Are you a Gamechanging Parent?

Posted: 8th June 2018

Are you helping your child to enjoy the snakes and ladders of outrageous fortune?

We all have the potential to be gamechangers.  In this article by Headteacher, Mrs Raffray, first featured recently in ‘Primary Times’, a way in which all parents can be gamechangers in the lives and education of their children is examined.  And all through play…

‘Did you spend the holiday playing board or card games with your children? Do you roar or laugh when you slide down that last snake? Educational research has now proved that old pastimes bring lifelong benefits, cognitive, social and mathematical.

Every time we play Snakes and Ladders, we engage in what educators call guided play. As parents we just can’t help ourselves from giving “feedback” whether on counting or how to respond to the vagaries of fortune.

Through play, we help our children understand the ordered associations of numbers and this has been shown in many studies to develop symbolic number concepts, a step crucial in mathematical development in the Early Years.

Moreover, when we play we shape attitudes to reversals and competition – another foundation for successful learning.

Every year, we meet parents who are anxious about Maths and how it is taught – it is different now and that is a good thing. There is too much anxiety in our society. More than ever we should be gamechanging parents in every sense of the word – let your children see you learn a new game.’

Categories: Junior Nursery Prep Senior Sixth Form Whole School
Strengthening Our Community: The Return of Boys to our Preps and Pre-Preps

We are excited to share that, from September 2026, boys will begin moving up from our Nursery into Reception, marking the gradual reintroduction of boys into our Prep and Pre-Prep School.

This step reflects growing interest from families who value our strong holistic ethos and unique grounds and setting and would like their sons and daughters to share their educational journey together.

At St Augustine’s, our strong sense of community, academic excellence, and deep care for each individual child remain at the heart of everything we do. This is a natural evolution of our school rather than a change to who we are, building on our strengths and allowing us to offer the same joyful, inspiring education to even more children.