CANFORD The Good Schools Guide
‘Stand-out academics come as standard alongside exceptional facilities in a glorious setting and the top-notch staff who make it all happen.’ The Good Schools Guide is often written by parents, but always for parents. The Guide does not take advertising from schools nor are there any fees or retainers paid. Thus, it is able to be impartial. The authors visit all the schools themselves and external sources including parents. Their reviews are intended to be portraits of the schools and not inventories of their assets and achievements. They are, however, subjective and there is no guarantee of factual accuracy.
Headmaster Since 2013, Ben Vessey MA MBA, previously senior deputy head at Christ’s Hospital. Educated at Magdalen College School and University of Southampton, he spent a few years as an oil and gas broker in the city, before realising that was not really what he wanted to do. Spells at Dauntseys and Millfield gave him indispensable experience of teaching, housemastering and heading a faculty, but he has never lost his love of history and still teaches Canford’s youngest students. We found the relaxed demeanour of a head absolutely on top of his game with nary a trace of complacency – and there would be a lot to be complacent about. Attired in chinos, suede brogues and striped shirt and tie, in no way did he try to sell us the obvious merits of Canford, which are – frankly – quite apparent. ‘Look at its values,’ he urged us. ‘We mention exam results after details about fixtures and productions. I love the buzz of the place, and have done ever since I used to visit from Millfield on match days.’ We kept him talking in his beautifully appointed study with its olive green walls, gilded ceiling and Charlie Mackesy drawing about kindness on the wall just about long enough before he resumed his daily target of 15,000 steps a day. ‘A dynamo! Does he ever rest?!’ one parent wondered. Others told us how he cycles round every touchline on match days to chat with them: ‘He even knows our dog’s name!’ one starry-eyed mother cooed.
‘A head absolutely on top of his game.’ Seems he gets a universal thumbs-up from everyone, students included. ‘A steady hand on the tiller, guiding the school into the top tier,’ as one parent summed him up. Married to Harriet, two of his children have now left school and the third still at Canford.
Entrance Newcomers arrive from over 50 prep or junior schools, Castle Court and Dumpton being the most common for day students. Process generally starts in year 6 or 7 at prep school, where hopefuls sit the ISEB pre-test for the 125 places at 13+; success there means an invitation to an assessment day (the Headmaster’s List), a mix of interviews and written assessments, which test ability as well as knowledge. ‘We like spiky profiles,’ the head affirmed. ‘It gives us a peg to hang a hat on. We are also interested in what the kids love doing.’ Those youngsters not at traditional prep schools sit the school’s own entrance tests in year 8. Up to 30 join the sixth form, for which GCSE grade 8s are expected in all four subjects to be taken to A level and 42 points minimum at GCSE, plus entrance tests and interviews.
Exit Very few leave after GCSE. Upper sixth leavers generally head off to higher education courses up and down the land at over 80 per cent Russell Group universities, but six overseas in 2023, mostly across the Atlantic; Canford is an official SAT test centre. Eight medics and seven to Oxbridge in 2023. A handful of prestigious degree apprenticeships, art foundation and specialist music courses in most years too; some gap years.
Latest results In 2023, 73 per cent 9-7 at GCSE; 66 per cent A*/A at A level (89 per cent A*-B). In 2019 (the last pre-pandemic results), 70 per cent 9-7 at GCSE; 48 per cent A*/A at A level (77 per cent per cent A*-B).
Teaching and learning ‘Just teaching to the test is such a narrowed, blinkered thing to do,’ declares the academic deputy head, and the academic offer is much richer and wider as a result. Year 9s (Shells) are taught subjects they are unlikely to have met before; ‘A year of freedom before GCSE,’ as he put it. Several academic departments get together to devise exciting cross-curricular projects on big and pertinent themes such as migration; shells will do five in that first year. In that spirit, the whole school comes off timetable for a couple of days each October for a festival of ideas with visiting speakers and so on.
