Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
The Independent UK
The Independent UK
Lifestyle

10 dedicated institutions and devices to enrich your child’s education

Getty Images

From extra-curricular activities and international placement opportunities to specialised sporting and neurodiverse schools, you’ll be sure to spot the right establishment for you and your child.

Discover a nurturing school for neurodiverse students

Burlington House School in Fulham and Hammersmith caters for neurodiverse children and young adults, with a particular focus on SpLDs (specific learning difficulties) such as dyslexia and dyspraxia. The Prep, Senior and Sixth Form sites are for pupils aged eight to 19 years old and offer a consistent, nurturing and challenging educational environment for neurodiverse children. Next academic year Burlington House School will be launching an additional secondary site in Tooting, allowing it to offer its programme to many more students. This new campus intends to make use of the abundant outdoor space around it to give young people with learning difficulties the opportunity to access a specialist education, while receiving passionate support and following a mainstream curriculum.

Browse through the school’s new programme at burlingtonhouseschool.com

Choose a free-spirited school for happy kids

London’s Charterhouse Square School has high aspirations for all pupils enrolled, encouraging them to flourish in and out of the classroom. It offers a safe and supportive environment that serves as a home away from home for pupils aged three to 11. The school takes pride in its central location, while benefitting from green spaces for pupils to play in. Children here call teachers by their first name, stay together with the same classmates from entry at nursery all the way through school, and don’t wear a school uniform. Charterhouse Square School posts outstanding 11 plus results, easing entry to prestigious secondary schools in London and beyond. New facilities opening this year include an outdoor learning space with rooftop garden, indoor flexible learning, play spaces, and catering facilities.

Learn more at charterhousesquareschool.co.uk

Enrol your child into a top school with an inclusive environment

One of the top performing schools in north-east London, Bancroft’s prides itself on its consistently excellent exam results. The co-educational school caters to children aged seven to 18 and is dedicated to nurturing students’ courage, curiosity, kindness, and integrity. Both the Prep and Senior schools were rated Excellent by the sector’s regulator, reflecting the quality of the pupils’ academic accomplishments as well as their personal development. Beyond traditional academics, Bancroft’s offers an extensive array of co-curricular activities — from trampolining to Warhammer battles – the selection of 150 clubs and societies ensures there is something for every student. If your child’s desired society is missing, they are encouraged to create it.

Find out about opportunities to visit Bancroft’s in the autumn term at bancrofts.org/admissions/open-days

Help your child become a global citizen with an international school

Parents looking to prepare their child for the world after education should explore TASIS England. Based in Surrey, the co-educational school offers both day (ages three to 18) and boarding (13 to 18) academic programmes. With classroom sizes ranging from 12 to 15, students will receive an individualised learning experience from a faculty that’s dedicated to helping them reach their full potential. At TASIS, students will be immersed in an international community in which they’ll experience a diverse array of cultures and build lifelong friendships. Speaking of international, the school offers an excellent selection of university placements around the globe.

Book your private tour of TASIS England at tasisengland.org/discover and discover the educational experience on offer

Help your child find focus in the classroom

Trying to learn in a noisy environment can be challenging for any child. Nuance Hearing is on a mission to make listening easier in the classroom. The audio-tech company’s innovative development, the Voice Selector, has been designed to help pupils focus more easily in the classroom, and assist with attention, sensory and communication challenges, such as ADHD, SPD and ASD. The tabletop device does this through beamforming technology, which focuses on sounds from a specific direction, spotlighting the teacher’s voice while decreasing background noise. By improving the clarity of speech, the Voice Selector can help your child to focus on the speaker, with less auditory distractions.

