We were delighted to be reviewed by Muddy Stilettos recently, an awardwinning lifestyle platform who provide unique, independent and honest reviews of schools throughout the UK.
WHAT MUDDY STILETTOS SAY
A six-acre oasis in the middle of Coventry, this charming independent co-ed day school for 3-7 year olds combines strong pastoral care and outdoor learning with academic rigour.
Bablake Pre-Prep nestles in The Grange, a lovely six-acre rural mansion house a few minutes from Coventry city centre teaching 176 girls and boys (roughly a 50/50 split) from 3-7 years old.
Built in 1876 for Hugh Rotheram of Coventry’s watch making family, the site was bought from the council and converted for the 2019/20 school year. Now you’ll find three separate buildings with a clear sense of ‘moving up’ through the year groups –two purpose built for Nursery and Reception, with Years 1 and 2 being taught in the handsome Victorian red-brick centrepiece, with added facilities for assemblies, computing and art.
There are generally 16-18 in a class with a bit of wiggle on each side (14-20 at the absolute limits).
FACILITIES
Plenty for parents to be very happy about here. With its own secure site, Bablake Pre-Prep finds itself in the position of having acres of space and possibility for the children at the same time as being able to use the Senior school facilities of Bablake School, a few minutes’ drive away.
SPORT
There’s a multi-sports court on site, a large attractive grassed area in front of the mansion house for football, athletics and general fitness, weekly swimming (alternating between year groups) and huge swathes of woodland in which to bomb around.
ARTS
There are various specialist teaching rooms on the top floor of the mansion house in Art, Computing and Design & Technology. Music is taught by a specialist teacher for all year groups with a large room to the right of the reception used for music classes and drama sessions as well as assemblies and individual piano lessons. There’s also a well-stocked library for the children on the top floor of the main building.
GENERAL
Lucky lucky children, to have six acres of countryside at their disposal – it must feel like an enchanted world to those so young. There’s a large, attractive orchard where the children learn about nature, gather fruit and make pies; a large chicken coop where the current chickens were those eggs originally hatched by the children. You’ll also find an outdoor seating area in a clearing for lessons; planks and branches left (safely) so that children can make dens – I came across at least three, propped up in the woods.
Many of the lessons are taught outside (wellies and waterproofs are at the ready here) and it’s no wonder. In addition, there are two hours of Forest School each week on half term rotation for the kids, including supervised use of tools, cooking over a fire and woodland crafts.
ACADEMICS
Most parents with children this age will be focused strongly on pastoral care and breadth of learning but Bablake Pre-Prep also delivers on academic progress (read the highly flattering ISI report where it praises its success in nurturing of early thinking skills). There’s an early interventionalist approach that includes regular tracking, one to one support and full-time teaching assistants in every class and the School. Worth knowing too that there’s a chunky extra-curricular offering here, with 18 clubs a week offering everything from touch rugby and dance to cookery and maths club.
PASTORAL CARE
At this age much of the pastoral support comes from the form teacher. However, the School does have a dedicated pastoral support space, the Rainbow Room, which offers a largely play-based approach to helping the children. There’s also a Calm Corner just off the art room area for children who want a bit of time out.
THE HEAD
Tracy Horton has been Head Teacher for five years, and is clearly popular with the children, who come up to her chatting, smiling and even hugging. I like her ethos to teaching the kids which is about helping them learn about and navigate risk (the stinging nettles are not chopped back for a reason!), be creative and encourage the children to lead their own learning. So instead of offering the children, for example, a plastic cooker to play with that is obviously just for cooking, the School is busy buying natural materials that the pupils can interpret how they want. I could see it plainly on the field outside the mansion house, where the children were draping the football goal posts in materials to make some kind of den.
The Head has plans now for more animals at the School (pygmy goats are next on the wish list) and there’s a phenomenal dried out pond with bird hide that she wants to bring to life – for a school in central Coventry, that would be an extraordinary addition.
SEND
Support for those with the likes of dyslexia and dyspraxia as they rise through the School is strong though be aware that the layout of the School (plenty of steps on those wood-turned staircases in the mansion building) will preclude some physical disabilities.
WRAPAROUND CARE
Excellent. Working parents make up the vast majority of parents at the School (there’s a large NHS contingent with the hospitals nearby). Flexibility is the order of the day here, with pre-school care from 7.45am and aftercare until 6pm, including holiday club during school breaks. There are extended drop-offs in the morning (any time from 8.30-8.50am) with a choice of driving into the School, parking up and walking the children to class or pulling up for a teacher to meet the child at the car and take them instead. How’s that for service?
There’s also a staggered end to the day with Early Years finishing at 3.15pm. For those with children across several sites – it’s possible you’ll have one child at Senior School, one at the Junior and a third here – there’s a free shuttle bus with chaperone that takes even the three-year-olds across to the various schools where parents will be picking up.
QUIRKS
Well, it’s a six-acre rural oasis in the centre of Coventry – that’s pretty unusual! There’s a large degree of giving children autonomy here which is good to see; the latest example being a proposal to allow children in Years 1 and 2 to choose their own lunch menus instead of the parents.
ISI REPORTS
The latest report was hot off the presses in May 2023, and shows excellence across the board.
FEES
Very competitive, recognising the sacrifices many parents here make to send their children to the school.
WORD ON THE GROUND
Parents like the sense of calm, the inclusivity (the School is ethnically diverse) and the family feel – the head’s open-door policy for parents to come and talk is welcomed.
THE MUDDY VERDICT
GOOD FOR:
Anyone looking to educate their children in a relaxed, bucolic, rural setting. Working parents will love the flexibility and comparatively competitive fee structure.
Not for: If you prefer to walk or cycle, rather than drive your kids to school every day, swerve now.