We are thrilled to have had the privilege of showcasing our innovative ‘Little Leaders’ programme, acknowledged by the Independent Schools Inspectorate as a Significant Strength of our school, to set the standard of pupil leadership for schools across the nation.

We shared good practice with Heads and senior leaders from preparatory schools across the country to highlight the importance of offering early leadership opportunities to our youngest learners.

The ‘Little Leaders’ programme is not about titles or roles; it is about giving our children the chance to take initiative, make choices, actively listen, and work together as a team. We are leading the way in pupil development by shaping a vision where leadership is at the heart of everything our pupils do, starting from the age of three. Excitingly, as we transition to our new Preparatory setting from September 2026, we will be extending this programme all the way to Year 6, ensuring every pupil has the chance to fully develop their leadership, confidence and empathy.

This journey has fundamentally changed how we model leadership to our children. It has shaped how we listen, and how we empower pupils to feel like they are truly making a difference. We were so proud to see our very own ‘Little Leaders’ take the floor to deliver the speeches independently written for Open Day.

We recognise that effective pupil leadership programmes may not be fully developed in other schools. That is why we developed and shared our pupil leadership Toolkit with delegates, to help other settings develop their own pupil leadership programmes. The Toolkit provides a framework for providers to ensure that pupils understand the importance of their role by developing leadership skills intrinsically for more holistic development and allow schools to reflect on their own pupil leadership journey.

Our philosophy is built on the belief that leadership is not a personality trait, but a set of habits, and we have developed our programme with this in mind. The ‘Little Leaders’ programme gives our children the confidence to learn from failure in safe environments to support others, resulting in the development of well-rounded young adults.

As a school, we are immensely proud of how far this programme has come, but more importantly, we are excited for where our ‘Little Leaders’ will take us next!