Open all
Our View
Sitting elegantly on Richmond Hill in a Grade II-listed, crenellated castle, Old Vicarage School (OVS) is an academically rigorous, forward-thinking and progressive all-girls’ prep – with a big dollop of fun always at the ready. We love the sound of the inaugural OVS’s Got Talent competition complete with judges wearing Simon Cowell masks, while the new ’50 things an OVS girl should be able to do before they leave’ list is a wonderful mix of serious and silly. For local families looking for an exceptional single-sex school for their daughters, this is a sure-fire choice.
Where?
It doesn’t get much dreamier than going to school in a white, fairy-tale castle complete with turrets. Inside are spacious classrooms, a library, dining room and welcoming hall. Outside is a small playground which has a marquee top until summer term so that children can play outside whatever the weather. Beyond the playground are music, drama, art and D&T rooms.
Richmond Park is just at the top of Richmond Hill, with Richmond station a quick 10-minute walk. Lots of pupils are local and walk or scoot to school. School minibuses currently bring in girls from Barnes and Sheen, and there are plans in the pipeline to expand routes to cover Chiswick, Kew, Teddington and Twickenham.
Head
Clare Strickland arrived in April 2023 with a wealth of experience; a history teacher by trade, she has been in education since 1993 and worked everywhere from St George’s School, Ascot, and Millfield to the Dragon School in Oxford where she spent 21 years and was deputy head pastoral. Warm and friendly, her door is always open to pupils, parents and staff – and she’s very easy to talk to. ‘I keep myself very much at the centre. I want to be a part of the fabric and operation of the building,’ she tells us. Mrs Strickland teaches history to Year 6 and takes tea with a small group every Friday afternoon. She’s passionate about making learning fun for the pupils and building their self-esteem and confidence. ‘I want the girls to come to school to enjoy learning,’ she says.
Admissions
The school is non-selective and the main entry point is at age three into the Little Vic Nursery – most nursery children stay on for Reception and there are between five and 10 places held for non-Little Vic girls. Siblings get priority and after this places are offered according to the date of registration. Occasionally spaces become available in other years and then prospective pupils will spend a morning at the school and sit assessments in maths and English. There is high demand for places and there are waiting lists across most year groups.
Academics and senior school destinations
Class sizes are capped at 16 and all the girls have specialist teachers for French, drama, PE, music and art. From Year 3, they move around the school and have specialist teachers in all subjects. Reasoning lessons start in Year 3, and once they reach Year 5, children are streamed into blue and yellow sets for maths and English according to ability, which come with no stigma. As one Year 5 pupil told us, the setting is for ‘those who get things and those who need more time to learn’. Spanish is also introduced in Year 5. A team of two teachers provide learning support individually and in small groups, both to boost learning and to stretch the academically gifted. Reception pupils also have forest school for two terms. All year groups have weekly library lessons and technology is used ‘to enhance learning only’, says Mrs Strickland. ‘We are honing in on traditional skills to ensure they are secure.’
Pupils are thoroughly prepared for the 11+. The head and deputy head both teach the girls so they know them through and through, and give parents as much time with them as they like to discuss senior school destinations. Most girls leave for top day schools, including Putney High, Godolphin & Latymer, LEH and Epsom College. Once exams are over, a comprehensive post-11+ programme, PEEP, includes: a weeklong Catalyst Programme created by Winchester College, which focuses on technology, philosophy and ethics; a change-makers project to improve the world and local community; an enterprise project called the Houblon Challenge where each girl is given £10 to make grow; and a citizens talk held in Richmond Park about how to keep themselves safe at senior school.
Co-curricular
OVS girls are a sporty lot, with weekly swimming at nearby Pools on the Park from reception (they’re currently English school swimming champions), hockey and football at Barnes Hockey Club, and netball, cricket, tennis and athletics at King George’s Field in Ham. From Year 3, there are fixtures against other London prep schools.
A lovely spacious art room sees pupils getting stuck into everything from painting and embroidery to clay work and D&T. Above the art room is the music room which doubles as a space for drama. Singing is big with a junior and senior choir – the school sings at the O2 Young Voices and on our visit pupils were off to the nearby Rose Theatre for a competition. Individual instrument lessons are available and there’s an orchestra, which with the choir opens the Richmond May Fair. A choir tour to Malta is planned next year. Drama is weekly (except for Year 5s who concentrate on the 11+), and from nativity plays in the lower school to spring concerts for older pupils, there are plenty of opportunities to perform. The Year 5s and 6s recently put on an evening at the French Café with sketches and singing all performed in French.
Clubs change each term with a huge array of activities on offer, including lacrosse, sewing, golf, an eco-warriors club and a school newspaper. There is an OVS award for the older girls and the Junior Duke Award for the younger years.
School community
Mrs Strickland is keen to embed wellbeing in everything the school does and pastoral care is comprehensive, with a fantastic communication platform for parents. There is a speech and language therapist on call, and pupils can get elected to be wellbeing ambassadors, with representatives in each year from Year 4. OVS’s values, CARE – curious, ambitious, resilient and empathetic – are at the heart of the school and there’s a real sense of kindness between the year groups; younger girls are assigned buddies three years older than them to do activities with, among them the annual Easter egg hunt and World Book Day. Mrs Strickland runs a breakfast club for Year 3s where pupils come on rotation to read a book over croissants, and a dining club for Year 5s where they have lunch with her in her study and learn how to speak around a table with a discussion card on the table to prompt them.
Parents are active, with a Friends of the Old Vicarage School group (known as FOVS) organising sales and quiz nights. They also organise regular whole-school walks around Richmond Park with prizes for dressing up. Many of the girls' brothers go to nearby Tower House boys’ prep and the two schools have close links, sharing speaker events, quiz nights and fundraisers.
And finally....
This school has clearly got the right recipe for delivering a stellar education. The impressive head is always searching for more ways to help the girls become confident young ladies, fun is intertwined with learning, and pastoral care is at the centre of everything. In the words of two Year 5 girls: ‘It is a really kind school, the relationships between the year groups are very powerful, and the teachers understand the pupils and take time to help you.’