Leadership OpportunitiesResponsible & resilient

At Barrow Hills, children have the opportunity to be at the top of the school at an extremely formative time in their development. It is a truly wonderful thing to be able to mature in a safe environment with people who know and understand you. The experiences we offer in Upper Prep aim to prepare the whole child for life beyond Barrow Hills, not only academically but also socially and emotionally.

Leadership skills, ambitions and principles for life

Our pupils achieve excellent outcomes in examinations and indeed offers of scholarship, but of course it is not all about exams. Life at the Top is about sending our children off to their next schools as well rounded, responsible and resilient individuals who care for others and try their very best in all areas of school life. In Upper Prep at Barrow Hills, our children learn to be responsible and resilient by applying for Captaincies such as Head of School, Head of House or as a Captain of areas such as Pre-Prep, sport, drama, art or science. They can become Peer Mentors or Well being Ambassadors and support the younger children. Weekly meetings over a hot chocolate encourage children to set targets for themselves so that they can fulfil their responsibilities to the best of their ability and offer real support to staff and other children.

Enrichment opportunities

Areas like sport, art, drama and engineering also offer children the opportunity to shine. Enrichment groups in sport, art and drama, alongside an academic enrichment group, help the children prepare for scholarships, as well as extending their interests and love of learning. Other educational opportunities in Upper Prep include a visit to the Science Museum, a theatre visit and the Café Scientifique.

We also aim to help the children to develop resilience and independent work skills. We encourage them to read around the subjects in areas like English, history and TPR and to listen to podcasts and talks. We teach them how to revise and consolidate their learning in their lessons. We support our Upper Prep pupils through study skills workshops and extra ‘drop in’ help sessions, helping them practise revision techniques and showing them how to manage stress and anxiety so that they can make progress.

At Barrow Hills, we also recognise the importance in developing the practical skills of the children in Years 7 and 8. Through our Upper Prep Enterprise Project, the children learnt about working as a part of a team, how to develop their problem-solving skills and how to manage money. This now runs alongside subjects such as TEDS (Technology, Engineering Design and Sustainability).

Across all these initiatives we lay the groundwork for children to travel onwards with skill and confidence, thinking deeply, listening well and achieving their very best.

Our Computing and AI curriculum serves as a powerful catalyst for deepening our pupils' learning and fostering critical thinking

Our pupils develop confidence in the positive application of technology, underpinned by strong moral foundations.

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Leadership skills, ambitions and principles for life

Enrichment opportunities

Our Computing and AI curriculum serves as a powerful catalyst for deepening our pupils' learning and fostering critical thinking

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