Parent Webinars
2024-25
Webinar – Why Choose a Girls' Only Education?
Thursday 30th January 2025 - 11am
Join our Webinar, ask your questions. St Catherine’s has been educating girls since 1885. We are experts in the education and character development of girls and fully understand the importance of focusing, not just on their academic lives, but also on building their confidence, challenging them to take risks, to derive joy from their learning and offering opportunities to lead. Each aspect of teaching and learning and every initiative whether academic, extra-curricular or pastoral, is tailored to meet the needs of girls, centred on evidence-based practice. The reasons for choosing a girls’ only education have never been more pertinent and important in developing resilient young people, prepared for the future and the ever-changing landscape beyond school. Please join us for a lively discussion about the benefits of a girls’ only education where you will also have the opportunity to pose questions and hear from Naomi Bartholomew, Head of the Prep School and Emma Watson, Head Designate.
Click here to book a place.
Past Webinars
2024-2025
Webinar – Settling into school
Thursday 26th September 2024 - 11am
Join our Webinar, ask your questions. Starting the new school year is an important milestone for all children, from starting Reception to moving to a new year group. How can you help your child settle in at school, build friendships and embrace new opportunities? Hear how you can support and guide your child with Naomi Bartholomew, St Catherine’s Prep School Headmistress, Emily Jefford, Head of Pre-Prep and Denise Irons, Deputy Head.
To view this webinar please click here (passcode: 1+buNMmO).
2023-24
Webinar – Positive Digital Parenting
Thursday 13th June 2024 - 11am
Join our Webinar, ask your questions. Positive digital parenting skills have never been more essential than today. Join us to discuss how to support your family in navigating the ever-growing digital landscape in a beneficial and balanced way. Katie Malins, St Catherine’s Prep School Director of Computer Science and Digital Learning, together with Naomi Bartholomew, Prep School Headmistress will share their wealth of knowledge and experience and guide you through establishing digital ground rules, encouraging healthy digital habits, discussing the importance of parental controls and privacy settings and common challenges faced by parents in digital parenting.
To view this webinar please click here (passcode: 3P!B4V+f).
To view the slides, please click here.
Webinar – Off to a Great Start - How do I prepare my child for school
Thursday 16th May 2024 - 11am
Starting Reception is an important milestone for you and your child. It is the start of an exciting new chapter. Hear about how you can help prepare your child for school. Hear from Emily Jefford, St Catherine’s Head of Pre-Prep and Kate Walford, Head Teacher at Hambledon Nursery, who will be ready to share their wealth of knowledge and experience. How can you help your child settle in at school, ready to make friends and learn? What can you do to prepare your child? How can you prepare yourself for these next steps?
To view this webinar please click here (passcode: N%d#797P)
To view the slides, please click here.
Supporting a Dyslexic Learner
Friday 3rd May - 11am
Join our Webinar, ask your questions. How and when do you identify a child with dyslexia? How does a child with dyslexia behave? What does dyslexia look like in a classroom? What support is typically given in school? Hear how you can support your child at home. With host Prep Headmistress, Naomi Bartholomew and panellists Rebecca Mudde, Head of Academic Mentoring and Christine Birch, specialist assessor.
To view this webinar please click here (passcode: M*YhR0ZT)
To view the slides, please click here.
Navigating Friendships
Thursday 1st February - 11am
Join our Webinar, ask your questions. How can you help your child forge positive friendships? How do you nurture a child’s friendship skills? With host Prep Headmistress, Naomi Bartholomew and panellists Deputy Head, Wendy Gibbs and Child Clinical Psychologist and author of ‘Find your Girl Squad: Making and Keeping Friends Who Love you for YOU’, Dr Angharad Rudkin.
To view this webinar please click here (passcode: &0s6WhW0)
To view the slides, please click here.
Food and Nutrition for Young Children
Thursday 16th November - 11am
How can you give your child confidence in making food choices? How can you help your child foster a healthy relationship with food? Explore how to talk to your child about food and nutrition. Reflect on how you feel about food. With host Prep Headmistress, Naomi Bartholomew and panellists Emily Jefford, Head of Pre-Prep and Alexia Dempsey, Specialist Dietician.
