Together we achieve
Prep School
Our Prep School
Our Prep school education is more than just preparing your child for their time at senior school. It is a time for challenge, excitement and fun. It is a period of discovery, where your child will determine who they want to be while they are cared for in a safe and secure environment. We are an independent co-educational day and boarding school for children aged 8-13. We’re located in 175 acres of stunning grounds within the South Downs National Park in Liphook, and welcome families from across Hampshire, West Sussex and Surrey.
Prep school is, of course, a time of assessment and exams. This cannot be avoided. However, our exceptional teachers will carefully manage this time. They will ensure your child doesn’t simply focus on this part of their educational journey. It’s important that we work together to ensure that their love of learning remains and their carefully nurtured flame is not extinguished.
The process of self-discovery that your child will go through will also lead them to important points such as senior school applications. Our highly-experienced Senior Leadership Team will guide you through this journey. A Highfield and Brookham education gifts you exceptional choice as we feed more than 30 of the top day and boarding senior schools in the country. This means we can help your child find the right school for them. We have made the progressive decision to move away from the full Common Entrance syllabus but remain with Common Entrance in the core subjects. This has allowed us to create a bespoke curriculum that focuses on the essential skills that we know senior schools and future employers are seeking in young adults. Our promise to you is that your child will leave Year 8 as an adaptable, resilient and independent young person ready for the world ahead.
An excellent and very broad educational experience, combined with first-class pastoral care, great facilities in a wonderfully inspiring location.
Lessons
Our Prep school timetable is a one-week timetable consisting of eight 45-minute lessons a day. To maximise your child’s learning time the timetable has been curated to ensure they move around our specialist facilities in a logical order meaning precious time is spent in lessons rather than moving from one to the next.
To help your child develop the ability to self-critique in a constructive manner they will attend a weekly study skills lesson. Your child will have the opportunity to carry out this new-found skill by reflecting and commenting on their end-of-term progress reports. We provide many real-life opportunities like this for your child to put all of their knowledge and skills into practice. This helps to consolidate their learning as well as give meaning and context to their education.
Our specialist subject teachers in drama, music, games, PE, modern foreign languages, design technology, art and digital literacy teach all Prep school children. Our specialist facilities provide the perfect learning environment for these subjects. In addition, in Year 5 and Year 6 your child will be taught by a subject specialist in science where lessons are conducted in one of our three science labs. They also have an additional new subject added to their timetable – Latin. Our highly-experienced key stage specialist teachers will provide the core teaching in English and maths. By Year 7 your child will be set in all subjects and taught by a subject specialist in all lessons, including wellbeing, geography and history. This ensures your child has experienced the senior school model of teaching before they reach Year 9.
To allow your child to have a focused conclusion to their learning, the day will end in the same way it began – with their form teacher. This is a crucial cog in our exceptional pastoral wheel. It allows the teacher who knows your child best to touch base with them to ensure the day delivered all it had promised. And it allows them to support your child if things didn’t quite go to plan.
There are 21 Saturdays in the academic year where children in Year 5 and above attend school, with Year 4 attending school on 17 Saturdays. Saturday mornings are filled with curriculum extension activities where children consolidate their learning and stretch their understanding. Saturday afternoons follow the traditional structure of sports fixtures which parents are warmly invited to watch every week.
Food
Growing children need wholesome food which is why we commit to having such a brilliant Catering Department. All of your child’s meals are seasonally planned, freshly prepared and cooked on site. Morning break is at 10am – the same time for all children in the school. To ensure your child is fuelled appropriately so they can fully engage with their morning lessons they will be served a carbohydrate-based snack. This will provide them with a slow release of energy to keep them focused until lunch.
Lunch break for our Prep school children is at 12.45pm. Lunch service is staggered to ensure the dining hall feels a welcoming place for your child to eat lunch with their friends. The time your child will be called for lunch rotates throughout the week, so sometimes they will eat first and then enjoy the fresh air and sometimes the other way around. Lunch is canteen style with a wide range of tasty and nutritious food on offer to cater for all tastes. There are always hot and cold options, with plenty of fresh fruit, vegetables and salads. Our bespoke menus operate on a three-week rotation and there is always a vegetarian option for those who choose to go meat free. Our aim is to feed your child but also to educate them about healthy choices and responsible eating. For example, when sweet treats and puddings are available our aim is to use reduced sugar and healthy alternatives.
To give your child that energy boost they need to see them through to the end of the day they are offered a snack during afternoon break at 3.15pm. Our approach to food is to ensure that your child has the correct levels of energy to perform well inside and outside of the classroom throughout the day.
