Independent Schools of the Year 2018 Supplement

WINNERS’ EDITION

INDEPENDENT SCHOOLS OF THE YEAR 2018

Celebrating student experience

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WELCOME L

ate in the summer term last year, we launched our inaugural awards campaign which was created to highlight and celebrate the quality of the student experience in independent schools. We were thrilled with the level of response: transformative, inspirational and innovative projects and programmes are underway in schools from Scotland to Cornwall and the panel of judges really enjoyed reading and considering all the entries. It’s clear that from rural Pre-Preps to householdname Senior schools, the independent sector is truly thriving!

Congratulations to all the schools that won an award and a huge thank you to all of those that entered. This special awards supplement is dedicated to the winning schools in each category, and to those that were highly commended.

Schools are communities made up of hundreds of teachers, support staff, parents and pupils all with a story to tell. Our awards were their chance to do just that, whether it’s plans for ambitious bursary provision to increase social mobility: read Latymer School’s story, on page 34 or a truly inspiring video production programme turning out future media talent, like Wellington College’s WTV, which you can read all about on page 40.

I’m also delighted to announce that nominations are now open for Independent Schools of the Year 2019. Nominations close on 24th May and the winners will be announced in October. All you have to do is visit our awards website at independentschoolsoftheyear.co.uk and enter using our online entry form to tell us your school’s unique and inspiring story.

Good luck to all entrants!

SCHOOLS ARE COMMUNITIES MADE UP OF hundreds of teachers, support staff, parents and pupils, ALL WITH A STORY TO TELL. OUR AWARDS WERE THEIR CHANCE TO DO JUST THAT

CLAUDIA DUDMAN, EDITOR

The Chelsea Magazine Company Ltd, Jubilee House, 2 Jubilee Place, London SW3 3TQ. Tel (020) 7349 3700. Email editor@independentschoolparent.com. Web independentschoolparent.com.

EDITORIAL: Editorial Director Maxine Briggs; Editor Claudia Dudman; Online Editor Jennifer Read-Dominguez; Sub Editors Laura Sutherland, Natalie Keeler; Editorial Assistant Annie Quinton Creative Director Chloë Collyer; Senior Designer Natalie Dourado PUBLISHING: Managing Director Paul Dobson; Deputy Managing Director Steve Ross; Chief Financial Officer Vicki Gavin; Publishing Director Paul Rayner; Director of Media James Dobson; Production www.allpointsmedia.co.uk; Printed in England by William Gibbons; Head of Circulation Daniel Webb 020 7349 3710 ADVERTISING: Head of Market Julie Price; Advertising Manager Harriet Cottrell; Senior Sales Executives Andrew Mackenzie, Henry Barton Distributed by Seymour Distribution Ltd. 2 East Poultry Avenue, London, EC1A 9PT. Tel: 020 7429 4000. Fax: 020 7429 4001. Production All Points Media.

Printed in England by William Gibbons. ©The Chelsea Magazine Company Ltd 2019. All rights reserved.

INDEPENDENT SCHOOLS OF THE YEAR 2018

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MEET THE JUDGES Our awards were chaired by Dr Helen Wright and supported by a panel of judges which includes leading head teachers and representatives of professional member associations…

DR HELEN WRIGHT, Chair Helen is a former President of GSA and Vice-Chair of ISC, with three major headships under her belt. Since 2014 she has worked in international education, and advises, recruits and coaches senior leaders in schools across the world.

DAVID MONCRIEFF, Vice-Chair David is the Chair of Independent School Parent’s Editorial Advisory Board. An experienced publisher specialising in education and heritage, he previously held the position of Director of Marketing and Development at Mayfield School and was Director of Marketing Services at the British Tourist Authority for more than 12 years.

CHARLOTTE AVERY Charlotte is Headmistress of St Mary’s School Cambridge, GSA Vice-President, and a Governor of Haileybury College, Mill Hill School and a local 11-16 MAT. She’s an ISI team inspector and former lay member of the MoD’s Research Ethics Committee.

ANDREW FLECK Andrew is Principal of Sedbergh School, Cumbria, having been Headmaster since 2002. He relinquished that position in order to take up this new role, which encompasses strategic oversight and operational direction. He was previously Headmaster of Ashville College in Harrogate.

COLIN BELL

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Colin Bell is CEO of COBIS, which works with and supports students, teachers, leaders, support staff and governors from high quality British international schools in more than 80 countries worldwide. Colin has taught in the UK, Far East and Europe. He’s also a member of the Education Advisory Group for the UK Department for International Trade.

INDEPENDENT SCHOOLS OF THE YEAR 2018

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ROBIN FLETCHER Robin is Chief Executive of the Boarding Schools’ Association. Robin worked for 30 years as an award-winning journalist, newspaper editor and communications director.

He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and Honorary Fellow of Cardiff Metropolitan University.

TORY GILLINGHAM Tory is the Managing Director for AMCIS, Admissions, Marketing & Communications in Independent Schools, which now has more than 500 schools in membership. She has over 25 years’ experience in the independent schools sector, having worked as a marketing director in a variety of independent schools before taking up her current role.

JULIE ROBINSON Julie was Head of Ardingly College Junior School and Vinehall Prep School, going on to be Education and Training Director for the Independent Association of Preparatory Schools, before taking on the role of General Secretary of the Independent Schools Council, representing schools across the independent education sector.

PETER TAIT Peter is a former Prep School Head who also taught extensively in Senior Schools. He chaired the Education Committee for IAPS and was a member of ISEB. Currently a school governor and trustee, he writes widely on education issues.

SUE WOODROOFE Sue has been a Headteacher for 12 years, first at The British School of Brussels and now at The Grammar School at Leeds. She has a particular interest in the three-to-18 learning journey and the benefits of multicultural and international learning environments, alongside widening independent-state school partnerships.

PETER YOUNG Peter is an independent school governor and Chairman of the Business Marketing Awards. As a non-executive with start-up and established businesses, he also advises the board of a corporate security risk consultancy, and is a former management board member with multinational marketing communication companies.

INDEPENDENT SCHOOLS OF THE YEAR 2018

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Shiplake College

Wimbledon High

Canford

Sedbergh

Latymer Upper School

Wellington College

THE STORIES WERE CAPTIVATING, AND a real

testament to the efforts of the teachers and school leaders WHO WORK SO HARD TO PROVIDE

FOR THE CHILDREN IN THEIR CARE

Kensington Prep

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INDEPENDENT SCHOOLS OF THE YEAR 2018

Fettes College

Rugby

LEARNING EXPERIENCE Having led our Independent Schools of the Year 2018 judging panel, DR HELEN WRIGHT summarises what makes a truly outstanding school experience

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chool is about far, far more than exams – great schools prepare our children to become happy, successful adults who can contribute to the world in which they live.

A child’s future is built on the foundations of their experience at school, and for children to become confident and self-assured, the quality of this school experience is essential. Children need – and deserve – to have access to amazing opportunities that will allow them to develop their own particular interests, carve out their niche in life, and set them on a pathway to making a positive impact in the world.

The Independent Schools of the Year Awards 2018 focused resolutely on student experience, and it was an enormous pleasure and privilege to chair the judging panel for last year’s awards. The panel brought together a number of hugely experienced leaders in the world of independent education, representing a number of the prominent organisations in the sector, as well as parents and governors. Between them, the judges possess a wealth of wisdom and insight into how great schools operate. They had a particularly hard task, as there were more than 200 entries from every corner of the UK; the winners were real stars in their field.

The focus on student experience in the awards shines through in the stories you’ll read in this special winners’ edition of our Independent Schools of the Year 2018. As parents, you know that above all, you want your child to be happy at school, and the quality of the

experience they have during their time at the school is crucial to this. For children to become confident and self-assured, they need to feel fulfilled and valued, and they need access to opportunities that match their interests and strengths, as well as to be supported in areas which aren’t perhaps their natural forte. This is what parents are – quite rightly – looking for.

Great schools – and you’ll read about many of them across the next few pages – really believe in children and in their ability to grow and develop, becoming the best of themselves, and as judges it was uplifting to see and feel the energy and excitement in the sector. These schools are vibrant, exciting places, which are constantly developing, as they respond to the individual needs of their students. There is indeed a school for every child, and our children really are extremely fortunate to have such wonderful choice.

The process of sifting and judging the awards was extremely thorough… and extremely difficult! So many of the entries were outstanding that it was in some cases very hard to choose a winner. The stories were captivating, and a real testament to the efforts of the teachers and school leaders who work so hard to provide for the children in their care.

So – enjoy reading these stories of the Independent Schools of the Year, and join us in celebrating the experiences of your children in schools across the country.

Independentschoolsoftheyear.co.uk

INDEPENDENT SCHOOLS OF THE YEAR 2018

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Education All Round

Bolton School

Call 01204 840201 to discuss enrolling your child in our co-ed Nursery or Infant School or in one of our single-sex Junior or Senior Schools.

www.boltonschool.org/virtualvisit

AND THE WINNERS ARE…

INDEPENDENT SCHOOLS OF THE YEAR 2018

Celebrating student experience INDEPENDENT SCHOOLS OF THE YEAR 2018

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INDEPENDENT SCHOOL OF THE YEAR BOLTON SCHOOL

With its absolute commitment to helping the wider community, spectacular programmes and engaged student body, the judging panel were won over by this outstanding school

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hen considering why we won the Independent School of the Year accolade – in Independent School Parent magazine – it would be easy to focus on our pupils’ academic and extracurricular achievements but, ultimately, it’s probably our extensive involvement in and with the local community that persuaded judges’ minds.

We believe that imbuing pupils with a sense of civic responsibility helps build character and equips girls and boys with skills and attributes that will enable them to make a difference for

good when they go out into the world.

Recently we became the only school in the country to be awarded the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service – the MBE for volunteer groups. It reflects the wide range of activities that our pupils are involved with – from our infants singing for local older residents to our Sixth Formers committing thousands of hours to voluntary service. All our pupils undertake the Bronze DofE Award and many progress to Silver and Gold levels. Last year, almost one third of Year 11 in both divisions took part in National Citizen Service.

As an institution, we interact with the local area in myriad ways. We were a Bolton School is committed to raising standards for school-age children across the wider community

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INDEPENDENT SCHOOLS OF THE YEAR 2018

founding member of the Bolton Sports Alliance, which aims to deliver sporting opportunities to children across the borough. The showpiece event in this calendar is the annual Football Festival that we host, which involves hundreds of girls and boys from dozens of schools.