The importance of Sleep for Children
Thursday 12th October - 11am
Join our Webinar, ask your questions. Sleep is an essential building block for children's health, wellbeing, learning and development. Sleep needs change as your child grows older, but a consistent bedtime routine is helpful for making sure your child gets enough sleep. Sometimes, a bedtime routine is easier said than done. Hear how you can help your child get a full night’s sleep with host Prep Headmistress, Naomi Bartholomew and panellists Emily Jefford, Head of Pre-Prep and Rebecca Collier, Parenting Consultant.
To view this webinar please click here (passcode: r7NOn3n#)
To view the slides please click here.
Settling into School
Thursday 28th September - 11am
Join our Webinar, ask your questions. Starting the new school year is an important milestone for all children, from starting Reception to moving to a new year group. How can you help your child settle in at school, build friendships and embrace new opportunities? Hear how you can support and guide your child with Naomi Bartholomew, St Catherine’s Prep School Headmistress, Emily Jefford, Head of Pre-Prep and Wendy Gibbs, Deputy Head.
To view this webinar please click here (passcode: %5u3*9!j)
To view the slides, please click here.
2022-2023
Webinar – Navigating Friendships at Primary School
16th March 2023 - 11am
Join our Webinar, ask your questions. How can you help your child forge positive friendships? How do you nurture a child’s friendship skills? How can you help your child navigate friendships? Listen to Naomi Bartholomew, St Catherine’s Prep School Headmistress, Emily Jefford, Head of Pre-Prep, Wendy Gibbs, Deputy Head and Lucy Sinclair, Life Matters Co-ordinator.
Of course, we are proud of St Catherine’s Prep School and would love you to consider us, but this is not a virtual open event for St Catherine’s. It’s an info-share and Q&A to support your child’s development.
To view this webinar please click here (passcode: 9#zD+mxi)
To view the slides, please click here.
Webinar – Why go private for Primary?
9th February 2023 - 11am
Join our Webinar, ask your questions. Are you interested to learn more about the benefits of going private at Primary? Join Naomi Bartholomew, Headmistress and Toby Freeman-Day, Head at RGS Prep to explore some of these benefits and ask questions about all aspects of Prep education. We know this decision is a big one and requires thorough investigation and we hope that this event will be useful and informative.
We are aware that choosing a school for your daughter or son is a big decision and that there is much to consider when thinking about going private at Primary or Senior or both. We know too that it has significant cost implications. The purpose of our event is to share with you as Prep educationalists some of the benefits of going private and to give you the opportunity to ask questions of us about all aspects of Prep education. Of course, we are proud of St Catherine’s Prep School and RGS Prep and would love you to consider us, but this isn’t a virtual open event for St Catherine’s. It’s an info-share and Q&A around the wider value of going private at Primary.
To view this webinar please click here.
To view the slides, please click here.
Webinar – Raising Warriors not Worriers
24th November 2022 - 11am
Join our Webinar, ask your questions. How can you support your child and navigate challenges presented by daily school life? How can you help my child forge positive friendships? How can you help turn my child from worrier to warrior? Hear ideas from Wendy Gibbs, Deputy Head, Rebecca Mudde, Head of Academic Mentoring and our resident psychologist, Louise Fermandel, to help you support your child.
To view this webinar please click here.
To view the slides, please click here.
Webinar – Building Strong Foundations
The Importance of Early Learning
10th November 2022 - 11am
Join our Webinar, ask your questions. Being outdoors and active is a vital part of growing up and living a healthy and fulfilled life. It gives children the opportunity to explore the natural area, take on unfamiliar challenges and develop life-long skills in a safe and stimulating environment. Join us to find out about the benefits of outdoor learning and how we encourage this at St Catherine’s.
To view this webinar please click here.
To view the slides, please click here.
Webinar – Moving to the country?
13th October 2022 - 11am
Join our Webinar, ask your questions. If you are considering a move out of London, drawn to a better quality of family life in areas such as the Surrey Hills, school choice will no doubt factor in this decision. Are you keen to hear how to approach selecting the best school for your child? Interested in practical advice on how to secure that forever home? Join us for our webinar, where you will hear tips from both our Headmistress, Naomi Bartholomew on how to approach choosing the best school for your child, along with advice from Mel Ingle, Educational Consultant on how to choose a school as well as practical relocation advice from Property expert Jen Butcher from Property Potential.
To view this webinar, please click here.
To view the slides, please click here.
2021-2022
Webinar – Moving to the country?
