Welcome to Rowan Preparatory School
Where a lifelong love of learning begins
The best way to find out about Rowan is, of course, to visit us. Whilst we can’t currently offer our usual tours of the school, we hope that this virtual experience will help to give you a feel for our happy school.
You can explore our classrooms, our fantastic facilities and our inviting outdoor spaces via the interactive map, hear from key members of staff, and learn about school life from some of our Year 6 girls, who would usually speak at Open Mornings.
We are still welcoming admissions enquiries and our Head of Admissions, Mrs Kim Keen, would be delighted to speak with you to guide you through the admissions process and to answer any questions you may have.
You can also register to join one of our Virtual Head’s Q&A sessions or to join us for a virtual show round and to meet with our Headmistress, Mrs Sarah Raja. We look forward to welcoming you and your family to Rowan Prep School.
Reflections from Year 6
Sport For All
Performing Arts
Reception
Wellbeing
Our Curriculum
Rowan Brae
Rowan Brae includes our dedicated Preschool and Pre-Prep, for girls aged 2-7. Located on Gordon Road in Claygate, this is the site on which the school was originally founded in 1936.
The Brae provides a welcoming environment with rooms that are excellently equipped for teaching and learning. All rooms have state of the art interactive electronic whiteboards, which allow teachers and pupils to build up ideas & exploit multimedia techniques in lessons.
The modern extensions at Rowan Brae provide purpose-built accommodation for our Preschool and the Early Years, with each room having its own dedicated outdoor area providing a wide range of play based educational equipment. There is also a playground with the Brae Cottage, a stage area and climbing frames along with our much-loved Glen, a multisensory area including sand area, dig pit, willow den, story circle and a grassed mound.
A large general-purpose hall is used for a wide variety of group activities including gym, ballet, drama, assemblies and lunch. This is supplemented by specialist rooms for art, music, technology and a library.
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Brae Playground and the Glen
The Brae playground is always abuzz with girls whizzing around on scooters, challenging themselves on the monkey bars or climbing on the balancing logs. The Glen provides a class seating area and grassy knoll, enjoyed by the girls in summer as a water slide and in winter for sledging! Complete with mud kitchen, bug hotel and sensory garden, there is always something to explore in the Glen.
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Preschool
Our Preschool classrooms are the perfect home from home for our youngest Rowan Prep girls. Located in a purpose-built setting with lots of outdoor space and excellent facilities, our Preschool provides a nurturing environment with all the benefits of our outstanding pre-prep.
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Reception Classrooms
Learning in Reception is an adventure, and the Reception classrooms provide the perfect backdrop for the adventures to begin. With colourful artwork and early writing adorning the walls, the Reception classrooms provide the girls the security they need to develop confidence to express themselves, take risks and ask questions. We embrace creativity within the curriculum and the joy the girls find in producing something exciting and unique to go on display around the room.
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Key Stage 1 Classrooms
Our Key Stage 1 classrooms for girls in Years 1 and 2 reflect our broad and creative curriculum, providing our girls with happy and nurturing learning spaces. Girls enjoy the independence of having their own desk to work at and the interaction and engagement of circle time sessions. Pieces of work from the current topic fill the room, showcasing the girls’ numeracy, writing and creativity skills.
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Forest School
All girls from Preschool to Year 1 take part in weekly Forest School sessions at our dedicated Woodland area on Telegraph Hill. Our Forest School programme offers a fun, stimulating and inspirational outdoor learning opportunity where children build self-esteem, wellbeing, confidence, responsibility and care for the environment.
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Rowan Hill
Rowan Hill is a special place where girls thrive in their individual learning and grow independent in their journey towards senior school. Located on Fitzalan Road, the Hill is for girls aged 7-11.
Rowan Hill houses classrooms for Years 3 to 6, enhanced by specialist modern well-appointed rooms for science, ICT & music. We have a large, light and airy Art Studio that is always full of exciting artwork and girls keen to demonstrate their creative skills. Our impressive Engineering & Technology suite is equipped with 3D printers and a range of tools and equipment to inspire our engineers of the future.
The large general-purpose hall buzzes with activity from assemblies to gym, lunch to orchestra and many more. Outside is the legendary Spinney; a wooded and grassed area that fuels imaginative play. At the edge of the Spinney is our light and airy Garden Room, an outdoor classroom used for a variety of extra-curricular activities and used to promote eco awareness across the curriculum.
The girls also enjoy shared use of extensive sports facilities situated about a mile from the school. These include netball / tennis courts, Astroturf pitches, traditional grassed pitches, athletics tracks and cross-country running courses.
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Main School Hall
Our large general-purpose hall buzzes with activity from assemblies to gymnastics, lunch to orchestra, art exhibits to choir rehearsals and many more. Equipped with retractable seating, professional lighting and a performance stage, our hall plays host to music ensembles, Christmas shows, year group plays and the Year 6 Production.
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Engineering & Technology Room
Girls enjoy weekly E&T lessons in our dedicated engineering lab, equipped with Lego robotics, 3D printers and countless resources that facilitate enquiry-based learning in a wide range of design and construction projects. Our aim is to embed knowledge, understanding and a skill set within the girls that spans science, technology, engineering and maths; to engage them for learning and living in the 21st century.