Another popular event that we host is the Bolton Children’s Fiction Award; our librarians took over the running of this in 2014 when local funding dried up and they’ve been choosing the shortlist and arranging events ever since. Last year 700 pupils attended the award ceremony, which reveals what local children have voted for as their favourite book. That’s not to mention the number of pupils who read the books and comment upon them on the Fiction Award blog or vote for their favourite book from the shortlist.

Our long-running SHINE: Serious Fun on Saturday Mornings programme offers local children a chance to benefit from our teaching and facilities. Our teachers willingly offer their services over the course of two terms to deliver engaging sessions to children identified by neighbouring state primaries as academically gifted.

Saiqa Chaudhari, the Bolton News

The school is the first and only to be awarded with the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service

The school aims to build character and promote a sense of responsibility in its pupils

Education Correspondent, said: “Since I started reporting on Bolton School, it quickly became evident that the school is committed not just to providing the highest standard of education for its pupils, but to raise standards in the town for all children.”

Regular enrichment lectures, held in the Girls’ Division, are open to the general public and have included nationally recognised speakers including Dr Michael Scott, Tomasz Schafernaker, Dame Evelyn Glennie, Lemn Sissay, Dr Suzannah Lipscomb and Simon Armitage. Last year we hosted Historical Association lectures, the RSC Christmas Lecture, a Science Festival, a Royal Statistical Society Lecture, a Careers Fair, a Languages Day, a STEM Racing Challenge Day, an Apple Conference (the Boys’ Division is an Apple Distinguished School), travelling theatre productions and an English Civil War battle re-enactment.

Nationally, we became the Northern SCITT hub school for MFL, maths and physics, as part of the DfE’s teacher recruitment drive.

Both divisions received silver certificates from the Incorporated Society of Musicians and pupils

WE’RE DELIGHTED THAT OUR WORK IN – AND WITH – the community has been recognised, ALONG WITH OUR PROVISION OF BURSARIES TO ONE IN FIVE SENIOR SCHOOL PUPILS. performed in events at the Montreux Jazz Festival, the Royal Festival Hall (as finalists in the National Choral Competition) and with local primary school children at Bolton Victoria Hall, the Royal Northern College of Music and at Bolton’s Holocaust Memorial Service. In drama, the Girls’ Division led a joint collaboration with The Octagon to put on a production of Great Expectations with boys and girls from Year 8-10, whilst the Boys’ Division worked with in-house theatre group RoughHouse on its journey to achieving Platinum Artsmark status. Boys wrote their own play My Room, My Bolton and performed it during ‘museum takeovers’ at Port Sunlight and Manchester Art Gallery and at the Bolton Station Community Gala.

What else makes Bolton School special and that little bit different? We’re

certainly very proud of our bursary provision, with one in five children receiving help with their fees and we’re working hard to make this one in four and, ultimately, one in three.

Finally, we’re privileged to belong to a community which continues far beyond Sixth Form through our very successful alumni organisation. We attend regular lunches and dinners with Old Boys and Old Girls across the country, who share in all our joys and support us through their generous giving, whether of time, expertise or money towards our Bursary campaign. They remind us of the rich legacy we’ve inherited and which we are now honoured to serve in our turn.

This article was co-written by Sue Hincks, the Headmistress of Bolton School Girls’ Division and Philip Britton, the Headmaster of Bolton School Boys’ Division. boltonschool.org

INDEPENDENT SCHOOLS OF THE YEAR 2018

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PRE-PREP SCHOOL OF THE YEAR LEWESTON PRE-PREP

The Dorset school ensures pupils focus on the development of core attitudes to learning with its Leweston Learner approach

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e’re adventurous.

Sitting in 46 acres of countryside, deep in our woodland area, nestled under our helicopter parachute awning, and roasting marshmallows on the fire is where you’ll often find our Pre-Prep pupils. Come rain or shine, every pupil explores our Forest School.

If not there, you might just find a group of children striding across the grounds on one of their daily walks – even in Year Two, they find the time for this outdoor freedom.

Embracing childhood, the children run, jump, climb trees and pick

blackberries at playtime too. If the children aren’t to be found there, they’re likely to be out on a trip, as from the age of two they head off on regular trips, either to our local farm or to visit a host of local attractions.

We’re confident. With a smile on their faces, and a glint in their eyes, pupils pick themselves back up when they fall down – and if not, one of the staff does.

With more adults than average, they’re there to support the children in every step, providing them with a security and confidence that only knowledge and experience can provide.

They celebrate their successes, perform, share and work together, safe

WE’RE DELIGHTED TO RECEIVE THIS AWARD, recognising how our Leweston Learner approach PROVIDES OUR PUPILS WITH THE STRONGEST POSSIBLE FOUNDATIONS. 14

INDEPENDENT SCHOOLS OF THE YEAR 2018

in the knowledge that they belong here and are cherished.

We’re creative. The Pre-Prep environment hums with the sound of music, from classical music as one enters the buildings to the music created by the pupils in the weekly lessons they have from their time in Nursery. They also sing, dance and cartwheel in their performing arts lessons. The walls are covered in their artistic endeavours from pottery jugs, to tissue-paper craft and giant outdoor art projects.

We’re inquisitive. In the traditional Mongolian yurt, you’ll find children intrigued by a range of objects and décor from around the world – real artefacts wherever possible, and as little plastic as is manageable.

The children follow their own challenges each week; activities to explore, planned carefully to stretch, excite and develop. The bunnies, guinea pigs and tortoise often join the children in their activities, as do their younger and older counterparts.

We’re resilient. Risk is embraced and the children are taught to assess how to keep themselves safe, so we’re bold in some of our activities. The children build with long planks and blocks, climb trees and jump!

Everything is framed by the Leweston Learner approach. These paragraphs represent the five characteristics the school aims to foster in its pupils.

Every child, from Nursery and beyond, learns to collaborate, persevere, reflect and challenge themselves in order to become a Leweston Learner. Pupils view every setback as another step on their journey. The children bubble with a zest for learning, which can be felt in every corner of this setting. leweston.co.uk

FIND MY CHILD A SCHOOL Boys 3-13 years Founded 1883 Hawkhurst, Kent Boys && Girls 3-13 years | Founded 1883 | Hawkhurst, Kent Boys & Girls Girls 3-13 years || Founded 1883 | |Hawkhurst, Kent

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Marina Dawson-Damer

School Placement Consultant Offering a unique, bespoke service, introducing parents to the UK Independent School system and guiding them through the process of finding the right school for their child within Central London.

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We are inquisitive

A Co-educational Diamond Model School Day, flexi, weekly and full boarding

Open Doors Monday 6 May www.leweston.co.uk NURSERY

01963 211015 PREP

admissions@leweston.dorset.sch.uk SENIOR

SIXTH FORM

PREP SCHOOL OF THE YEAR KENSINGTON PREP

The school’s ground-breaking facilities and teaching methods encourage critical thinking, curiosity and collaboration

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ensington Prep encourages independent and questioning thinking. Winning this award is a great endorsement of our ground-breaking facilities, which have transformed classrooms into powerful new learning spaces. The new facilities are designed to promote critical thinking, curiosity and collaborative thinking – essential ingredients to help equip young pupils for success in our fast-changing world.

The school’s innovative £2.7m Creating Spaces for Growing Minds programme particularly impressed the judges making the award. The

new facilities now provide spacious classroom breakout spaces, a high-tech Explore Floor with multi-screens and moveable furniture, a recording studio and an eco-greenhouse.

Teachers were concerned that pupils weren’t developing sufficient skills to succeed in this fast-paced world: they were risk averse, liked being spoon-fed and were people pleasers. But the real skills they need in an unpredictable future were different: flexibility, willingness to take risks, ability to work collaboratively and at a deeper level, resilience, reflectiveness and more.

We wanted to strike a careful balance between developing the grit and

WINNING THIS AWARD IS a great endorsement of our new facilities, WHICH HAVE TRANSFORMED CLASSROOMS INTO POWERFUL LEARNING SPACES. 16

INDEPENDENT SCHOOLS OF THE YEAR 2018

resilience of our girls while retaining their childhood. “We didn’t want to lose young children’s natural curiosity – in fact quite the reverse – we wanted to develop the investigative learning of the Early Years throughout the school” says Deputy Head Claire Raines.

The new Explore Floor is perfect for project/immersion work. At the flick of a switch the room can be converted into an immersive experience such as London along the Thames, or a scene from a St Lucia rainforest. The spaces have enabled a new Year Six entrepreneurial project where pupils are challenged to design and deliver a unique event or experience with the aim of raising funds for charity. The Explore Floor has multi screens, a floor projector and colourful lighting.

The role of the teacher has also evolved. The school trained teachers to be coaches and new technology was also introduced, encouraging pupils’ independence and IT confidence. The online learning platform Firefly is now used throughout the school by pupils, teachers and parents.

The school’s transformation was the result of much research, looking at the latest thinking from educational experts such as John Hattie, Erica McWilliam, Jane Simister, Carol Dweck and others.

The pupils’ learning centres on the four areas of critical thinking, persistence, inquisitiveness and collaboration.

There has been a significant impact on the girls’ learning experience allowing much more independence, collaborative learning and problem solving in small groups. The pupils’ say they feel they have more creative freedom too and parents are delighted with the school’s forward-thinking approach. kensingtonprep.gdst.net

Enjoy the challenge...

Girls thrive at The Queen’s School because we value them as individuals; inspiring, supporting and challenging them to excel.

Our nurturing ethos for girls aged 4–18 underpins an adventurous approach to learning where pupils feel confident to just ‘have a go’, embracing every opportunity and growing in confidence as a consequence.

BEST A* A-LEVEL RESULTS IN CHESHIRE 2018

register online for one of our open events

T 01244 312078 E admissions@thequeensschool.co.uk www.thequeensschool.co.uk

Lower: Liverpool Road, Chester Senior: City Walls Road, Chester

Full Boarding & Day | Girls & Boys aged 13-18 Shrewsbury School provides an outstanding educational experience on a beautiful 105 acre campus in the heart of Shropshire.

Our pupils achieve high academic standards and enjoy an extraordinary variety of extra-curricular activities, alongside personal pastoral support.

Scholarships and bursaries available for talented pupils at 13+ and 16+.

Shrewsbury School

OPEN DAYS | 11th May | 8th June

admissions@shrewsbury.org.uk | 01743 280552 | www.shrewsbury.org.uk |

ShrewsSchool

CO-EDUCATIONAL SCHOOL OF THE YEAR RUGBY

The school known for inventing the popular sport leads the field when it comes to a progressive curriculum – on and off the pitch

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ast year, the Head Master of Rugby School removed Rugby from the leaguetable system on the basis that it gives only a crude and partial measurement of a school’s entire offering.

