Banstead Prep School

Banstead  |  220 day girls & boys  | 2-11 years

Banstead Prep School is a co-educational prep school and nursery for girls and boys aged 2-11, where there’s more to a good education.

Banstead Prep School’s Headteacher, Mr Jon Chesworth

We’re a forward-thinking school with a talented and experienced staff team and senior school standard facilities that enable the broadest of opportunities as part of an engaging, innovative and exciting curriculum. This combination enables our children to be inspired, to work with others and to enjoy learning, both in and out of the classroom, and to go on to their senior school of choice and take charge of their world.

Alongside the things you might expect to find in a prep school curriculum, we equip every child with a breadth of knowledge to prepare, academically and personally for the next step on their journey, including communication, collaboration and problem-solving skills. Our small class sizes, co-curricular clubs and our sport for all approach all contribute, as do leadership opportunities at all levels and allowing children to experiment with their own research and across all areas of the curriculum.  We aim to instil a growth mindset in all children, encouraging them to take a risk with their own learning and always have a go.

Every child, from Nursery upwards, benefits from subject specialist teaching and use of our facilities. These include specialist teaching spaces for Art, Drama, Food Technology, Music, and Science, and an on-site swimming pool, all-weather pitch, netball court and full-size sports hall.

Children in Reception to Year 2 have weekly specialist teaching in Music, PE, swimming, French, Drama and Food Technology (and Art from Year 1) and visit our Forest School.  From Year 3 children receive further specialist teaching, notably in additional sport and our Life Skills curriculum, which includes enterprise, study skills, textiles, food technology, PSHCEE and design technology.  From Year 4 a fully developed specialist teaching programme, with a subject specialist teacher for every lesson, provides excellent preparation for senior school.

From January 2021, the school welcomes a new Headteacher, Mr Jon Chesworth, who is excited to join the community, “Banstead Prep is a dynamic, fun and caring environment that everyone is proud to be a part of and I was convinced it was where I wanted to be from my very first visit.”  His ethos is a natural fit for Banstead Prep:

“School should be fun. Happy children flourish and happy children learn. I’m passionate about the importance of a broad curriculum, which creates opportunities for children to be excited and truly engaged with their learning and leads naturally to excellent academic progress. “

English and Maths attainment are assessed and individually tracked, and more than 30% of children achieve standardised scores in the top 2% nationally.  Children move on from Banstead Prep to a wide range of selective independent senior schools and grammar schools as well as state secondary schools and are awarded scholarships for exceptional academic achievement and talent in Art, Music, Drama and Sport. We believe in working with parents and children to identify the right school for each child and supporting them to secure a place at the school of their choice.

To support working parents, wraparound care is available from 7.30am, free of charge from 8.00am, fully flexible after school care until 6.00pm and an in-house holiday club.  A huge variety of clubs is on offer, including sports coaching, drama, art, cookery and STEM, Lego, Puzzles and Games and Animal Antics. 

Banstead Prep’s approach to Covid-19 ensured that children were able to continue their education across the full, broad curriculum whilst considering that parents had to balance home learning, often for more than one child, with home working. This placed an equal emphasis on wellbeing, supporting families and keeping the children engaged with school and their learning.  Feedback from parents was overwhelmingly positive about the experience.