Admission and Curriculum

Registration and Entry

Download details of the pre-preparatory department here as a PDF file. You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to view it - available free here.

Main School Admission (7+ and older)

You may register your son at any age, as a candidate for admission, the eventual offer of a place being based on an informally administered assessment and interview, designed to gauge a boy's potential to follow the School's curriculum; and subject to availability.

We offer places on the condition that all boys remain with us until the normal leaving age of thirteen-plus, when they take the Common Entrance, Scholarship, or other entrance examinations to their next school. We expect candidates for entry to be of sufficient ability and capacity to be able to progress comfortably at an appropriate pace, and to benefit from the whole educational experience offered by the School.

There is a non-returnable Registration Fee (as at September 2007 this is £85). On acceptance of a place, parents become liable for the first term's fees and a deposit of £1000 is payable. The deposit is set against the fees of a boy's last term.

For a boy joining the School, the first term's fees are due in full by the end of the Spring Term preceding entry.

The School reserves the right to cancel any place offered, or to end tuition at any time by notice to a parent or guardian.

Classes and Numbers

Lyndhurst is a one-class-entry school. Each of the first two years at the School is taught by the Class Teachers for most lessons. The emphasis is on the many different aspects of literacy and numeracy that have to be taught and reinforced at this age, with additional topic work in History, Geography and Science. Each week these classes also have Junior French, P.E. and their Art and Music, as well as Games afternoons. Increasingly throughout the school, subjects are taught by the Subject Specialists. By Year Five this is the case for a third of the lessons, and from Year Six onwards for all classes.

There are approximately 140 boys, and a full-time teaching staff of seventeen, with some extra part-time assistance in the Junior and Middle forms.

Curriculum

The curriculum includes Maths, English, Science, French, History, Geography, Religious Studies, Information Technology, Music, Art, P.E. and Games, with Latin from Year Five onwards. During the two senior years, the classes are split into smaller groups; in the final Common Entrance year this enables a three-way split, with streaming providing a group that covers scholarship work. Ancient Greek is also taught to the top set.

Art, Design and Technology

Art is taught by the Art Specialist to all classes from Year Three. A full range of skills and techniques is taught, to enable all boys to begin to produce artworks they can be proud of, and to develop abilities to enjoy in the future. The Art course is lively and wide-ranging: it includes pottery, construction and design work, papier-maché, and many other skills and techniques, as well as drawing and painting. The boys are taught the skills of planning and design and how to take these on to both make and test their designs. Art history and appreciation and art topics are also included in the curriculum.

Gifted boys can be given extra preparation with a view towards Art Scholarships available at some Senior Schools.

Music

All classes have lessons with the Music Specialist, in which boys are taught about music of different kinds and idioms, and all have much opportunity for music-making. Boys are encouraged to take up an instrument, and the School has lists of tutors for a variety of instruments. Small groups of musicians and singers practise and there are performances to the School and to parents.

Boys with a particular talent can be prepared for Senior School Music Scholarships.

Information And Computer Technology

The school has networked laptop computers, on which the boys are taught appropriate skills and the integration of these into their other curricular work.

Boys are instructed on the many aspects of constructive computer use, including touch-typing, information storage and retrieval, word-processing, spreadsheets, use of search engines, layout and design.

Use of the Internet is also taught under strict control and supervision.