Pre-Prep Frequently Asked Questions

Pre-Prep is open from 08:00 with a flexible drop off time until 08:50. Parents can drop off freely between these times. Pre-Reception have their own entrance and the remainder of Pre-Prep are greeted by members of the friendly Pre-Prep team at the main gate.

The school day finishes at 15:40 for Pre-Reception and 15:50 for Pre-Prep; children may be collected or stay for after school care. Pre-Prep children may take part in after school activities. Activities vary from term to term and may include choir, rugby, cricket, musical theatre, construction, multisports and sewing.
 

The school days will vary, the children will have a daily assembly, followed by a focus on English and maths.

Lunch is at 12:00, prepared by our in-house catering team. Children are served a freshly prepared hot lunch in Weston Hall. In the afternoon, there are various lessons, including science, geography, history, music, art, French and Spanish. The children also participate in their daily PE lesson. PE is taught by specialist teachers and includes a wide range of seasonal sports in addition to tennis, gymnastics, dance and swimming lessons.
 

Breakfast club is available at Pre-Prep from 07:30 and costs £12.00 per child; this must be booked in advance with the Pre-Prep Office. After school care is available until 18:00 to all Pre-Prep pupils. Care is provided by qualified and experienced staff who engage the children in a wide range of games, puzzles and toys in a safe, happy environment.

As part of our after school care, children enjoy a healthy snack of toast, fruit, milk, water and occasionally cakes. After school care is charged by the hour at £12.00.

Clubs are available all year round for PP1 (Year 1) and PP2 (Year 2), and PPR (Reception) from the Spring term. The clubs run before school, during lunch break and every evening from 16:00 and give children the opportunity to try lots of different activities, such as choir, crafts, yoga, musical theatre in addition to sport, led by qualified instructors and teachers.

Before term begins you will receive a communication with details of the activities on offer and how to book them.
 

Please contact the Pre-Prep Office on 01284 385412 in the first instance. The full staff list with email addresses and phone numbers can be found on our useful contacts page.

Parents must notify the Pre-Prep Office before 08:50 if their child is going to be absent for any reason. If your child is likely to be late, please also contact the Pre-Prep Office. 

Please write to Miss Steers, VSteers@culford.co.uk, if you need to request your child to take time off during the school term. Permission should be sought from the Head on these occasions.
 

The school calendar is produced termly and is available to view here. You will also receive termly and monthly calendar updates.

The School’s outfitter is the online shop School Blazer, and all the necessary school uniform can be purchased on: schoolblazer.com. You can also view the full uniform list here. Please ensure that all uniform and clothing brought to school is named correctly.

Forest School enables children to cover a wide range of topics from our curriculum, from mathematics and nature, to team-building and problem solving in an alternative environment. A typical Forest School session includes activities such as den building, knot tying, willow patterns, natural sculptures and creating woodland friends. Pre-Reception have weekly sessions and Reception, PP1 and PP2 have whole afternoons in the forest throughout the term.

Individual music lessons in piano, violin, drum and cello are available for pupils in PP1 and PP2. Please complete and return the relevant forms on the parent portal??

Your child’s class teacher should be the first port of call if you or your child has any problems or worries about school. Miss Steers, Pre-Prep Head, is also available to speak to. Miss Harrison is the Pre-Prep Designated Safeguarding Lead and is always available to speak with parents. Contact details are available on the useful contacts page.

Culford sends out communications via Culford Post. This may include information, such as invitations to events, details of parents’ evenings and school trips. All parents will have a password protected account set up for them when their child joins the school and will receive a notification to their preferred email address when there is a message. 

A weekly Pre-Prep Newsletter is sent out via email to keep you updated with Pre-Prep news and celebrations.
 

All food is provided for Pre-Prep children. We have a team of caterers who work onsite to freshly produce healthy and delicious meals and snacks for the children. A menu may be viewed here and via the weekly newsletter. Special dietary needs can also be catered for.

If a child becomes unwell, they will be cared for by one of the Pre-Prep staff until collected by their parents. We also have use of the purpose-built Health Centre if required where a nurse is on call 24 hours a day. 

In the Autumn term formal school photographs are taken of each pupil. We take and provide photographs of your child at events during the year, such as plays, sports events and trips. They can be viewed and downloaded on our online gallery. Information will be shared via the newsletter when the new photographs are ready.

No personal photography is allowed on site to protect the privacy of our children and their families. 
 

My School Portal brings key information about your child together in one place. You will be able to see essential information such as timetables, school reports, the school calendar and sports results and fixtures.

Click here to find out more information, including details on how to sign up for My School Portal.

Prep is set at various points throughout the week. It may be linked to English, maths or topic learning and will be differentiated to the level of the child. Prep is set to consolidate and embed previously taught concepts.

In the Pre-Prep and Nursery, much use is made of verbal motivational praise, so pupils of all abilities feel that their work is valued. The importance of academic success is further enhanced by giving out several different rewards, such as house points, stickers and certificates. 

A Friday celebration assembly recognises the members of each class who have been awarded merits, citizenship awards and house point awards.
 

We have an extremely active PTA made up of parents from across the Pre-Prep and Nursery. Fundraising is usually for local charities or for the Pre-Prep itself. Through such events in recent years, Culford PTA has raised tens of thousands of pounds to provide the School with valuable extra resources to benefit the children.

As all parents automatically become members of the PTA when their child joins the School, the opportunity exists for them to become involved in committee work, helping at some of the events, or merely supporting these occasions as time permits. It’s great fun and a friendly association.

If you would like to find out more, please contact the School Office or the Chair, Holly Hall on culfordprepreppta@gmail.com

A report for your child will be published at the end of the Autumn term. A full report is then published in July. 

There are two parent teacher meetings per year. We also have an open door policy in the Pre-Prep to discuss any concerns with parents at either drop-off or pick-up in the afternoon.