Sussex


<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1500" height="1000" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/sussex/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/2026/04/LPH_astros2.png" alt="Children at Lancing Prep Hove, Sussex" class="wp-image-84245" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/sussex/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/2026/04/LPH_astros2.png 1500w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/sussex/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/2026/04/LPH_astros2-800x533.png 800w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/sussex/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/2026/04/LPH_astros2-1000x667.png 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/sussex/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/2026/04/LPH_astros2-768x512.png 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1500px) 100vw, 1500px" /></figure>



<p>Open Days are one of the best ways to get a feel for a school but paradoxically, they don&#8217;t always seem very child-friendly. Trying to absorb a long presentation complete with slides, stats and a wriggly toddler on your lap? We&#8217;ve all been there. </p>



<p><a href="https://sussex.muddystilettos.co.uk/kids/school-reviews/lancing-prep-hove/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Lancing Prep Hove</a> (LPH) in East Sussex feels your pain. In fact, it&#8217;s piloting an altogether different kind of open event – one that places children at the forefront, and gives parents the breathing space to fully engage with the school&#8217;s message. It&#8217;s less show and tell, more do and taste (literally). </p>



<p>They&#8217;re calling the event <a href="https://www.ticketsource.com/lancing-college/lancing-prep-hove-step-into-prep/e-adekxg" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Step Into Prep!</a> and it takes place on <strong>25 Apr</strong>. That springy exclamation mark is instructive, capturing the spirit of a school that is welcoming, vibrant and rooted in joyful learning. To find out more, we tracked down Kirsty Keep, LPH&#8217;s Head Mistress. </p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1000" height="1000" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/sussex/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/2026/04/LPH_head.png" alt="Kirsty Keep, Head Mistress of Lancing Prep Hove, Sussex" class="wp-image-84236" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/sussex/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/2026/04/LPH_head.png 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/sussex/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/2026/04/LPH_head-800x800.png 800w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/sussex/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/2026/04/LPH_head-400x400.png 400w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/sussex/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/2026/04/LPH_head-768x768.png 768w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/sussex/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/2026/04/LPH_head-500x500.png 500w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Image credit: Kirsty Keep – Head Mistress, Lancing Prep Hove</figcaption></figure>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-tell-us-about-the-nbsp-motivation-nbsp-behind-nbsp-step-nbsp-into-nbsp-prep-nbsp-nbsp"><strong>Tell us about the&nbsp;motivation&nbsp;behind&nbsp;Step&nbsp;Into&nbsp;Prep?&nbsp;&nbsp;</strong></h3>



<p><em>Step Into Prep</em>&nbsp;has been designed&nbsp;to give children and their families a warm,&nbsp;hands‑on&nbsp;introduction to&nbsp;the early years of life in the prep school&nbsp;at Lancing Prep Hove. We wanted to move beyond simply&nbsp;<em>talking</em>&nbsp;about our school and instead invite families to experience it for themselves – exploring our specialist spaces, meeting our teachers, and getting a real sense of how children learn,&nbsp;create&nbsp;and thrive here.&nbsp;</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-how-nbsp-will-nbsp-it-nbsp-differ-from-a-conventional-school-open-morning-nbsp-nbsp"><strong>How&nbsp;will&nbsp;it&nbsp;differ from a conventional school open morning?&nbsp;</strong>&nbsp;</h3>



<p>This is a truly&nbsp;child‑centred&nbsp;morning. Rather than listening to presentations, children are actively involved in a range of&nbsp;hands‑on&nbsp;activities.&nbsp;It is also designed for our current families, to enable parents to be part of their children’s preparation for the next step in their journey through LPH from Pre-Prep (Reception to Year 2) into Prep (starting in Year 3).&nbsp;</p>



<p>Children can take part in everything from&nbsp;biscuit baking in our Food &amp; Nutrition Room, to&nbsp;pottery&nbsp;in our Art Room,&nbsp;robot programming in the Innovation Hub, and&nbsp;high‑energy&nbsp;physical activities on the Astro. They&#8217;ll be spoilt for choice!&nbsp;</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1500" height="1000" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/sussex/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/2026/04/LPH_stall.png" alt="Pupils at Lancing Prep Hove, Sussex" class="wp-image-84233" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/sussex/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/2026/04/LPH_stall.png 1500w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/sussex/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/2026/04/LPH_stall-800x533.png 800w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/sussex/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/2026/04/LPH_stall-1000x667.png 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/sussex/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/2026/04/LPH_stall-768x512.png 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1500px) 100vw, 1500px" /></figure>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-there-nbsp-are-lots-of-activities-nbsp-on-offer-nbsp-what-are-you-most-excited-about-nbsp"><strong>There&nbsp;are lots of activities&nbsp;on offer.&nbsp;What are you most excited about?&nbsp;</strong></h3>



<p>We are&nbsp;probably most&nbsp;excited about Bake-Off – our new Food and Nutrition Room already reminds us of television&#8217;s <em>Bake-Off</em> tent, so we&nbsp;can’t&nbsp;wait to bring that to life. </p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-any-chance-i-can-persuade-you-to-nbsp-reveal-nbsp-the-recipe-nbsp-that-nbsp-children-will-be-following"><strong>Any chance I can persuade you to&nbsp;reveal&nbsp;the recipe&nbsp;that&nbsp;children will be following?</strong> </h3>