Logistics
The Prep School Day
- 7.30am breakfast club (optional for day children £)
- 8am Gates open
- 8.20am Registration
- 10.30 am Morning break
- 12.40pm Lunch break
- 3.35pm Afternoon break
- 4.40pm school day ends
- 4.40pm After school clubs (optional)
- 5.50pm Clubs end
- 5.30pm Prep (optional for day children £)
- 6.30pm Supper (optional for day children £)
- 7pm Boarders’ evening activities
- 8pm Bedtime routine
Drop off
The gates at our Prep school open at 8am ready for the children to spill into their classrooms for 8.20am. Every day starts with 20 minutes of precious form time with your child’s class teacher to ensure they are set for the busy day ahead.
Our boarders enjoy a nourishing breakfast in our dining hall before the school day and our day children are invited to join them from 7.30am if they wish. We know how busy mornings can be so this option is valued by many families. Your child will be spoilt for choice for breakfast. There is always a hot option such as eggs on toast as well as cereal, porridge, yoghurt, toast and fresh fruit to kickstart their day.
After school
The school day finishes at 4.40pm but the fun doesn’t stop there. There is a full programme of after-school clubs which we actively encourage all children to take advantage of. There are four categories of clubs: physical, skill development, academic and artistic. We recommend your child tries one club from each group to fully benefit from our broad range of extra-curricular activities. Some of our clubs are run by our teachers who are passionate about a certain hobby, subject or sports and are free of charge. We also invite external professionals to run clubs such as LAMDA, Gymnastics and Golf, which do incur costs.
We offer Homework Club every day free of charge, so if there isn’t a new club your child wants to try and you need care for them after school they can stay with us until 5.30pm.
At 5.30pm our boarders head off to evening prep before heading into the Dining Hall for their homecooked supper at 6.30pm. Day children are invited to join boarders and can be collected as late as 7pm if family circumstances require it.
What we’re up to…
Congratulations to Year 7 pupils Grace Craig and Annie Yang, who jointly picked up the Art Effort of the Month award for February for their amazing renditions of American artist Roy Lichtenstein’s colourful and dramatic pop art work. #TogetherWeGrow #PrepSchoolArt #CreativeArts #SchoolsInHampshire #TalentedPupils #Art
True to form, our young mini marvels have had a marvellous time during the half-term holiday. Outdoor play, cycling, cookery and getting creative in the art room making fun masks were among the many amazing activities on offer during an action-packed few days where smiles, joy and laughter were par for the course. #TogetherWeGrow #MiniMarvels #HalfTermHolidayFun #SchoolsInHampshire #SchoolHolidayCourses
With a view to widening our reach and engaging with key communities, we have made our first foray into television advertising. Let us know if you spot us on Sky TV! #TogetherWeGrow #SchoolsInHampshire #Nursery #PrePrepSchool #PrepSchool #PrivateEducation #Hampshire #WestSussex #Surrey #DayAndBoardingSchool
Are you looking for a nurturing school environment where your child can truly thrive? Join us on Friday 14th March for our Open Morning and explore the school, its beautiful grounds and extensive facilities. You’ll be guided on a tour by some of our Year 8 pupils, who will share their personal experiences. Meet our inspiring Head and discover first-hand how we bring out the best in every child and prepare them for their future schools and beyond. To book a place, visit bit.ly/4k2iFbL #TogetherWeGrow #IndependentSchool #PrivateSchool #BoardingSchool #PrepSchool #PrePrepSchool #Nursery #Liphook #Hampshire #Surrey #WestSussex #OpenMorning #CountryEducation
Are you looking for a nurturing school environment where your child can truly thrive? Join us on Friday 14th March for our Open Morning and explore the school, its beautiful grounds and extensive facilities. You’ll be guided on a tour by some of our Year 8 pupils, who will share their personal experiences. Meet our inspiring Head and discover first-hand how we bring out the best in every child and prepare them for their future schools and beyond. To book a place click the link in our bio above. #TogetherWeGrow #IndependentSchool #PrivateSchool #BoardingSchool #PrepSchool #PrePrepSchool #Nursery #Liphook #Hampshire #Surrey #WestSussex #OpenMorning
There’s simply no masking the joy that our brilliant school holiday courses bring to the children… #TogetherWeGrow #SchoolHolidays #HolidayActivities #SchoolsInHampshire #BoardingSchoolsInHampshire #ThingsToDoInTheHolidays
Led by the amazing Mrs Wilson, our very own West End stage star, the children taking part in today’s half-term holiday performing arts masterclass look like they could soon be following in her footsteps. The eager boys and girls gave their all as they recited, acted, danced and sang their way through two wonderful skits and a fantastic finale from hit musical The Greatest Showman. Bravo, one and all, bravo! #TogetherWeGrow #PerformingArts #HalfTermHolidayActivities #StageTalent #SchoolsInHampshire
