Lower Prep

Following on from our award-winning Nursery, the ‘Seven Areas of Learning’ continue to be the focus of achievement in our Reception Class and form the foundations of our curriculum, which follows the Early Years Foundation Stage Framework.

Our teaching staff consider the individual needs, interests and stage of development of each pupil in our care and provide a challenging yet enjoyable experience in all the areas of learning and development.

We recognise that play is essential for children’s development, building their confidence as they learn to explore and allowing each pupil to take the first steps to becoming an independent learner. A careful range of child-initiated and adult-led activities are provided to promote risk-taking, creativity, curiosity and independent thought.

As part of their physical development, we provide opportunities for the girls to be active and develop their co-ordination, control and movement. Reception pupils learn a range of basic sports skills aimed at developing agility, balance and general fitness. The pupils continue to have specialist teachers in Performing Arts, PE, Music and French and have ballet lessons as part of their curriculum. In Reception, they learn the Violin as an additional specialist lesson!

At Manor House School, we lay the greatest possible importance on partnership with parents. Inspectors note that we have “fostered very positive relationships with parents, who are happy with what it offers their children.” We believe that education is a team effort, with home and school working together for the benefit of each pupil in our care.

As the children begin their time at Year 1, we work hard to make the transition from Reception as seamless as possible by including learning through play, using the classroom and our own outside area before gradually introducing more formal academic learning.

Year 1 is an exciting year. Year 1 pupils learn in a warm, interactive and creative environment. The children work hard to extend their reading and writing skills that were formed in Reception and our curriculum is based around the Key Stage 1 National Curriculum. English and Mathematics is taught every day in the form of writing, comprehension and phonics. The children begin to write stories and poems using pre-cursive handwriting. They read regularly with the class teacher to ensure that they progress extremely well and comprehend all that they read.  In Mathematics, the children work hard with addition and subtraction, ordering numbers and forming strategies that gives them a secure basis of mathematical understanding that they can take into Year 2.

Lessons are taught through a series of fun and interesting topics which include: ‘Houses and Homes’, ‘Toys’, ‘Castles’ and ‘Islands’. The children also benefit from school trips to the Weald and Downland Museum and Chertsey Museum in the Autumn Term. Windsor Castle in the Spring Term and Painshill Park in the Summer Term, which allows the children to extend and enhance their learning.

Most subjects, including English, Mathematics, Humanities and Science, are taught by the class teacher. The pupils then enjoy lessons from specialist teachers for French, Performing Arts, PE, Forest School and Music. These specialist teachers work hard to ensure their lessons are taught in a dynamic way that allow the children to foster a love of Languages, Arts and Sports.

Year 2 enjoy a fun and busy curriculum. From investigating and thinking mathematically about real-life problems, devising their own innovative stories and poems with a twist, to being creative and finding out about the world around them! Our Year pupils are encouraged to think independently, embrace challenge from a young age, and work collaboratively. In doing so, they develop a love of learning that extends beyond the classroom and show determination to reach their potential.

Through text-based teaching, cross-curricular links are made across the subjects of the curriculum, which broaden and enrich understanding, and show how skills and knowledge from one subject relate to those of another. Our learning during the year includes the themes of Journeys, Explorers, Footprints through Time, and Growth, reflecting the natural curiosity of this age group, and ensuring exciting and full coverage of the National Curriculum.

The pupils are predominantly taught by their Class Teachers and there are a number of subjects such as PE, Music, Performing Arts and Forest School taught by specialists.

All our pupils are encouraged to develop holistically through the set of school values, British Values, Assemblies and PSHEE lessons, as well as regularly joining in with fundraising for a wide range of different charities, chosen by the pupils.

At Manor House, we are renowned for our strong ethos and pastoral care and our Year 2 pupils are a testament to this – a happy, hard-working and caring group of individuals. They love working and learning together, in the beautiful surroundings of the school. Come and see for yourself – we would love to welcome you to our classroom!