London


<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-where">WHAT? WHERE?</h2>



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<p>Prospect House School is a co-ed Prep school for 3-11 year-olds with close to a 50/50 gender split among its 277 pupils. It occupies two sites, both splendidly stately former family homes, in leafy Putney Heath. The Lower (Nursery to Y2) and Upper School are largely independent of each other, though there is a transition period for the Y2 kids graduating to the big school – they collect passport stamps for learning where the loo is and how to get to lunch etc. </p>



<p>Each year group is split into two forms with up to 40 children per year – but this tends to average around 16/17 per class. The school is non-selective and prides itself on its individualised learning (more on that below). Places in Nursery (from 3 yrs) and Reception are allocated in registration date order with a priority given to siblings of current pupils, so pop &#8217;em down at birth if you&#8217;re interested.&nbsp;The children come mostly from Putney and Southfields but some are further away in Wimbledon and Barnes.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>



<p>Prospect House is part of Dukes Education, a group of 27 schools in the south east with 21 in London. </p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-facilities">FACILITIES </h2>



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<p>In the Lower School there&#8217;s a music room, soundproofed practice rooms, a school hall, forest school, astroturfed play/sports area and roofed outdoor areas off the classrooms to allow for learning in the fresh air, but still under cover. The Hollow is a magical woodland area at the end of the playground and utterly beloved by the littlies with all sorts of opportunities for playing in mud, balancing on logs and generally mucking about. The ideology here is to embrace risk &#8211; so forest school could involve hammering nails, whittling sticks or lighting fires. All with specialist forest school staff on hand, naturally.  </p>



<p>They start &#8217;em young with music lessons from the age of 5 (if they&#8217;re ready) and the chance to play in netball and football matches from Y2. Sport mostly happens in the Roehampton playing fields from Y2, for football, netball, hockey, cricket and athletics. </p>



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<p>It&#8217;s into the Hall for lunch, all cooked on site by a much-loved chef who will adapt his recipes for the picky ones (and special dietary requirements, obvs). And this is also the spot for assembly, gymnastics, theatre and the thrice-weekly music lessons. The regular lip sync battles are a particular favourite – the idea is to make music fun. </p>



<p>Over in the Upper School, the facilities are similar but stepped up a notch, with a bigger astro area for sports/play on site as well as using Putney Heath, opposite, and Roehampton. There&#8217;s a hall with lighting rig and gymnastics equipment, a dedicated music room, computer room and art/DT studio. There&#8217;s a cute Y6 classroom here and ad hoc space that&#8217;s used for everything from workshops to music practice. Not for much longer, though, plans are being finalised to transform the space into the school&#8217;s new library. Looking at the aesthetic improvements overseen by incumbent head, Kelly Gray, while she was at fellow Dukes school, Bassett House, expect something stylish and fun. </p>



<p>It&#8217;s very much on her radar to look to refurbish the main house too. The building is period with features like creaky staircases, coving, dado rails, and high ceilings. The school avoids that rabbit warren vibe that some can – it&#8217;s bright and light throughout and there&#8217;s plenty of space for kids to hustle around the school and learn.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-sport">SPORT</h2>



<p>The main sports are football, tag rugby and netball in the autumn term, hockey in the spring, and cricket and athletics in the summer with gymnastics all year round. Sporty clubs are diverse, offering judo, folk-dancing, cross-country running, tennis, rounders, strength and conditioning, fencing, rugby and yoga, with rowing and horse riding on Kelly&#8217;s wish list for next year.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>



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<p>All the children, regardless of ability, take part in fixtures and there&#8217;s weekly running on the heath opposite.&nbsp;The practice has clearly paid off – at the Epsom College Cross-Country Competition (about 600 pupils from 25 schools), one of the Prospect House Y6 boys won the race by 16 seconds and the Y5 boys came 2nd.</p>



<p>There have also been wins in tag rugby and there were multiple podium places in the Wandsworth Borough Swimming Gala this year. The school usually has one or two children on an emerging talent programme outside of school and usually gets a clutch of sports scholarships at 11+ including last year one at Ibstock Place, two at Kingston Grammar, one at Sutton High and one at Whitgift.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-creative-arts-music-drama-art-dt">CREATIVE ARTS (MUSIC, DRAMA, ART, DT)</h2>



<p>If music is your thing, you&#8217;ll have plenty of chance to indulge it at Prospect House, which has two orchestras, three choirs from Y3+, including the invitation-only chamber choir, and four ensembles, which are demand-based and this year comprised a Y4 String Ensemble, Guitar Ensemble, Y6 String Quartet and Brass Ensemble. Performances range from the informal to events like the incredibly ambitious Christmas Carol Concert, an annual highlight of the school calendar overseen by the head of music Mr Baker, who&#8217;s been at the helm for 27 years. Around 70% of pupils learn an instrument so a stonking 13 music teachers visit the school each week to deliver lessons. </p>



