Open Day, Open Mind: A first-time parent’s guide to navigating the Open Day circuit this Autumn

For many parents, prep school open days are uncharted territory. One minute you are watching them take their first steps at home and the next, you’re watching them take their first steps through the doors of a classroom. It’s an exciting milestone but there is no manual, so it’s natural to wonder what you’re supposed to be looking for beyond the polish of a well-kept trophy cabinet.

A lot of open day advice is written for parents who are already familiar with education and know the rules of the game. It assumes a certain fluency: what “pastoral care” really means in practice, how many phonics phonemes there are or why class sizes matter beyond the number itself. If you’re coming to this fresh, all of that can feel like a bit of a foreign language so here at Bilton Grange, we’ve called upon the experts to help those parents starting from zero.

We think that with a bit of orientation, the Open Day circuit will be far more useful and enjoyable to families this Autumn. What follows isn’t a rigid checklist, but a way of thinking about the visit: what to notice, what’s worth asking, how to recognise the changes taking place in schools at the moment and how to walk away with genuine clarity on whether a school feels right for you and your child.

What does a normal day look like here for a child?

Open Days naturally show schools at their most polished, but not every moment is exceptional nor every pupil the star. Realistically, children experience school through hundreds of ordinary moments: being welcomed in the morning, choosing what to explore, talking to an adult, managing a disagreement with a friend, eating lunch or needing reassurance. Finding out how teachers engage and motivate all types of children that walk through the door so that they feel every bit as part of the school as those on the pages of the prospectus, can tell you far more about the culture of a school than the exceptional moments.

How do children learn skills and behaviours that extend beyond the curriculum?

Particularly in Pre-Prep, education is about much more than what children can produce academically. Rather than simply asking what curriculum or programmes a school follows, instead ask how much opportunity children have to wonder, investigate, make choices, solve problems and follow ideas. A strong Early Years environment should combine purposeful adult teaching with rich opportunities for play, exploration and inquiry – not see the two as mutually exclusive.

What happens when a child needs something different?

Every class contains children who develop at different rates, have different strengths, communicate differently or need more support at particular points. Rather than only asking what happens for the highest achievers, it is worth asking how the school notices when a child is finding something difficult – or when they need greater challenge – and what happens next. Inclusion should be visible in everyday classroom practice rather than something separate from it.

How do you ensure that every child is known as an individual?

In the Early Years particularly, strong relationships underpin learning. Children learn best when they feel safe, understood and valued, and when adults know their interests, personalities, communication styles and the things they might find difficult. Finding out how teachers get to know children as individuals and how that knowledge influences what happens in the classroom will

How do staff and parents work together?

It is a rare type of school these days that will allow parents to drop their child off at the start of term and pick them up at the end, with barely a phone call in between! Truly effective care and education only happens when schools and parents work in harmony with regular and robust communications, which work both ways, between home and school, ensuring a truly joined up approach to supporting a child’s needs. A school should be offering much more than the traditional Parents Evenings, so find out about the ways in which they engage families in the school experience, working alongside parents in a partnership with the child’s needs at the centre, as this can make all the difference.

Ultimately, after visiting a school it’s likely that you will have a very good gut feeling about whether it is right for your family but by having these types of questions in your back pocket, you can be sure that your child won’t just attend a brilliant school, but really enjoy themselves and thrive there.