(originally held on Thursday 16th June)
Join our Webinar, ask your questions. Many parents are opening to move out of London drawn to a better quality of family life in areas such as the Surrey Hills. School choice remains a very significant factor in this decision but with the dream family home possibly being hard to find, parents can face a number of key potentially life changing decisions which all need to be made in quick succession.
Are you thinking of a move to the country? Keen to hear how to approach selecting the best school for your child? Interested in practical advice on how to secure that forever home? Join us for our webinar, where you will hear tips from both our Headmistress, Naomi Bartholomew on how to approach choosing the best school for your child, along with practical relocation advice from Property expert Jen Butcher from Property Potential.
To view this webinar, please click here
Webinar – Navigating Friendships at Primary School
(originally held on Thursday 17th March)
Join our Webinar, ask your questions. Friendships can be tricky to navigate for children. They are learning as they grow and will make mistakes along the way. Come and hear how you can help your child to forge positive friendships and what to do when it doesn’t quite work out how they had expected. Listen to Dr Anna Shipton, clinical psychologist, Mrs Wendy Gibbs, Deputy Head and Ms Rachel Churchley, Life Matters Co-ordinator discussing friendships in childhood.
Of course, we are proud of St Catherine’s Prep School and would love you to consider us, but this isn’t a virtual open event for St Catherine’s. It’s an info-share and Q&A to support you in planning your child's education.
To view this webinar, please click here (passcode: 3mAMy@f#)
To view the supporting slides, please click here
Webinar – The Importance of Play in the Early Years
(originally held on Thursday 10th February)
Join our Webinar, ask your questions. Why is play an important part of a child's early development? Why is play crucial for developing children’s communication and language skills? Why is play important in preparing a child for education? What is your role in your child’s play? Hear about the importance of play in the early years with Emily Jefford, St Catherine’s Head of Pre-Prep, Julie Crago, Deputy Manager at Puddleducks Pre-School in Salisbury and Polly Ross, experienced speech and language therapist.
The purpose of our event is to share with you as Early Years and Primary educationalists our knowledge about the importance of play in the early years and answer your questions. These might be about how you can help your child develop language skills through play. Of course, we are proud of St Catherine’s Prep School and would love you to consider us, but this isn’t a virtual open event for St Catherine’s. It’s an info-share and Q&A to support your child’s development.
To view this webinar, please click here (passcode: b3$RtjBy)
To view the supporting slides, please click here
Webinar – is your Prep child confident and contented?
(originally held on Thursday 25th November)
Join our Webinar, ask your questions. How can I help my child forge positive friendships? How can I help turn my child from worrier to warrior? How can I help support my child through their school days? Hear ideas from Wendy Gibbs, Deputy Head, Rebecca Mudde, Head of Academic Mentoring and our resident psychologist, Anna Shipton, to help you support your child.
The purpose of our event is to share with you as Primary educationalists questions you might have about supporting your child as they grow in confidence. Of course, we are proud of St Catherine’s Prep School and would love you to consider us, but this isn’t a virtual open event for St Catherine’s. It’s an info-share and Q&A to support you in planning your child's education.
Webinar - Why early learning matters
(originally held on Wednesday 20th October)
Join our Webinar, ask your questions. How much does my child really learn from 3-5? What is learning through play? How do you build a strong foundation that impacts future success? Hear why the early years are so important with Naomi Bartholomew, St Catherine’s Prep School Headmistress, Emily Jefford, Head of Pre-Prep and an Julie Crago, Early Years expert and Deputy Manager at Puddleducks Pre-School in Salisbury. Wed 20th October. This is designed as an info-share not a St Catherine's Open Event.
The purpose of our event is to share with you as Primary educationalists questions you might have about the start of your child's education journey. These might be about basic numeracy, learning to read, learning through play or forming friendships. Of course, we are proud of St Catherine’s Prep School and would love you to consider us, but this isn’t a virtual open event for St Catherine’s. It’s an info-share and Q&A to support you in planning your child's education.
To view this webinar, please click here
Webinar - Going to an Open Day? Questions to Ask
(originally held on Thursday 30th September)
How do you weigh up different School offers? What key questions should you ask of a School? Should you involve your child in School visits? Hear from Naomi Bartholomew, Prep School Headmistress, Julie Micklethwaite, Prep School Deputy Head and Kirsty Meredith, Senior Housemistress so you can feel prepared.
To view this webinar, please click here