Welcome! We are delighted that you have joined us to find out more about our happy school. We do not have a scheduled date for our Open Morning for February 2022 yet. So, if you’d like to visit us sooner, please complete the form below and our Registrar will be in touch to arrange a bespoke tour, along with a meeting with our headmaster.
In the meantime, we hope the information on this page provides a helpful overview of our school. Explore the interactive map below by clicking on the red buttons to reveal a video tour of our facilities. Read more about our ethos, fees and different areas of our school including our planned expansion to offer GCSEs.
Interactive Map of Copthorne
We have produced a series of videos showcasing our facilities and giving you an insight into life at Copthorne. Join our pupils as they take you on a virtual tour of our school. Begin by watching the introductory video below, then click on the red dots to find out more about specific areas of our school.
Art
At Copthorne we have a light and spacious art room with separate storage areas and a kiln room. The core elements in which we give the children opportunities to develop include drawing, painting, printmaking, clay / ceramics, photography, sculpture, textiles, 3D, colour, pattern, tone, line, shape, space, texture and form.
Back to Map ^Performing Arts
We are proud of our school’s drama, dance and music credentials. So, we need a space to showcase this! Capacity for 300 people, but with retractable seating so we use the space flexibly. We are imagining dressing rooms, an extensive props cupboard and world-class lighting and audio. If COVID’s taught us anything it’s how to take our learning online, so we would like to broadcast, using quality cameras so we can showcase our performances to parents and audiences all over the world.
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Social Spaces
When thinking about how social spaces might develop across the school, the idea of social and independence came up a lot. School should be a place to enjoy hanging out with friends as much as well as learning. Our pupils like the idea of having a common room complete with a café (inside or outside), pods for self-led learning, cosy seating. We are also daydreaming about a cinema space.
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Outdoor Activities
Our all-weather Astro pitch will be built for September 2021, we cannot wait! We are also inspired by learning outside and think we could expand our Forest School and have an outdoor kitchen, mini-farm and outdoor classrooms. Imagine learning from our natural environment in the wild! We are “eco-friendly” and care about our planet, so the school needs to be as green and sustainable as possible.
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Dining Room
Hot, healthy lunches, including an extensive salad bar, are served in the dining room every day. We cater for all different dietary requirements and serve a wide variety of food in a three-week rotation.
Back to Map ^Design & Technology
At Copthorne we believe in providing opportunities for children to develop whatever their capabilities. In Design and Technology, we aim to combine their design and making skills with knowledge and understanding, allowing each individual to create quality products.
Back to Map ^Music Room
Music plays an integral part of school life. All children are encouraged to sing in Chapel and hymn practice each week and they all have weekly classroom music lessons in which they listen to, create and perform music. Formal and informal concerts are held throughout the year and many children receive instrumental tuition from the visiting peripatetic music teachers. We therefore encourage all pupils to engage in music making, regardless of ability.
Back to Map ^Nursery
Copthorne’s Coach House Nursery is where your child will learn to learn. As a parent of a 2–4-year-old, you will appreciate just how much learning there is to do! Amid the sea of waterproofs and Wellington boots you will find children using their imaginations, being absorbed by new experiences and generally having fun. These are the foundations on which Copthorne has been built and they prepare children well for the Pre-Prep years.
Back to Map ^Pre Prep
We offer a broad and exciting curriculum for the liveliest and most enquiring minds. We place great emphasis on learning to read and thinking mathematically and scientifically – Language, Maths and Science are core subjects. Your child will also be introduced to History, Geography, Religious Education, French, Art and Crafts, Information Technology, Music and Physical Education.
Back to Map ^Science Lab
Science at Copthorne is fun, informative and taught through a series of practical and theory sessions. We focus on allowing children to experiment and follow their own ideas, creating their own investigations. We cover the national curriculum scheme from Year’s 3 to 5 and then move on to Common Entrance in Year 6. Science is taught as a core subject. Children have around five lessons of science a week which is taught in two purpose-built laboratories from Year 3 upwards.
Back to Map ^Sports
The sports hall is used throughout the week for PE lessons and Games coaching. It is also used for a wide variety of after school clubs and activities; and has markings for a tennis court, netball court, four badminton courts and two cricket nets! There is also a dance studio above and a viewing gallery.
Copthorne has 55 acres of playing fields and woodland which the children can use for break time, PE, matches against other schools, as well as weekly Forest Schools sessions for all children from Nursery to Year 4.
Back to Map ^Theatre
Converted from the original school gymnasium, the theatre provides an intimate atmosphere for the numerous plays, concerts and lectures held during the school year. Tiered seating and modern lighting and sound systems all add to the audience’s enjoyment and allow pupils to experience a taste of professional theatre.
Back to Map ^Specialist Teaching
Offering GCSEs means we need to have more dedicated classrooms for specialist subjects. We like the idea of having different “zones”, for example in DT we could have a tech zone for 3d printing/technical Lego and a messy zone for metal welding or experimentation with materials. As well as learning we want to show off our skills and think an art gallery could be attached to our classroom so we can host exhibitions.
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Headmaster’s Welcome
Thank you for your interest in Copthorne, one of the premier independent prep schools in the South of England.
I am delighted to announce that we are expanding our provision through to GCSEs! Pupils starting Year 7 in September 2021 will have the chance to be the school’s first-ever GCSE students in its 120-year history.
As Headmaster it is my responsibility, and my privilege, to shape the direction of our school, support and encourage our fantastic team of staff, and ensure that every Copthorne pupil and parent gets the very best experiences and memories from the educational opportunities we offer.
I am in the fortunate position to see first hand the benefits Copthorne offers young people, whether they are day pupils, or taking advantage of full or flexi boarding. It is a place in which energy and enthusiasm is everywhere – academically, creatively and on the sports fields. All this activity creates a very strong sense of togetherness and youthful camaraderie among the pupils, and a deep-seated respect for themselves and everything around them.
We hope to hear from you soon.
Chris Jones
Headmaster
Copthorne Values
Copthorne Prep School has developed an outstanding reputation for helping children to realise their full potential. By providing opportunities for all to succeed, children leave us as confident individuals, well prepared for their progression to senior schools of their choice. We inspire all our pupils to become lifelong learners, responsible global citizens and the very best that they can be.
We strive to:-
- Instil a desire for excellence in all areas of learning, celebrating effort as well as achievement
- Offer a well-considered, stimulating curriculum which provides opportunities for children to be challenged, to be curious and to develop as independent learners
- Support talented and enthusiastic staff who seek to enable children to fulfil their potential
- Provide a nurturing environment where all children are happy, valued and encouraged to develop as individuals
- Develop a strong sense of school community that is kind, inclusive and reflects the increasingly diverse and international dimension of school life
- Provide strong pastoral care based on traditional Christian values of mutual respect towards all members of the community
- Develop a partnership with pupils, parents and staff to promote a culture of trust, ambition and high achievement
Put very simply our mission is to
Develop Confidence
Provide Opportunity
Realise Potential
School Fees
Termly Fees – 2021/2022
| Nursery | Morning £2,275 | Afternoon £1,380 (EYFE*) |
| Reception | £3,325 |
| Year 1 | £3,430 |
| Year 2 | £3,485 |
| Year 3 | £4,595 |
| Year 4 | £5,045 |
| Years 5 – 8 | £5,790 |
| Weekly Boarding | £7,055 |
| Occasional Boarding | £35 per night |
| Sibling Discount (Reception – Year 8) | Second child 5% Third child 15% |