SUFFOLK

Summer Fields School

Summer Fields School is a boarding and day school for boys aged 4-13, set in more than 70 acres of stunning grounds. With highly dedicated staff and a variety of co-curricular activities, pupils are encouraged to not only thrive academically, but also widen and develop their passions, skills and interests. As a result, Summer Fields’ students have an outstanding record of winning awards and scholarships to top public schools like Eton, Harrow, Radley, Stowe and Winchester, among others. www.summerfields.com

Old Buckenham Hall

Old Buckenham Hall is one of the country’s leading co-educational day and boarding schools for children aged 2-13 years. Celebrating record boarding numbers, OBH offers the highest academic standards and unrivalled co-curricular opportunities, all underpinned by exceptional pastoral care. Based in 90 acres of idyllic Suffolk countryside, it is a very special environment for children to begin their educational journeys.

Recent sporting successes include County Hockey Champions, Suffolk LTA School of the Year and IAPS Swimming champions. OBH is school that believes in children being children, removing distractions like mobile phones, OBH specialises in developing character, which is far more important www.obh.co.uk

Surrey

Aldro School

Aldro is a co-educational day and boarding school for approximately 200 children aged between 7-13. Nestled in the quintessentially English and very beautiful village of Shackleford, Aldro lies just 30 miles southwest of London and is in easy reach of both Heathrow and Gatwick airports. With full, weekly and familyfriendly boarding, Aldro welcomes children from all over the world, as well as those looking for an idyllic country education away from the capital and many who join us daily from the nearby towns and villages. www.aldro.org

Edgeborough School

Edgeborough is an award-winning, co-educational independent day and boarding school for pupils aged 2-13 years old, situated in the 50 acres of beautiful countryside just outside Farnham, Surrey. Edgeborough’s ethos is that happy children thrive in a warm and kind environment where opportunities are abundant. Edgeborough prides itself on finding talent in each child that is recognised, nurtured and developed to create motivated, confident, independent learners. Kindness, happiness and respect for others are at the heart of everything. Emphasising a happy, family atmosphere, Edgeborough fosters all-round development and a balanced, first-class education. Key entry points are Reception, Year 3 and Year 7. www.edgeborough.co.uk

Sussex

Brambletye School

Brambletye School is a coeducational day and boarding preparatory school for pupils aged 2-13 in the Sussex countryside. It was founded as a small boys’ boarding school in Kent between the world wars, and has since moved to West Sussex and become coeducational. From Year 3 to Year 8, boarders can stay at school all week with the option to go home after matches on a Saturday, returning to school on Sunday night or Monday morning. If the weekend activities appeal to them, they can opt to stay in for the weekend. Weekends at Brambletye are the times when children really have the opportunity to bond with each other, either during their downtime or during the extraordinary activities organised for them.

www.brambletye.co.uk

Cottesmore School

Cottesmore School is an awardwinning academic boarding prep school for boys and girls in West Sussex, less than an hour from London. Cottesmore is one of the few full boarding co-educational prep schools in the UK and has been preparing children for major

SPOTLIGHT: SANDROYD PREP, WILTSHIRE

public schools since 1894. It provides excellent preparation for senior boarding schools who share Cottesmore’s belief in nurturing a rounded, dynamic individual. The school believes that endeavour and fun are the most important elements of intellectual life, and that success follows an explosion of discovery and purposefulness.

Leavers’ destinations include: Eton College, Downe House, Harrow, Cheltenham Ladies’ College, Radley College, Benenden, Winchester College, Wellington College, Marlborough College, Charterhouse, St Edward’s and other top schools. www.cottesmoreschool.com

Wiltshire

Sandroyd School

A hidden gem in Wiltshire

A parent describes Sandroyd as: “...one of very few true FULL boarding schools where friends will be present at weekends and overseas boarders are not left languishing by themselves for numerous nights per week.”

Sandroyd is an exceptional boarding prep school, where a modern approach goes beyond accommodation, creating a supportive and enriching boarding experience which allows children to grow. Boarding is at the very heart of our education; with full and flexiboarding options available, as well as the ability to be a day child, we give families the choice to find a solution which suits

Cumnor House

Cumnor House Sussex is one of the country’s leading independent prep schools for children from the ages of 2-13. Situated in the heart of the Ashdown Forest, Cumnor lives by its motto: ‘Aim High, Be Kind and Dare to be Different’. The school places the child at the centre of all it does, looking each day to help them become the very best version of themselves. The unique Cumnor Foundation offers talented children access to a free independent school education from the ages of 8-18. www.cumnor.co.uk

Handcross Park School

Handcross Park School is a coeducational day and boarding school for pupils aged 2-13. Boarding is run by houseparents Mr. and Mrs. Carter, creating a supportive family environment that promotes independence as well as a strong sense of belonging and a homeaway-from-home feeling. Boarders at Handcross Park benefit from the academic support of the Boarding Tutors during supervised Prep sessions, as well as the opportunity to take part in a wide range of exciting evening and weekend activities to make the boarding experience educational, social, busy and, most importantly, fun!

www.handcrossparkschool.co.uk them and their child. At present, over 70% of the Prep School are full boarders and 89% board at some stage during the week, testament to Sandroyd being a considerably happy, full boarding school, which offers a ‘home from home’ feel.