Find out more about how the Voice Selector can enhance focus at nuancehear.com/voice-selector-study

Sign up your little one to baby swimming classes

With classes across the UK and beyond, Water Babies is one of the world’s largest baby swimming schools helping little ones learn a skill for life. With some of the best trained baby swimming teachers on board, Water Babies teaches babies and toddlers from newborn to five years old (their youngest water baby was just one day old!) how to swim, taking each of them on a journey of aquatic discovery, adventure, and purposeful play. They’ll learn all about water safety, core aquatic skills, and swimming strokes. In addition to teaching key floating techniques and breath control, baby swimming supports little ones’ physical development (enhancing motor skills, coordination, and muscle strength), engages your baby’s senses with songs, toys and interactive games, and can have benefits on emotional and psychological development, too. Water Babies is aimed at families of all shapes and sizes, nurturing every little mind, body, and soul through swimming.

Start your baby swimming journey at waterbabies.co.uk

Allow your child to be the best they can be

Queen Ethelburga’s Collegiate wishes to help children reach their full potential based on their unique gifts. It takes pride in its values and community spirit, as well as its focus on developing its pupils — who come from all different cultures and backgrounds — as individuals. Its four-school model allows pupils to become strong, well-rounded young adults, ready to take their place in society. Students can study for the GCSE (General Certificate of Secondary Education), A levels, and a range of BTEC (Business and Technology Education Council) courses in Key Stages 4 and 5. Although education is at the heart of Queen Ethelburga’s Collegiate’s ethos, it recognises that life comes with its own challenges, which is why it aims to equip students with what it takes to navigate the path to success, following their personal aspirations.

Book your place at qe.org

Enrol your children in a traditional school with a modern outlook 

With more than 150 years of history, independent day and boarding school Trent College has created the perfect environment for boys and girls to thrive, from nursery through to sixth form. The school stretches across four homely boarding houses on a 45-acre campus on the Derbyshire Nottinghamshire border. The curriculum here is always evolving to respond to the needs of today’s ever-changing world — expect subjects such as maths, physics and history, next to more specialised additions such as food & nutrition and psychology. Sport, drama, and music are also on offer, with superb on-site facilities. Pupils achieve strong academic results thanks to excellent pastoral care and the support of teachers who nourish each student’s potential. Trent College looks beyond the day-to-day, too, actively helping pupils plan for the future: a dedicated careers centre allows them to understand their strengths and choose their preferred career path. 

Find out more at trentschools.net

Find your go-to British school in the heart of Singapore

Families relocating to Singapore could enrol their children in the oldest British international school in Southeast Asia. Established in 1925, the not-for-profit Tanglin Trust delivers British-based education to 2,800 students from more than 50 nationalities, from nursery through to sixth form. Tanglin is the only school in Singapore to offer both A Level and the IB Diploma. But it’s the outstanding academic results of its students that really set it apart — these consistently surpass Singapore and global averages. Tanglin was named International School of the Year 2023 and has repeatedly ranked as one of the top 20 independent IB schools in the world. Its mission is to make every individual feel valued, happy and successful, while encouraging responsibility and participation. Pupils can take part in over 500 co-curricular activities, from Badminton and cross stitching to beginner robotics and Chinese traditional painting.

Find out more at tts.edu.sg

Ensure your child shines in sports

Are you looking for a school that will allow your children to excel as young athletes and possibly make their chosen sport a career? Co-educational boarding and day schools Repton Prep and Repton in Derbyshire are among the best sporting schools in the world: they take pride in 49 national hockey titles, winning the independent schools championship more times than any other school, and having produced more than 150 first-class cricketers. The Repton schools are not only great at sports, though. They also offer a high-quality academic, pastoral and co-curricular experience (with extra-curricular activities including art, textiles and music). Alumni often move on to world-class universities such as Oxford, Cambridge, Harvard, Yale and Princeton.

Discover more about Repton schools and book a personal tour by visiting reptonschool.org.uk

This content is brought to you by Living360, a digital lifestyle destination keeping you up to date with the latest trends surrounding health and fitness, food and drink, homes and gardens, beauty, travel, finance trends and more.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.