Connaught House School is a pre-preparatory and preparatory private school, whose pupils go on to succeed at London Independent Schools, London Day Schools and Private Boarding Schools throughout the South East of England. Located in the heart of the Capital, moments from Hyde Park, Marble Arch, Oxford Street and the West End.
Families typically come from the local area as far east as Mayfair, Piccadilly, Baker Street and Tottenham Court Road, as Far North as Maida Vale and St.Johns Wood, as far West as Notting Hill and Holland Park, and as far South as Kensington and Knightsbridge. Postcode ranges include W2, W1, WC1, WC2, SW1, SW7, W8, W14, W11, W10, W9, NW8 & NW1.
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Thank you for your enquiry about Connaught House School.
The school was established in 1953 and has occupied its present site, close to Hyde Park, on the corner of Connaught Square since 1956.
Children are accepted from four years of age into our Junior One pre-school group. Boys are prepared for entry into Preparatory School at 8+ and girls for Common Entrance or Public School entry at 11 years. The great majority of pupils continue on to London day schools.
Our standard procedure is to invite prospective parents to see the school during term time when they may also register their child for entry. If you think, after reading the following information, that you would like to visit us please contact the School Office to make an appointment.
PRINCIPALS MRS J.A. HAMPTON & MR F. HAMPTON MA RCA
Connaught House is a small co-educational school with a unique atmosphere. Children are received into bright, cheerful and colourful surroundings where classes are small and the focus is on the individual.
Our aim is to create a happy environment which fosters lively, motivated and interested children who not only have confidence in their own abilities but also a considerate awareness of their peers.
An emphasis is placed on providing the children with a thorough academic grounding, enabling them to use, realise and enjoy their own individual talents.
Progress is closely monitored in order that extra help and encouragement can be given when and where it is needed.
We expect to maintain a close liaison between home and school and parental support is considered vital to any child's successful progress.
The school has a strong family atmosphere.
Seniors have daily contact with the most junior members and, consequently, new children are integrated into the daily routine of school life very quickly.
In a world where we are experiencing constant changes in the concepts about the nature of education, the school continues to pursue and maintain the high academic standards established over many years.
At the same time Connaught House seeks to provide the children with a structure that gives an opportunity to broaden the base of their interests and an awareness of the world about them, enabling them to become stable, confident and well-rounded individuals.
The children follow a balanced, well-structured curriculum. Subjects are taught with reference to the National Curriculum but also to take account of the entrance requirements of the senior schools to which most of our pupils go.
With a balanced timetable of academic, recreational and extra curricular activities, the children have the opportunity to develop their talents and interests as well as gain a solid foundation of basic skills.
Children are required to attend a very informal assessment and, once a firm place in Junior One has been offered, a non-refundable deposit is required to secure the place.
Junior One is an integral part of Connaught House and, accordingly, places are offered on the understanding that a child will continue on into Form One and the mainstream of the school.
The school gives priority to siblings and children from local families.
Entry into Junior One is possible from the beginning of the September term after the child's fourth birthday and there is a structured programme of work covering the three terms.
The group participates in the majority of main school activities including French, music and games supervised by specialist teachers. Junior One take part in all Connaught House School events such as Christmas Plays, The Poetry Afternoon, Sports Day and summer excursions.
The reception class runs for the normal three term period with the same calendar dates as the main school.
The School’s normal terms and conditions of entry, including the requirement of a full term’s notice in writing, are applicable.
In a small school we have the advantage of coming to know our pupils well and are able to monitor, guide and encourage individual progress, providing extra support where necessary.
Each child is encouraged to establish a good work habit, be self-reliant and maintain a high moral code.
At Connaught House, art and music are viewed as important and complementary activities, broadening and enriching the children's academic studies.
The lessons provide an opportunity for the children to develop their own personal skills and are a key part of their creative and intellectual development.
Each form has a music-based lesson at least twice a week with a visiting music specialist. The school orchestra and choirs provide enthusiastic performances on both formal and informal occasions and there is a summer concert involving all the pupils.