We have four homely boarding houses - Rockies, Atlas, Alaska and Himalayas - with common rooms that are cosy and inviting with age-appropriate activities. There is a mixture of downtime and action-packed activities for evenings and weekends, with the most-loved being the dog walks, bike rides, laser tag, pyjama breakfasts and Sunday roasts, all emulating home life.

According to one parent: “The children enjoy it so much they experience FOMO and now want to return early from exeats and half terms!”

Located in over 500 acres of fields, woods and parkland, there’s plenty of space to play, make memories and friendships here that last a lifetime.

Don’t just take our word for it, we were awarded Boarding School of the Year 2023.

EMILY COLEMAN Marketing & Alumni Manager

www.sandroyd.org

Bradfield College

A home from home

Bradfield College provides an outstanding education for life, equipping the young people in its care to flourish personally and professionally and be a force for good in the world. From the boarding house, games field and chemistry lab to the debating chamber and Greek theatre, its pupils grow in confidence and resilience. Through living in a diverse community and through outreach partnerships beyond it, they become more open-minded and develop communication skills. Through wholehearted curricular and co-curricular engagement, Bradfieldians learn the importance of enjoying learning, of physical and mental wellbeing and of creativity, whilst developing their powers of inquiry and innovation.

Boarding life at Bradfield is intended to feel like a natural extension of family life at home, with a high standard of pastoral care and support. All pupils are under the care of a Housemaster or Housemistress, their day-to-day mentor and guide, who is responsible for looking after them throughout their time at the College. Boarding is a popular choice at Bradfield, with four girls’ houses and seven boys’ houses, allowing for a large yet close-knit boarding community. First years also have their own separate boarding house, allowing them to settle into boarding life before joining their peers in the senior boarding houses.

One former pupil said of Bradfield: “The best five years of my life were spent here.” www.bradfieldcollege.org.uk

Downe House

A modern boarding experience

Downe House is one of the top allgirls’ boarding schools in the UK, offering a world-class traditional independent education with a modern twist. With a focus on excellence and the individual, girls are encouraged to make the most of the exceptional academic, co-curricular and enrichment opportunities on offer and to create their own paths, authentic to themselves.

Supported by personal tutors, girls excel not only in their studies but in Sport, Creative and Performing Arts and Music, going on to study at the top universities in the world. A Microsoft Showcase school, girls are equipped with outstanding digital skills, preparing them for a fast-developing modern workplace.

www.downehouse.net

TURN BACK TO PAGES 40-42 to read more about Downe House

Eton College

Founded in 1440, today Eton College is one of the most famous schools in the UK. Eton remains committed to an ethos which: “encourages creativity, individuality, innovation and enjoyment through a broad vision of education based on wide-ranging academic and co-curricular opportunities.”

Eton has over 25 boarding houses, each home to 50 boys (ten from each year group). This system allows boys to form tight friendships with their peers, whilst also benefiting from the advice and friendship of older pupils. www.etoncollege.com

SPOTLIGHT: HEATHFIELD SCHOOL, BERKSHIRE

Heathfield School

Happiness and wellbeing www.heathfieldschool.net

Heathfield School is a dynamic girls’ day and boarding school located in 36 acres of grounds in Ascot, Berkshire. Their focus is ‘Girls First’, which is why exceptional opportunities are created for pupils both inside and outside the classroom. Heathfield puts happiness and well-being high on its list of priorities, and that’s part of why pupils’ academic success is so outstanding: in 2022, 100% of A Level students confirmed places at their first-choice destination. Heathfield pupils benefit from a remarkable 4:1 pupilteacher ratio, allowing individualised attention and support for each girl to thrive.

Heathfield offers day, weekly and full boarding for its pupils. The school believes their boarding system, living and working together, teaches empathy, respect, independence and self-confidence. On the weekends, there is a busy and well-structured age-appropriate programme of sports and activities. The co-curricular programme is central to life at Heathfield, with over 40 clubs and activities available. Girls in Forms I to III choose at least three activities a week, whilst girls in Forms IV, V and the Sixth Form are encouraged to participate in/organise after school clubs as well as following their own tailor-made programme in preparation for ‘life outside the school gate’.

One Heathfield parent said: “Heathfield does what it says on the tin and celebrates every girl’s unique qualities, encouraging effort and uncovering talent. It is a jewel of a school”.

