In Prep we build on the firm foundations that the children have developed in the previous two years and encourage the children towards a greater independence. The children benefit from the support of a full time teaching assistant and specialist teaching in Music, PE and Drama.

Throughout the year we provide a creative curriculum which is relevant and integrated so that the children can develop a personal response to what they are learning. Through using different learning styles and experiences, children in Prep continue to grow in self-esteem and feel a sense of achievement. The fantastic surroundings that the children enjoy every day are an extension of our classroom. The children are able to enter into the woods as ‘Ditcham Explorers’ to meet the Ditcham Dragon and act out the plays they carry in their imagination as the class sits around the ‘Once Upon a Time’ chair.  We take our Maths and English into the walled garden and enjoy treasure hunts which help with our learning.

We bring our topics to life with trips in the local area.  We find out what it would be like to explore the North and South Poles also visit Chichester Planetarium to gaze at the night sky above Chichester.  A re-enactment of the Great Fire of London where model houses the children have made are burned helps the children empathise with the people affected in 1666 and also creates a sense of awe and wonder.

At home the children are expected to read and practise their spellings and newly introduced tables to reinforce what they have learnt at school. We appreciate each other’s talents be they reading, art, sports, being kind and caring or having patience. All these things provide a rounded education and that is what the ethos of Ditcham Park School is all about.