The majority of children take individual music tuition and this currently includes piano, recorder, flute, guitar, violin and singing. There are a range of music bursaries to encourage and promote musical potential.
Our visiting teachers are all professional musicians with impressive career profiles and there are opportunities for their pupils and families to see their teachers perform at prestigious London venues.
A number of former pupils have chosen to continue as private pupils with their Connaught House music teachers.
The individual music tuition is charged separately.
The children are encouraged to be articulate and express themselves with confidence in everyday life.
There is a verse speaking competition in the Spring Term and parents are invited to a celebration of poetry when every class prepares a selection of choral and individual verse.
A significant part of the learning process is achieved through role-playing by children both in the classroom and on stage.
There are drama groups during hobby afternoons and annual plays in which every child participates.
Drawing & painting techniques are taught in the senior part of the school.
Children are encouraged to produce individual pieces of work which reflect their skills, abilities and enthusiasms.
There are prizes for drawing and imaginative illustration of academic work.
Examples of the children’s work are displayed throughout the school.
On Tuesday and Wednesday afternoon, after school clubs provide a wide variety of enjoyable activities for the Second Form upwards.
Options vary throughout the year and children are encouraged to try out a range of interests which include choices such as craft activities, drama, science workshop, table tennis & pottery.
On Monday mornings, before school begins, there is a thriving Chess Club run by a lady Grandmaster.
Every year, the children participate in a national Chess Competition and a school prize for progress awarded to a novice player.
There is a small charge for this club.
Hyde Park, which is close by, is used for daily exercise and some class games. Local facilities are used for athletics, football, netball, tennis, short tennis and rounders.
Gym, badminton and swimming are also included.
There is an organised School Sports Day, very much a fun event, during the Summer Term with an inter-house competition.
Visits for form groups are arranged to various exhibitions and museums as part of their study programme.
There are also school outings to places of interest during the summer term.
It has been a long standing tradition at Connaught House School to provide lunch freshly cooked on the premises.
The school maintains its own kitchen and staff. Former pupils revisiting often comment on the long remembered quality.
Parents and teachers maintain daily contact through the children’s reading or homework diary.
Parents are expected to keep in touch and their participation and interest are essential in providing the correct help and encouragement for their child.
The Principals or any member of staff will be pleased to see parents after school by appointment to discuss any matters arising.
There are reports for all children at the end of the Autumn and Summer Terms.
From Form Two upwards there are half termly progress reports indicating effort and attainment achieved.
There are at least two events each term for parents to attend. The Christmas Plays and Carol Service during the Autumn term, the Poetry Afternoon and Open morning during the Spring term and the Summer Concert, Sports Day and Prize Giving during the Summer term.
Uniform
Children must wear the complete school uniform, obtainable from the School’s uniform suppliers.
Attendance is expected to be both regular and punctual.
Children may arrive between 8.30 and 8.50 am.
Afternoon school normally finishes between 3.30 and 4.00 pm.
For children in Form Two upwards, school ends at 4.30 pm on Club afternoons.
Senior & Preparatory School Entry
Boys & girls at Connaught House School have been offered places at the following schools in recent years.
The American School in London
Channing School
City of London Girls School
Colet Court
Dulwich
Dunhurst (Bedales)
Francis Holland School NW1
Francis Holland School SW1
Frensham Heights (Art Scholarship)
Greycoat Hospital School
Godolphin & Latymer School for Girls
Haberdashers’ Aske’s School for Girls
The Hall
Latymer Preparatory School
Lyndhurst Preparatory
Marylebone Arts School
More House
North Bridge House
Queen’s College (Music Scholarship)
Queen’s Gate
Queenswood
Thomas’s
St Paul’s Cathedral Choir School
St Paul’s School for Girls
St Philip’s Preparatory
South Hampstead
Summer Fields
Sussex House
Sylvia Young Stage School
University College School
Wycombe Abbey
Westminster Abbey Choir School
Westminster Cathedral Choir School
Westminster Under School
Woldingham
Parents may register their child/children for entry when they visit the school. Children registered for entry are required to attend an informal assessment before a place can be confirmed by the school. Parents should contact the School Office for further information about places available in Junior One or the Main School.