Committed to Rugby’s mantra of The Whole Person being the Whole Point, Peter Green strongly believes that league tables ignore the importance of character development. Not just a claim, the mantra is a passion which runs through the school. Everyone subscribes to it – staff (both academic and pastoral) and students (both boys and girls).

You can be brilliant at maths but if you

support Real Madrid, enjoy a Harry Potter quiz and help backstage with a performance of Cabaret, you’ll probably love life more, attract a wider group of friends, have more to give – and life will repay you.

Rugby is still academic. The year it left the league tables, it enjoyed its best GCSE results, while A-Level and Pre-U results outranked its major competitors for the second year running. A total of 15 Sixth Form students were accepted

by Oxbridge. Value-added data from the University of Durham’s Centre for Evaluation and Monitoring were also excellent, rating Rugby sixth in the top 10 independent schools in the UK.

THIS AWARD’S PARTICULARLY IMPORTANT FOR US. Girls were only welcomed to Rugby 43 years ago, BUT NOW REPRESENT HALF OF OUR VIBRANT COMMUNITY. 18

INDEPENDENT SCHOOLS OF THE YEAR 2018

Co-educational (almost equal boys and girls) the balance of school life at Rugby, of Whole Person Whole Point, is clearly demonstrated by an impressive range of more than 200 co-curricular activities, from technical theatre labs and rock groups to dance lessons or Greek Club. More than 523 music lessons are taught each week; last year’s The Festival on the Close ran more than 200 creative workshops, as well as showcasing performances by worldclass artists; and the drama department celebrated its debut at the Edinburgh Fringe, with not one, but two plays.

In sport, all students get to play in fixtures with 17 rugby teams, 32 for hockey, 19 for netball and 15 for cricket.

But equally, top quality sports scholar and athlete programmes nurture and challenge exceptional sportsmen and women who are coached to elite level.

To ensure wider access to a Rugby education, its bursary provision is generous, with 41 per cent of students receiving some form of fee assistance.

Mr Green is known for his belief that Rugby is a school of obligation, not privilege, and for being committed to giving back to society. From providing boarding places to talented youngsters who could not afford one (35 are currently supported by the Arnold Foundation, which pays 110 per cent of their fees) to sharing its provision of arts, music and drama with local state schools students, Rugby is open and welcoming. We’re a versatile and diverse school. There’s something for everyone here, and while I encourage the students to work hard at academic subjects, I derive just as much pleasure from listening to the whole School singing evensong in the Chapel. rugbyschool.co.uk

Incredible co-curricular programme

JUST 48 MINUTES BY TRAIN FROM EUSTON

Scholarships and bursaries available www.rugbyschool.co.uk

13+ BOARDING OPEN DAYS Saturdays: 23 March, 11 May, 18 May, 21 September, 12 October, 23 November

16+ OPEN DAYS

Saturdays: 8 June, 14 September Call 01788 556274 to book

A life-changing education At one of the country’s leading fully co-educational schools for children aged 11–18

11+

Open days for 2020 entry: Saturday 14 September 2019 Saturday 5 October 2019

OPEN MIND. OPEN DOOR. OPEN FUTURE.

16+

Open evening for 2020 entry: Wednesday 18 September 2019 Please check the website for full details and closing dates

Whole School Open Mornings Thursday 13th June 9.30am – 12 noon

Scholarships and Bursaries

Please contact Admissions to book your personal tour.

Saturday 21st September 9.30am – 12.30pm

available for up to 100% of fees

No need to book, please just come along.

Awarded to the Futures Department School of the Year for Student Careers Programme

Booking for open days and online registration starts from Spring 2019 at www.latymer-upper.org King Street Hammersmith London W6 9LR www.latymer-upper.org

Highly Commended

Independent Schools of the Year Awards 2018

‘Excellent’ in all areas ISI Inspection Report 2016 St Helen’s School, Eastbury Road, Northwood, HA6 3AS 01923 843230 admissions@sthelens.london www.sthelens.london An Independent Day School for Girls aged 3-18

GIRLS’ SCHOOL OF THE YEAR WIMBLEDON HIGH

With its collaborative community, the school continues to turn out educated young women who have found their voice

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member school of the Girls’ Day School Trust, Wimbledon High School has been educating girls since 1880 to find their voice and take their place in the world.

Initiatives such as the original Failure Week and last year’s #JOMO, the Joy of Missing Out campaign, demonstrate that the school’s not shy about speaking out, working closely with the students themselves to take a positive approach to the challenges of growing up in the 21st century. The all-encompassing nature of the GROW pastoral progamme impressed the judges. For a

highly academic school the students are grounded, know how to have fun, yet are serious about their studies.

Indeed, there are no snowflakes here – rather, young women who run Happiness Festival (inciting girls to be themselves); Pride week; student standup comedy nights (the ultimate example of risk-taking); an online magazine and student-written Magic Mondays emails to all staff and girls. They’re girls who from Year 11 go out into the local community one afternoon a week, write books for children in Ghana and mentor primary school children. And help to run over 100 clubs and activities, including plays and concerts. Co-

WE’RE DELIGHTED TO HAVE WON THE GIRLS’ SCHOOL OF THE YEAR AWARD. IT'S REALLY THE GIRLS

themselves who make Wimbledon High

SUCH A SPECIAL PLACE.

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INDEPENDENT SCHOOLS OF THE YEAR 2018

curricular life is central to wellbeing, and successes on the pitch and on the water have galvanised sport.

The school’s academic success has seen it’s A-Level results rise significantly in recent years. For the Head, Jane Lunnon, the emphasis is on nurturing scholarship rather than any sort of exam factory, however. Wimbledon students run an annual Clever Clogs day, as it’s ‘cool to be clever’, and are encouraged to write for the school’s WimLearn blog. Staff lead by example – WimTeach articles address pedagogical thinking and are freely shared.

Over the past year, the school has been vocally championing the importance of arts education and embracing STEAM with two scientists in residence promoting a spirit of enquiry and collaboration across departments, fostering interdisciplinary learning. There are three Arkwright engineering scholars in the Sixth Form; Young BAFTA winners (awarded for a concept for a video game) and a winning pencil case design brought young WHS designers face-toface with Dragon Theo Pathitis.

Wimbledon High actively looks to promote intellectual agility, resilience and teamwork. Setting itself apart from the 11+ norm, it has revolutionised its 11+ testing; in groups they have assessed problem solving skills and creativity. It appears the school’s ever more popular, with the highest ever number of applications at 11+ as well as at 16+ for its Sixth Form.

Above all, the school remains true to its key aim: Stepping in, striding out – and the young women who leave at the end of Year 13 are nurtured and known, ready to go out into the world and shake it up. wimbledonhigh.gdst.net

INDEPENDENT SCHOOL OF THE YEAR FOR HEALTHY EATING ST FAITH’S

The Cambridge-based school educates pupils about what they eat to ensure a positive relationship with food for life

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rom an extensive sports programme to informative PSHCE lessons and an allencompassing healthy food ethos we live by our mantra of Healthy Bodies = Healthy Minds.

Healthy eating starts every morning with daily breakfasts for the whole family which include an extensive variety of options including a smoothie bar, homemade yoghurt, granola, bircher muesli and muesli selections, as well as cooked options, skimmed milk, no-added sugar cereals and fresh fruits.

Staff actively monitor the midmorning snacks brought in by pupils: sweets, chocolates, cakes, biscuits and crisps are outlawed, while healthy snacks such as fruit, salad, a healthy (nut-free) cereal bar, crackers or a sandwich are encouraged. The daily tuck shop for children in Years Seven and Eight offers only healthy snacks.

Our lunchtime food options are deliberately extensive to cater for even the fussiest of eaters, but all options are guaranteed to be as healthy as possible.

And critically, everything’s cooked on site. A wide variety of salads are available each day, a daily theatre bar sees the chef preparing food in front of the children and our ever-popular World Food Wednesdays introduce cuisine from across the globe to broaden students’ gastronomical horizons.

A wide variety of fruit is always available and puddings frequently feature sugar substitutes, such as the much-loved chocolate-and-avocado layer cake. Our chef also dries fruit to make breakfast cereals and salads even more interesting and healthy.

We recognise that our pupils, and indeed staff, are often in a rush to get to extracurricular activities and as such

THIS IS A FANTASTIC ACCOLADE FOR OUR SCHOOL AND especially our catering team, who strive to create a wide range OF HIGH QUALITY, NUTRITIOUS, FRESH AND INNOVATIVE MEALS. fruit salad and salad pots are available in takeaway format, as are sandwiches all made with wholemeal flour.

We firmly believe in educating our pupils about what they eat. As well as regular talks to pupils about the long term benefits of healthy eating, dining room displays detail the content of food such as how much sugar, salt or fat is in common foods and the importance of wholegrains. We also highlight the importance of nature on ensuring our food supply, for example the role of bumblebees in pollination.

To encourage children to continue their healthy eating regimes, we provide a wide range of recipe cards which

cover many of our most popular dishes so they can be recreated at home. One tutor group recently produced their own healthy eating recipe book, which was carefully researched by the class.

They undertook to bake healthy treats, then taste and review them. They interviewed the school chef to gather basic ideas about the essence of good health in snacks. Pupils learned to avoid refined sugars, fats and white flour and experimented with ingredients that offered natural sweetness in a more unrefined form, such as dates.

The recipe books were sold for £5 and all proceeds were given to Action for Children. stfaiths.co.uk

INDEPENDENT SCHOOLS OF THE YEAR 2018

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BOARDING SCHOOL OF THE YEAR CANFORD

Its full boarding model, secure house system and excellent pastoral care ensured that the school triumphed in this category

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veryone at Canford was absolutely delighted to learn that the school had been chosen as the winner of this prestigious award.

The judges wanted to see clear demonstration of a school providing boarding pupils with a vibrant and life-enhancing experience. They also wanted to see the contribution made by the boarding facility to the life of the school as a whole, alongside pastoral support, innovative programmes and a compelling ethos. There were two key factors to the successful entry, both of which have pupils as their central focus.

One is that the school offers a genuine 24/7 boarding school ethos. While many boarding schools offer weekly and flexi options, at Canford we only offer full seven-day-a-week boarding. This model allows us to provide a wideranging programme of curriculum and co-curricular opportunities and gives Canford its inclusive, cohesive, close knit, dynamic school community.