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<p>Drama is equally far reaching with class assemblies right up to full theatre productions, concerts and the annual poetry competition. This starts at an early age – a new drama specialist has joined the team to nurture the board-treaders right from Nursery to Y6. </p>



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<p>Art and DT are given a stronger emphasis at Prospect House than at other prep I&#8217;ve visited in the capital, with a well-equipped art studio the favourite classroom of many of the Upper School kids. Head of Art Paul Clavis often works with subject teachers to theme in with a topic like Tudor portraiture or they might animate the models in computing that they made in art. He gets the kids working across photography (there&#8217;s an annual House Photography Competition), ceramics, and sculpture. </p>



<p>The work on the walls, including an exploration of texture in Rousseau&#8217;s work, is a testament to his ability to hone the kids skills and for those who show a particular strength or interest, there&#8217;s the chance to take the Art Pathway, inspired by university-style coursework, giving kids the chance to explore a single idea or theme and focus on that with group sessions and gallery visits outside of timetabled lessons, culminating in an exhibition. There are also Pathways in sport and music, with the intention to add drama and computing. &nbsp;</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-littlies">LITTLIES </h2>



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<p>The Nursery spaces will take up to 15 children in a room and while the focus is on free play. There is structure to the day and opportunities to have a go at phonics, handwriting and counting, plus there is specialist teaching in music, drama, French and sport (with computing added at Reception). On the day I visited, groups of children were exploring different parts of the room with one child counting with the teacher, while TAs facilitated activities elsewhere. It felt like the right balance of learning and play in a bright and versatile space with plenty to keep them interested. At this point, children who are ready to write and work on number bonds can sit with the Reception class to work on their numeracy. </p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-academics">ACADEMICS</h2>



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<p>Right through the school, classes I popped my head into were varied with kids working in groups on different tasks, happily getting on whether there was an adult seated at their table or not. The kids in Y2 were dressed up for a Great Fire of London workshop day and super engaged with the visiting historian. Meanwhile, in Y1, a group was using Epic audio books while others worked on handwriting. It did feel like a school mastering the elusive art of differentiating, and indeed in the younger years, the display boards reflect a huge range of ability. The classes aren&#8217;t streamed except in phonics and in maths where the two forms split into three sets, sorted by ability and processing speed.  </p>



<p>The curriculum feels bang up to date – coding and Lego robotics are taught from Y1, led by the Dukes champions for maths and computing, who both happen to work at Prospect House (one Y4 project saw the kids make pedometers). After the 11+ are out of the way, the focus is on life skills including teaching the kids about critical thinking, &#8216;floundering intelligently&#8217; in Kelly&#8217;s words, and entrepreneurialism. </p>



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<p>Though the school is non-selective, for entry into Y1 – Y6, children need to have a school reference and attend a taster day that includes English and maths assessments.&nbsp;The outcomes are pretty stellar with 14 academic scholarships, 3 drama scholarships and 5 sports scholarships&nbsp;last year – many from London and Surrey day schools. Destinations for recent leavers have included St Paul&#8217;s, City of London, Putney High, Latymer and Alleyn&#8217;s. </p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-pastoral-care">PASTORAL CARE</h2>



<p>There are termly meetings where staff discuss each child – the benefit of being a small school – and the school offers tailored emotional support sessions for students in which teachers and parents are engaged. The idea is to offer practical strategies and coping mechanisms to build resilience and independence. </p>



<p>Wellbeing walks on Putney Heath are a frequent activity and staff are offered wellbeing days off after a particularly frantic week to give them a chance to catch up with life admin. Acts of kindness are praised with nominated children getting a hot chocolate with Kelly, the head.&nbsp;</p>



<p>The chatterbox system allows kids with worries about themselves or friends to leave a note in a box and there&#8217;s six teachers across the school trained to offer emotional or academic support. In the older years this steps up to YOU HQ, where students can confidentially raise a concern using their iPad. Parents are kept informed and rarely get caught out by an issue that&#8217;s blown up and of which they weren&#8217;t aware.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-head">THE HEAD</h2>



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<p>Kelly Gray took the post in September 2004 from fellow Dukes school Bassett House in Notting Hill. She&#8217;s very much got her feet under the desk and has a wish list in the offing including the new library and art studio, horse riding and rowing added to the co-curricular offering. She also hopes to boost the STEAM and Drama offering with a big investment from Dukes.</p>



