A Leweston Pre-Prep pupil is…
Adventurous
Sitting in 47 acres of countryside, deep in our woodland area, nestled under our helicopter parachute awning, and roasting marshmallows on the fire, you will often find our Pre-Prep pupils. Come rain or shine, every pupil, from just 3 months old explores our Forest School. If not there, you might just find a group of children striding across the grounds on one of their daily walks – even in Year 2 they find the time and space for this freedom.
Embracing childhood, the children run, jump, climb trees and pick blackberries at playtime too. If the children are not to be found, they are likely to be out on a trip, as from the age of two they head of on regular trips, either to our local farm, with which we enjoy a strong link or to visit a host of local attractions.
Confident
With a smile on their face, and a glint in their eyes, our children pick themselves back up when they fall down – or one of our staff do. With more adults than average, we can be there to support the children in every step, providing them with a security and confidence that only that knowledge can provide. Come Christmas, we know exactly how to get the best from every child, so they perform in our annual Nativity with gusto and all important confidence.
Creative
Our Pre-Prep environment hums with the sound of music, from classical music as you enter the buildings to the music created by the pupils in the weekly lessons they have from their time in Nursery. They also sing, dance and cartwheel in their performing arts lessons. The walls are covered in their artistic endeavours from pottery jugs, to tissue paper craft and giant outdoor art projects.
Inquisitive
In our traditional Mongolian yurt, you’ll find children intrigued by a range of objects and decor from around the world – real artefacts wherever possible, and as little plastic as we can manage. The children follow their own booklet of challenges each week, packed full of activities to explore, planned carefully to stretch, excite and develop. Our bunnies, guinea pigs and tortoise often join the children in their activities, as do their younger and older counterparts in our truly free-flowing environment.
Resilient
We embrace risk and teach the children to assess how to keep themselves safe, so we are bold in some of our activities. The children build with long planks and blocks, but they understand risk, so injuries are rare.
Everything we do is framed by our ‘Leweston Learner’ approach. The five headings here represent the characteristics we aim to foster in our pupils. Every child, from Nursery and beyond, learns to collaborate, persevere, reflect and challenge themselves in order to become a true ‘Leweston Learner’; Adventurous, Confident, Creative, Inquisitive and Resilient. We never give up, but rather view every set-back as another step on our learning journey. The children bubble with enthusiasm and a zest for learning, which can be felt in every corner of our setting.