That said, the school is in tune with 21st-century family life and so has a system which meets desire for family time alongside providing a sevenday-a-week community popular with pupils and parents. Gone are the days of dropping off a child at the start of term and not seeing them until the holidays. Canford’s boarding model offers families the best of both worlds, with ‘A’ weekends where all pupils must be in school and a limited number of weekends where pupils can go home until Sunday night. However, the Sunday trips to the beach and water parks just a few minutes’ drive away, the Saturday night Sixth Form socials, film nights, juggling lessons, pizza making and bake-offs, alongside full

THIS AWARD WAS A WONDERFUL

recognition of our commitment and dedication to this vibrant school,

REINFORCED BY THE MANY POSITIVE COMMENTS FROM PARENTS. use of the school’s facilities, such as the Boat Club, real tennis court, pool, gym and nine-hole golf course clearly prove too popular for our boarders! The facts speak for themselves – on average, at least 70 per cent of boarders choose to stay in school on any given weekend every term.

The second factor is our boarding structure, which offers security, opportunity and a sense of true belonging. Boarding life is based around the house system which not only provides the excellent pastoral care for which independent schools across the country are well known, it also offers pupils the chance to take responsibility

– which we see as an important part of every pupil’s individual development.

This is fostered through initiatives such as organisation of fundraising events and family days. The innovative Pupil Leader programme, established in 2018 to replace the former prefect system, has expanded the boarding leadership roles to include representatives for pastoral care and peer mentoring. The ‘family groups’ structure, formal in-house groups of pupils (peer led) from each year, enables pupils to share and care for each other, organising house social events and other activities. This is a great way to promote a truly connected community. canford.com

INDEPENDENT SCHOOLS OF THE YEAR 2018

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THE GREEN AWARD FOR ENVIRONMENTAL ACHIEVEMENT TAUNTON

With initiatives tackling everything from landfill-bound waste and chemical cleaners, the school has made going green a priority

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aunton has a new mission: to be the greenest school in the south west region – a bold statement and even bigger ambitions perhaps, but one we’re confident we can deliver.

Winning this award recognises the innovative ways in which the school is striving to reduce its carbon footprint, while demonstrating a positive student experience. It’s a milestone for Taunton and sets the tone to continue making the world better for the next generation.

A number of the School’s initiatives over the last few years have already had huge environmental impacts. For example, Taunton was the first school

in Somerset to go Zero to Landfill. All waste is processed for recycling, with nothing ending up in landfill – residual waste is processed to generate energy.

Not an easy feat for a community of more than 1,500. Next, we aim to include food and confidential waste too.

Since winning the award, the school has taken the decision to eliminate the use of nearly all chemical cleaners at the school by introducing a revolutionary environmentally-friendly cleaning product. The ground-breaking technology installed at the school turns normal tap water into a cleaner and sanitiser, killing up to 99.999 per cent of harmful bacteria. The impact of this on

BEING GREEN AND safeguarding the planet for future generations IS SOMETHING WE TAKE SERIOUSLY. THIS AWARD PROVES WE’RE WELL ON OUR WAY TO ACHIEVING THIS GOAL. 24

INDEPENDENT SCHOOLS OF THE YEAR 2018

the environment is immense.

The Prep School has a wellestablished Eco Leaders group which promotes sustainability and aims to raise awareness of the intrinsic link with nature. In the last year they have campaigned for battery recycling, had a go at beekeeping and planted an orchard in the school grounds. The mantra, created by the students is “Be part of the solution, not the pollution”.

The mission to go green fits well with the whole school philosophy around wellbeing and healthy living.

Just recently, Taunton was a finalist in a prestigious national schools awards ceremony for its Wellbeing Initiative.

By putting rigorous processes in place to ensure that all students are heard and supported when it comes to their mental health, we can be sure that every student now has access to a 24-7 Health Centre, evening and weekend programmes for boarders, peer mentoring, and the ability to mental health representatives.

With an established Green Team in place, made up of the school’s Eco Leaders, facilities manager, estates manager, Prep School teachers and the marketing team, the green agenda is moving forward at quite a pace. More initiatives also underway includes the catering department sourcing local produce and supporting local businesses and suppliers, the use of a fabric-first approach to building work, changing of standard bulbs in lighting to LED and the use of electric buggies for maintenance workers on the campus.

The aim of all of this is to set an example for the wider community to follow, encourage them to join in and together make a difference. The future is bright, and green, for Taunton. tauntonschool.co.uk

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“Oman’s leading British School” “Students are kind, generous and quietly confident” Proud to be British International School of the Year

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BRITISH INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL OF THE YEAR BRITISH SCHOOL MUSCAT

The school’s Learning Ethos approach, which is the foundation for its teaching and curriculum, prepares pupils for the 21st century

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ocated in the Sultanate of Oman, the hidden gem on the Arabian peninsula, British School Muscat is Oman’s leading British school. A not-for-profit, British international day school that has been providing a comprehensive and balanced education to girls and boys aged three to 18 for nearly 50 years.

British School Muscat (BSM) is thrilled to have won the award for British International School of the Year for its Learning Ethos. In 2014, BSM’s Principal, Kai Vacher, asked the questions: How do we help students develop the skills and attitudes they need to steer our world to a brighter future? How do we prepare them for jobs that don’t exist yet? Should schools look to inspection frameworks, examination criteria, government directives or business leaders to provide the answer? Or could schools, given the right support and inspiration, find a way to future-proof our students so that they’re ready for the world ahead of them? Kai Vacher, firmly believes that schools should provide the educational vision for learners who can be “best for the world” and BSM has developed its Learning Ethos to support this.

The Learning Ethos underpins everything within the school. It encourages students to be Secure Individuals (confident, risk taking and responsible), Resourceful Learners (motivated, curious, creative, resilient and reflective) and Respectful Contributors (open-minded, collaborative, community-oriented).

The Learning Ethos is now the educational foundation throughout the school, on teaching, learning, curriculum and assessment. Learning

WE’VE GONE FROM STRENGTH TO STRENGTH due to the dedication of

our talented teachers and support of parents, governors and community. IT’S WONDERFUL TO WIN THIS AWARD.

Ethos displays are all over the school, it became the rationale for the outdoor education programme and now it’s driving the redesign of the curriculum and learning; it’s part of BSM life.

So what’s next for the school? Over the last two years we’ve been using the Learning Ethos as a launch pad for our work on Professor Eyre’s High Performance Learning. It provides us with a philosophy, a framework and language to drive our pedagogy to another level. There’s considerable overlap between the Learning Ethos and the ways of thinking and behaving which, research shows, drive higher levels of performance in students.

These are fundamental to the school’s approach to teaching and learning.

It’s now hard to imagine BSM without their positive and powerful influence on learning, engagement and achievement.

Over the last seven years we’ve learned from many international schools, which has served to develop and enhance the quality of our teaching, learning, curriculum, pastoral care and facilities.

This commitment to continual improvement, building on very strong foundations and always striving towards the goal of being the “best school for the world” is our constant driver at BSM. britishschoolmuscat.com

INDEPENDENT SCHOOLS OF THE YEAR 2018

27

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SPORTING ACHIEVEMENT SEDBERGH

From fives and football to fell running and netball, sport is intrinsic to the Cumbrian-based school

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entle spring sunshine climbs above the Howgill Fells that surround Sedbergh. Already the school is alive with staff, boys and girls taking the opportunity for early morning sports.

In the pool, athletes are working on plyometric exercises, while a small group of runners is high on the fells in anticipation of sunrise. Cricketers are practising in the nets and in the gym, staff and pupils are spinning. Netballers are shooting goals and hockey players practising short-corner routines.

Breakfast is their welcome reward.

As the school day wears on badminton, fives and football add to the breadth of activity, while target shooting and table tennis are popular too. At supper in the boarding houses, cyclists share their adventures with open-water swimmers. By evening time, pupils have participated in 36 different sports.

Sedbergh has a long history of sporting excellence, winning national titles in rugby, rugby sevens, cricket, target-shooting, fell and cross-country running and riding in the past two years, 21 pupils represented their countries in the last 12 months, adding to the long list of notable sportsmen and women who started that journey here. Sedberghians are proud of their heritage and embrace the responsibility to maintain the standards set by those whose names grace the honours’ boards.

Talent, time, coaching and facilities all play their part in this success, but are subsidiary to two features. Sedbergh welcomes the greatest variety of pupils into its boarding houses where unconditional support of one another is the expectation. No matter how fast, slow or talented, every pupil contributes

FANTASTIC, ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC.

This is an important endorsement of the centrality of sport in education, OUR

SUCCESS AT ENGAGING OUR PUPILS AND THE SUCCESS OF OUR TOP TEAMS.

to sport, music and drama. We’re one team engaged in the collective endeavour to excel. The cornerstone of our success is pupils’ support for their peers and teachers.

And situated on the boundary between the Lake District and Yorkshire Dales national parks, the unique landscape that we enjoy forges our lifestyle. Today, as we exit morning chapel our gaze is drawn to the sundappled slopes of Winder where fell ponies are grazing, the sure sign of a northerly wind. Lambing is in full swing, so the fields are dotted with small bundles of white. Gone are the rain-scoured hills that are our winter

playground, now we’re looking forward to the tumbling becks of summer that offer the prospect of trout for supper or a cooling swim on warm afternoons. In a few days’ time the Wilson Run will send runners across these fells in the footsteps of Sedberghians who have raced the same course for 137 years.

Ours is a full boarding school. Staff live and work alongside pupils and we enjoy the luxury of time. Early morning training, individual skills’ coaching or late evening team practice are as natural as extra maths lessons. Sundays offer time to recover, revise, explore new interests or visit city art galleries and museums. sedberghschool.org

INDEPENDENT SCHOOLS OF THE YEAR 2018

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STUDENT CAREERS PROGRAMME FETTES COLLEGE

Working with its global community of alumni in tandem with a robust careers curriculum clinched the award for the school

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ettes is delighted to have won the Independent School of the Year award for Student Careers Programme. The ethos behind it is to utilise global connections with the simple aim of providing genuine career insight and support to Sixth Formers. By utilising the skills and experience of a powerful, engaged network, where every career imaginable is represented, Fettes offers an unrivalled knowledgebase across the globe. Fettes is immensely proud of its community of Old Fettesians and parents, past and present, whose willingness has made this possible.

