Specialist Subjects | Chepstow House School

Expert Guidance for Outstanding Results

At Chepstow House, we have trained subject specialists who enjoy challenging children and developing their abilities across learning areas. Our specialists aim to promote critical thinking and foster a diverse skill set that includes the tools for success in school and beyond. Expert tuition allows children to achieve highly in academics while also inspiring them to pursue their unique interests. By cultivating their curiosity and a love of learning, children emerge confident, responsible and engaged citizens, capable of making a positive impact on the world.

Art

The Art Department is an exciting, vibrant hub where children can explore their creativity. In addition, children can participate in a range of enriching activities that build confidence and provide vital exposure to the industry at a professional level.

Art features strongly in the curriculum as well as in extracurricular activities. Children receive weekly art lessons from a specialist teacher from reception to year 6; they develop a visual art sketchbook while learning that art is both a process and an outcome. For those with an interest in developing their skills further, we offer art clubs for both Key Stages, taught by internal staff and external providers Creativityarts. We also celebrate the works of our children with a revolving display throughout the premises. In addition to brightening our school environment, this helps to instil pride in one’s own accomplishments.

Opportunities for learning are not limited to the classroom. Gallery trips, workshops and art competitions are a regular feature in the life of the Art Department. Chepstow House exhibited in the National Gallery’s Take One Picture Exhibition (a combined project with our Science Department) in 2019/20, and entered the Mayor of London’s Fourth Plinth competition and the Royal Academy of Art: Young Artist Competition. Year 3 also participated in Tate Britain and Steve McQueen’s ambitious collaboration project. In addition, we support the Royal College of Art: Young Art Competition and the amazing charitable work thereof.

MISS LUKE

Miss Luke has a fine art background with a specialism in curation. Her experience includes working with galleries and art-based charities curating and organising exhibitions in and around London. Miss Luke aims to offer all children the chance to explore and express themselves through a wide range of creative media, and to establish an understanding of the subject through both practical and theoretical understanding.

Sports

Our diverse sport offering helps children to become active, healthy and physically fit while equipping them with critical personal qualities. Our Sports Department includes qualified staff who are dedicated to providing a fun learning environment and encourage enjoyment of physical exercise; as a result, children are likelier to develop a strong self-esteem, and gain confidence and effective communication skills, while crucially improving their unique sporting abilities.

Children in Reception to year 2 learn the fundamental concepts and basic principles of Physical Education (PE) across a variety of sports. All the children have three lessons a week, including: dance, football and netball in autumn; hockey, rugby and gymnastics in spring; and cricket, athletics and rounders in summer. They also receive one term of swimming lessons at Kensington Leisure Centre nearby. The year concludes with an exciting sports day at which children proudly showcase their many talents to their family and friends.

In years 3 to 6, the children receive two lessons a week from the Sports Department, the focus of which is on gender-neutral sports in a co-ed environment. During the week, children have one PE lesson for an individual/artistic sport, such as dance, gymnastics, athletics and tennis. On Fridays, they have a games lesson when they go off site to practise football, hockey, netball, rugby, athletics and cricket. For half of the school year, learners receive structured swimming lessons on a weekly basis at the Kensington Leisure Centre. We teach the importance of gamesmanship and sportsmanship from an early age. Competitive fixtures and tournaments against other local prep schools take place weekly and include multiple teams so that all children can participate and enjoy these vital experiences.

A rich programme of extracurricular activities and events supplements these sessions and gives learners the opportunity to gain new experiences and pursue personal interests. Opportunities include termly tournaments, international tours and inter-house netball, rugby, football and cross-country, among others. For more details, we also invite you to explore our Extracurricular Activities.

Music

Music plays an important part in the life of Chepstow House. Our exemplary curriculum, instrumental programme and extracurriculars provide children with a solid basis in music and a path to success as future professional musicians. In addition, pupils gain confidence through opportunities to display their musical abilities, including school assemblies, concerts, end-of-term productions and class performances.

Each child from reception to year 6 learns music as a classroom subject, which is taught by a specialist teacher and develops their knowledge and skills in three main areas: listening and appraising, performing and composing. Our syllabus covers pitch, rhythm and notation too, helping children to establish a sound understanding of both theory and practice.

Children with significant talent or an interest in specific instruments or fields of music benefit from specialised lessons in addition to classroom music from year 1 onwards. Specialist educators, all of whom are experienced teachers and performers, enjoy challenging and guiding students in a range of vocal and instrumental lessons. As such, students hone their abilities and gain valuable experience in their chosen discipline, be it singing, piano, violin, cello, flute, clarinet, saxophone, guitar, ukulele, drums or brass instruments. Lessons take place during regular school hours on rotation, ensuring that students never miss the same lesson week to week. Our pupils also have the opportunity to participate in the following choirs and instrumental ensembles: KS1 Choir, KS2 Choir, Trumpet Club, Guitar/Uke Ensemble and Rock Band.

