Our Building and Groups
Educare Small School is equipped for up to 48 children. The building consists of two main rooms, the Hall for Kindergarten, Butterflies and Dolphins is for children aged 3 - 7 years olds and the Classroom for the Starfish for children aged 7 -11 year olds. These main teaching rooms are connected by the library and the ICT area.
Kindergarten
The Kindergarten is equipped for up to sixteen children during any one session, staffed by a full time teacher and teaching assistant.
The hours are flexible so that children can integrate into the school at their own pace. Children sometimes begin with two or three sessions (either mornings or full days) and build up gradually until they are ready to be with us full time. Others attend full time from early on, depending on their readiness and family circumstances.
Kinderflies
At around the age of five, children are ‘Kinderflies’, beginning the transition through to the Hall, where the 5-11 years olds are taught. Kinderflies work in the Hall in the morning, returning to the Kindergarten in the afternoon so that the transition is smooth and tailored to their development.
The Hall
The Hall is a large room with several zones in which different groups can work. At the beginning of each day the children assemble for movement circle, then split into their working groups.
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Based on opposite sides of the Hall, the children work on separate activities within the same environment. The arrangement works very successfully, with children and staff concentrating on their own topics and allowing others to do the same.
Decisions about when to move a child from one group to another are based on their individual readiness, both emotionally and educationally.
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The Hall children are broadly divided into two main teaching groups:
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Butterflies and Dolphins - aged around 5 - 8
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Starfish - aged around 7 - 11.
Hall groups are subdivided into smaller groups according to need.
Life After Educare
Spending their primary years at Educare does have a special and particular impact on the children. They are grounded, secure, able to make themselves heard whilst respecting the views of others and their differences. They have the tools to develop as individuals within the context of the community they are in. Past experience has shown that they make the transition to their next school with ease and confidence.
In the past three academic years, the work of all children moving on to secondary education met or exceeded Year 6 age-related expectations. Educare Small School pupils have gained places at the following secondary schools:
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Teddington School
Hinchley Wood School
Coombe Girls' School
Grey Court School
Coombe Boys' School
Tolworth Girls' School
The Kingston Academy
Waldegrave School
Hollyfield School
Independent:
Hall School Wimbledon
The St Michael Steiner School
Canbury School
Box Hill School
Fairley House