The Fettes Career Partnership programme began six years ago with Fettes College’s vision to support its students and alumni in pursuit of their careers. By consulting with Old Fettesians and parents across the globe, it became clear that the school’s global community should connect to support each other at every age and stage of their career path. The uptake from the Fettes community is so strong that there are now over 1,000 individuals currently involved in offering their expertise and advice freely. The programme flourishes at every level, from quick conversations to internships, from networking events to thought leadership

WE FACILITATE INTERNATIONAL CAREER CONNECTIONS THROUGH THE willingness of our wonderful school community. THIS AWARD IS AS MUCH FOR THEM AS IT IS FOR US. 30

INDEPENDENT SCHOOLS OF THE YEAR 2018

panels. Fettes continues to actively facilitate existing connections, while ensuring that the programme develops and adapts to remain relevant within an ever-changing marketplace.

The real-world support that Fettes harnesses from parents and Old Fettesians brings career opportunities to life in a unique way; students develop early networking skills in a relaxed and familiar environment. They’re able to ask questions directly to engaged experts and receive genuine insight across a vast range of career choices.

This support continues as they leave Fettes and enter the wide world of work.

This external expertise is made even more impactful when integrated into the robust careers curriculum at Fettes, which includes; networking events on blended skill areas such as creativity, problem solving and leadership; career insight and skill workshops; career journey speakers and lunches with fiveand 10-year leavers to highlight next steps and build connections.

As personal career ideas develop there are business networking sessions in local offices; topic-focussed careerthemed lessons and working lunches; a Higher Education focused Careers Day; a mock assessment centre and access to supportive young OFs willing to share their experiences of university. A team of Fettes Careers Prefects supports the running of the pupil programme, evaluating and reporting on events to ensure relevancy and enthusiasm.

In an ever-changing world, having a network of easily-accessible, engaged experts across a myriad of industries (and at different stages of their careers), ensures consistency for Fettes students now and well in to the future. fettes.com

Full Boarding Ethos • 100 acre campus in Edinburgh Co-educational - 7-18 • Excellent IB, A Level & GCSE results • ‘Sector leading’ pastoral care Strong sporting tradition • Award winning careers partnership programme Bursaries, Scholarships and Awards available

A strong foundation for the future, a family for life To arrange a visit, please call our Registrar on 0131 311 6744 admissions@fettes.com www.fettes.com

REIGATIANS: CLIMBING HIGH Top Co-Educational Day School in Surrey Five years running - The Telegraph and The Sunday Times

School of the Year - Pastoral Care TES Independent School Awards - Wellbeing

Independent School of the Year for Community Outreach Independent School Parent

MONTHLY OPEN MORNINGS For dates and to register please visit rgs.to/open-isp Reigate Grammar School, Reigate Road, Reigate, Surrey, RH2 0QS reigategrammar.org | 01737 222231 | admissions@reigategrammar.org  reigategrammarschool |  @reigategrammar

Going Further OPEN MORNINGS 18 MAY 2019 08 JUNE 2019 WWW.SANDROYD.ORG 01725 516 264

COMMUNITY OUTREACH

REIGATE GRAMMAR SCHOOL The school has a varied programme of initiatives and partnership projects which help more than 1,000 local children

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tate and independent schools share a moral mission: to provide an excellent education for all children who can then, together, make the world a better place. With more than 1,000 local state school children benefiting from Reigate Grammar School’s (RGS) programmes, outreach is a key part of our core purpose.

RGS supports dozens of school partnership academic projects, such as crime-scene forensic science and MFL Mastermind, in science, humanities and the arts. The school also runs workshops in music, theatre, art, sport and languages for local schools and performs to them regularly, including – for example – a puppet-show tour.

The school shares its sports grounds, swimming pool, minibuses and more.

One of the key events that RGS hosts is the annual district sports competition each summer for more than 500 pupils from an array of local primary schools.

The event, organised by the Redhill and Reigate Primary Schools Sports Association (RRPSSA) and supported

by RGS, is now in its eighth year at the school’s magnificent 32-acre Hartswood Sports Ground, which boasts a hockey centre with two all-weather pitches, seven rugby and football pitches, three cricket pitches, two sports pavilions and an outstanding suite of athletics track and field facilities. In addition to hosting the event, the school supports in a number of other ways; Crawley Luxury, the school’s transport provider, offers complimentary transport for the 13 local state schools’ pupils to and from Hartswood, the RGS marketing department put together the event brochure, the RGS Parents & Friends Association hosts refreshments on

IT IS SUCH A MAGNIFICENT AWARD AND WE ARE so pleased to be recognised for all the important work WE ARE DOING WITHIN OUR COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIP PROGRAMME. the day and the 57 events’ winners are awarded with masterclasses run by RGS coaches and sports’ performance directors. This gives pupils from local schools the opportunity to be coached by ex-international sports stars.

Local secondary schools are also included in many of the school’s partnership strands, including a recent lecture by Sir Malcolm Rifkind, former cabinet minister; a seminar on poetry

by Joe Nutt, TES columnist; the RGS Higher Education evening, employment talks, careers conventions and Oxbridge preparation programmes.

RGS Sport host a range of sports camps in hockey, cricket, rugby, netball,

swimming and more during school holidays for local children.

RGS students engaged in more than 5,000 hours of volunteering last year, helping care homes, charities, environmental projects, community groups for the elderly, a residential home for children with brain injury, food banks and primary schools. The school’s now extending its wellbeing programme, offering mindfulness to students from local state schools.

As well as the community, RGS’s outreach programme benefits students, developing responsibility and purpose, so they can be conscientious, committed individuals. reigategrammar.org

INDEPENDENT SCHOOLS OF THE YEAR 2018

33

CONTRIBUTION TO SOCIAL MOBILITY LATYMER UPPER SCHOOL

The school’s bursary campaign aims to give children a lifechanging education, regardless of their financial circumstances

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he majority of meanstested bursary pupils studying at Latymer are on a free place and the plan is to go further; we want to offer a life-changing education to even more children who show ability and potential, regardless of their financial circumstances. We feel passionately that independent schools can and should be engines of, rather than obstacles to, social mobility. It’s an aspiration that its parent community shares and is often a reason, along with academic excellence, for Latymer being their school of choice.

Current research points to a twoyear attainment gap in education

between children from disadvantaged backgrounds and wealthier children, while evidence shows that independent schools give pupils a two-year advantage, not to mention the soft skills learned along the way, as well as access to high quality music, drama and sport. This gap can be closed by providing bursaries to independent schools for children from disadvantaged backgrounds, making a real difference.

Latymer’s Inspiring Minds campaign is the most ambitious bursary initiative to date. The school still offers music, academic, drama and sport scholarships but the majority of fee assistance is for means-tested bursaries, which

I’M SO PROUD THAT LATYMER HAS BEEN RECOGNISED. WE PULL TOGETHER TO MAKE our school a

more diverse, grounded and exciting environment IN WHICH TO LEARN.

34

INDEPENDENT SCHOOLS OF THE YEAR 2018

give bright children from less affluent backgrounds either a free place, or a reduction in fees. Between 25 per cent to 100 per cent fee remissions are offered, depending on a family’s circumstances.

The good news as far as we’re concerned is that, as a result of the campaign, the school will increasingly have more bursaries to offer. The aim is to raise £40m so that the school can offer one in four pupils a meanstested bursary by 2024 – the governing foundation’s 400th anniversary.

Campaigns like this are the most effective way in which the sector can encourage social mobility. The ambition is to offer 350 local children from modest backgrounds access to a transformative education. The benefits of a socially diverse school are felt by all pupils, both fee-paying and on bursaries. Schools in which children study alongside classmates from diverse backgrounds, who have different perspectives on life, offers the most enriched intellectual environment in which to learn.

And as is often the case with social mobility, there’s a ripple effect. The first person in a family to benefit is unlikely to become the last. The impact is felt by the next generation with the children and grandchildren of many of the Latymerians who were first in their families to become professionals, also attending higher education.

Much has already been achieved but what more can be done? There are 176 pupils currently at the school on meanstested bursaries – with 18 per cent of the Year Seven intake being bursary pupils. Latymer is all about excellence and inclusion and it’s strongly felt that the two concepts shouldn’t be mutually exclusive. latymer-upper.org

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INTERNATIONAL STUDENT EXPERIENCE SHIPLAKE COLLEGE

An ethos which promotes tolerance and understanding between cultures enables pupils to immerse themselves in UK school life

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espite having a relatively small proportion of international students, Shiplake College stood out to judges for the excellent immersive British school experience that those pupils have. The judges were also impressed by how the backgrounds and cultures of those international students were celebrated by peers and staff.

Perched on the banks of the Thames, Shiplake College is a former family home in the heart of the Oxfordshire countryside on a stunning 45 acre site.

Rated Excellent in its last ISI inspection, the school has a deserved reputation for

outstanding pastoral care and academic endeavour. With a passionate belief in a holistic rounded approach to education, teaching and learning occurs not only in the classroom, but across an extensive range of co-curricular pursuits in sport, music, drama and many other domains.

Pupils arriving from different nations and continents soon become fully integrated into Shiplake’s inclusive and welcoming environment. Students enter a boarding house and have their cultures celebrated. They hold fortnightly international evenings where a selected student in the house prepares a traditional meal from their country for all to enjoy. They present photos of

WE’RE DELIGHTED THAT THE JUDGES HAVE RECOGNISED THE excellent

education and immersive experience

THAT OUR INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS GAIN AT SHIPLAKE COLLEGE. 36

INDEPENDENT SCHOOLS OF THE YEAR 2018

their family members, their home and their country. This is then followed by a question-and-answer session where other members of the house can enquire about life back home. These simple, intimate evenings promote tolerance and harmony between the different cultures in the house, as pupils gain an understanding of their peers’ differing backgrounds. Shiplake College also celebrates different religious festivals and holidays, either through the food on offer at mealtimes or by discussions in chapel and lessons.

The school wants their pupils to have a memorable ‘British’ experience, with their international students fully immersed in British life. They offer weekend trips to the local historic town, Henley-on-Thames, visits to the cinema, museums, theatre performances or trips to professional football and rugby matches. Pupils may also attend the famous Henley Royal Regatta or potentially even compete in the event.

Pupils also enjoy school trips to other parts of the UK, from field trips to Dorset and the Isle of Wight, to expeditions in Scotland. International students often take part in the CCF, the British military programme and also the Duke of Edinburgh Award scheme.

International students partake in the extensive co-curricular programme which includes a volunteering club, where pupils might help at the local care home, primary school or village fete. Students of all faiths also attend the Church of England chapel services, where everyone has a chance for reflection, thanks and contemplation.

