Choosing your child's Prep School Making the most of First Impressions

CHOOSING the right Prep School for your child is one of the most important decisions that you will make on his or her behalf. You will undoubtedly want to get this choice right first time, as mistakes are not only costly but disruptive of the progress and happiness of your child. East Anglia has many fine Prep Schools, but how do you get beneath the prospectus, magazines, gloss newsletters and so forth to find out what a Prep School is really like?
The first and most obvious yardstick is that of a satisfied customer-but even here there could be pitfalls. Your friends' praise of a school, or lack of it, will be expressed in terms of the experiences of their particular child. It is really from your own visit that you find out what education at this School means for your unique child, How? There are two main ways.
Firstly, it is very important to ask the right questions for your child. Are you looking for academic standards, Music and Drama successes, emphasis on team sports-or all of these? Look, perhaps, for evidence of achievement in such areas outside as well as inside the school setting-the successful sports coach, the professionally experienced Drama Director or the Musician who can hold his own in the world of performance in some field. These and other such examples are all indicators of talented staff. If you have part of your School tour with a pupil, ask him what he likes about his School, how he gets on with his subjects, his teachers, his friends, and what he is looking forward to in the years ahead. Observe the dynamics of inter-relationship between the people you meet. Is there a sense of respect for their teachers, at the same time characterised by a feeling that they can talk and relate easily to them? identify the strengths and needs of your own child, and ask how the school could develp and encourage these-or indeed discover new talents.
Secondly, assess as much as possible the most important factor of all-the people. Facilities are important, but secondary. You should expect to meet not just the Head and welcoming secretarial staff, but also some key members of staff and pupils. Is there a shared ethos, manifested in mutual respect and teamwork? No Headmaster, however competent, is a 'one man band' and the skills and strength of his Staff are his most important asset-a good school will want you to meet them. Is there an opportunity to meet with even a few pupils? More and more schools these days are having at least part of tours conducted by pupils themselves-a sign of a School's confidence in its pupils and their educational achievements. One of the'most gratifying comments I ever heard from a prospective parent was after they returned from a brief pupil-escorted tour and said to me "You know, I tried very hard, but I could not get that child to say a single bad thing about the School."
Observe the questions the head staff ask about your child-these should reveal on their part a desire for keen insight into his or her needs, essential in the proper promotion of their happiness and success.
East Anglia Prep Schools offer a wealth of opportunity; whichever one you decide is right for your child, your visit should leave you taking something away with you of the shared enthusiasm of the Head, Staff and Pupils.
Michael Higgins.
The writer is Headmaster of Morton Hall Preparatory School, Bury Sr Edmunds, Suffolk.