The Belvedere Preparatory School

The Belvedere Preparatory School environment creates happy, well rounded pupils who look forward to coming to school every day. As well as having a reputation for academic excellence, we are also known for our welcoming family atmosphere. Our pupils and their parents are at the heart of the school and an integral part of the community. Our teachers are dedicated and inspirational professionals, praised by parents for their energy and commitment. They spend quality time with every pupil in a disciplined yet caring environment, ensuring that the unique and natural talents of each child are recognised and encouraged. We provide a safe, exciting and well-resourced environment for your child to grow and develop.

The success of any school is judged by looking at its pupils’ work and talking to them. We are confident that you will be welcomed by our happy smiling pupils who are courteous and proud of their school.

The Belvedere Preparatory School provides a creative, vibrant and academic education. At Belvedere Prep expectations are high, but aspirations for each and every child are higher.

Our pupils receive a robust, challenging and inspiring 21st Century education. This experience prepares them for life and makes the primary schooling years an enjoyable time, filled with rich and memorable experiences. Each child’s unique skills and talents are released and enhanced in an environment of care and respect.

In a culture of collaboration and co-operation, where pupils are taught to value diversity, our pupils are encouraged to work individually and with each other. Children are also encouraged to be thinkers, calculated risk-takers, creators and self-directed learners, but equally respectful of others, displaying positive behaviour and attitudes at all times.

Our curriculum combines traditional teaching and learning practices with the best contemporary and innovative approaches.

Additionally, our children will benefit from specialist and expert teaching across the curriculum. We provide enhanced opportunities for: exploring the arts (art, music, drama); fostering an appreciation of culture and language; growing personally, socially and emotionally; developing a sense of team work and leadership; and physical well-being (physical education).

We are a single form entry school and great attention is given to Year Level Standards in literacy and numeracy. We equally encourage our children to work collaboratively across year groups, developing resilience, independence and team-work skills.

Our lessons are approximately 50 minutes in duration, however we work flexibly allowing pupils to engage in areas of interest for longer if they wish to do so. Music, Drama and Art are also taught for extended periods; allowing children to immerse themselves fully in a subject before needing to ‘move on’.

School arrangements are reviewed annually in order to ensure our programme of study and timetabling meets the needs and interests of our pupils and school community. Parents are notified of any significant changes. Our school term dates are set in consideration of local authority schools.

The Belvedere Preparatory School promotes learning beyond the classroom. During the course of each academic school year all classes will be involved in school trips. We believe that Educational visits help children to gain a better insight into aspects of their learning. To support this, some of our recent visits have included: The Globe Theatre (London); The Imperial War Museum (Manchester); Liverpool Planetarium; The Catalyst Museum; Potter’s Barn; Manchester Airport; The Walker Art Gallery; and Liverpool World Museum.

Further educational opportunities are sought from specialist companies and guest speakers, who are invited into the school to support the curriculum. Most recently on World Book Day we invited Bernard Young, a guitar playing poet, to perform at Belvedere Prep. Bernard provided us with such an enjoyable and entertaining day. All children produced a variety of high quality poems rapidly and painlessly.

The Belvedere Preparatory School was originally founded in 1880 as the Junior Department of The Belvedere School, Liverpool. Originally housed at 17 Belvidere Road, we moved to our current premises at 23 Belvidere Road in 1939. It is widely recognised as one of the best Independent Schools in Liverpool.

The Belvedere Preparatory School is an Independent Co-Educational School, for pupils aged 3-11 years. Our School is housed in a beautiful Victorian mansion which is located in a historically rich area of Liverpool. With neighbouring Princes Park and nearby Sefton Park providing a leafy backdrop, it is an exceptional environment in which your child can begin their educational journey.

At The Belvedere Preparatory School we take into account the skills, knowledge and experiences that our children bring with them to school. We recognise that our children have the potential to achieve high standards, often beyond age related expectations. Therefore, we aspire for all our children to become competent learners.

From the start, children are encouraged to become resilient, confident and self-assured. We provide opportunities for our children to form positive relationships which enable them to be strong and independent. Our aim is to extend their development and learning in an enabling environment. We equally acknowledge that all children develop and learn in different ways and at different rates and that all areas of learning and development are equally important and interconnected.

We believe in the concept of lifelong learning, and in the belief that we are laying the foundations for learning throughout life in terms of skills, strategies and attitudes. We maintain that learning should be a rewarding and an enjoyable experience for everyone. Through our teaching, we equip children with the skills and a broad range knowledge and understanding that is necessary to be able to make informed choices about the important things in their lives. We believe that appropriate teaching and learning experiences help children to lead safe, healthy, productive, happy and rewarding lives.

Our philosophy is that success will be a by-product of everything that we do. We are certainly not an ‘exam hot-house’, where exam preparation takes over the whole of the curriculum. We give it due focus, we practice for exams (technique etc.) just like anyone would if they were to play in a music concert, tennis match etc. but it isn’t at the expense of the development of the ‘whole child’. The emphasis on developing confidence and potential, along with technique, enable our children to achieve the results that they are capable of.