Prince William and Kate have revealed the touching reason they picked Willcocks Nursery School for their daughter Princess Charlotte. A spokeswoman for Kensington Palace opened up about the couple's choice, saying: "They felt it was ideal as a first step for Princess Charlotte's early education and they were impressed by the team that work there."
Charlotte, who turned two in May, will start nursery next month. Her parents announced the big news in a statement on Monday, with a school spokesman responding: "We are delighted that the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have chosen the Willcocks Nursery School for Princess Charlotte. We look forward to welcoming Charlotte to our nursery in January."
The nursery is located inside Holy Trinity Church
Location will have most likely swayed William and Kate's decision, too. The school is a ten-minute drive from the Cambridges' family home in Kensington Palace, or a 15-minute walk. It's located in the hall of Holy Trinity Church, next door to the Royal Albert Hall and Kensington Gardens, and down the road from the Natural History Museum, Science Museum and Victoria and Albert museum, so Charlotte can expect various educational outings and visits to the park.
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The Princess will be a full-time pupil at the nursery, which charges fees of just over £3,000 a term for children attending its Monday to Friday morning school. The new school term starts on Thursday 4 January, but it is not known if Charlotte will begin on the same day as her classmates.
The entrance of the nursery where Princess Charlotte will start in January
On its website, Willcocks says pupils experience "a fun and structured morning with lots of free play where children embark on the first stages of learning to read, write and to understand simple numbers with the minimum of pressure". Group activities include poetry, singing, acting and jigsaw-making, while 'circle time', which involves prayer and hymns, also takes place every day.
Willcocks was last inspected by Ofsted in 2012 when the nursery was rated as "outstanding", with the report stating: "The educational programme is outstanding. Children actively participate in activities that relate to all areas of learning. Topic themes include outings in the local community and visitors to the nursery. This enables children to gain first-hand experiences that effectively consolidate their learning."