But this broad approach in no way detracts from the hard academic graft and excellent teaching which go towards those outstanding exam results. ‘My son smashed it!’ beamed one extremely happy mother. Part of that success will be down to setting a tone of intellectual enquiry from the start with academic scholars enjoying lectures and debates of their own. Part too certainly down to small classes: 14 or so for GCSE subjects, nine for A level. Lessons we saw concentrated on the student morale alongside subject demands: ‘How are you feeling about the exam next week?’ the teacher asked a youngster in a chemistry class. ‘Bad!’ said he, to general hilarity. A philosophy class on logic developed into a lively discussion on gender identity. Ten GCSEs are the norm; one modern language and two sciences are compulsory and choices include business studies and computing. Classical Greek can be done off-timetable. At A level, 19 subjects are on offer, as well as Pre-Us in art and modern languages; no IB, though elements of it have been incorporated into the sixth form curriculum. An air of calm, purposeful endeavour wafted through the school at our visit in peak exam season: any panic should have been ironed out at the mock stage, we were told. Plenty of space, eg gorgeous new library with not far short of a kilometre of shelving and a multimedia area, plus an abundance of academic societies (Heretics for discussion, Ichthyans for ethics) can only help. Tutors get top marks but overseas parents would appreciate better arrangements for parents’ evenings, taking in time zones etc.
‘An air of calm, purposeful endeavour wafted through the school at our visit in peak exam season.’ Learning suppor t and SEN Called ‘success for learning’ – or SFL. A few students arrive with a diagnosis and some without, but everyone is screened on entry which may throw up some additional learning needs. The department, headed by a very experienced SENCo and qualified assessor for exam access arrangements, is a welcoming and centrally located space where all can self-refer. As well as particular learning difficulties, SFL will also lay on sessions to tackle anxiety and improving attention. All academic departments provide clinics where students can come
for extra help. At GCSE, a few will drop a subject to concentrate on learning skills to get them through the rest. Holistic approach means that any student on the SEN register has an automatic red flag for associated issues such as eating disorders. Parents rate the provision highly and the fact that – unusually – it is not chargeable, the philosophy being that if the school has accepted the child, it will make it possible for them to stay there. ‘SFL was great and helped me organise my material for essays, as well as getting me extra time,’ one student told us.
The ar ts and extracurricular So much of what the school is famed and loved for: the head talked animatedly of a ‘rich co-curriculum and its influence on a child’s wider life’, and the school provides it in abundance. Two productions were in rehearsal at the time of our visit in exam season: One Man, Two Guvnors and A Midsummer Night’s Dream outside. The Layard Theatre was built using the proceeds of a rare Assyrian frieze, which hung in the original house and latterly in the tuck shop where it was thinly covered by a dart board (!) but was sold to the Japanese for several millions some years ago. We were intrigued by the immersive (but temporary) shanty town experience put up there. Students rate the drama and looking at the programme for the coming year, complete with two musicals, a pantomime and showcased work, we have to agree. Music has its own splendid facilities, beautiful recital hall, charismatic head of department and portable organ which can be trundled from place to place. Though only about a third of students have instrumental or singing lessons, music-making is open to all and encouraged from the not-so-gifted amateur to diploma-level performers and there is an ensemble for everyone in the genre of their choosing. The house music competition is perennially popular as in all schools, but proms in the park, open not just to members of the school community but also to anyone locally who would like to come with hamper and picnic, tops the charts. Conductor Simon Preston is an Old Canfordian. Art is housed in a stunning modern building equipped with the means to pursue creative endeavours across all boundaries, blurred between craft and design (Derek Jarman was a former student), staying open at evenings and weekends. At the time of our visit, the clean white gallery space was being made ready to display GCSE and A level work, which we were sorry not to see. Visiting artists and gallery trips both in the UK and abroad provide inspiration and breadth.
CCF is extraordinarily popular and taken up by the vast majority of year 10. School boasts both a rifle range and an assault course, and the chance to gain powerboating, diving and clay pigeon qualifications the following year can only add to the allure. Several camouflageclad grinning youngsters greeted us, one of whom told us she was so proud of the CCF tie she was awarded that she regularly wears it. DofE not as popular but done with the same degree of excellence as CCF. Ten Tors an annual fixture, as is enterprise day (twice) where the whole school abandons the timetable to take part in CCF-type activities or community projects. Trips both in the UK and abroad complete the academic and extensive co-curricular offering.