MS DARKINS

Ms Darkins is an experienced musician, performer and teacher. Her first love is the flute, and she has also studied piano, oboe, conducting and music theory. She studied for her BA in music and French at the University of Southampton and later completed her PGCE at Roehampton. As a flautist, she studied with several leaders in the field, including Trevor Wye and Paul Edmund Davies. She has extensive performance experience and has won many competitions and prizes. Ms Darkins is a seasoned conductor and music leader, having taught in both primary and secondary schools. She is passionate about engaging children in a lifelong love of music. As such, she has designed a curriculum that is accessible, meaningful and fun, building the children’s confidence through performance and preparing them for opportunities in the modern music industry by introducing them not only to Mozart and Beethoven but also film music, GarageBand and the diversity of musical traditions from around the world.

Languages

Chepstow House has a broad, vibrant and ambitious foreign language curriculum, in which French is the principal subject; our exceptional syllabus empowers children to become lifelong language learners and develop important proficiencies for use both in school and beyond. Education in languages assists children in their understanding of the world’s diversity while contributing to the reinforcement of knowledge, skills and comprehension in other subjects.

Our children receive French lessons once a week from reception to year 6. These lessons offer a foundation on which pupils may develop their proficiency and confidence in the French language: as they progress, children acquire and utilise a growing bank of vocabulary, language skills and grammatical knowledge.

Co-curricular activities assist children by providing an invaluable opportunity to extend their knowledge and immerse themselves in French culture and traditions. Older children go to the French Institute to see a French film as part of the annual South Ken Kids Festival. We also have strong connections with a local French school, La Petite Ecole Française, where our children can go to interact with the students and explore a French learning environment. The year 6 residential trip to Normandy enables our pupils to experience life in France firsthand.

Over 15 languages are spoken at Chepstow House by children and staff, creating a diverse school community that promotes tolerance and an appreciation of other cultures. Our French teacher and EAL Teaching Assistant select Language Ambassadors, children who contribute to language education through various initiatives and wear badges to promote pride in the use and sharing of their ‘home’ language.

Positive curiosity and a genuine interest in foreign languages are integral to the syllabus which seeks to inspire and excite pupils using a range of themes and topics. We encourage our pupils to use online resources, such as Linguascope and Language Angels, to discover other languages outside of school, including Italian, German, Spanish, Arabic and Chinese.

MADAME ROBINNE – French Teacher

Madame Robinne, a native French speaker, began teaching French in primary schools in 2005, after working in Paris and London as a specialist insurance broker. She joined Chepstow House when it opened in January 2010 and developed our dynamic, ambitious French curriculum for Reception to year 6, as the school expanded.

Drama

Through the use of performance, the Drama Department aims to instil confidence in every child and help them to tap into their creativity and flair. Every year group takes part in their own performance of either existing productions or original pieces written by the staff. Our extracurricular clubs offer children additional opportunities to pursue an interest and develop their skills in the performing arts, including after-school drama lessons and tuition from the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA). Some of our recent performances include The Nativity, The Future-Proof Zoo, A Butterfly Named Maia, Oliver!, Pandora’s Box, The Lion King and Cinderfella.

Science

Our enjoyable Science curriculum stimulates interest in the process of scientific enquiry and prepares children for the rigorous academic demands of the common entrance exams.

Children receive Science lessons from their class teachers in reception to year 2 and learn in a well-equipped laboratory from year 3 onwards. By prioritising hands-on exploration, we equip learners with crucial experimental and investigative skills. Critical thinking is essential as pupils begin to evaluate scientific evidence and develop ideas. Classes teach learners how to utilise their knowledge to communicate their ideas to each other and explain various phenomena in the world around them. In addition, children examine the impact of new technologies and human behaviour on the environment.

Chepstow House gives students the opportunity to explore science outside of school, including visits to the Royal Society Summer Exhibition, The Old Operating Theatre and the Royal Observatory Greenwich. Each year, we celebrate science with Science Week, which coincides with British Science Week: The whole school undertakes a variety of investigations, with the older students supporting the younger ones. Owing to Chepstow House’s strong connections with top independent schools nationwide, such as Dulwich College and Stowe School, our pupils enjoy many opportunities to engage in scientific education in other learning environments.

MR BUCKLEY

After completing his bachelor's in human biology at Loughborough University, Mr Buckley received a PGCE from the University of Sussex. He taught in secondary schools across East Sussex before going back to university to study for a master's at UWL and has since been self-employed as an international private tutor. Mr Buckley enjoys drawing from his many experiences to create an exciting, stimulating learning environment and foster a passion for science in his students.

Learn more about the specialist subjects that we offer and how our trained, motivated teachers can help your child achieve excellence across learning areas.

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