Preparation Is Key

Experiences at the very start, affect the entirety of a child’s learning journey. To discover more about how they shape a solid educational foundation, Rachael Bryant visited Junior King’s, Canterbury

An historic school, founded in 1879, but one that is never stuck in history, Junior King’s stands out as a place bursting with energy, dynamism and a real enjoyment of learning. The Nursery, Pre-Prep, and Prep departments provide a very happy, caring and nurturing environment for pupils with the majority moving on to The King’s School, Canterbury, Britain’s oldest day and boarding school. The children are at the heart of everything, with the belief that, with a positive and creative approach, comes happy and engaged children.

Junior King’s prides itself on its excellent pastoral care, believing that academic results take care of themselves when children are well-looked after, feel safe and have the time to reflect on what they have done during each day. We all want our children to experience success, a real love of what they do and a heightened sense of self-esteem and modest confidence, and Junior King’s is constantly looking for new opportunities to give pupils a chance to discover their talents and to flourish. Pupils do so well, and go so far, precisely because the first goal is their happiness, which is achieved by finding something that each child is good at, and nurturing that in an environment where everyone can try sport, art, music, drama, DT, modern and ancient languages, and can apply creative skills across all their subjects.

The school is constantly developing the curriculum and thinking of new and innovative ways to foster important life skills such as communication, collaboration, critical thinking, and creativity, that will allow children to excel in the future. In lessons, pupils develop independent learning skills that will stay with them for the rest of their lives. Building on this, extra-curricular enrichment programmes offer rich opportunities to develop interests in different areas and includes activities as diverse as fencing, dance, rowing, sailing, horse riding, debating, chess and current affairs.

Junior King’s is a co-educational day school with full boarding from Year 5 upwards. The age range is 3 -13 years, with most pupils going onto The King’s School, Canterbury. They have a stunning eighty-acre countryside location just two miles from the city of Canterbury and only 50 minutes from St Pancras Station, London.

Open Days, held each term, are an ideal occasion to explore the opportunities on offer at Junior King’s for students. The school also offers personal tours every day and this can be arranged in conjunction with a visit to the senior school. Junior King’s offers natural entry points at Nursery, Reception, and Years 3, 5, & 7 and welcomes enquiries for both day and boarding pupils.

www.junior-kings.co.uk/