Spor t Everything you might expect in a school of this calibre and scope – and then some. Alongside the usual rugby, hockey, cricket, netball and tennis, comes rowing on a tranquil stretch of the River Stour which conveniently runs through the grounds, a nine-hole golf course – and a Real Tennis court. Girls’ cricket is enjoying particular success at the time of writing and it was a joy to see several games in full glorious swing on the sunny afternoon of our visit. A 25-metre pool, squash courts and no fewer than three sports halls complete the picture. Some students disapprove of the sporting hierarchy where rugby, cricket and hockey are king; others less keen on traditional team games appreciate the golf course (as does the head – his clubs are propped up by his study door), the rowing and the Real Tennis – and the chance to try them out. ‘School punches above its weight,’ say parents who enjoy bonding over teams and fixtures. No discernible jock culture, but rare would be the student who didn’t get into physical activity of some kind and like it.
Boarder s No weekly, no flexi – those who board at Canford (65 per cent) board in full, but what one parent described as a three-week cadence (one weekend in, one where students are free to go home after Saturday commitments, one exeat) seems to suit everyone. We were told it’s ‘full and fun’ at weekends: ‘Now no-one wants to come home at weekends,’ as one mother ruefully reflected. The four boys’ houses and three girls’ are sited on opposite sides of the extensive campus: not the most beautiful buildings we have ever seen but bright, modern and functional – and some dorms which took the lived-in look to new levels of messy. Some feeling that the girls’
houses could do with some shared social space, but universal praise for the calibre of house staff who really know and look out for the young people in their care. ‘The matrons are off the charts and the boys adore them,’ according to one mother, who also appreciated how accessible and quick to respond housemasters are. Each house has a designated ‘sleep champion’ who helps make sure all students get enough to cope with their chock-a-block days. Plans for a new sixth form college facility incorporating upper sixth boarding proceed apace. We picked up mostly praise and a couple of gripes about the food, though the surroundings are undeniably splendid, all dark wood and stained glass. More guidance on nutrition would be welcome (eg for sports scholars) and a closer eye kept on nascent eating disorders; no attendance register is kept for meals, for example, though they are compulsory for boarders (‘Fingerprint signin?’ suggested one mother). Dietary requirements well catered for, as it were. On the day of our visit, lunch was pride-themed, with dishes from countries (Mexico in our case) boasting notable LGBTQ figures – and we were handed quite a difficult quiz with our quesadillas!
‘Each house has a designated ‘sleep champion’ who helps make sure all students get enough to cope with their chock-a-block days.’ Ethos and heritage For a school a mere 100 years old, Canford has done well to establish itself on the national stage in recent years. Tucked away down a leafy drive in a small village near Wimborne, the magnificent buildings can trace their origins back to the time of the Domesday Book, though the oldest part still standing is but medieval – and still in use for debating and formal dining. Charles Barry of Houses of Parliament fame remodelled the house in the mid 1800s, incorporating Nineveh Court, built to house the extensive Assyrian collection the owner’s cousin had amassed and from which much of the school’s healthy reserves and generous bursarial support stems. These days, that creamy stone pile sits amid immaculate extensive lawns, flanked by flower borders to die for – a riot of peonies, and lavender in midsummer.
New Sixth Form College facility artist impression
The school was founded by the Rev Percy Warrington, for boys only of course (but long since fully co-ed), on Christian principles. These days, despite having a charming tiny Norman church in the grounds, it wears these lightly; however, the virtues of kindness and loving thy neighbour as thyself play out every day. Rarely have we seen such a degree of community partnership – from taking music to local primary schools, bringing the community in and, in particular since 2010, sponsoring the Bourne Academy, a local comprehensive with which Canford shares its expertise, time and support, ‘benefitting both schools’, according to the head. One sixth former who had joined from Bourne could barely articulate her gratitude for the breadth of opportunities she now had, but was at pains to say how well she had fitted in. ‘These kids know they’re flipping lucky to go to such an amazing school,’ one mother told us and, despite their privileged surroundings, we did not pick up the kind of thinly disguised arrogance on show at a few other schools. Generous bursarial support may mean a wider social mix; if so, hurrah for that. Achievement of all kinds is celebrated: ‘Academics are taken for granted,’ according to one parent, ‘but the school’s about everything else, like who you will become.’ Another talked of excellence across the board, while admitting that a spirit of (healthy!) academic competition is alive and well. ‘It’s cool to be clever, but it’s cool to be a good chess player too, for example,’ we heard.