Leighton Park School

Leighton Park School, located in Reading, Berkshire, is a co-educational day and boarding school for students from over 20 different countries aged between 11-18 years old. The school’s distinctive ethos, which is based upon Quaker values, enables students’ outstanding academic achievement and pastoral care. The site’s stunning location in 65 acres of parkland provides an enriching learning environment for students, where they can live, breathe, study, learn, grow and mature in an oasis of calm, while still being close to Reading town centre, just 25 minutes from London.

www.leightonpark.com

LVS Ascot

LVS Ascot is an independent coeducational day and boarding school for pupils aged 4-18. The award-winning school enables students to exceed their personal expectations by providing a rounded education, balancing academic excellence with co-curricular activities such as sports, performing and other creative opportunities. The spacious 26acre site houses four boarding houses, as well as all the facilities for the Infant & Junior School, Senior School and Sixth Form, located a short distance from London. Boarding facilities are modern and well-equipped, with strong pastoral care, supporting pupils to thrive in the boarding environment.

www.lvs.ascot.sch.uk

Queen Anne’s School

Queen Anne’s is an inspirational day and boarding school for girls aged 11-18 just 40 minutes from London. It stands as a beacon of academic excellence and outstanding pastoral care. The school’s pioneering education and rich co-curricular offering prepares girls for the challenges of the modern world. Tradition meets modernity in all aspects of learning here: while honouring the importance of writing and dexterity, Queen Anne’s embraces innovation such as Artificial Intelligence in learning and the use of digital devices. It inspires girls to explore their individuality, free from gender stereotypes.

www.qas.org.uk

St George’s Ascot

St George’s offers flexible boarding options with flexi and weekly boarding alongside full boarding. Flexible boarding gives parents the opportunity to choose the nights that fit best with any school activities or their own commitments, and adapt their choices during their child’s time at school. Many families use our daily and weekly bus services, combining some days travelling on the bus and some nights in the boarding house which can increase as a pupil goes through the school, offering a truly bespoke approach to boarding.

www.stgeorges-ascot.org.uk

St Mary’s School Ascot

Academic excellence

St Mary’s is an all-girls’ Roman Catholic boarding school in Ascot, Berkshire, for ages 11-18. With around 380 pupils, the school houses a warm community which aims to help each student reach their full potential. The school is proud of its tradition of academic excellence as well as its array of cocurricular activities on offer. As a Roman Catholic school, the Chapel is at the heart of life at St Mary’s, the school motto is ‘Ad Maiorem Dei Gloriam’: a Catholic education means fulfilling human potential, not for self-aggrandisement, but ‘for the greater glory of God’ and for the benefit of others.

Though they are a full boarding school, there are a few places available for day pupils living nearby. Girls share their boarding areas with other girls their age, so there are very strong relationships within each year. In Years 7, 8 and 9, girls get to know each other through sharing with other girls. Most girls also share in Year 10, and then all girls have their own room in Year 11.

Although year groups live separately, other year groups are always nearby, and strong friendships are formed between girls of all ages, through shared interests, societies, clubs and mentoring systems that involve girls from all year groups.

One parent said: “I would definitely recommend this school to anyone.” www.st-marys-ascot.co.uk

SPOTLIGHT: WELLINGTON COLLEGE, BERKSHIRE

Wellington College

Planning for the future

Wellington College, located in Crowthorne, Berkshire, is an excellent co-educational day and boarding school which seeks to enable its 1,200 students, aged between 13-18, to help serve and shape a better world. Life at Wellington College is underpinned by its key values: kindness, courage, respect, integrity and responsibility. With both A Levels and the International Baccalaureate on offer for students, academic expectations are high, and the school’s sporting excellence has an international reputation.

The curriculum at Wellington College is currently undergoing changes: each subject taught at Wellington is being encouraged to develop a stand-alone course to be taught within the GCSE scheme of work, to ensure that not all learning is equated with assessment. Unique to Wellington, these courses will establish links within and between subjects, making sure the curriculum narrative is structured and connected.

In addition, ‘Fragments’ is an academic extension course being offered as an alternative

Truro School

Truro School offers a distinctive boarding experience amidst Cornwall’s stunning landscapes and extensive coastline. Voted ‘Boarding School of the Year’ Finalist in the 2023 Independent Schools of the Year Award, the school offers an inspiring environment that celebrates academic excellence alongside personal growth. Students live in three closelyknit houses, providing a family-like to the Higher Project Qualification for all Year 10 pupils. It will allow pupils to study interesting and important topics that they may otherwise never encounter. Each course may move between areas of art, literature, technology, history, philosophy, music, architecture and so on, making connections between seemingly disparate areas of the formal curriculum.

