A child’s first day at school is always an unnerving one for their parents – particularly when their son happens to be the future king.
However, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have been reassured that their eldest Prince George will be in good hands when he starts school later this week.
Thomas’s Battersea has promised to make William and Kate ‘feel secure’ about leaving their child for the first time, the Telegraph reports.
Prince George will begin his first day at school at Thomas’ Battersea on Thursday and the school have promised to make his parents ‘feel secure’ about leaving him
The private school will welcome the royal couple as well as other parents will be welcomed to a drinks reception as well as work shops to learn more about what their little-ones will be taught.
The newspaper also reports that the Duke and Duchess will be invited into the school to sit in on their son’s lessons and will be given advice on practicing phonics at home.
As well as making an effort to make the royal parents feel at ease the school has invited the four-year-old prince to join his class-mates at a pre-term party to encourage the youngster to settle-in and make friends.
The prince is joining one of three reception classes at private, co-educational day school Thomas’s Battersea in London.
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have been invited to attend a drinks reception alongside other parents as well as work shops to learn more about what their little-ones will be taught
George (pictured on his first day at nursery school) has been invited to join his class-mates at a pre-term party to encourage the youngster to settle-in and make friends
If George stays at the selective establishment throughout, until the end of Year 8 when he turns 13, the total cost will be £172,116.
Fees at Thomas’s Battersea cost £17,604 a year, and increase to £19,884 a year for those in year 3 and above.
Around 6.5% of the UK’s school children are educated in private schools, according to the Independent Schools Council – and George’s parents the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are continuing a royal tradition by opting for an independent institution rather than a state school.
William and Prince Harry went to Wetherby School in London, then Ludgrove School in Berkshire and on to board at Eton College.
Thomas’s Battersea is rated as outstanding by Ofsted, with pupils cited as making rapid progress in their learning.
Thomas’s Battersea (pictured) is rated as outstanding by Ofsted, with pupils cited as making rapid progress in their learning
The children are described as enjoying school life and following the establishment’s most important rule: ‘Be kind.’
It says the children have an excellent understanding of cyber and prejudice-based bullying, and have their own Anti-Bullying Committee, which trains older pupils to help younger pupils in need of peer support.
This will be important to the Duke of Cambridge – a vocal campaigner against bullying, who has set up an industry-wide taskforce to tackle cyberbullying.
Headmaster Simon O’Malley says on the school’s website: ‘We hope that our pupils will leave this school with a strong sense of social responsibility, set on a path to become net contributors to society and to flourish as conscientious and caring citizens of the world.’
Thomas’s Battersea teaches 560 boys and girls aged from four to 13, and is divided into a lower, middle and upper school.
Art, ballet, drama, ICT, French, music and physical education are all taught by specialist teachers from a child’s first day.
According to the Good Schools Guide, it is ‘a big, busy, slightly chaotic school for cosmopolitan parents who want their children to have the best English education money can buy. That is what they want and, to a large degree, that is what they get.’.
The assessment added: ‘Plenty of opportunities for pupils to excel but withdrawn types might find it all somewhat overwhelming.’
Around 19 different languages are spoken in pupils’ homes, and it is described as having great facilities from science labs to two art studios and two pottery rooms with their own kiln.
George will enjoy small class sizes of around 20 pupils. The average class size for primary schools in England is 27.1 pupils, according to government figures.
Reception classes have a form tutor and a teaching assistant – and the head of lower school Helen Haslem will meet George and his parents at the school gates on his first day.
School dinners boast an impressive range of wholesome options – and the catering team make sure the offerings feature organic meat, vegetables and dairy whenever possible.
Past menu choices range from freshly prepared authentic lamb ragout with garlic and fresh herbs, served with organic grated cheese, baton carrots and cucumber, and steamed fibre-rich whole-wheat twisty pasta, to Mediterranean 50/50 couscous and quinoa, and baked smoked mackerel on a bed of puy lentils.
The school also implements a strict control on the use of salt and sugar. Desserts have included an oven-baked oatmeal and raisin cookie served with a banana milkshake, and steamed jam and coconut sponge with organic custard.