they are enormously proud of their award-winning setting which offers care of the highest quality. Nursery parents build strong relationships with the staff team and their manager is an early years teacher with over 30 years experience.
Optimum nutrition and healthy lifestyles play key roles in their ethos; nursery menus are devised in consultation with an in-house nutritionist and children love learning about growing and nurturing plants and vegetables in their veggie patch.
The nursery recently hosted a visit by the Deputy Mayor of London in recognition of our Healthy Early Years Bronze and Silver Awards (HEYL).
Above all, the nursery aim is to promote a "can do" mentality and encourage curiosity in children as they grow into confident, happy and competent little people who love learning.
24 Severn Drive, Upminster, Essex, RM14 1SW | 01708 227657 | Facebook
Goslings Nursery and Forest School - at Gosfield School
Goslings Nursery and Forest School is set in 110 acres of mature parkland and forest and offers purpose-built nursery rooms that are supported by the same robust learning structure as the rest of the Gosfield Prep School.
This allows children from the age of two years the opportunity to experience the Early Years Foundation Stage curriculum and to take advantage of teacher-led planning and expertise.
Nursery pupils enjoy the earliest opportunity to explore, discover and collaborate with each other in line with the Gosfield School ethos, and they begin to learn to take responsibility for themselves and others in the safest of hands. The transition of children from Goslings Nursery through to Reception and Key Stage 1 is a seamless process, ensuring that the pace and quality of learning is maintained and that every child makes continual progress in their learning journey.
The nursery is open term-time only, with holiday club provision during part of the Christmas, Easter and Summer breaks. Joining Goslings Nursery and Forest School also provides families with priority admission to the school's Reception class and reduced fees throughout the Prep School.
The school invites you to arrange a personal visit to tour the exceptional facilities and see for yourself why children learn best where they're happy.
enquiries@gosfieldschool.org.uk | Gosfield School, Cut Hedge Park, Halstead Road, Gosfield, CO9 1PF
Huge progress is being made on a major programme of improvement works at Brentwood Preparatory School which will see it at the forefront of cutting edge educational facilities.
The multi-million pound investment at the Prep School, in Middleton Hall Lane, will include new buildings, refurbishment and upgrading of existing buildings and improvements to external areas and landscaping. The project is on track to be complete this summer to welcome a wave of lucky new pupils.
The new and refurbished buildings will also result in an increase in the School roll; expanded and re-organised Early Years facilities; new Assembly and Dining amenities; and a suite of state-of-the-art specialist teaching areas.
The expansion has also meant that from September 2019, the Prep School has been able to introduce a full-time Nursery and 7.30am-6pm Wraparound provision run in-house by School staff.
The project includes a Dining and Assembly Hall, which will provide multi-purpose space for a variety of school activities, and support facilities including a new on-site kitchen and changing facilities.
A North Classroom Block will provide 'front of house' facilities for visitors and the School administration team and will streamline security. The top two floors will house a suite of specialist teaching classrooms, including Science, Art. DT, ICT and a new 'Futures' Room to provide a space of experimentation.
Oxford House, a beautiful Victorian mansion in Colchester is a nursery and preparatory school for boys and girls aged two and a half to 11 years.
Activities in the nursery are Montessori based and aim to develop sensory skills and dexterity as well as a firm knowledge of number and language. Small class sizes enable dedicated staff to channel and differentiate accordingly to each pupil. All children are given one to one help every day to become confident readers.
The breadth of the curriculum is enhanced by a wide variety of activities. Pupils are introduced to dance, music, science, computer technology and cooking at an early age and are encouraged to develop a keen interest in nature and the world around them.
The school encourages high standards in behaviour and manners as well as in academic achievement. They are proud of all their pupils, many of whom go on to our local grammar schools. They aim for every child to discover 'joy in achievement'.
Oxford House achieves a happy, safe and secure environment for your sons and daughters to learn and develop while providing a secure foundation for their growing success. They warmly welcome you to visit the school.
2-4 Lexden Road, Colchester, CO3 3NE
In January 2017, St Aubyn's School opened a purpose-built nursery building to accommodate two classes of 30 enquiring three-year-olds, supported by two outstanding practitioners and five assistants. The building shows off an impressive design specification which takes the demands of the EYFS into consideration.
With wide, open-plan classes that include conservatories and bespoke furniture to complement the impressive building, the teachers have every resource at their disposal to ensure the children have the best start to their academic careers and are thus well prepared for their life at St Aubyn's beyond the nursery years.
During the summer of 2017, the three reception classes were refurbished to complement the standard of the new nursery building with design features to ensure optimum development of the children during their early years' development.
The facilities, together with outstanding teachers and early years leadership, ensure that the children are well prepared for their prep years and beyond.
The school invites you to contact the Admissions Registrar to arrange a visit to tour the facilities and see the school in action, or come to the next open morning.
St Aubyn's School, Bunces Lane, Woodford Green, IG8 9DU
Braeside in Buckhurst Hill, Coopersale Hall in Epping, Normanhurst in North Chingford and Oaklands in Loughton make up the privately-owned Oak-Tree Group of Schools. All four schools have well-established and popular kindergartens, catering for children from 2½ years.
Matthew Hagger, Group Principal of The Oak-Tree Schools says, "As many children have been with us since 2½ or three years old, we can provide continuity in their education in familiar surroundings by staff who know them well.
The progression from each stage to the next is well supported to ensure that the pupils' education is continually enhanced."
Despite their young ages, the emphasis in the Oak-Tree Kindergartens is on the children's learning. The curriculum is based around the Early Learning Goals, but is enriched with a wide range of additional activities including music, computing and PE lessons; French and drama workshops; assemblies, performances, trips and outings. Being attached to schools they have many subject specialists at the school's disposal.
"Our children have excellent relationships with their dedicated keyworkers, who are responsible for monitoring their progress and development. Observations are made electronically and evidence is emailed home regularly. The children often exceed their expected levels of progress."
Contact the schools directly to arrange a personalised tour. For more information visit www.oaktreeschools.co.uk
Every child that joins Dame Bradbury's School takes an individual journey through which they flourish and succeed. Set in the beautiful town of Saffron Walden, we pride ourselves on getting to know every child and their family.
As part of the renowned Stephen Perse Foundation, Dame B's are not afraid to do things differently. Our approach encourages young people to become independent thinkers - preparing them for life way beyond school.
Creativity and fun is everywhere - from the Forest School to the inspiring art facilities, as well as in our clubs. From ballet to photography, rugby to rock band, there's something to capture the imagination of every child at Dame B.
From ages 3 to 11, Dame B's students share a willingness to experiment, to question and to take on new challenges. They leave the school full of enthusiasm, equipped with a love of learning and ready to take their next steps in life.
But don't take our word for it - visit us in Saffron Walden to see us in action and understand for yourself what makes their learning environment so special.
Ashdon Rd, Saffron Walden CB10 2AL
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