One parent stated: “I have been mightily impressed [...]. Teaching is generally outstanding”

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO THEIR PODCAST www.wellingtoncollege.org.uk

Stowe School

Part of the Stowe Group, Stowe School offers boarding for pupils aged 13-18. With over fourteen boarding houses and two day houses, each with around 60 pupils, Stowe boasts a large and bustling boarding community. Stowe’s ambition is to create change makers, by “future-proofing pupils so that they are agile, ambitious and ready to face the challenges presented by a volatile, unstable, complex and challenging world”. Boarding is undoubtedly a part of this, as the house system allows pupils to find comfort and confidence in their House community.

www.stowe.co.uk/school atmosphere, with dedicated staff ensuring safety, wellbeing and academic support. Weekends and evenings offer exciting opportunities for boarders to join organised activities to explore Cornwall’s attractions or enjoy outdoor adventures including surfing, golfing, horse-riding, coasteering and more.

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO THEIR PODCAST www.truroschool.com

Redesigning The Future

Wycombe Abbey’s global vision

At Wycombe Abbey, we have a bold and ambitious vision underpinned by six strategic pillars, one of which - Global Awareness and Future Focus - aims to broaden horizons and prepare pupils for life beyond school. As a school with a rich history and an eye to the future, we face the challenge of balancing tradition with innovation, maintaining the traditions which support our values and identity while embracing the fact that the world and the way in which we educate children is changing rapidly.

We are fortunate to have an international and engaged parent community, who readily share insights from their own professional experiences. They remain abreast of the latest global discussions regarding education and are interested to hear how we are preparing their daughters for life beyond Wycombe, irrespective of the path their daughters may choose to take.

In February, I chaired a panelstyle conversation which considered the challenges that educators face as we prepare our pupils for a rapidly changing world and workplace. Our guests contained a wealth of experience: Baroness Rock (Member of the House of Lords and Chair of the Costain Group), Mark Steed (an experienced UK and International Headmaster), Rafi Azim-Khan (Head of the Data/Cyber and IP/IT Practices at an international law firm) and Morgan Dee (Director of AI and Data Science at EDUCATE Ventures Research). For over an hour, the conversation flowed as we discussed, amongst other topics, the most influential technological developments of the last two decades, the place for traditional education and whether this has fallen behind a developing jobs market, the value of schools fostering an environment which nurtures creativity and promotes collaboration, and the use of technology to help reduce the attainment gap/employability chances for pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds.

But, in the end, one of the key takeaways for me was Baroness Rock’s challenge: during this time of rapid change, how can we ensure we are more human, more empathetic and more inclined to give back to society to support those less fortunate than ourselves? More than ever, employers value skills and employees with empathy, integrity and humility. Problem solving, creativity and innovation, together with the ability to analyse and think critically, seem more important than subject knowledge. For educators trapped in a system where academic outcomes are key, finding the time and the space to develop both is the real challenge.

MR NICK WOODS Deputy Head (Strategy and Operations), Wycombe Abbey www.wycombeabbey.com

Blundell’s School

Traditional values

Blundell’s School is an independent co-educational day and boarding school located in Tiverton, Devon. They possess a strong academic ethos whilst also maintaining traditional values of family life, encouraging students to try everything in a quest to find their true passions and reach their full potential.

The school’s motto, ‘Non Sibi’, encourages three values: courtesy, selflessness and empathy, which combine to create a safe, caring and special atmosphere within the school community.

All pupils at Blundells, including day pupils, are assigned a Boarding House, which are central to life at the school. They believe that the house system helps pupils develop skills such as getting on with others, making conversation and studying independently, and values such as kindness, inclusivity, integrity and respect for others.

Regardless of whether a student starts at their PrePrep or Sixth Form, Blundell’s ensures that every pupil gets the complete ‘Blundell’s Experience’. They possess a strong academic ethos whilst also maintaining traditional values of family life, viewing education as a means of developing students into young men and women who are prepared to make a meaningful difference within their communities. The school motto, ‘Non Sibi’, encourages three values: courtesy, selflessness and empathy, which enables students to go on to enjoy lives of consequence and fulfilment. www.blundells.org

West Buckland School

West Buckland is a co-educational day and boarding school for students aged between 3-18, located on a stunning rural campus in Barnstaple. The school believes that academic excellence opens doors in pupils’ futures, and as a school they teach students to challenge their knowledge and develop as accomplished and wellrounded members of society who will have real impact. Pupils are encouraged to develop belief in their own abilities, make good judgements and take risks.

www.westbuckland.com

Bryanston is an award-winning co-educational school for ages 3-18, boarding and day, nestled in 400 acres of Dorset countryside.

We give our students the opportunity and self-confidence to become extraordinary.

Find out more at bryanston.co.uk or call our Admissions Team on 01258 484 633.