1. How do I make my first contact and to whom?
Please ring the School and talk to Mrs Lyndsay Colbeck who will make an appointment for you to visit.

2. What happens on the first visit?
You will usually start your visit with a chat in my office where we discuss your daughter, what she likes doing both outside and inside school. We discuss the ethos of Wykeham House and generally have a look at the prospectus and our GCSE results. We will then go on a tour of the school.

I am always delighted to see prospective parents and as this is a very big decision you are making this will often take 1½-2 hours but if you have a deadline to meet we can have a shorter meeting. I will also ask at this meeting if you would like one of our present parents with a daughter of similar age to ring you to talk about Wykeham House School.

3. What do I then do if I would like my daughter to join Wykeham House School?
Following your visit if you would like to proceed further please complete the application form in the back of the prospectus and send it into school with a £100 non-returnable deposit. We will then contact you and arrange a Taster Day for your daughter, which will be individually booked at anytime throughout the year to suit you and your daughter. We will also send for a confidential reference from your daughter’s present school.

4. What happens on the Taster Day?
Your daughter should arrive at school at about 8.30 in the morning with a pencil case and Mrs Colbeck will be in Reception to meet you. Your daughter will be very well looked after during the day, joining the class she will enter if she decides to make Wykeham House her school. Your daughter will be given a buddy for the day, a role our girls love to fulfil. She can have a hot school lunch if she would like – these are delicious with a large choice of food – and she will be back in Reception at the end of her day, either at lunchtime if in Nursery or Reception, 3.30pm if Year 1-3, or 3.45pm if Year 4-10. During the day older girls will undertake a few short tests in Maths and English but younger girls will simply join in lessons.

5. What happens after the Taster Day?
Unless your daughter is in Year 6, where she will sit our entrance examinations in January, you will receive a formal offer of a place very quickly after the Taster Day if all has gone well. The package will contain an agreement form to accept the place, many other forms and instructions including how to buy uniform. Mrs Lyndsay Colbeck will by then be someone you know very well and she is only too willing to help you with these details. We will then discuss the start date for your daughter as many girls join Wykeham House throughout the year as parents move to the area for jobs. If your daughter is planning to enter the school in Year 7 you should arrange a visit to the school in the normal manner and experience a Taster Day before the entrance examinations shortly thereafter. Information about the examinations will be sent out providing specific details. Our entrance examinations are over two exciting days in January allowing time to view potential not only in the academic subjects but also in the creative areas and sport. Offers of places are made following the examinations and acceptances made by a common date in March for all Independent Schools.

The last stage of the entry procedure is your daughter’s first day of school. Please do not worry about this as in a small school like Wykeham House we help girls settle in gently and everyone will be aware that this can be a difficult and nervous time.

6. What does the school do to help parents settle into the new school community?
Our Parents’ Association is called WHISPA (Wykeham House Independent School Parents’ Association) and it runs many social events throughout the year to help integrate parents and also raise money for school funds. We also have a ‘School in Action’ morning or afternoon each term to which all parents are invited. You can watch lessons taking place and then join me for a coffee in the Dining Room to discuss any aspects of your daughter’s education.

We do hope these questions and answers help to clarify the application procedure.