‘For a school a mere 100 years old, Canford has done well to establish itself on the national stage in recent years.’ Pastoral care, inclusivity and discipline Very very hot on the first two and generally only a light touch needed for the third. We felt EDI (equality, diversity and inclusion), as it is generally becoming known, is more mainstream than at some other schools: a school charter drawn up by student EDI leaders has been made a public document, with all nine protected characteristics listed. And in practice? Praise came in for the efforts the school makes over Black History Month and Chinese New Year, for example – the calligraphy class a particular winner. Relations between boys and girls
reported as being ones of mutual respect and the climate one of female empowerment, but we did catch a muttered comment about wokery and ‘how you can’t say anything’, so there may be more work to do through the school’s response and reconciliation framework. Equally, ‘The school handles sensitive accusations very well without wrecking children’s lives,’ a parent thought. But our question to students about how Canford would be for someone who did not fit the mould drew blank faces, which was reassuring. Pastoral care came up time and time again as a stand-out feature of the school from everyone we spoke to and there are myriad ways to raise any concerns, eg anonymously through a QR code or face to face. From the head to the catering staff – all give the students all the time and consideration they need and are swift to jump on problems almost before they can become them. In rare instances of parents bringing their concerns to staff, the response is quick and ‘There is no batting back – the school really listened,’ one mother confided. Expectations of behaviour are set out in the admirably clear code of conduct given to all students which includes an invisibility policy on mobile phones through the working day, taken in at night for anyone below sixth form. ‘There is zero tolerance to sex and drugs, though possibly not rock’n’roll,’ one mum told us; ‘Naughty kids and the very rebellious are asked to leave’, but we sense this is rare.
Pupils and parents Surprisingly mixed for a school of this type – down, we think, to the importance the school places on its values rather than its name, its generous bursarial programme and its distance from London – at least two hours down country roads. Parent body is ‘grounded and constructive’, according to the head and not all hedge fund people and gazillionaires, according to a mother: a range of professions, enterprise and family money fund a Canford education. ‘A bit less chi-chi, a bit less money than at some schools – ancient Volvos are de rigueur,’ in one parent’s crisp summary. As to the students? ‘My children think it’s fine to bring their friends home to our cottage’ and ‘All the friends my
‘Pastoral care came up time and time again as a stand-out feature of the school from everyone we spoke to and there are myriad ways to raise any concerns.’
kids bring home are lovely,’ we also heard, alongside approval for the fact the girls are not obsessed with their appearance nor plastered in make-up.
Money matter s The sale of the Assyrian frieze in 1994 kick-started a programme of generous financial assistance covering nearly 40 scholarships into year 9, and 15 or so into sixth form across usual areas of excellence, plus two for the children of serving members of the armed forces. Commitment to the academic, sporting, musical life of the school is expected, alongside ‘shining brightly as an inspiration to their peers and across the school’. Scholarships come as a percentage of the fees so are in effect index-linked. Bursarial assistance in cases of exceptional merit and need can amount to 110 per cent; 120 per cent in the case of one outstanding local day student per year.
The last word A busy busy busy place, totally fulfilling but stopping just the right side of frantic. Stand-out academics come as standard alongside exceptional facilities in a glorious setting and the top-notch staff who make it all happen. No room for apathy nor indeed designer labels, however, in this school which is giving bigger names a run for their money.
‘Achievement of all kinds is celebrated: “Academics are taken for granted,” according to one parent, “but the school’s about everything else, like who you will become.”’
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