Private Education Awards 2026 | 9 the team that children are given one opportunity to experience primary education, and it is their responsibility to make that experience exceptional. This does not only involve delivering strong academic outcomes, but also instilling the habits of curiosity, resilience, and a genuine love of learning that will stay with them for life. St Bernard’s offers a jam-packed curriculum to ensure that every child has the chance to succeed. STEAM – comprising Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Mathematics – is taught as a core element of every lesson, rather than in the traditional form of individualised lessons. Children are taught how subjects integrate and work together, as jobs in the real-world are always interdisciplinary. Through STEAM, students develop diverse skillsets and learn how to apply knowledge, research, and skills to solve problems. This is complemented by their GOLD Award-winning sports curriculum, which plays an important role in daily life at St Bernard’s Prep. Children are taught a variety of activities to improve wellbeing and fitness, including dance, gymnastics, athletics, ball skills, circuit training, and smallsided games. Children play competitively in sports fixtures from Year 4 onwards, and the school sees more than 100 matches each year. Sports are also offered as an after-school activity, alongside other engaging initiatives such as book club, musical theatre, choir, judo, coding, touch typing, chess, wellbeing club, filmmaking, debating, and many more. The results of this approach truly speak for themselves; our children at St Bernard’s consistently outperform national standards, evidenced by the school’s extraordinary 88% 11+ pass rate and KS2 SATs results. This success is further underpinned by the school’s status as National Handwriting Champions, proving that children at St Bernard’s Prep master both technical and foundational skills at a national level. “Whilst we dominate in core subjects, our creative output is equally elite,” Asha added. “Achieving a 100% Distinction rate at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art is rare. It demonstrates that our children aren’t just knowledgeable; they are articulate, confident, and possess the ‘soft skills’ that are essential for senior school leadership.” While many competitors offer either high-pressure academics or a nurturing environment, St Bernard’s Preparatory School stands out as a rare exception that provides both. The school has seen year-on-year success in grammar school placements and national competitions, as well as outstanding achievements in the creative arts, demonstrating that a supportive, well-balanced school life is the most effective catalyst for high-level success. For delivering such unrivalled results within a supportive setting, St Bernard’s Preparatory School has been named Berkshire’s Best Catholic Preparatory School 2026. Contact: Asha Verma Company: St Bernard’s Preparatory School Web Address: www.stbernardsprep.org The UK’s educational sector is currently navigating a new era, with the mental health of students now understood to be a prerequisite of academic success. As a result, parents are increasingly moving away from tradition and towards institutions that can promise a more balanced approach of holistic support alongside measurable results. In such a landscape, St Bernard’s Preparatory School stands as a trusted educational provider that blends academic rigour with wellbeing and happiness, ensuring that no child is left behind on their development journey. We heard more from Head Teacher Asha Verma below. Best Catholic Preparatory School 2026 – Berkshire “Our mission, rooted in the Bernardine charism, is to educate towards love and service to God and the community.” St Bernard’s Preparatory School is an award-winning, co-educational Catholic independent school based in Slough, Berkshire. Serving children from ages 2.5 to 11, the school occupies a unique position in the Berkshire education landscape as an institution that successfully harmonises a comprehensive wellbeing-first approach with elite academic performance. With this, it provides a foundational education that bridges the gap between traditional values and modern excellence. Ultimately, the staff at St Bernard’s strives to nurture well-rounded, highachieving individuals who possess both the intellectual drive to succeed and the emotional intelligence to lead happy, fulfilling lives. It aims to send pupils out into the world as courteous, confident, and articulate young citizens who are not just academic success stories, but truly happy and content individuals boasting a deep-seated thirst for knowledge. “We believe that a happy child is a successful child.” “What makes St Bernard’s truly unique is our ability to deliver elite academic outcomes within a culture that refuses to compromise on the joy of childhood,” said Asha. “We don’t just prepare our children for exams; we prepare them for life by ensuring they are happy, well-balanced, and driven to succeed.” To ensure that this vision is upheld across the entire school, St Bernard’s operates with a simple but powerful mantra: “use every minute to teach and learn”. There is a shared understanding across
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