Welcome to Pre-Prep & Prep at Ryde School
Independent day & boarding school for boys and girls aged 2 to 18

Welcome to Pre-Prep & Prep at Ryde School

From Westhill Nursery to Year 6, we provide an outstanding all-round education for boys and girls. The well-being of each and every child is at the heart of all we do, our pastoral care is excellent and our learning environment warm, caring and nurturing. We aim to ensure children grow to become independent, confident, happy and resilient learners.

Ed Marsden and Emily Willetts
Head of Prep and Head of Nursery & Pre-Prep

We aim high and want our pupils to succeed and this is underpinned by our core values of Ambition, Responsibility, Courage and Respect. Small classes are taught by a team of dedicated and highly-qualified teaching staff, enabling us to know each child individually and plan appropriately, ensuring that every child is able to achieve their full potential.

At the heart of our school day are the core subjects of Maths, English and STEM.  Our wider curriculum in both Pre-Prep and Prep is enriched with a bespoke range of subjects and topics.  Children are encouraged to embrace inquiry led learning, a love of reading and show ambition each day.  Further to this, specialist teachers in music, sport, the arts and languages ensure each day is filled with a variety of lessons with a level of both support and challenge that we believe is unrivalled.

Part of our wide-ranging co-curricular and extra-curricular offering includes: 

  • Beach and Forest School sessions
  • Team sports on and off the Island against other schools 
  • Music and drama lessons and clubs
  • Public speaking and Maths Challenges against other Island schools
  • Venturers (similar to the young Duke of Edinburgh Award)  

We follow our school motto of ‘Ut Prosim’, to be of service, through community service initiatives and charity fund-raising. High self-esteem, self- confidence and independence are fostered throughout all our activities.  Our website only gives you a small taste of the vibrancy of our school and we warmly invite you to visit to experience it for yourselves.

Please book a private tour or join an Open Morning here:


Daily Routine

Nursery & Pre-Prep

Both Nursery and Pre-Prep children are provided with healthy mid-morning and afternoon snacks and enjoy a delicious hot lunch freshly prepared daily.

Nursery

We welcome children from 8:00am for our Early Birds session or 9:00am for the core morning session. Children stay for a half day (until 12.30pm) or full day (3.30pm) with the option to stay up until 6:00pm with our extended-day provision.   

We live within our Rainbow Rules and begin learning and practising our school values.  Regular visitors and our daily Circle Times support the children’s understanding of the world, fostering team-work in a friendly and happy environment.

Pre-Prep

We welcome children from 8:00am for our Breakfast Club or between 8.15am and 8.40am ready for registration at 8.40am.  

The Pre-Prep core day finishes at 3.30pm. The day can be extended to 4:00pm, 5:00 pm or 6:00 pm by children attending a variety of clubs, both in-house and externally provided and Supper Club. 

We live within our set of Golden Rules and our school values learning the joy of success that comes from hard work and positive relationships. Regular assemblies with interesting visitors and our engaging curriculum support the children’s understanding of the outside world, fostering team-work in a friendly and happy environment.

Prep

The Prep Years 3, 4, 5 and 6 are located in lovely and warm old Victorian buildings opposite All Saints' Church, on the south facing corner of the main school site. The school buildings are a mixture of cleverly adapted Victorian villas with contemporary modern venues, incorporating the Prep School Hall, Music Centre, Science Laboratory, Lego studio (The HIVE) and the HEART well-being area. 

Children can start to arrive from 8am, gathering in the playground or the library for the Early Birds session until going to their own classrooms at 8.25am. Registration, led by Form Tutors, is between 8.25am and 8.40am during which teachers and children plan for the day ahead and address pastoral matters within a classroom gathering. 

Form assemblies take place on Friday afternoons and are led by the children. As parents you are invited to join the school at this gathering if your child is participating in leading the assembly.

There are three morning lessons which include break-time at 10.45am and lunch in the main school Dining Hall at mid-day. The daily menu offers children a wide choice of freshly made hot and cold meals, and a selection of desserts, ranging from the traditional hot puddings, to fresh fruit and yoghurt. After lunch there is free play in the playground and our 17 acres of beautiful grounds, the extensive school grounds followed by three afternoon lessons starting at 12.55pm.

The core day finishes at 4pm and children may go home. Children may also extend their day by taking advantage of the busy programme of clubs and activities on offer or stay for a supervised prep session and may be collected at 4pm, 4.20pm or 5pm. Children wishing to stay on for Supper Club in the Dining Hall at 5pm, can curl up with a book in the Prep School Library and enjoy a hot meal before being collected at 6pm. Parents are asked to pre-book for Supper Club.

Trips and sports fixtures throughout the week will punctuate the normal rhythm of the school day and may result in an extended day. Parents will receive notices of all these events in a termly calendar.