Admission Details

Admission to Heath House Prep School is by an informal parental visit and interview, and for children above the age of seven years an informal test of English, Maths and Non Verbal Reasoning.

Children may join the Kindergarten class after their third birthday. Parents can apply for a place any time up to the point when the class becomes full, which will be dependent on the number of applications for any given year. Places in other years will depend on availability and parents should contact the school for further information. Parents will be offered a place for their child after they have visited the school, upon a successful meeting with the Headteacher and availability of places.

Please note :
The school will not consider offering a place to a child whose parents have not visited the school.

Parents will receive a written offer of a place (and the necessary forms) in respect of their child subsequent to a satisfactory meeting and test (for those children over 7 years old). The Registration Form, Medical Form and Home School Agreement should be returned to the school, duly completed and signed, together with the Registration Fee of £200 and the confirmation deposit of £1,800. Please note the Registration Fee is non refundable and that the acceptance of registration constitutes an offer of a place.

Conditions to the
Offer of a Place​

Offers of places in Kindergarten and in other classes in the school are conditional on meeting the parents and child. We encourage parents to show their loyalty and commitment to the school by registering all their children at Heath House. The Headteacher may use their discretion on this.

Heath House may contact the child’s previous school, in order to discuss the pupil’s progress and to confirm that there are no financial matters outstanding. Parents must disclose to the Headteacher before admission any feature of the child’s personality, physical and mental health that might affect their fitness for education and attendance of the school. This includes disclosing to the Headteacher details of any special educational needs and learning difficulties. Failure to do this will result in the withdrawal of the offer of a place.

Confirmation Deposit

The confirmation deposit of £1,800 must be returned to the school together with the forms within 14 days of the offer being made. The deposit will be refunded against the final term’s fees in Year 6, depending on the school’s terms and conditions being met. Please note that this deposit is not returnable if parents do not subsequently take up the place. Should a parent decide not to take the place, a term’s fees will be payable unless a full term’s notice has been given. For example, notice needs to be given by the end of March if parents do not wish to take the place for September.

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Priority is given
whenever possible to

Familiarisation Days

Once a place is confirmed, pupils joining in the Kindergarten class will be expected to spend a few familiarisation days at Heath House in the year/months preceding entry. The parents will also be expected to attend a new parents’ meeting in the term before the child starts and also in the first term once the child has started. This is felt to be a very important part of the introduction procedure for new families to Heath House.

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The Need for Continuity

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Children are offered places on the understanding that they will remain until Year 6 and the school does not undertake to prepare children for entry to other preparatory schools.

It is very important that the school maintains pupil continuity from Kindergarten through to Year 6 and it is furthermore, our considered opinion that disrupting, in mid-stream, a child’s ‘primary’ education is almost certainly not in the child’s social, emotional and intellectual interest. The school does however understand that there may be situations where a child transfers to another establishment as a result of unusual or exceptional circumstances (parents moving abroad etc.).

Children Joining the School
from 7+ onwards

Assessment at 7+ will take into account

  • Academic ability or potential
  • Any special musical or artistic ability
  • Children who the school believes will benefit from the ethos of the school
  • If we feel it will be helpful, we will ask to see reports and letters of recommendation from previous schools or nursery schools. This will apply particularly to children joining the school from Year 3 onwards.

Siblings Policy

Heath House Prep School operates a sibling policy whereby siblings are given priority over other children when places are offered. The school offers a £100 sibling bursary per term, from the school fees, for the eldest child only.

Please note that if a pupil is withdrawn from Heath House Prep School at any stage between the Kindergarten Class and Year 6, in order to transfer to any other school, the school reserves the right to refuse or retract the offer of a place to a sibling.


Bursaries

As a small school we are unable to provide bursaries other than a £100 sibling bursary per term for the eldest child only.

Waiting List

As a small school, we are only able to offer a small number of places, a maximum of 19 in any class intake. In certain circumstances, parents and children who have been to see the school but to whom we are unable to offer a place immediately may be placed on a waiting list. This is not a guarantee that they will be offered a place but if a place subsequently becomes available due to a cancellation or change in circumstances, parents of children on the list will be informed in accordance with the priorities listed for admission.

Insurance

The school is underwritten by Marsh Brokers Ltd for all aspects of 3rd party liability. It also has insurance cover, 365 days a year, for all trips organised by the school.

Disclaimer

The Admissions Policy is in conjunction with the school’s Terms and Conditions which the school reserves the right to amend if necessary.

The school will make every reasonable effort to contact parents who have registered their children at the school to check the registration but parents must make sure that the school is provided with adequate up to date contact details.