Places are usually available in Year Four and sometimes in Year Three, subject to assessment, and discretionary bursaries are also available. Girls who have joined us later in the Main School and our Bursary Pupils have all benefited from the small classes and tutorial teaching to achieve well at 11+, continuing on to a broad range of secondary schools including St Paul’s Girls’ School, Marylebone Arts School and Greycoat Hospital.
There are a number of Academic and Music Bursaries regularly awarded to children already studying at the school and available for those applying for entry from 7/8+.
Further details from the School Office.
The conditions of entry should be read carefully and the registration form signed by parents or guardians.
The fees cover the costs of most activities, school trips, lunch and stationery. Items, such as badges and examination fees, will be supplied at cost.
Each term’s account must be settled on or before the first day of the term but there is also provision for parents to spread the cost of fees over the year if this is preferred. Please ask for further information from the School Office. For new pupils joining the school, a substantial deposit will be required to secure any place offered. The deposit is not refundable in the event of the place not being taken up.
When a place is taken up, the deposit is credited to fees for the final term in the Main School, subject to a full term’s notice of removal in writing being received by the first day of the final term.
Notice of intention to remove a pupil at the end of any term must be given in writing no later than the first day of that term, otherwise payment for the following term, in lieu of the full term’s notice, will be required.
This rule also applies to the discontinuance of music lessons and any extra curricular lessons.
The Principals reserve the right to ask a pupil to be removed.
Further information about exclusion and the school's policy on behaviour are available on request.
The School Policies on Child Protection and the Complaints Procedure are also available on request.
Our standard procedure is to invite prospective parents to see the school during term time when they may also register their child for entry.
If you think, after reading the following information, that you would like to visit us please contact the School Office to make an appointment.
TERM FEES AS FROM SEPTEMBER 2008
Three term year
Inclusive tuition charge £3,250
Children are taken into Junior One on the understanding that they will continue into the Main School.
Inclusive tuition charge £4,050
There is a conditional 10% discount on the tuition fee for a second child attending the Main School, only if fees are paid by the first day of the term.
Unlike the majority of independent schools, Connaught House fees cover tuition, stationery, including non specialist pupil support during school hours, all meals, club sessions, school music requirements, normal school trips, activities and transport.
Registration fee - £50
Confirmation deposit for Junior One - £3,000
Confirmation deposit for the Main School - £3,000
Confirmation deposit for younger siblings - £1,000
All deposits are non-returnable.
They will be refunded against the final term’s account, only on condition that;
1) The child has attended at least three terms in the Main School and does not leave at the end, or during any part, of the Reception Year.
2) Parents notify the school in writing by the first day of the final term.
When circumstances are uncertain, we strongly advise parents to give provisional notice.
All fees should be paid in full on, or before, the first day of each term, otherwise interest charges are payable on late fees.
School payment schemes can be discussed with the School Accountant.
The School Policy is to give preference to brothers and sisters of children in the school, but early registration is appreciated.
There is a conditional 10% discount on the tuition fee for a second child attending the Main School, only if fees are paid by the first day of the term.
Bursaries, available for girls from 7+ or 8+, are awarded on the basis of academic performance in school, or by academic examination for children joining the school.
In certain circumstances, boys and girls can be considered for discriminatory bursaries at an earlier stage.
There are a number of music bursaries awarded to boys and girls who have made exceptional progress with their musical studies in school.
Please download our registration form and return with the fee to the School office.
Note that registration is not a guarantee of a place.
THE SCHOOL OFFICE
Connaught House School,
47 Connaught Square,
London
W2 1HL.
020 7262 8830
office@connaughthouseschool.co.uk