Tavistock and Summerhill School

Tavistock and Summerhill School, located near Haywards Heath, West Sussex is an independent school for boys and girls (in the age range: 2 - 13) established in 1973 following the merger of Tavistock Hall and Summerhill Court.

Currently, the acting Headmistress is Mrs J Gaughran and the Bursar Mrs G White. The school does not offer flexi-boarding and the method of entry is via interview. The religious affiliation is non-denominational.

Ofsted Report

The school had an Ofsted report in December 2007. In this report, Ofsted quoted:

"As a result of the very good relationships that exist between staff and pupils, the children feel very safe and comfortable in the classrooms. There is a manifestly high level of mutual respect between the staff and the pupils. As a consequence, they are consistently very responsive to instructions, confident in asking questions, eager to answer them and to offer their views. They concentrate very well in lessons and are keen to complete the tasks given to them. The pupils' behaviour in lessons is outstanding. Their enjoyment is amply demonstrated by the high level of engagement in all learning activities."

Nursery

The school has a small nursery. The dedicated staff lead the children through their first steps away from home through a range of play and structured expericences. Children in the nursery are offered quite a flexible timetable. Some pupils go every day for the whole day, whereas some only go certain mornings. It varies per child.

Pre-Prep Department (PPD)

The pre-prep department (referred to as the PPD) takes children through reception and through years 1 and 2. There are small classes and the staff recognize and respond to each child's individual needs. Close contact with the PPD staff and some shared playing facilities means that Nursery children easily make the transition between Nursery and Reception. The reception and year one classrooms are set within a pretty walled garden

The Prep School

The Prep School starts in Year 3 when the specialist teaching in core subjects begins. Pupils begin work for there SATS in Year 6. The school perform well despite its size and has a very good results record. After the SATS in Year 6, the pupils then settle down to preparing for Common Entrance exams at the end of Year 8. A minority of pupils go for scholarships to other private schools at the end of Year 8.

The School and its Facilities

ports

Despite its small size, Tavistock and Summerhill offers many sports including: football, rugby, netball, hockey, rounders, cricket, gymnastics, athletics, tennis and swimming. All pupils have the opportunity to represent the school against a wide variety of local schools. Also, during term time there are several house competitions and in the summer term there is a sports day and a house swimming gala. The school also boasts a small number of pupils who have represented their sport at an elite level including winners of national athletic medals for the past two years.

Music and the performing arts

Tavistock and Summerhill offers music lessons to all pupils from reception all the way to year 8. All pupils learn recorder as a class from year 2 to year 5 and many pupils have individual instrumental lessons. They have a choir which is popular and performs regularly to both local audiences as well as concerts at school. There is an informal concert held every year and there is also a Christmas Carol Service held at a nearby church and a Summer Concert held in the one of the gardens.

The school puts on dramatic productions and musicals. every year with different year groups taking part in different productions. Everyone who wants to take part is welcome and is encouraged to participate.

Extra Curricular Activities

The school has a number of clubs held both during lunchtimes and after school. These include:

Netball Club, Basketball Club, Football Club, Dance Club, Gymnastic Club, Art Club, Brass Ensemble, Karate, Swimming Club, Card Making, PE Club, ICT Club, Recorder Club, Orchestra, Flute Group and various other musical groups.

Learning Support

This school provides for individual pupils with these special needs:-
*Hearing Impairment (HI)
*Dyslexia or Specific Learning Difficulties (SpLD)

Houses and Award Ceremonies

Pupils in years 3-8 are put into houses. These houses have competitions every term throughout the year, including House Cricket, House Football, House Swimming, Sports Day etc. The four houses are:

Belverdere (light blue tie)Court (red tie)Field (dark green tie)Gregory (gold tie)

At the end of each term there is a prize giving ceremony where prizes (shields, cups and certificates) are handed out to both pupils and houses. The main ceremony is the Summer Prize Giving Ceremony which is held at nearby Claire Hall.

External links

* [http://www.tavistockandsummerhill.co.uk/ School website]
* [http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/reports/pdf/?inspectionNumber=317893&providerCategoryID=16384&fileName=%5C%5Cschool%5C%5C126%5C%5Cs163_126144_20071225.pdf/ Ofsted report]