Pastoral care is at the heart of our prep school, since emotional wellbeing and happiness are essential to success. The Roche School aims by thorough and stimulating teaching to give its pupils a sound and wide-ranging education in a pleasant, lively and homely atmosphere so that when they leave us they are well prepared for the next stage of their schooling. The classes are small and we are careful to ensure that each child receives the attention and the level of teaching they need in order to make sure progress, so that they can take pride in their developing understanding and in their ability to express themselves effectively both in speech and writing while learning to be patient and persistent in the face of difficulties. Our pupils encounter a wide range of disciplines in sport, art, music, drama and computing as well as in aspects of science and history so that they can develop their own particular talents and interests. French is taught throughout the School and there is a club to learn Spanish and about Spanish culture. Pupils have regular practice and training in team sports at the nearby grounds between the river and Putney Bridge Road and in addition there are optional clubs in these sports and in swimming, judo, drama, art and chess. We are delighted to be offering an additional Spanish Bilingual Stream in Reception from September 2022, alongside the respected provision of our traditional Reception classes. Mornings in the Spanish stream will consist of the same high quality curriculum in English as the English Reception, and afternoons will involve National Curriculum-based lessons in Spanish, all delivered by a fully qualified teacher with in-depth Spanish fluency. Our current host of specialist teachers in music and sport will still provide further enrichment to the children’s learning. The children enjoy presenting the results of their own research into their class’s termly study topic and classes regularly visit museums and sites of particular educational and historical interest. Each class puts on a play annually in which every child has a distinctive part. Each term there is a concert involving the orchestra, soloists and the junior and senior choirs. In developing and expressing their own tastes and abilities, our pupils are encouraged to respect and appreciate the talents and tastes of others and the school’s buoyant atmosphere is founded on the children’s mutual respect and on their appreciation of their developing understanding and competence. The school is non-denominational but we seek to give the children some appreciation of the nature and significance of the stories and teachings of the Old and New Testaments and of other religions while respecting and listening to pupils’ particular views. Do please contact us if you would like to see the school at work, either by appointment or on one of our regular Open Mornings.
