At Fettes College Pre-Prep, we combine the Curriculum for Excellence's meaningful emphasis on play-based learning with a rigorous approach to developing core academic skills and a unique approach to embedding empathy and kindness in everything we do.

Through a combination of whole-class instruction and small group work, children receive daily phonics and numeracy input tailored to their level, while thoughtfully designed play stations encourage exploration and deepen understanding of cross-curricular topics. We take a child centred and individualised approach, putting the children’s interests at the heart of their learning experiences.

With access to Fettes College’s world-class facilities and specialist input for subjects such as PE, Music, and Languages, our pupils benefit from a rich educational experience that sets them up to excel in the Prep School and beyond. Outdoor learning is central to our curriculum, offering exciting opportunities for collaboration, resilience, and discovery within our extensive grounds, alongside regular trips beyond the school gates that bring learning to life.

Our holistic approach prepares children academically all the while fostering creativity, curiosity and personal growth in a literacy-rich, stimulating, and fun environment. Fettes Prep’s unique approach to embedding the development of critical thinking, collaboration, creativity, resilience and empathy in our teaching will now start in the Pre-Prep, giving children the best possible chance of developing these important skills in a fast-changing world.

Fettes Prep is a “School with kindness at the heart of its curriculum” (The Times) and children’ s experiences in the Pre-Prep will ensure kindness and empathy flourish at the heart of a Fettes education.

The curriculum is being shaped to meet the overarching aims of the Pre-Prep and is designed to give the best possible start to a Fettes education.

The standard curriculum is likely to include:

• Literacy
• Numeracy
• Humanities
• Languages (French, Spanish, Mandarin, German)
• Outdoor Learning
• Art
• Music
• Drama
• PE/Games
• Information Technology

While a final decision is still to be made on uniform for Pre-Prep, we will be applying some basic principles as plans are finalised. Uniform for this age group should be practical, hard wearing and cost effective. We will also ensure that parents are not asked to replace too much of the uniform as their children move through to the Prep School.

These may be subject to small changes, but we hope that what follows gives you a flavour of what the day will look like for your child.

There will be no compulsory school on a Saturday morning.

Fettes food is legendary, but we now also need to cater for younger palates. The logistics of feeding younger children is being considered and alternative options that allow children to enjoy their age-appropriate and nutritious meals within the Prep School site are being developed.

Children may enter P1 in Scotland from the age of 4 and a half. At Fettes we prepare our students for the dual pathway of A Levels or the International Baccalaureate Diploma (IB) in the Senior School (a unique offering in Scotland) and this means that we use English Year groups throughout the Prep and Senior Schools. To merge these two systems and allow children to join Fettes when they are old enough to start formal schooling in Scotland, our youngest Year group will contain children who are four and a half but not yet six on 1st September. This Year group will be known as the Hive (a nod towards the school motto and crest) with the second Year group (comprising children who are 6 rising 7 on 1st September). Children starting in the Hive at 4 and a half will be expected to stay in this class until they are the correct age to join the second Year group, in Pre-Prep. The name of the second Year group will be confirmed in due course.

There is much to consider before we open our doors, in September 2025, to the first group of our youngest Fettesians. Staffing, toilets and use of the school bus service are three areas still to be decided upon, and more details will be made available in due course.

Fees are also being finalised but will be at a substantially lower level than current Fettes Prep School fees. Pre-Prep fees will be competitive against other schools with a similar offering.

Register your interest in joining the new Fettes Pre-Prep and we will keep you fully informed of all developments over the coming months.