In 2015, they announced that they had joined the Merchant Taylors’ family of schools to create, for the first time in Northwood, a ‘through school’ experience for boys from 3 to 18. This has been a very exciting development and was conceived with the aim of creating a cohesive and seamless curriculum and making the process of transfer from the prep school to the senior school simpler and less stressful.
Prior to 2015, they were known as Northwood Prep, with a very successful history since 1910, when the school was founded by Francis Terry. Throughout more recent developments, Francis Terry's original vision of the school has been maintained. A Christian, caring environment has been established where each pupil is valued as an individual and all concerned - pupils, staff and governors - strive for excellence. At Merchant Taylors’ Prep they are committed to maintaining a strong academic tradition whilst preserving a balance between the academic, spiritual, emotional and physical needs of the pupils. We seek to develop the boys’ character through the quality of our teaching as well as an extensive range of extra-curricular and sporting activities.
Nursery and Reception
The education provided in Nursery and Reception is a very effective, practical and oral curriculum which is taught through a range of exciting and stimulating topics. We encourage the children to develop the following Learning Attitudes: concentration, communication and collaboration, independence, imagination, empathy, perseverance, curiosity and risk taking. The majority of this curriculum is delivered by the core Nursery and Reception team lead by form teachers: boys also receive dedicated Music, French and PE lessons delivered by specialist teachers from Merchant Taylors’ Prep.
Years 1 and 2
The curriculum in Years 1 and 2 (Key Stage 1) is taught through topics. There is the opportunity to extend the topics that are studied to match the children's interests and excite their imagination. The priority remains to lay firm basic foundations and to establish good learning habits. The majority of the curriculum is delivered by form teachers: boys also receive Music, French and PE lessons delivered by specialists, as above. Homework is set on Seesaw, a third-party digital learning app. They set regular homework in English and Maths, and they occasionally send additional work with individual children where they feel that it would be helpful to reinforce a particular skill or concept.
Years 3 and 4
Boys in Years 3 and 4 begin our full 14 subject curriculum, which has depth, breadth and balance. English, Mathematics and Philosophy for Children are taught by the boys’ form teachers; the core Year 3 and 4 team also delivers Religious Studies and Wellbeing, and the Year 3 team delivers Geography. Other subjects are taught by specialist subject teachers. Boys receive English, Mathematics and one other subject as homework each week, set on Seesaw. They continue to read every night.
Years 5-8
Boys in Years 5, 6, 7 and 8 continue to study our full curriculum, taught exclusively by subject specialists. Some elements of the pastoral curriculum, such as Philosophy for Children and aspects of PSHEE including Citizenship, are delivered through their tutor groups, which are ‘vertical’ meaning they consist of a few boys from each of those year groups. Boys receive one academic homework a day. It is set on Microsoft Teams, which is part of the Office 365 suite to which they all have access. They continue to read every day. They are expected to engage in extra-curricular enrichment activities, both inside and outside school, for which they are accountable to their form tutors.
Clubs
Extra-curricular activities play a key role in the development and enjoyment of Merchant Taylors' Prep boys. They offer a wide range of after-school clubs and activities to pupils in Years 1 to 8, and each pupil in turn is expected to broaden his horizons by attending and contributing to (and enjoying) his chosen activity.
Please check the school website link for details.
0.61 miles
