Duke of Kent School

Our pupils belong to a strong community. By sharing principles and aims we all learn to live and work together. Our assemblies help to emphasise that fact; we meet together as a whole school twice a week, with additional meetings for the Pre-Prep, Junior and Senior Departments. A hymn is usually sung or a prayer said, and we have close links with the local parish church in Ewhurst, and with St Nicolas's Church in Cranleigh.

School communities need clearly understood rules in order to function safely and constructively. Our pupils learn to respect the people around them and also to respect the School's environment as a whole. We find that our positive and constructive ethos enables new pupils to settle in quickly and we rarely need to discourage the natural exuberance of children; it is our job to nurture and channel that energy. Pupils know what is expected from them and, like most successful schools, the Duke of Kent School runs on a widely accepted consensus.

At the Duke of Kent School we have both Day and Boarding pupils. All pupils from Years 3 onwards, have an experience of boarding at least three times a year, when they come in to enjoy our Activity Weekends, in which we run a unique enrichment programme relating to the School's curriculum. This includes art, music, camping drama and sport, as well as induction and team-building weekends. It is a rolling programme which takes account of the needs of different age groups.

We operate a system in which the traditional curriculum is delivered Monday to Friday.  Enrichment Saturdays are offered to individual year groups each term. Normal family weekends at home can therefore co-exist with our busy schedule. Besides traditional boarding, we offer a great deal of flexibility to enable part-boarding and occasional overnight stays where space allows.

The School's extended day and week make it all the more important that we are able to cope with all our pupils' need.  Being part of a community is a crucial part of that experience.  

Much more than 9-4.