An incredible bird’s eye view of our inter-school cross-country last Friday with thanks to @the_raven_view for this amazing drone footage. We are fortunate to have such amazing school grounds to host this event and the video provides a snapshot of the challenging terrain the children had to navigate. #crosscountry #prepschool #coeducationalschool #TogetherWeGrow #prepschoolcrosscountry #westsussex #hampshire
We’ll leave you to decide whether or not you think the boys and girls on our exciting half-term holiday multi-activities course have had a fun first day… #TogetherWeGrow #HolidayClubs #AllFriendsTogether #Multiactivities #ActiveChildren
Love and friendship was the order of the day as our boys and girls got down to some seriously creative crafting today. Under the expert guidance of the brilliant Hannah and Jo, from Feltybeecrafts, the children got the half-term holiday week off to a great start in the art room by decorating beautiful glass pebbles, making and decorating trinket boxes to put them in, and using their needle-felting skills to produce some amazing animals, complete with cute ears, charming whiskers and soft noses. #TogetherWeGrow #LoveAndFriendship #CreativeCrafting #HalfTermHolidays #HolidayActivityClubs
It was wonderful to see so much amazing sportsmanship and camaraderie at our annual cross-country event, with teammates often running in pairs or small groups to help each other through the toughest sections of the challenging course. #TogetherWeGrow #IndependentSchool #PrivateSchool #BoardingSchool #PrepSchool #PrePrepSchool #Nursery #Liphook #Hampshire #Surrey #WestSussex #crosscountry #sportsmanship #helpinghand @amesburyschool @aldroschool @barrowhillsschool @churchers1722 @churchersjunior @edgeboroughschool @feltonfleetschool @hoebridgeschool @parkside_prep @rgs_guildford @rgsprep @twyfordschool @westbournehouseschool
More than 900 children from 15 schools across Hampshire, Surrey and West Sussex have given their all over our testing cross-country course today. Children aged from eight to 13 showed real determination and strained every sinew, not only battling each other but also a tricky course, slippery ground and a biting wind. There were some tears, knocks and scrapes along the way, but the way in which the runners supported not only their teammates but children from rival schools was truly heartwarming on a cold day. And the look of joy and relief on the faces of the children as they crossed the finish, cheered on by their peers, was a sight to behold. Very well done, boys and girls! Aldro Amesbury School Barrow Hills School Churcher’s College Edgeborough School Feltonfleet School Hoe Bridge School Parkside School RGS Prep School Twyford School, Hampshire Westbourne House School #TogetherWeGrow #PrepSchoolCrossCountry #RunningInTheMud #SchoolsInHampshire
Introducing our new Mini Maintenance Team, a group of volunteer pupils that are working with our Maintenance Team, contributing to the care of the school environment, discussing key aspects for the whole school community including health and safety, respect and appreciation of the school site and the wonderful surroundings. #TogetherWeGrow #teamwork #coeducationalschools #prepschool #countryprepschool #community #wecareforourenvironment #hampshire #surrey #westsussex
We’ve been treated to another musical masterclass from our blossoming children in Year 1 to Year 3, who charmed their watching parents at this morning’s Spring Concert. Under the tutelage of specialist music teachers Mrs Harman, Mrs Gregory, Mrs O’Brien, Mrs Craven, Mrs Hall, Mr Rood and Mr Spratley, the children showed great courage, poise and maturity to perform a wonderful array of pieces for piano, recorder, violin, classical guitar and cello, not to mention jaunty renditions from our amazing junior choirs. #TogetherWeGrow #SpringConcert #PrePrepSchoolMusic #SpecialistMusicTeaching #SchoolsInHampshire #PerformingArts
It’s incredibly rewarding to see our children use their imaginations at play. Today, our youngest cohort made full use of the nursery garden and the veritable treasure trove of assorted odds and ends that they could find to lose themselves in a rich world of fantasy and make believe. Sometimes less really is more… #TogetherWeGrow #ChildrenAtPlay #LettingImaginationsRunFree #SchoolsInHampshire #Nursery #PrePrepSchool #PrepSchool
Our seasonal prep school sports rotation continued today, with the boys swapping rugby balls for hockey sticks for some high-quality matches against our friends from Hoe Bridge School. Straight after the half-term holiday, the girls will swap the hockey astro for the football pitch. #TogetherWeGrow #PrepSchoolSport #BoysHockey #GirlsFootball #SchoolsInHampshire #HampshireBoardingSchools
