Welcome to Clifton Lodge School
Everything we do is geared around helping your child to be their best.
We are Clifton Lodge, a small prep school based in Ealing, caring for children aged 3 to 11 years old. we use the word small on purpose – we see 'small' as our biggest advantage; our size allows us to provide an environment which makes our children feel safe, secure, comfortable and at home. We see that as being instrumental to laying great foundations for personal wellbeing, the ability to thrive, which in turn leads to achievement.
Children are taught by a team of hard working and dedicated staff who pull out all the stops to ensure each child’s needs are catered to.
But don’t just take our word for it. Take the word, instead, of the Independent Schools’ Inspectorate who visited us recently and decided to award the school their highest accolade of double “Excellent” in both the academic and personal development of the children. Take the words of our parents who have described Clifton Lodge as “kind and nurturing,” “welcoming and caring,” “the best possible learning environment” and a school which “builds confidence” and “pushes academically.”
Are you interested in finding out more?
Come along to meet the Clifton Lodge family to see for yourself how we can help your child be their best.
Updates
We are so delighted to have been shortlisted in the Independent School of the Year awards 2025, category 'Rising Star'. Our rising star is pianist Arisa Yamamoto who is a Year 6 pupil.
We were also commended in the Independent School of the Year awards 2024, category 'Small Independent School of the Year'. This recognised our commitment to nurture every child to 'Be their Best'.
We are very proud of our Reception children who achieved 86% Good Level of Development (GLD) in 2025. Nationally, the figure for GLD was 67% (2024).
11+ Results 2025
Mr Belsito joined Clifton Lodge School in September 2022. He started his teaching career at our school and was delighted to return many years later as Head. He has considerable experience and knowledge of the local area and schools through his senior roles in both state and independent schools in Ealing.
"Clifton Lodge has a unique feel that everybody notices when they walk through the front door."
- Michael Belsito, Headmaster
Excellent in all areas
ISI Focused Compliance and Educational Quality Inspection Report 2023
We are delighted to announce that following our ISI Inspection we have achieved Excellent in all areas.
FACILITIES & LOCATION
An environment that makes all feel welcome
Our school is located in an extended double-fronted Victorian home in Ealing, close to the centre and only 10 minutes walk from Ealing Broadway Station (Elizabeth Line, Central and District Lines). There is ample parking (payment by phone or by meter) directly across the road, opposite the school.
The school provides a wonderful range of facilities to enhance pupils’ learning. Our classrooms are bright and fully equipped, including a science lab and art studio.
A large playground with a canopied area gives pupils much needed space for play, events, assemblies and PE. In addition we are sited opposite Walpole Park which we regularly use for outdoor learning.
Follow Clifton Lodge on Social Media
We are absolutely delighted to have been shortlisted for the prestigious Independent Schools of the Year Awards in the category of `Rising Star of the Year Award`.
Our rising star is pianist Arisa Yamamoto who is a pupil in our Year 6 class. We have a very strong Music Department at Clifton Lodge which has provided the ideal circumstances for Arisa to thrive. Taught by our Piano Teacher, Harry Nowakowski-Fox, her creativity and talent has encouraged others to seek excellence in their field. Arisa perfectly represents our school values, with an inquiring mind and absolute love of Music, she has shown our pupils how to be resilient and build on their success. Amongst many awards, Arisa recently gained a place to study at the Royal College of Music Junior Department, she was also offered four senior school Music Scholarships for September. We believe Arisa is a truly exceptional pupil with a brilliant musical career ahead of her and as a school we have been delighted to support her in developing her talent.
#cognitaschools #cliftonlodgeschool #ealing #ealingschools #ealingbroadway #independentschoolsoftheyear2025 #independentschoolsoftheyearawards #independentschoolsoftheyear #charactereducation #InspiringYoungMinds
Well done to all our pupils in Nursery & Reception for a wonderful end of year concert on Monday. We hope all our parents enjoyed it and a big thank you to our staff who worked so hard with the children to make the concert such a success.
#cognitaschools #cliftonlodgeschool #ealingschools #InspiringYoungMinds #charactereducation #EarlyYears #daynurseries #ealing #ealingbroadway #ealingmums #ealingfeeling
Nursery and Reception had a very exciting trip to @hobbledownheath . There was a lot to see and do there. We saw many wonderful animals including giant rabbits, tortoises, meerkats, capibaras and lemurs all the way from Madagascar who are endangered. We learned how these animals move during an `Animals in Motion` workshop. In addition, the children had the opportunity to enjoy the incredible play areas; they had fun climbing, swinging and playing in sand and on wobble boards. We even had time to go into the soft play area.
Here are some quotes from the pupils:
Reception:
Hiroto said, “I love Hobbledown Heath because there was a lot of animals.”
Malcolm said, “I loved Hobbledown Heath because there were places to play.”