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Art Studio
Located in the old coach house, our spacious, well equipped art studio is a bright, creative space in which the girls are introduced to a variety of media and techniques. Alongside the core strands of painting, drawing and clay work, the girls also explore silk painting, batik, weaving, Modroc and printing. Our art studio is the perfect sanctuary for our young artists to express themselves during their weekly art lessons, popular art clubs and art scholars’ workshops.
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Library
Our well stocked library is packed full of fiction and non-fiction books and learning resources to inspire, engage and transport our young readers to exotic locations and different periods in time. Our wonderful librarian, Mrs Bennet, is always on hand to guide the girls with their choices, to encourage reading and a love of books. The library is a bright and airy space designed to relax, enjoy and escape.
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Outdoor playground and the Spinney
The outdoor space at Rowan Hill is affectionately known as The Spinney. With views across the Surrey countryside, woodland trails, a vegetable garden, multi-level treehouse and trim trail equipment, girls have the space to run, play, explore and enjoy throughout the school day. The Spinney is also used to host events and celebrations, such as our bi-annual Flower Show and end of term parties.
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Sports Facilities
All girls enjoy the use of our impressive sports facilities. At Rowan Brae, our youngest girls have their dance and gymnastics lessons in our school hall, fully equipped with climbing apparatus and all the equipment needed to support their physical development at this age. Games lessons take place outside in our spacious playground designed to incorporate the variety of PE lessons we teach.
From Year 2 onwards, all girls take part in games lessons at one of our two off-site sports grounds.
At our Oaken Lane Sports Ground, we have an all-weather, full-size Astroturf hockey pitch as well as tennis, netball courts and multi-use games area. At our Hinchley Wood Sports Ground is a further full-sized Astroturf, netball courts, football pitches, cross-country running tracks through woods, long jump pit, shot put circle and a 400m athletics track. Both these sites offer senior-school level facilities, just a short minibus ride from school.
Girls also have use of an indoor swimming pool for their weekly swimming lessons.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What are your key entry points?
We consider our Preschool to be the start of the learning journey for girls at Rowan, and we hope that you will want your daughter to progress through to our Reception class to experience the exceptional educational experience that Rowan has to offer.
As the girls progress from a single Preschool group to two Reception classes, we have spaces available for girls to join us in the September after they have turned 4.
As girls complete Year 2 at Rowan Brae and move on to Year 3 at Rowan Hill, we again increase the number of classes from 2 to 3. This creates a natural entry point at 7+ for girls joining us in the September after their 7th birthday.
Spaces do sometimes become available in other year groups, so it is worth contacting us to explore what is currently available.
How does your Early Years curriculum prepare our daughter for Reception?
Our progressive curriculum builds the foundations needed for success in Reception. This includes developing listening, attention and phase one phonics skills needed for early reading. We provide communication and language opportunities that enable progress in early mathematics.
Our specialist physical development provision extends the gross and fine motor control, needed for early writing. The Early Years also enable us to provide individualised, early intervention, prior to the Reception year, if your daughter should need support in a particular area. We build these foundations while increasing each girl’s confidence and social skills to enable a smooth transition into her first school year.
Do you run a breakfast or afterschool prep club?
Breakfast Club is available for girls every day commencing at 7.45am. A nutritious and wholesome breakfast is provided, and the club is an enjoyable and social way to start the day. Preschool to Year 2 girls can enjoy their breakfast in the Brae hall and girls in Year 3 to Year 6 are invited to the Hill for their breakfast.
The After-School Prep and Activity Club runs every day from 4.00pm to 6.00pm and gives the girls the opportunity to complete their homework or take part in fun activities. We offer the flexibility of booking one hour or two or joining the club after participating in another extra-curricular club, and a healthy snack of sandwiches, fruit and biscuits is included.
The After-School Prep and Activity Club is available for all girls from Preschool to Year 6.
What sports do you teach?
Our sport provision is extensive and offers participation through an inclusive curriculum that includes gymnastics, dance, tennis, cricket, athletics, netball, hockey, football, swimming and cross country – the list goes on! The value of teamwork, how effort can bring reward and dealing gracefully with both success and failure is learnt through friendly fixtures with other local schools. Rowan also competes in all major sports at regional and national levels.
What senior schools to your girls go onto?
Rowan girls move onto some of the most prestigious day and boarding schools in the country. The girls are very successful in being awarded top scholarships from these schools in all areas of school life – academics, music, sports, art and drama. Girls regularly move onto Guildford High School, Lady Eleanor Holles, Wimbledon High School, Surbiton High School, St John’s Leatherhead, Epsom College, Tormead School, St Catherines’, Bramley, Wycombe Abbey, Downe House, Roedean, Woldingham, Heathfield and Benenden.
I’d like to find out more, what should I do next?
The best thing to do next is to contact us so that we can get to know you and your daughter and to see how best we can help. Please complete the short enquiry form on this page and we will get in touch with you. We look forward to hearing from you and welcoming you to our happy school.
Please complete our Enquiry Form below for more information.
Enquiry Form
To enquire about a place at Rowan, please complete the short form below and we will be in contact with you.
Testimonials
Contact Us
If you would like to book onto our Summer Open Morning, please complete the short enquiry form above. Alternatively, please contact our Head of Admissions via admissions@rowanprepschool.co.uk
We look forward to welcoming you at Rowan Preparatory School.