Pastel chalks, paintbrushes and pencils were the order of the day as our prep school children demonstrated a wonderful mix of technique and talent at Sketch Club. The children created some amazing artwork during their extra-curricular lunchtime session; refining existing artistic techniques, as well as learning new ones, which they can take into their regular art lessons. #TogetherWeGrow #SketchClub #ExtraCurricularClubs #Art #ArtisticExpression #SchoolsInHampshire #CoeducationalSchoolsInHampshire
As the physical, mental and emotional health and wellbeing of our children is at the heart of everything we do, we marked Safer Internet Day by helping ensure they are protected from cyber threats too. An insightful prep school assembly raised awareness of the importance of creating a safe and positive online environment for everyone, especially children and young people, by highlighting potential online risks such as cyberbullying, harmful content, and privacy concerns. The children were also encouraged to practice responsible online behavior and to take steps to protect themselves digitally before learning of the dangers of scams and phishing during a nationwide live lesson which aims to keep children across the UK safe in today’s digital world. #TogetherWeGrow #DigitalSafety #SaferInternetDay #StayingSafeOnline #SchoolsInHampshire #BoardingSchoolsInHampshire
Determined runners from within the school community are putting their best feet forward for a landmark run around the nation’s capital in aid of the Centenary Bursaries Fund. And they would love your support as they prepare to tackle the 13.1-mile London Landmarks Half Marathon in April. #TogetherWeGrow #LondonLandmarksHalfMarathon #BestFootForward #CharityRunners #HighfieldCentenaryBursariesFund #SchoolsInHampshire
Hot on the heels of an inspirational masterclass with Terry Gilmour, Head of Rugby at @marlboroughcollege, our brilliant U10A rugby players put their newly-learned skills and techniques to the best possible use with a fantastic win over a strong @aldroschool side on Saturday to round off an unbeaten season. And their win was mirrored by the U13A, U12A and U11A teams on a phenomenal afternoon against Aldro. #TogetherWeGrow #PrepSchoolRugby #WinningMentality #SchoolsInHampshire
It may have been overcast, it may have been pretty cold, it may even have begun sleeting, but nothing could dampen the spirits of our happy pupils and staff who rounded off Place2Be’s Children’s Mental Health Week with an invigorating and uplifting wellbeing walk. #TogetherWeGrow #ChildrensMentalHealthWeek #WellbeingWeek #PastoralCare #SchoolsInHampshire #CoeducationalBoardingSchool
One of our treasured values is ‘be kind’ and there are no shortages of examples of kindness to be found every day all over the school, such as our Year 2 children helping each other with their reading at Booklet Club. #TogetherWeGrow #BeKind #ReadingAmbassadors #HelpIsAtHand #SchoolsInHampshire #SchoolValues
Ahead of their performance of Pride Rocks next month, our Year 5 and Year 6 children have been treated to a drama masterclass from a West End star. Gloria Onitiri was just 17 when she played Nala in The Lion King on stage at the Lyceum Theatre and today she brought a wealth of stage experience to our school theatre. Gloria focused on physicality and movement on stage, working with different groups of ‘animals’ who feature in The Lion King, with the children honing the one-to-ten movement technique which starts with the body stock still on the count of one before evolving and becoming more animated as the count moves higher. After a wonderful day of drama, we can’t wait for the children to take to the stage in March! West End On Demand #TogetherWeGrow #PerformingArts #TheLionKing #PrideRocks #WestEndStar #GloriaOnitiri #PrepSchoolDrama
In support of @_place2be’s Children’s Mental Health Week we wanted to give a shout-out to our amazing Beehive. We launched the Beehive just over a year ago, a friendly and positive space which is home to some of our popular wellbeing activities, including visits from wellness experts for our children and staff body. It is a space where the children can relax, reset and regulate their emotions. The Beehive is an important asset to the school community, and the ongoing pastoral story at Highfield and Brookham School. #togetherwegrow #Beehive #childrensmentalhealthweek #coeducationalschools #prepschool #countryprepschool @thewellbeinghubteentips
The shared area in pre-prep was a hive of activity today – and it all added up to a truly memorable lesson for Year 1. While some children got busy in the kitchen, expertly measuring, pouring and mixing to produce tasty apple and honey cookies, others brushed up on their maths by cleverly using different coloured paint to create number bonds, showed great dexterity and perseverance to make robots out of recycled materials, or let their imaginations run free with marker pens and a whiteboard. #TogetherWeGrow #Cookery #RecycledRobots #AppleAndHoneyCookies #ResourcefulChildren #Maths #NumberBonds #CoeducationalPrepSchool #SchoolsInHampshire