By the time our boys arrive in Years 7 and 8, they are mature enough to support the younger pupils of the School and help the teachers to ensure that the routines and pastoral life of the school function as effectively as possible. In their final year, many of the boys become prefects and are assigned to particular Forms, allowing them to have an important influence on the younger pupils. With these opportunities to take on roles of leadership and support, our boys develop into charming and mature individuals – something which is much-remarked upon at their senior schools. Part of the reason for this is that they are treated as senior pupils by the staff, something not possible when they are on the bottom rung of a larger senior school. Invariably, when our senior pupils show prospective parents around the School, the parents comment upon their sophistication.

For pupils heading off to boarding schools at 13, there is the opportunity to do some flexi-boarding in our boarding house, thereby acclimatising to what lies ahead but on a small and intimate scale in an environment which they know well.

Many adults look back to the final two years of their Prep School as the part of their schooling where they were most blissfully happy. There is much to recommend giving your child the opportunity to be a proverbial big fish in a small pond in these final two years at CCCS. The confidence they gain, both socially and academically, pays dividends when they join their senior school.