<p>We’ll&nbsp;keep the recipe a surprise for now! What we can say is that&nbsp;it’s&nbsp;a fun, accessible&nbsp;biscuit‑baking&nbsp;activity designed to be creative rather than competitive. The focus is on following instructions, working&nbsp;together&nbsp;and enjoying the process, with something delicious to take away at the end.&nbsp;</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-have-current-pupils-had-any-input-in-designing-the-programme-nbsp-nbsp"><strong>Have current pupils had any input in designing the programme?&nbsp;&nbsp;</strong></h3>



<p>Yes, very much so. Our pupils have helped shape the activities by sharing what they love most about Prep and what made them feel excited when they first joined.&nbsp;They’ll&nbsp;also be involved on the day, helping to welcome&nbsp;new&nbsp;families and support activities — which is often incredibly reassuring for younger visitors.&nbsp;</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1000" height="667" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/sussex/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/2026/04/LPH_science-1000x667.png" alt="Pupils at Lancing Prep Hove, Sussex" class="wp-image-84232" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/sussex/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/2026/04/LPH_science-1000x667.png 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/sussex/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/2026/04/LPH_science-800x533.png 800w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/sussex/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/2026/04/LPH_science-768x512.png 768w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/sussex/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/2026/04/LPH_science.png 1500w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" /></figure>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-do-you-hope-children-and-parents-will-take-from-nbsp-step-nbsp-into-nbsp-prep-nbsp"><strong>What do you hope children – and parents – will take from&nbsp;Step&nbsp;Into&nbsp;Prep?&nbsp;</strong></h3>



<p>For children, we hope they leave feeling confident,&nbsp;inspired&nbsp;and excited about learning in a&nbsp;Prep&nbsp;setting. For parents, we hope the morning offers reassurance — seeing our teaching in action, exploring&nbsp;some of&nbsp;our learning spaces&nbsp;which have been recently updated, and getting a real feel for the spirit and warmth of our school community.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-we-nbsp-hear-a-lot-of-talk-about-the-impact-of-screens-and-covid-nbsp-lockdowns-on-nbsp-younger-cohorts-are-nbsp-you-finding-nbsp-they-arrive-nbsp-at-lph-nbsp-with-slightly-nbsp-different-needs-nbsp"><strong>We&nbsp;hear a lot of talk about the impact of screens and Covid&nbsp;lockdowns on&nbsp;younger cohorts. Are&nbsp;you finding&nbsp;they arrive&nbsp;at LPH&nbsp;with slightly&nbsp;different needs?&nbsp;</strong></h3>



<p>Children today arrive with a wide range of experiences, particularly following the disruption of recent years. The growing impact of screens&nbsp;is widely&nbsp;recognised&nbsp;and we find&nbsp;ourselves&nbsp;privileged to be able to work with parents who are as keen as us to ensure that childhood is a lived,&nbsp;real experience.&nbsp;That’s&nbsp;why events like&nbsp;Step&nbsp;Into&nbsp;Prep, and our approach more generally, place such strong emphasis on hands‑on learning, movement,&nbsp;creativity&nbsp;and face‑to‑face interaction, helping children build confidence,&nbsp;independence&nbsp;and social skills naturally and at their own pace.&nbsp;</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1000" height="667" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/sussex/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/2026/04/LPH_bench-1000x667.png" alt="Pupils at Lancing Prep Hove, Sussex" class="wp-image-84230" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/sussex/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/2026/04/LPH_bench-1000x667.png 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/sussex/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/2026/04/LPH_bench-800x533.png 800w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/sussex/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/2026/04/LPH_bench-768x512.png 768w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/sussex/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/2026/04/LPH_bench.png 1500w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" /></figure>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-do-you-have-any-advice-for-parents-whose-children-will-be-starting-school-in-september-nbsp"><strong>Do you have any advice for parents whose children will be starting school in September?&nbsp;</strong></h3>



<p>Keep things positive and relaxed. Talk about school with excitement, encourage independence in small everyday ways, and remember that settling into school is a journey.&nbsp;</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-can-we-expect-nbsp-step-nbsp-into-nbsp-prep-nbsp-to-become-nbsp-a-regular-feature-in-the-lph-calendar-nbsp-nbsp"><strong>Can we expect&nbsp;Step&nbsp;into&nbsp;Prep&nbsp;to become&nbsp;a regular feature in the LPH calendar?&nbsp;</strong>&nbsp;</h3>



<p>Yes, very much so. This is a&nbsp;brand‑new&nbsp;event for us, but one we see growing into a regular and&nbsp;much‑loved&nbsp;part of the admissions journey for families considering Lancing Prep Hove.&nbsp;</p>



<p><em>You can find out more about the event and book your free tickets <a href="https://www.ticketsource.com/lancing-college/lancing-prep-hove-step-into-prep/e-adekxg" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">here</a>. </em></p>



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<p><strong><em>In the mood for more? </em></strong></p>



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<li><a href="https://sussex.muddystilettos.co.uk/things-to-do/for-kids/climb-slide-repeat-10-top-playgrounds-in-sussex/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Climb, slide, repeat: Top local playgrounds, with view and brews for you</a></li>



<li><a href="https://sussex.muddystilettos.co.uk/home/property/urban-edge-or-rural-charm-local-property-face-off/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Urban edge or rural charm? Local property face off!</a></li>
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Class act: Lancing Prep Hove’s fresh approach to open days

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