Lower School | Epsom College
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The Lower School, for children in Years 7 and 8, is the ideal stepping stone between junior and secondary education. Our aim is to ensure these first two years provide your child with a solid foundation for the rest of their time at the College. 

Your child will be based in our purpose-built Lower School building, but they will take a number of lessons and activities in the classrooms, studios and laboratories in the main College departments.

The Timetable

The image below shows you what a typical week looks like for a Lower School pupil. Each day starts with registration followed by an assembly, tutor time or Chapel.

Lessons begin at 9am, and each period lasts 50 minutes. Morning break is 10.45-11.10am, when your child will be provided with a snack and refreshments. There’s one more lesson and then – between 12-1pm – it’s lunch. 

Afternoons vary, but each day ends with some form of co-curricular activity (more on that below). The School day officially ends at 5pm for Lower School pupils, however most will take advantage of the hour of supervised prep before heading home with all homework done.

Lower SSchool academic, boy and girl

Subjects Studied

Pupils are taught in co-ed classes, and will learn alongside pupils from other form groups. All classes are mixed ability with the exception of maths and languages. Your child will study the following subjects:

  • Art
  • Computer Science
  • Design & Technology
  • Drama
  • English
  • Geography
  • History
  • Latin
  • Maths
  • Modern Languages (pupils take a modern foreign languages taster course, before narrowing their choice in Year 8)
  • Music
  • Physical Education
  • Religious Studies
  • Science (Biology, Chemistry, Physics and ‘How Science Works’, taught individually on rotation)
  • STEM
  • Trivium – the art of reading, researching, public speaking and debating
Lower School Hockey

Games

Games and/or fixtures take place three times a week, on Monday afternoon, Wednesday afternoon and Saturday morning. We’re proud of our high participation rates, and regularly field C and D teams so that all pupils have the chance to represent the school competitively, even if it’s in a sport they’re trying for the first time. Our main team sports are:

Michaelmas Term

  • Rugby (boys) / Hockey (girls)

Lent Term

  • Football (boys) / Netball (girls)

Summer Term

  • Cricket (boys and girls), Tennis and Athletics (co-ed)

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Co-Curricular Activities

Each day ends with some form of Co-Curricular Activity. This programme has won numerous awards in recent years, including being voted among the ‘best of the best’ in UK independent education by The Week magazine.

Pupils move between ‘activities’ and ‘carousel’. Activities are the pupil’s free choice – they select from a huge array (over 150) of options, covering sport, drama, culture, academic and creative pursuits.

‘Carousel’ activities are taken by all pupils, on rotation. Pupils generally move between two different carousel activities each term.

This combination means pupils are able to indulge their passions and interests, while also learning how to be more open-minded in their approach to new challenges and experiences.

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Homework

Your child will be set three pieces of homework (or prep, as we call it) each day. Teachers are asked to keep each task to around 20 minutes, so it should never take your child more than an hour to complete. This also means it should be possible to finish everything within the daily Supervised Prep sessions.

Supervised Prep

Monday-Friday from 5-6pm, around 80% of Lower School pupils stay for Supervised Prep. 

  • The sessions are supervised by staff – and all of the Senior Leadership Team are involved.
  • Pupils have subject specialists on hand, to support them on any work they find tricky. 
  • An hour is plenty of time to complete that day’s prep, so that your child returns home free to enjoy family time. 
  • Your child will finish in time to take College transport home. This departs the College at 6.15pm and can be a lifesaver for busy families.

Join us in Year 7

Discover what steps are required to apply to our Lower School.

Learn more