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Kensington Wade

What says..

School is international but ‘not transient’ – parents simply describe themselves as forward-looking. Many are west London locals, most dual-income professionals. Teaching here is exceptional, with full immersion in both Mandarin and English, enabled by two teachers per class, one Mandarin and one English speaking. The only exceptions are PE and music, taught in English only. Learning serious but not unduly pressured. Teaching style is warm and compassionate – ‘very nurturing,’ said a parent. Not a whiff of...

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What the school says...

Kensington Wade is a first-class British prep school for children aged 3 to 11 in Hammersmith, West London, with a unique added extra: it teaches its pupils complete fluency in Mandarin.

Kensington Wade is a vibrant, warm and exciting school, offering an extraordinary preparation for London's top senior schools and a global future.

Our child-centred approach, focussed on ensuring every individual boy and girl is challenged in all areas of their development, creates a happy, inspiring environment where all pupils thrive. Outstanding academic achievement and our exceptional preparation for 11+ assessments ensure our pupils progress to top senior schools.

At Kensington Wade, the immersive nature of the school means that lessons are taught in English and in Mandarin, giving children complete fluency in both languages.

Fluency in Mandarin is achieved through immersive teaching, whereby pupils learn across all their subjects in both languages, following a British curriculum. Young, neuroplastic minds are so fast at picking up another language that the children are agnostic about which language they are learning in.

Pupils derive many intellectual and interpersonal developmental benefits from learning in more than one language, enhancing their preparatory education and 11+ preparations. In addition, pupils acquire the rare and valuable skills of linguistic and cultural fluency in the world's two most important languages, English and Chinese. Fluency in Mandarin amongst westerners is a highly in-demand skill.

Our academic results are consistently outstanding and testament to the quality and excellence of our dual language provision. We offer specialist teaching from the very start with all children enjoying music lessons and, as they travel up the school, science, computing, Spanish, swimming and sports.

We also provide an extensive co-curricular programme with activities designed to challenge children intellectually, physically and creatively.
The happiness of our pupils is of paramount importance. We work closely with all our families to make sure that their children feel safe, valued and loved by every member of our staff.
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What The Good Schools Guide says

Headmaster

Since September 2023, Huw May BA BMus MA PGCE NPQH, who arrived here for his eighth headship from Eaton House Belgravia. Prior to that, was head of Eaton House the Manor pre-prep, Eaton House the Vale, Sydenham Junior School, Roedean Junior School and St Aubyn’s. He is also an ISI inspector. Following singing studies at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, he became a professional singer before being lured into teaching by a headteacher friend ‘just to help out’. While this is the first bilingual school he has led, he does have experience of bilingualism as a Welsh speaker. ‘No, I don’t speak Mandarin,’ he confesses, ‘but I’m attending classes every Thursday evening, along with some of the parents.’

We met him in his neat office overlooking the...

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