Shiplake College leads the way in setting the standard for international students taking up education in British schools. shiplake.org.uk

480 pupils (boys aged 11-18 and girls aged 16-18) Day and boarding (full, weekly and flexi) Weekly West London bus route ISI rated ‘Excellent’ in all categories Shortlisted for TES Boarding School of the Year 2018 and 2019

INCLUSIVE • INDIVIDUAL • INSPIRATIONAL

www.shiplake.org.uk

BOYS’ SCHOOL OF THE YEAR

BOLTON SCHOOL BOYS’ DIVISION With varied extracurricular offerings, partnerships and talks, the school is preparing its boys for a rapidly changing world

I

t’s pleasing that this award looks beyond the school’s outstanding exam results and wide extracurricular offering to also acknowledge the active engagement that’s carried out with the local community as well as pupils’ volunteering work. Also, that it recognises the importance of boys’ only education and that it’s done well here.

Over the last academic year, pupils helped host events for local children, including a SHINE programme for Year Five pupils and the Bolton Children’s Fiction Award, and undertook environmental work out in the community; Year 12

students committed over 5,000 hours of volunteering. All of Year Nine undertook the Bronze DofE and dozens more completed Silver and Gold Awards as well as National Citizen Service. The previous year, the school became the first in the UK to win the prestigious Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service.

Annually, many public events are hosted, including an Apple conference, careers fair, touring theatre productions and an English Civil War battle reenactment. The school became the Northern SCITT hub school, as part of the DfE’s teacher recruitment drive. It also moved closer to open access, with almost one in four Senior School pupils

THIS AWARD IS an affirmation of all the time, energy and initiative THAT BOYS AND COLLEAGUES PUT INTO THEIR WORK AND HOW IT’S SUPPORTED BY PARENTS AND ALUMNI. 38

INDEPENDENT SCHOOLS OF THE YEAR 2018

now receiving financial assistance.

The Parents’ Association introduced Teenage Journey talks, which offers expert advice on raising boys.

The award nomination also focused on how each boy is encouraged to develop life-skills and interests through participation in a wide range of activities. The school’s SPACE programme continued to promote wellbeing, introduced boys to community-based activities and inspired them through exposure to high-achieving former pupils.

In the submission, emphasis was placed on how, with more than 100 extracurricular clubs, every pupil discovers new interests and pursues talents. During the last academic year, boys excelled in a wide array of activities, ranging from an unprecedented 13th consecutive national water polo title to taking their music to the Montreux Jazz Festival and London’s Royal Festival Hall. In drama, there was a collaboration with The Octagon and in-house theatre group RoughHouse as the school works towards Platinum Artsmark status.

Boys wrote their own play My Room, My Bolton and performed it during museum takeovers at Port Sunlight and Manchester Art Gallery, and at the Bolton Station Community Gala.

There has never been a more important time to focus on the education of boys and to recognise that, as there are seismic shifts in the role of men in society, the need to respond to that sensitively and with purpose. It’s clear that as society, very rightly, adjusts to equality for women, the next point for attention must be how to raise boys to have an active part in that new world. boltonschool.org/senior-boys

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VIDEO PRODUCTION

WELLINGTON COLLEGE From providing event media coverage to live-streaming concerts, the college’s film production club is highly accomplished

W

ellington College is a mine of innovation, energy and creative spirit.

When Bishop Wilberforce visited Wellington soon after its official opening, 160 years ago, he commented on the palpable ‘living hum’, a phrase echoed today to the ‘constant fizz’ that exists here. The Wellington ‘fizz’ taps into something unique about the college; if we could bottle it, we would. One aspect of College life that both typifies this creative energy and captures it brilliantly, is WTV. Wellington College WTV is a

student-led film production club that has become a staple of life at Wellington College. The club includes members from throughout the school year groups and creates high quality video content that chimes with the character of the school: fun, creative and bold.

This includes satirical scripted films to open the college’s annual Speech Day, parodies of TV staples such as The Welly Bake Off, and extensive media coverage of the Festival of Education held annually at Wellington. Alongside these headline projects, members of WTV work throughout the year in collaboration with our singersongwriters to film studio sessions

WTV HAS BEEN capturing the quirks of

Wellington school life, as well as creating inspired creative content FOR THE BEST

PART OF A DECADE. IT’S WONDERFUL TO RECEIVE THIS RECOGNITION. 40

INDEPENDENT SCHOOLS OF THE YEAR 2018

and live-stream concerts on the WTV YouTube channel; they also create short monologue films with budding actors.

In short, WTV is completely embedded in Wellington life.

Students are given free rein to make the creative content that they want, and develop the skill set that they’re most interested in. Some students are technical superstars, their editing and camera-operating skills vastly outstripping the staff’s by the end of their time here. Others are pure creatives, developing impressive scripts and cinematography concepts. All of them work brilliantly well together, sharing the knowledge in their areas of expertise, and learning from peers and friends to successfully make films.

Every year a group of three executive producers lead the club, giving direction and mentorship to younger students, and leading members of the core team to complete ambitious projects and visions the club has.

WTV’s worth to the school takes many forms. Emerging actors and musicians are given a platform to showcase their talent for the school, video content is created which shares the school’s holistic approach to education in a way that is accessible to the wider public, and most importantly members are given the chance to explore their own creative vision and develop leadership skills in the pursuit of creating outstanding films.

The work that WTV students put into the films they make, and the final products they produce, are a reflection of everything that is great about Wellington. Integrity is one of the College values: WTV is key to this.

With their help, marketing achieves an authenticity. wellingtoncollege.org.uk

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HIGHLY COMMENDED SCHOOLS in the

INDEPENDENT SCHOOLS OF THE YEAR 2018

INDEPENDENT PRE-PREP SCHOOL OF THE YEAR JAMES ALLEN’S PREPREPARATORY SCHOOL One of the focuses at James’ Allen’s Pre-Prep is nurturing pupils to become supportive, caring and virtuous citizens who have a good sense of the wider community. This was particularly encouraged during the School's International Day, on which children were invited to learn about different cultures.

jags.org.uk MONMOUTH SCHOOLS’ PRE-PREP AND NURSERY The countryside that surrounds this uniquely creative Pre-Prep allows pupils to engage in outdoor activities, from fun runs and Forest School, to building castles and igloos made from recyclable waste. Inside the classroom, children are encouraged to adopt the four Rs: resilience, respect, resourcefulness and reflection.

habsmonmouth.org SAINT RONAN’S SCHOOL Curiosity, imagination and resilience are just some of the qualities that Saint Ronan’s aims to foster in its pupils, and children develop into creative and thoughtful individuals as a result of the extraordinary outdoor provisions on offer here. Teachers assist pupils with looking after the animals on the farm.

saintronans.co.uk THE PREBENDAL SCHOOL Learning here is enriched, not only as a result of the small class sizes and excellent facilities, but also by the huge number of outings offered to pupils on a regular basis. Weekly Beach School sessions see children go rock pooling, make shelters and learn how to build fires.

INDEPENDENT PREP SCHOOL OF THE YEAR HOLMEWOOD HOUSE SCHOOL This Prep is passionate about encouraging children to see the world from different perspectives. It has established partnerships within the Chinese city of Chengdu, allowing pupils and teachers to visit a local primary school there.

holmewoodhouse.co.uk

JAMES ALLEN’S GIRLS This is a happy, open environment where pupils partake in a variety of extracurricular activities, from karate and cross-country running to drama and art. As well as banning single-use plastic, it runs several eco initiatives, including meat-free Mondays.

jags.org.uk

SANDROYD SCHOOL With up to 50 extracurricular

activities, boarding events and 500 acres of grounds free to be explored, children are offered a plethora of extracurricular opportunities. Pupils are encouraged to participate in yoga to prepare them for the day ahead.

sandroyd.org ST HUGH’S, WOODHALL SPA This co-ed day and boarding school prioritises not only what their pupils learn, but also how and why they acquire knowledge as they grow through its innovative Visible Learning programme, which launched in 2016.

st-hughs.lincs.sch.uk ST IVES SCHOOL HASLEMERE Despite being a small school of 90 pupils, it has a large presence in its local community, raising money for charities, hosting events and also taking exhibition space in the local museum to display pupils’ artwork.

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prebendalschool.org.uk

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INDEPENDENT SCHOOLS OF THE YEAR 2018

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QUEEN MARGARET’S SCHOOL Based in York, this girls’ boarding school prides itself on its personalised approach, emphasising that each girl is capable of doing anything if she sets her mind to it. Pupils are supported by their personal tutors and capable of setting their own goals as part of the QM Diploma; an initiative that sees them step outside their comfort zones.

queenmargarets.com ST AUGUSTINE’S PRIORY

Canford School

SANDROYD SCHOOL

CO-EDUCATIONAL INDEPENDENT SCHOOL OF THE YEAR CANFORD SCHOOL Equality is of the utmost importance and every pupil – regardless of their skills, talents and prospects – is treated as an individual. The school believes in allowing students to express themselves freely, using their creativity to expand their intellectual curiosity. This becomes significant when they partake in the Shell curriculum, a thematic programme that sees children run their own media campaigns and build robots.

canford.com

DOVER COLLEGE With a new Headmaster on board, the school has introduced a new bespoke curriculum where pupils are taught thematically up to Year Nine, as well as two new post-16 pathways that focus on either academic or vocational study. The college’s ‘Think Differently Course’ also fosters critical thinking and leadership skills, as students undertake the Duke of Edinburgh Award scheme and varied community service projects.

dovercollege.org.uk

REIGATE GRAMMAR SCHOOL Continually named as one of the highest attaining co-educational day schools with a 100 per cent success rate for medicine applications for the past five years. However, the school is keen to emphasise that grades and league tables are by no means a priority; rather, a focus on developing pupils who grow to be the best versions of themselves is at the fore.

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Pupils enjoy a modern, vibrant school experience here at Sandroyd, where they relish every opportunity placed before them. A new timetable, in which academic lessons take place in the mornings, has proven immensely beneficial, as it leaves afternoons free for children to engage in activities that develop character and resilience.

A school food improvement plan has also resulted in a happier atmosphere at mealtimes.

sandroyd.org

INDEPENDENT GIRLS SCHOOL OF THE YEAR ALDERLEY EDGE SCHOOL FOR GIRLS Girls are nurtured to be resilient individuals who flourish not just academically, but in all areas of life.

Initiatives such as Leap of Faith Week open pupils up to new experiences, as they’re challenged to partake in boot camps, squid dissections and climbing activities.

