Austin Friars & St Monica's Preparatory School

• Location: Carlisle, United Kingdom,
• Year of foundation: 1951,
• Number of students: more than 450,
• Language of instruction: English,
• Type: mixed.

Austin Friars & St Monica's Preparatory School is a full-time school for children aged 4 to 18 years. At the institution there is a kindergarten in which the youngest schoolchildren from 3 years old study.

The school was founded in 1951 by Augustinian monks, since then the educational institution has been part of the Augustinian school chain. Austin Friars initially accepted only boys, girls were allowed to study here only in 1986. St Monica's Junior School was founded by the parents of students as a charitable organization with joint education of children of both sexes. Now the two institutions work together under the name of the first.

The school operates on a day-time basis, so it does not provide accommodation on campus.

Children are provided with daily meals in the dining room. The menu is compiled by experienced chefs and changes every three weeks, contains hot soups and main courses, salads, healthy sweets. Depending on the season, dishes are prepared from vegetables, cereals, meat, fish and dairy products. Food is balanced and does not contain allergens, can be prepared on the basis of individual intolerance or religious customs.

In the preschool department, the time of snacking and eating is considered an important part of the day. Eating is a social time for both children and adults and helps students learn about healthy eating.

The school provides children with:

• Two afternoon snacks made of milk, water and fresh fruit,
• Cooked two-course lunch with a non-meat version.

Depending on the age of the students, a different programme of activities is offered. The youngest schoolchildren in extracurricular time are engaged in the study of the surrounding world, sports and creativity. Their curriculum contains a lot of entertainment that is organized during the lessons.

Juniors of the institution can devote their free time to sports, practicing in one of the following areas:

• Athletics
• Gymnastics
• Soccer
• Netball
• Rugby
• Cricket
• Hockey
• Swimming.

In high school, students are divided into members of the Houses. Inter-house competitions and contests contribute to the development of self-confidence, healthy competition, self-control, responsibility and communication. Each House has its own name, color, distinctive signs, several leaders-mentors. All children take part in the House's activities throughout the year, culminating in June Sports Day.

More than 40 different extracurricular activities are available to all students: from individual creativity and cooking to game design and large-scale sports competitions. Musical concerts, theatrical performances, art exhibitions are regularly held on campus.

Preserving traditions, the school celebrates several Christian holidays during the school year.

• Catholic School,
• First place among Cumbrian schools in student performance on A-Level,
• Excellent GCSE results: 91% of students received 5 or more points,
• Compulsory wearing of school uniforms and hats,
• Classes are held in small classrooms, which allows teachers to pay attention to each pupil.

The campus is equipped with several buildings for teaching students of different ages. Each of them has classrooms and scientific laboratories, recreation areas. A state-of-the-art Learning Resource Center gives students access to pCs and the Internet. For extracurricular development on campus there are studios of music, drawing, theatrical art, classes of technical sciences.

Since the institution is Catholic, spaces for prayers and religious events have been created on campus.

Much attention is paid to the healthy lifestyle of children, so the campus has a well-developed sports infrastructure: football and non-football fields, open playgrounds, gymnastics and athletics gyms and other premises for physical development.

The academic year contains several important dates:

• Autumn semester: September-December,
• Spring semester: January-March,
• Summer semester: April-June.

Vacations and weekends take place on religious, international and national holidays. Students rest on Saturdays and Sundays.

Classes at the school begin at 8:20, children are expected no more than five minutes before the start. The kindergarten is open from 8:20 to 18:00, lunch is provided at 12:00-12:45.

Additional costs:

• Lunch in the pre-school department – £2.15,
• School uniform,
• Books and consumables as needed.

Admission process at Austin Friars & St Monica's Preparatory School:

• Filling out the questionnaire online or on campus,
• Provision of required documents,
• Waiting for confirmation of the application and an invitation for trial days of training.

For admission to Austin Friars & St Monica's Preparatory School , it is necessary to provide personal documents of the child and one of the parents, as well as reports from the previous place of study. Enrollment is based on the results of interviews and tests that are conducted for middle and high school students.

The institution provides a discount of 5% on the tuition fees of the second or more children from the same family. The exception is the children of the preschool department.

The school also supports families who find themselves in difficult life circumstances. The scholarship payment is calculated individually on the basis of factors that do not allow tuition fees.

• Guardianship services during the studies
• Student supervision