L'Ecole des Petits - Fulham

L'Ecole des Petits is located on Hazlebury Road in Fulham, a residential neighbourhood in South West London. The central London location provides easy access to local transport links and allows for regular day trips to nearby museums and historical buildings.

The school provides pre-primary education for children aged 3 to 6 years old. Classes are structured into Early Years and Pre-Prep levels, corresponding to the French Petite Section (Nursery), Moyenne Section (Reception), and Grande Section (Year 1). Children are grouped by their calendar birth year.

L'Ecole des Petits is a co-educational, independent day school. It operates exclusively on a day-school basis and does not offer boarding facilities for any age groups.

The school supports pupils with specific neurodivergent conditions, such as dyslexia, dyspraxia, ADHD, or ASD, using individual plans from UK or French authorities. Parents can fund a Learning Support Assistant (LSA) for daily classroom integration if required, though external provisions like speech or occupational therapy are not funded by the school. The teaching staff actively integrates any external specialists involved in a child's development into the educational plan.

The school is strongly affiliated with France and delivers the French national curriculum in parallel with the English system.

The school has no religious affiliation and operates in accordance with the French Principle of Laïcity (secularism).

The school day begins with arrivals between 8:30 am and 9:00 am, depending on the child's specific year group. The standard academic day finishes at 3:10 pm for younger years and 3:15 pm for older students. An optional late stay program is also available, which extends the school day until 4:00 pm.

A daily private school bus service is available for students in the mornings and afternoons.

L'Ecole des Petits follows a bilingual curriculum that directly integrates the French National Curriculum with parallel instruction from the English educational system. The pre-prep school caters to children through three main stages: Petite Section (Nursery), Moyenne Section (Reception), and Grande Section (Year 1). In the earlier years, the programme is primarily oral-based to build foundational communication and language skills in both French and English. Specific English phonics lessons are formally introduced during Moyenne Section and Grande Section. By Year 1, students receive an equal number of instructional hours in both languages, supplemented by specialist-led classes in art, music, and dance. The curriculum is officially recognised by the French Ministry of National Education and registered with the English Department for Education, holding an official exemption from standard English Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) learning requirements.

The school supports SEL through its Personal, Social, Health & Citizenship Education (PSHCE) programme, which focuses heavily on the emotional health and welfare of the children. The curriculum is designed to help children understand and manage their emotions, become morally and socially responsible, and build respectful relationships.

L'Ecole des Petits is a non-selective, mainstream school, not a specialist SEN institution. It supports pupils diagnosed with neurodivergent conditions, including dyslexia, dyspraxia, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This support is guided by individual plans from UK or French authorities and is provided within the classroom, in small groups, or via one-to-one sessions.

The school does not publicly disclose information regarding specific EAL (English as an Additional Language) standalone programmes. As an international bilingual school, the core curriculum naturally immerses all children in both French and English on a daily basis. The teaching is explicitly structured to support a multilingual audience, introducing adapted English phonics lessons in Moyenne Section (Reception) and Grande Section (Year 1).

The mental wellbeing of pupils is addressed primarily through a supportive educational environment and the dedicated PSHCE framework. The school maintains a specific Mental Health Policy and implements a whole-school preventative approach to managing wellbeing concerns. Teachers are focused on building resilience, self-confidence, and a positive attitude toward learning in a safe space.

L'Ecole des Petits implements a whole-school preventative approach to safeguarding to ensure that the protection and wellbeing of pupils remain at the forefront of all actions. The school has stringent guidelines in place, including a Safer Recruitment Policy that vets all staff thoroughly and a Whistleblowing Policy for reporting concerns. Digital safety is managed through a specific Cyberbullying Policy, which forbids the use of mobile phones by children on the premises and restricts internet access. Additionally, the school legally notifies the Local Authority of all new admissions and requests safeguarding records from any previous schools a child has attended.

1. Request a Registration Package
Parents are advised to first contact the Registrar's office to request an official registration package. During this initial stage, it is highly recommended to book a school visit, which generally runs on Thursday mornings between October and May. Visiting the school prior to enrolling allows parents to familiarise themselves with the environment before making a commitment.

2. Submit Application and Registration Fee
Upon submitting the application, a one-off registration fee must be paid for each child to process the request. This fee is currently £95 for the Petite Section or £114 for the Moyenne and Grande Sections. Submitting the application and paying this fee ensures the child is officially added to the school's waiting list for their respective year group.

3. Receive and Accept an Offer
The school begins sending out formal place offers in October of the year prior to the child's intended start date. If parents choose to accept the offer, they must pay a non-refundable admission fee to proceed. This specific fee is £1,350 for the Petite Section and £1,620 for the Moyenne and Grande Sections.

4. Secure the Child's Place
To fully secure the child's place for a September intake, parents must then pay the first term's tuition fees in advance. This advanced payment is strictly required before the 1st of April in the year they plan to start. Completing this final payment step finalises the enrollment process in accordance with the school's official terms and conditions.

L'Ecole des Petits does not offer an internal academic scholarship programme, but financial aid options are available for eligible families. A school education grant can be applied for through the French Consulate, which is awarded depending on a family's personal financial circumstances. Additionally, the school provides built-in fee reductions for larger families, offering a 15% termly reduction for a third child and a 20% reduction for a fourth child attending full-time.

L'Ecole des Petits operates a structured waiting list system, with children automatically added as soon as their application and registration fee are received. The school applies specific priority rules to this list, giving first preference to siblings of current pupils (if registered within their first year of birth), followed by siblings or children of former pupils. Once priority applications are processed, all remaining new children are listed according to their registration dates, while also factoring in the length of time between the child's birth and when they were registered.