ABSTRACT
The idealised picture of childhood would very likely include scenes of laughter, singing and dancing. Schools must be spaces where children can find out about themselves and the wonders of the world around them. A preparatory school is defined by its name, and the curriculum dictated by the requirements of the schools it feeds. The challenge for schools is how to deliver on such expectations. The trend for UK-based parents is for schools to provide more accessibility and flexibility to them, especially at prep school age. Independent junior schools must be thinking in terms of the next 20 years and considering how to tackle these issues of affordability, relevance, managing parental expectations and safeguarding the kind of childhood which they were founded to promote. These are deep-rooted and fundamental challenges, to which there are no simple solutions. But junior schools that are not already actively engaged in a search for answers have good reason to fear for their very survival.