The walls here are also decorated with inspiring quotes and boards that celebrate students’ achievements.

aesg.co.uk BOLTON SCHOOL GIRLS’ DIVISION

This Catholic girls’ school welcomes all faiths, which contributes to the openminded culture that exists here. Girls are taught to express individuality, and the school’s annual Women’s Wellness Week – which raised money for a women’s protection charity – is just one example of how students are empowered to face the challenges that await them post-education.

sapriory.com THE QUEEN’S SCHOOL Children receive an incredibly wellrounded education as they regularly study topic-based projects that go beyond the national curriculum.

Whole-school focus weeks have seen girls engage in STEM, Shakespeare and creativity, as they experiment with forensic science workshops, playing steel drums and singing as therapy.

Students also learn Mandarin, French and Spanish.

thequeensschool.co.uk

INDEPENDENT BOYS SCHOOL OF THE YEAR EATON HOUSE BELGRAVIA Traditional in tone yet modern in its outlook, it recently secured its best Seven+ and Eight+ examinations in five years, with 40 per cent of offers secured at Westminster and St Paul’s.

Alongside core subjects, boys enjoy art, drama and an extensive music programme, as well as after-school clubs that span everything from football and debating to ‘Jedi’ training.

eatonhouseschools.com

Pupils achieve significant levels of success, from art competitions to sporting events in which they have represented their country. The school itself has received many accolades, named as both best independent school in Lancashire and North Manchester. Last year, it also became the first school to win the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service.

MOULSFORD SCHOOL

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moulsford.com

INDEPENDENT SCHOOLS OF THE YEAR 2018

Education goes beyond what’s learned in the classroom. Rather, it’s considered significant that boys develop respect, compassion and independence, as well as good manners and discipline. Boys are prepared not just for Senior School but for life beyond that. A new curriculum was introduced in 2017.

DULWICH COLLEGE Free Learning is a crucial part of pupils’ education as it encourages boys to learn away from the syllabus and embrace the concept of thinking for its own sake. This ethos is particularly crucial in the Upper School’s annual symposium, at which point students are selecting their university courses. Here, they engage in debates, workshops and seminars.

dulwichcollege.org.uk

INDEPENDENT BOARDING SCHOOL OF THE YEAR FELSTED SCHOOL This co-educational school adopts a forward-thinking approach to boarding, which has resulted in an eight per cent increase over the past two years. The school’s mindfulness programme has had a huge impact on students’ happiness, and the new Wellbeing Centre provides a space for children to share any concerns.

felsted.org ROEDEAN SCHOOL Roedean is a unique and open-minded institute that celebrates diversity in all its forms. This has resulted in an impressive growth in student numbers since 2013, with intake increasing by 70 per cent and 47 different nationalities now represented.

Facilities have also transformed in recent years, with a multi-million refurbishment of the boarding houses.

roedean.co.uk WELLINGTON COLLEGE

INDEPENDENT SCHOOL OF THE YEAR FOR SPORTING ACHIEVEMENT

INDEPENDENT SCHOOL OF THE YEAR FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS

BEDFORD GIRLS’ SCHOOL

The School’s performing arts provision saw its participation rates quadruple in the 2017/2018 academic year. High levels of inclusivity across all groups, from the junior band to the drama club, mean every pupil is inspired to take part; the school’s musical spectacular, for instance, involved more than 400 students.

BRENTWOOD SCHOOL

The School has been triumphant in everything from rounders and lacrosse, to athletics and swimming.

Pupils compete in over 1,500 fixtures a year, with over 200 girls playing hockey and over 60 on regional and national pathway programmes. Talent is not considered innate here; rather, it is nurtured through expert teaching, practice and commitment.

brentwoodschool.co.uk

bedfordgirlsschool.co.uk

ELLESMERE COLLEGE

ELLESMERE COLLEGE Participation in sport is prevalent, evident in the gold-standard recognition it received in the School Games Mark award in 2017. Students have achieved national success in cricket, tennis, shooting, rugby, hockey and swimming, with several pupils representing Team England in the 2018 Commonwealth Games. It opened its indoor tennis centre last year.

ellesmere.com

PLYMOUTH COLLEGE With four students selected to represent England in the 2018 Commonwealth Games, the sports provision at Plymouth College has attained unquestionable success in recent years. Athletes are able to achieve their dreams thanks to a team of coaches, teachers and support staff, who all nurture and push children to reach their maximum potential.

plymouthcollege.com

SHIPLAKE COLLEGE

wellingtoncollege.org.uk

shiplake.org.uk

Rowing at Shiplake has been instilled in the College's ethos since it first opened in 1959, and 10 current and former pupils represented Great Britain’s junior squads in 2018 alone.

Lessons on the water begin when children join in Year Seven or Year Nine and partake in capsize drills that enable pupils to bond quickly.

WYCOMBE ABBEY

ST OLAVE’S SCHOOL YORK

Among the many family initiatives including tennis matches and an annual House dinner, the most successful programme has proven to be its Parenting The Teenager series.

These lectures between staff and parents have provoked discussions across numerous topics, including alcohol and screen dependency.

Every child is guaranteed multiple opportunities to participate in various fixtures each term. Among last year’s successes were the U13s’ win at IAPS National Cricket tournament, as well as their undefeated triumph at the National Rugby 7s. Students are also given the chance to travel, including trips for the U13s netball team.

wycombeabbey.com

stpetersyork.org.uk

ellesmere.com

SHREWSBURY SCHOOL Pupils benefit from the Ashton Theatre, which is currently undergoing a multi-million-pound renovation.

Performance highlights from 2018 included His Dark Materials, The Magic Flute and Requiem, with students also taking their adaptation of The Drowned Bride to Edinburgh Fringe.

shrewsbury.org.uk

WELLINGTON COLLEGE Its commitment to the arts was demonstrated last September with the opening of the G.W. Annenberg Performing Arts Centre; the academic year began with an impressive display of dance, drama and acapella singing by the pupils. The musical department is also home to a variety of ensembles.

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Set within 400 acres, the college makes excellent use of its surroundings by fostering a love for the great outdoors. More than 70 different clubs and activities are available to pupils here, as teachers aim to nurture a spirit for adventure and exploring. Students learn to take risks, fail and discover more about themselves across the school.

As winners of the Educational Business Award for Music in 2018, the music department is a valuable asset to the artistic growth of pupils at this school. The Chamber Choir was hugely successful last year, reaching the finals of the BBC Youth Choir competition and starring in Songs Of Praise.

Moulsford School

INDEPENDENT SCHOOLS OF THE YEAR 2018

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INDEPENDENT SCHOOL OF THE YEAR FOR STUDENT CAREERS PROGRAMME

INDEPENDENT SCHOOL OF THE YEAR FOR COMMUNITY OUTREACH

ETON COLLEGE

Benenden recently expanded its outreach provision by adjusting its school timetable, freeing up Tuesday afternoons for girls in Years 11 to 13 to help in the local community.

Volunteering in the village shop is just one of the many activities that pupils engage in. The school also provides GCSE revision support for stateschool pupils, as well as advice with UCAS preparation.

Eton College considers the future careers of its students so important that it recently wove employability skills into its curriculum. Pupils now attend weekly seminars to discuss what they hope to do in the future, and the school also hosts an annual careers fair where boys can meet employers face to face. Networking events also allow them to establish contacts before they leave school.

etoncollege.com

ST HELEN’S LONDON It recently embedded futures into its curriculum with the hope of developing pupils’ career aspirations.

Girls have opportunities to build connections within a variety of sectors, participating in networking breakfasts, a higher education forum and a University Spot Lunch, in which they gain advice from recent alumnae.

St Helen’s University is also a new initiative that sees pupils engage in new pursuits.

sthelens.london

ST PAUL’S SCHOOL Pupils benefit from a thriving careers programme, which is supported by a network of alumni and parents. Every child receives tailored guidance to ensure they are fully prepared for life beyond education, with opportunities to speak to industry leaders within finance, entrepreneurship, law, medicine and engineering. Year Nine students also took part in a speednetworking session, which offered them insight into a variety of sectors.

stpaulsschool.org.uk

SURBITON HIGH GIRLS’ PREPARATORY SCHOOL A focus on careers at Surbiton High Girls’ Preparatory School is instilled from Year Seven, in an attempt to broaden pupils’ minds towards their GCSE and A-Level choices.

Girls participate in psychometric testing and CV workshops to foster their skills and passions, and the school also has a compulsory work experience programme. Unique to Surbiton High, medical school candidates even have a mock assessment day, in which the real selection process is replicated to help students feel more prepared.

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BENENDEN SCHOOL

benenden.school

BOLTON SCHOOL The Bolton Children’s Fiction Award sees pupils from across the borough come together to celebrate a love of reading, while embracing genres that may be new to them. Children read a shortlist of nominated works throughout the autumn and spring terms, after which they vote for their top titles. The winner is announced in a ceremony at the school.

boltonschool.org

JERSEY COLLEGE FOR GIRLS Established in 2013, the JCG Serves scheme has had a huge impact on both the College and the wider community in a multitude of ways; students have offered reading support to children, participated in environmental projects, and even hosted tea parties for elderly people in a local nursing home. Up to 75 different organisations benefitted from pupils’ efforts last year.

jerseycollegeforgirls.com

NOTTINGHAM HIGH SCHOOL Children and staff from a total of 70 schools across the area have participated in outreach events hosted by the School, providing pupils and teachers with a wide range of fun and educational experiences. Among the activities were a Harry Potter-themed biology day. The school’s Community Action group has also seen students volunteer at local allotments.

nottinghamhigh.co.uk

ST PIUS X PREP SCHOOL It has had a sterling reputation for selfless charity work for several years, including its 10 year-strong relationship with the Pahar Trust in Nepal, which helps to build and maintain school buildings. Pupils have also raised money for WWF.

stpiusx.co.uk

INDEPENDENT SCHOOLS OF THE YEAR 2018

INDEPENDENT SCHOOL OF THE YEAR FOR CONTRIBUTION TO SOCIAL MOBILITY REED’S SCHOOL Social mobility at this school has been focal for more than 200 years, when its founder established the Reed’s Foundation to help deprived orphans.

Since then, more than 12,000 pupils have benefitted from the foundation’s bursaries, with an additional 1,500 children per year supported by the school’s outreach programme.

Pastoral care provisions ensure these students are provided with uniforms.

reeds.surrey.sch.uk

ROYAL HOSPITAL SCHOOL Originally a school for seafarers back in 1712, the School still maintains its strong links with both the Royal Navy and Royal Marines; Year Seven pupils are taught to sail, and all 750 students are also provided with ceremonial naval uniforms to be worn on special occasions. 27 per cent of children also attend RHS as a result of bursary funding.

royalhospitalschool.org

SHEFFIELD HIGH SCHOOL FOR GIRLS Established in partnership with Sheffield University and local schools, Sheffield High School’s Cool to be Clever Club was recently recognised by the DfE for its efforts in fostering life skills in 70 underprivileged pupils.