<p>Her aim is to walk the tightrope between nurture and lofty academic expectation, wanting to create an environment that&#8217;s &#8216;a greenhouse not a hothouse&#8217;. Gray says the USP for Prospect House School is its genuinely tailored approach with no two children having the same day whether that&#8217;s due to being offered individualised learning, SEN, opportunities through the Pathways programmes or the daily 30-minute intervention, which gives targeted one-to-one or group support either to stretch or support. &nbsp;&nbsp;</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-quirks">QUIRKS</h2>



<p>The inaugural staff panto is set to be a new tradition for the school &#8211; so expect to see a different side to your teachers once they&#8217;ve donned a beard/wig and taken to the stage. </p>



<p>For the keyboard athletes, the school has started offering eSports and wants to host primary level eSports competitions later this year challenging kids in teamwork, leadership and problem-solving.</p>



<p>The school, like many London preps, has a good international intake and looks to make the most of this by stretching and challenging their language skills with bilingual initiatives like Croissant Club for the fluent Frencophiles. </p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-wrap-around-care">WRAP-AROUND CARE</h2>



<p>The wrap-around care is pretty good with an early drop-off option at 7.40am and regular drop-off 8.10am – 8.30am. After school there are optional school clubs for an hour followed by wraparound care to 6pm (5pm Fridays). This is all staffed in-house. There are 12 &#8211; 14 clubs running every afternoon with Cooking Club the runaway success in the Lower School and the Y2 – Y6 loving Running Club, with up to 100 kids taking part (Prospect House got Highly Commended in the Muddy Stilettos’ Passionate About Sport award this year).&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-send">SEND</h2>



<p>SEN applications are considered case-by-case. In one class I visited, a child with hearing loss was using a Roger radio aid to communicate with her teacher and TA. So the willingness is there if it can work and the child can keep pace. With Learning Support and the daily interventions all in place to offer support, the school isn&#8217;t just looking for the academically gifted, and rest breaks and fidget toys are there for kids who struggle to concentrate. </p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-isi-report">ISI REPORT</h2>



<p>The 2022 report ruled the school Excellent in all categories of educational quality.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-mobile-phone-policy">MOBILE PHONE POLICY</h2>



<p>Children in Y6 who walk to school on their own may have a mobile phone but it is handed into the school office and collected at the end of the day. In Y5 and Y6 pupils have their own iPad but it&#8217;s not to be used in corridors or at break times.&nbsp;</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-transport">TRANSPORT</h2>



<p>Currently there isn&#8217;t a minibus option to get to school but two routes are being investigated &#8211; to Wimbledon and Fulham &#8211; with confirmation likely by Easter.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-fees">FEES</h2>



<p>In line with local preps. Nursery (five mornings a week) is £3,595, Reception – Y2 (Lower School) £7,985 and Y3 – Y6 (Upper School) £8,765.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-word-on-the-ground">WORD ON THE GROUND</h2>



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<p>Kids I spoke to said there was a good balance between fun and learning and said they felt that teachers were approachable so they could get help when they needed it. In general there&#8217;s a well behaved but not strict vibe with enthused kids who love the family feel to the school. Prospect House makes a big deal of valuing kindness, community, respect, resilience and aspiration by handing out rewards and mentions in assembly. </p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-muddy-verdict">THE MUDDY VERDICT</h2>



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<p>There&#8217;s no doubt that Prospect House does a good job of offering the kind of tailored learning that&#8217;s bandied about by many schools but a tricky one to actually deliver. Its daily interventions mean no kid gets left behind, meanwhile it also tries to recognise the kids in the middle who are neither getting behind nor shining, by rewarding passion and enthusiasm as well as achievement. The syllabus is definitely more modern than the surroundings, but that&#8217;s all about to change with the glow-up that&#8217;s coming in the future. </p>



<p><strong>Good for:</strong> Bright kids who need recognition and acknowledgement to shine will love the attention they get here, plus the chance to play competitive sport even if you&#8217;re not the next Beckham.</p>



<p><strong>Not for: </strong>The school ideology of each child having a different day means those who are pace and change resistant might struggle and crave a more traditional timetable. Also, there is a diligence and focus to the classroom experience which could be a challenge for those who would rather be daydreaming at the back or kicking a football around the playground and need a few more years to hone their focus in class.  </p>



<p><strong>WANT TO SEE FOR YOURSELF? </strong>Be my guest! To book an individual tour, click  <a href="https://www.prospecths.org.uk/admissions/visit-us/">here</a>.</p>



<p><em><a href="http://www.prospecths.org.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">prospecths.org.uk</a>&nbsp;</em>&nbsp;</p>


Prospect House School, Putney

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