Welcome from Francesca Heftman, Head

For me there is no greater privilege than to welcome your child to their first school.

From their first visit to the Perse Nursery and Pre-Prep (known as the Pelican), we aim to make their experience of school happy and exciting. Each day we encourage them to take the small steps that will develop their confidence, curiosity and passion for learning.

They can count on the support of excellent teachers dedicated to ensuring that they acquire a firm foundation of life-long skills, whilst enjoying a broad, stimulating and challenging curriculum which takes account of the children’s interests and the opportunities available to us within and around the wonderful city of Cambridge.

We aim to awaken a thirst for learning, helping children to develop an understanding and enjoyment of the world around them. The children are enthusiastic and inspired by the opportunities on offer and delight in meeting challenges and taking risks whilst benefiting from a safe and secure environment. They learn through a range of play-based activities as well as more formal methods of learning and have many opportunities to develop their independence.

Our pastoral care is second to none; every single child in the School is known to all and is valued for their individual characteristics. All achievements are celebrated.

Whilst our own facilities are excellent, we benefit from being able to use the extensive facilities available nearby at the Upper, particularly for sports. We have close links with the Prep and ensure that the transition from Pre-Prep to Prep is smooth. We run a daily minibus service between the three schools to ease collections for parents at the end of the day.

I hope you will enjoy discovering the School on these pages. However, nothing is better than a personal visit, so if you would like to see more I would be delighted to show you round. Please contact Mrs Hipperson on 01223 403940 to make an appointment, or fill out our book a tour form.

Overview

We take children into our outstanding Nursery in the September following their third birthday.

All children attend for a minimum of six sessions, including two afternoons. Depending on availability, parents may increase their child’s sessions, and some of our Nursery children attend all day and join the rest of us for lunch.

We have approximately 150 children in the School who are taught and cared for by a dedicated, well-qualified staff team. Nursery caters for up to 24 children per session with a ratio of one adult to every eight children. Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 usually have 20 children in each class and all are supported by their own highly-qualified, experienced teaching assistant.

This low ratio of children to adults enables all our children to benefit from plenty of individual attention whilst having opportunities to develop ideas as a result of spiralling connections with the others in our vibrant classrooms.

Out-of-school and holiday clubs

Larks and Owls are the names of our out-of-school care clubs enabling children to stay from 8am to 5.30pm if required.

Pelican teachers also run the Club Pelican holiday club for pupils for seven weeks of the school holidays, organising many enjoyable activities and outings for the children.

Take a look at our Beyond the Classroom section for information about our clubs.

An exceptional school

The qualities of a Perse Pelican education were recognised in the 2016 ISI Inspection Report which concluded that we offer an ‘exceptional’ education.