The school’s Aspirations Workshop, which is run by Year 12 students, also supported pupils in primary schools, with the hope of developing their selfconfidence and presentation skills.

sheffieldhighschool.org.uk

STREATHAM & CLAPHAM HIGH SCHOOL

In an effort to discredit the myth that classics are only for the elite, the school has widened access to subjects such as Latin and Ancient Greek for various schools across London.

Streatham & Clapham High School

comes from should be instilled at an early age. With this in mind, pupils are encouraged to grow their own crops in the school’s gardens and learn how to take care of their plants before picking and eating them. They also take regular trips to visit nearby farms.

tockingtonmanorschool.com

THE GREEN AWARD FOR ENVIRONMENTAL ACHIEVEMENT FRAMLINGHAM COLLEGE PREP SCHOOL

Royal Hospital School

Teachers have delivered sessions to pupils as young as eight. Studying classics allows older students to add a niche subject to their CV.

schs.gdst.net

INDEPENDENT SCHOOL OF THE YEAR FOR VIDEO PRODUCTION THE ABBEY Last spring, The Abbey created two videos to help prospective parents and pupils get a sense for what life is like at both the Junior and Senior Schools. After selecting a couple of students to star in the video, the girls were filmed experiencing a typical school day, interacting in lessons and with teachers and their peers.

theabbey.co.uk

THE KINGSLEY SCHOOL The Kingsley School takes great pride in the fact all its marketing materials are created in-house, as they benefit from a design and media studio that enables them to produce highquality content. Admissions videos and footage of school activities have gained attention among the students and parents, and pupils have gained hands-on experience using camera equipment and editing software.

thekingsleyschool.co.uk

INDEPENDENT SCHOOL OF THE YEAR FOR HEALTHY EATING GODSTOWE PREPARATORY SCHOOL Godstowe has implemented many

changes to encourage healthy eating since its catering manager joined in September 2017, including a new hydration system, a salad bar with various high-fibre food options, and different themed meals for each day.

Vegetables have been introduced into snacks and desserts. A Boarding Food Committee has been established, allowing pupils to give feedback on the choices available to them.

godstowe.org KILGRASTON SCHOOL At this Perth-based school, pupils participate in initiatives that see them growing, harvesting, cooking and eating a range of seasonal fruit and vegetables, as they discover how and where their food is grown. As well as learning about the value of a balanced diet, children also take an interest in the school’s catering provision, by taking part in Food Committee forums that encourage them to give feedback.

kilgraston.com QUEEN ETHELBURGA’S COLLEGIATE The Sustainable Catering Initiative saw the school completely transform its catering provision, offering training to staff to ensure they use the healthiest ingredients and developing the menus to offer more nutritious meals. The school’s annual Healthy Lifestyles Week is also packed with activities, including snack demonstrations, and a healthy menu design competition.

qe.org TOCKINGTON MANOR SCHOOL AND NURSERY This Bristol-based Prep School believes teaching children where food

Run by the pupils for the pupils, the conscientious Action for Change group has implemented several ecological changes since it launched in 2018. A ban on single-use plastic cups and cutlery was introduced last year, recycling bins have been placed in every classroom, and pupils wrote a letter to Donald Trump regarding the Paris Climate Change agreement.

framcollege.co.uk KILGRASTON SCHOOL It was following the BBC’s Blue Planet II that the children began to consider the ways in which they could take better care of the environment. One group of students collected litter in the park as part of the Brig in Bloom campaign, while others planted vegetables in the junior gardening club. Pupils also helped to install bat boxes and feeding tables.

kilgraston.com ST AUGUSTINE’S PRIORY Self-sufficiency is one of the key lessons taught and the school’s farm is where the girls care for the animals, grow vegetables and learn about the impact of renewable energy sources.

Nothing goes to waste here, and both pupils and staff make the most of the resources they have, from the animal manure that’s used in the allotment, to the apples grown in the orchard, which are pressed for juice and sold.

sapriory.com TRINITY SCHOOL The school is now home to the largest fully-monitored solar PV system of any school in Europe. The panels currently produce a third of the school’s electrical energy requirement, which is enough to power up to 80 houses for at least a year. The physics department has also received an extra panel that students have been able to test in lessons.

trinity-school.org

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I believe in keeping an open mind Telephone: 01234 361918 www.bedfordgirlsschool.co.uk Bedford Girls’ School is part of The Harpur Trust

Where talent shines

@KESBath

A vibrant performing arts department is at the heart of life at KES An exclusive musical partnership with Bath Philharmonia and Bath Abbey KES offers over 50 musical performance opportunities each year The School is proud to have its own talented composer in residence A ourishing LAMDA programme achieves outstanding results Drama pupils perform at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Onward destinations for KES alumni include The Central School of Speech & Drama and The Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama Image: Taken during the school’s performance of ‘POP! The Musical’

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PERFORMING ARTS

KING EDWARD’S SCHOOL, BATH Collaborations with professional musicians and challenging drama production are all part of the school’s performing arts offering

T

he school has earned much praise and enjoyed a reputation for ambitious and rewarding music and drama programmes.

In music, the sheer breadth of opportunity on offer is underpinned through inspiring partnerships with the likes of Bath Philharmonia orchestra, the Bath Abbey choirs and contemporary composers through New Music South West. Together they provide pupils with almost unrivalled access to professional musicians and exciting performance opportunities far beyond what a non-specialist music school might typically deliver on its own. Recent partnership highlights include delivering only the second UK performance of Grammy-winning composer, Eric Whitacre’s Deep Field a few months after its Proms premiere.

School musicians polish both their technique and performance etiquette, participating in masterclasses with Bath Phil section leaders and world-class soloists such as Classic Brit winner, Jess Gillam, who spent a day with the orchestra last year.

The professional learning environment enjoyed by KES’ musicians is further enhanced by the school’s own Resident Composer, Mark Boden, who works with the pupils and writes music that’s tailor-made for the school’s ensembles and events. As Director of Music at KES, Rupert Drury, says, “Our pupils are fully involved with the creation and performance of new music.” Other initiatives are testimony to the ambitions of the department to provide a wider experience of the music industry. Pupils recently helped to write and perform their own musical and produced an associated album.

LONG KNOWN AS AN ‘ACADEMIC’ SCHOOL, WE’RE THRILLED THAT

our vibrant and dynamic performing arts programme IS GETTING THE

RECOGNITION IT DESERVES! This ethos of setting the music programme within a wider context than school, is similarly echoed by the drama department. Students perform at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and participate in the National Theatre’s Connections initiative.

The drama productions are known for their innovation and contemporary style using puppetry, dance and ensemble work to retell classic plays.

The department recently staged a Kneehigh Theatre-style version of The Caucasian Chalk Circle, while last year’s Jungle Book saw parkour and physical theatre take centre stage. As Sarah Bird, Head of Drama notes: “Our productions

aren’t your typical high school musical fare but aim to challenge and stretch our talented performers both in terms of staging, content and style.”

Not content with standing still, the drama department has gone from strength to strength in recent years.

Alongside enviable GCSE and A-Level success that has seen their work used as exemplary examples by the exam board, ever greater numbers of pupils audition for a part in school productions, and the LAMDA programme has quadrupled in size since its introduction two years ago.

A new music school is a longer-term ambition with planning at the very early stages of development. kesbath.com

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RISING STAR OF THE YEAR ROEDEAN

Maria Paduroiu, 18, came to this quintessentially British boarding school in East Sussex from Romania after winning a scholarship Can you tell us a little about how you got in to Roedean?

I loved my school back home. I’d been enrolled for six years before I left. I was studying on a maths and computer science programme in a class with some of the best students I’ve ever met. However, the political system in our country was deteriorating by the day, and my parents and I knew that I didn’t want to stay.

So with the help of one of our closest friends, Marlen, who was advertising the HMC scholarships, I applied.

Did you have any reservations about attending a UK school?

I knew nothing about boarding schools and I’d never heard of one that was just for girls before. As someone who grew up with two brothers and in a co-ed school, the fact that I was going to be surrounded by just girls scared me a bit.

I knew it’d be a challenge to move to a school with such an impressive history, but I was so excited to be a part of this legacy that my nerves didn’t matter.

Was it hard to fit in at school?

I was the only Romanian girl, and everybody was extremely smart and talented, so I felt a bit out of place for

a while. That was until I joined all my extracurricular clubs and got to know the girls in the boarding house. Once I started enjoying new things, such as badminton or the cookery classes and I saw how welcoming and understanding my teachers were in class, I understood that there’s no need for me to try and be like everybody else.

Did you make friends quickly?

When you live with someone and you have to share a bathroom or a kitchen, it’s impossible not to talk. I’m known for talking a lot, so it wasn’t hard for me to start the conversation! I’m really happy to say that the friends I made there will always be part of my life. Roedean is like a big family.

Can you tell us a little about your role as Charity Prefect?

As the Charity Prefect, you have regular meetings with charity representatives from each year group and together we choose charities that we feel need help.

After choosing local and world charities, we plan fundraising events for them.

What do you like most about living in Britain?

WE’RE DELIGHTED THAT ROEDEAN HAS WON THIS AWARD AS we have so many rising stars here! WE’RE THRILLED THAT MARIA’S ACHIEVEMENTS HAVE BEEN RECOGNISED. 50

INDEPENDENT SCHOOLS OF THE YEAR 2018

Definitely the people. Everyone’s so kind and I’m still not used to it. I’ve met so many selfless people that would do anything to help someone else.

I also love the scenery. Brighton is one of the most beautiful cities in the world, in my opinion.

Where are you at university?

I chose Lancaster University as my home for the next three years. I think I stayed in the south for long enough, so I want to give the north of England a chance! roedean.co.uk

22.6% GCSEs at Grade 9

Outstanding facilities and new all-weather pitch

Aug 2018

23.7% A* at A Level

ROEDEAN Genuinely holistic – girls are creative, confident and curious

40% Scholarships for all areas of specialism available

OPEN DAY 610 girls on roll – up from 360 over 5 years

Easy access from London – under an hour by train

SAT 11 MAY A top all-round experience, all in one place For information or to book a place, please contact Diana Banham: dba@roedean.co.uk www.roedean.co.uk

Tu r q u o i s e The Turquoise Holiday Company