Headmistress Welcome

Hello – and a warm welcome to The Croft Preparatory School!

Thank you for choosing to view our Web Site.

We do hope you like what you see, and that it encourages you to come and visit the School, maybe on an Open Morning, when you are shown round the campus by Year 6 pupils. Alternatively, I welcome prospective parents for an individual tour most days of the week from 9.30am after Assembly.

It is really important to see our children at work and play, to gain a full and informed picture of what the School is about.

The Croft is a very special place: I think almost magical. It has sound educational values, integrity and a distinctive view of preparatory school education, whilst having a delightful, slightly quirky ethos and characterful atmosphere. On the one hand, it has resolutely retained a charming old-fashionedness. On the other, its essential values, I would argue, are very much of the here and now: personal authenticity, an emphasis on respect, manners and courtesy shown to all.

Moreover, the distinctiveness reflects the particularities, commitment and dedication of a highly consistent and mostly long-serving staff team.

Unlike many selective preparatory schools, The Croft's intake spans a wide ability range from very able to children who need support, either on a regular basis or more transiently, to achieve their full potential.

I think a caring, familial atmosphere nurtures each child, within and beyond the formal parameters of a perceived curriculum, and is enabling of a personal best, however that is individually defined and experienced. A caring, Christian–designated ethos is conducive to the development of every child's self-esteem. Even though the School has grown over years, it retains the distinctive Schumacher characteristics of a small school where staff and children know everybody, and where education is on a personal scale.

I look forward to meeting you soon.

Warmest regards

Dr Patricia Thompson
Headmistress