Ella said, “I love Hobbledown Heath because there are amazing things there.”
Alfie said, “I loved the playgrounds and animals there.”
Florence said, “I loved going on adventures in Hobbledown Heath.”
Nursery:
Arti aid, "The big slide was super fast!"
Anvi said, "I liked bouncing on the cushion."
Bodhi said, "The lemurs were so funny."
Thank you to all our pupils, parents and staff for an absolutely wonderful sports day last Friday. The sun shone and everyone had a great time.
#cognitaschools #charactereducation #InspiringYoungMinds #daynurseries #cliftonlodgeschool #ealingschools #ealing #ealingbroadway #SportsDay2025
Year 1 & 2 had a wonderful trip to @kewgardens on Monday. Both groups had workshops, Year 1 did `Plant Scientists` & Year 2, `Maths in the Great Outdoors`. Year 1 really enjoyed learning about plants and did some interesting research about the different parts of a plant and the types of seed dispersal. The children even had a chance to draw some flowers and look at the flowers up close through a microscope!
The children also enjoyed walking around the park and discovering new areas such as the Palm House (it was hot!) and the Orangery, together with the Hive and the playground.
Year 2 enjoyed participating in their workshop. They estimated and measured distances in Kew Gardens using a trundle wheel and a counter. They also found 2D and 3D shapes in nature and organised sticks in height order.
Here are some of their quotes:
Year 1
"I enjoyed walking inside the Hive and listening to the vibrations and sounds of the bees!" Esma
"I liked it when we had some playtime and we played hide and seek in the playground." Sienna
"I liked the workshop, my favourite part was drawing different flowers and naming the different parts." Adi
"I liked when we went inside the big greenhouse and saw plants from different continents." Borna
Year 2
"I saw a tree that was over 250 years old and it was being held up by bricks and stilts." Dominic
"I loved seeing the giant Lily Pads in the Waterlily House." Yuna
"I liked walking around the Hive installation and listening to the vibrations on the platform." Max
"I loved acting out different animals like a kangaroo, pigeon, rabbit and frog and participating in a race across a long distance. The kangaroos travelled the furthest distance." Parisa
"I like collecting sticks, measuring them in centimetres and organising them into different groups." Nanato
"I loved measuring the trees in non standard units. We had to see how many people could hug the tree with their fingertips touching. Some trees were 2 hugs wide and other trees were 5 hugs wide. We learnt the older the tree, the wider it was." Ms Carlon
#cliftonlodgeschool #cognitaschools #charactereducation #InspiringYoungMinds #year1 #schooltrip #year2 #KewGardens #kewgardens
Many congratulations to Tara in Year 4. She is a finalist in the @dswfwildlifeart David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation Children`s Art Competition - Global Canvas 2025 (8-11 year old category).
DSWF Global Canvas 2025 wrote:
We had some incredibly artistic and thought-provoking entries this year based on the theme ‘Coexistence – how can humans and wildlife live in harmony?’. We received entries from 95 different countries and competition was really tough, so huge congratulations!
#cliftonlodgeschool #CognitaWay #ealing #ealingbroadway #ealingschools #dswfwildlife #primaryschoolart
Our School Garden is Blooming! The School Council and Eco-Committee are proud to share their gardening success. The children were especially impressed by the size of the radishes they helped grow—truly a fantastic achievement! We`ve also enjoyed seeing our cornflowers flourish, adding a splash of colour to the garden. Looking ahead, we’re excited to plant more flowers and even some fruit.
#cliftonlodgeschool #CognitaWay #charactereducation #InspiringYoungMinds #ealing
On Tuesday, Nursery to Year 2 participated in a Perform Drama workshop where they learnt some new skills and games.
One of the games that Year 1 & 2 took part in was called `Strike a pose`. The instructor announced a letter from the alphabet and the students had to freeze frame and strike a pose of something beginning with that letter. For example, for the letter B, the students posed as a bee hive, ball, broom and for the letter S, the students posed as a steak, stick, stomp.
They also played a game called Vampires vs Werewolves based on Romeo and Juliet and had to act out an angry werewolf whilst dancing to some newly taught choreographed dance steps and movements.
Caspian - I liked it when we were playing the strike a letter pose because we had to act it out.
Kloe - I liked it when the instructor pointed at us and we had to say `My hands are high and my feet are low and this is how I do the Bongalo... where we had to create a new action.
A big thank you to @perform_uk for such wonderful workshops.
#cliftonlodgeschool #CognitaWay #ealingbroadway #ealing #charactereducation #InspiringYoungMinds #performuk
Learn about the latest news
Our pupils are eager to share their achievements and we celebrate their successes together with trips, concerts, sporting fixtures, events and the many other exciting activities happening year round to support our pupils’ learning.
Begin an unforgettable adventure
Learn more.