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Our View
It may be a relatively big school with a correspondingly broad range of opportunities, but there’s also a distinct family feel to Bromsgrove Prep. Pupils can start their journey at the pre-prep from age two in what one staff member describes as ‘a village school with incredible facilities’, before they move to the main school site for Year 3 and beyond.
Where?
This part of the school is based across two sites that are about five minutes from each other by car. The first, much smaller site accommodates the younger children from age two to Year 2, while the second shares the 100-acre site with Bromsgrove Senior and is home to Years 3 to 8. North of Worcester and east of Kidderminster, both are easily accessible by car (just off the M5) and have ample parking for parents, along with a school-bus service.
Head
Mike Marie is the capable, very likeable, committed and quietly understated head of Bromsgrove Prep. With nine years here (four as head) and as a father of two pupils in the school, he certainly knows his way around but he wears his experience lightly. His enthusiasm and passion for the joy and privilege of teaching pupils this age are evident. As a PE and maths teacher at heart, he has been greatly influenced by his wife’s love of language (she is an English teacher) and understands its power when used effectively. As an example, he intentionally puts the word ‘kind’ or ‘kindness’ into every chapel service or assembly as a way of embedding this overarching message within the school. He’s also careful to lead by example for his staff, ensuring that any ‘throwaway comments’ are positive, as it’s often this type of interaction that children ‘remember and hang on to’.
He is a big admirer of the great outdoors, so the beauty and impact of the school’s 100-acre campus aren’t lost on him – he’s even downloaded the wonderfully titled ChirpoMatic app to identify the birds behind the chirrups he hears as he walks about the extensive grounds.
It’s perhaps no wonder that such a pastorally focused educator finds it odd that some might regard him as a conventional headmaster. ‘It’s really not the kind of person I am – I take much more of a choice-and-objectives approach, asking questions about why certain things happened and what behaviours might have caused it.’
Mr Marie has particularly enjoyed overseeing a shift in pastoral provision that reframes the prep as an environment in which pupils are carefully nurtured, rather than as a pre-senior school whose role is to prepare them for what comes later: ‘It’s the longest part of a child’s school journey and one that also encompasses the biggest phase in their lives as they enter adolescence.’ He’s a very visible head, and leads Bromsgrove’s ethos of approachability by example, making himself available in the mornings and afternoons at either the prep or the pre-prep as often as he possibly can.
Admissions
‘Gently selective’ is the modus operandi here, and prospective pupils from Year 3 upwards sit Bromsgrove’s entrance exam. While there’s no specific academic testing for entry to the pre-prep, parents and staff will need to feel that it’s the right environment for each child – there are plenty of opportunities for parents to get a feel for the place with regular open days, and individual tours are warmly encouraged.
Academics and senior school destinations
There’s a lot of space at Bromsgrove, which is ironically one of the reasons it doesn’t feel like a big school, as children have more than enough room to manoeuvre in both their classrooms and play areas. The youngest pupils follow the EYFS curriculum with continuous provision, although by Year 1 they are already beginning to receive the more formal elements of teaching (to help them get used to sitting at tables) but with a very creative curriculum. Independence is important, and we noticed the reception children putting away their own beakers and rubbish after snack time (which took place with calming music and a video of sun-soaked lavender fields on the interactive board in the background).
There is specialist teaching for French, forest school, music and PE for the pre-preppers. By Year 5, every subject is taught by its own dedicated teacher and children move around the campus for lessons, as they will continue to do when they reach the senior. We loved the pre-prep’s wonderfully creative projects with a ‘stunning start, marvellous middle and fantastic finish’ that might see them researching a crate of animals (soft toys) that drop into their classroom, finding a dragon’s egg in the woods or creating their very own Natural History Museum, which parents and grandparents are invited to visit.
Year 6 study French, German, Spanish and Latin on rotation before choosing two to continue with in Year 7. The prep’s own facilities are excellent – the science labs are particularly well equipped, and the library is spacious and inviting. Prep pupils don’t have their own devices but instead have access to banks of school iPads when technology can offer a meaningful enhancement to their learning.
Most pupils are expected to go from pre-prep to prep and on to Bromsgrove senior, and most do (with a nice incoming cohort from Winterfold and elsewhere at Year 9 to keep it fresh). Pupils are very well prepared both academically and emotionally, with phased introductions to the senior-school facilities and classrooms, as well as Years 7 and 8 eating lunch at the senior school and wearing the senior uniform.
Co-curricular
The breadth of opportunity offered by the co-curricular programme comes up frequently in conversation here and it’s certainly one of Bromsgrove’s strengths. From reception to Year 2, all pupils have the opportunity to learn an instrument – cello, violin, pBuzz (a training instrument for brass) or toot (like a flute but with a recorder mouthpiece). Prep pupils have their music lessons over at the senior school and getting involved is what matters.
Art is also incredibly well catered for, with three studios and a dedicated D&T room – all offering a wide variety of options within the weekly timetabled lessons for Years 5 to 8. Again, breadth is the name of the game and pupils get to try their hand at ceramics, glass, textiles and fine arts, as well as woodwork, 3D printing and much more.
Drama, though, is the pièce de résistance, as the prep is home to the entire school’s stunning 300-seat professional theatre. Tiered seating surrounds the large stage area, and the floor-level seating can be moved to convert the space to an orchestra pit. Year 2 pupils were ramping up for their performance of Little Red Riding Hood when we visited, and the theatre also plays host to an annual ‘all-inclusive’ Year 4 production and a Year 6 play, as well as a performance for Years 7 and 8 that gives the children opportunities to work behind the scenes. Drama is on the weekly timetable throughout the prep, helping to develop skills in acting as well as public speaking, presentation and role play.
Bromsgrove has an excellent sporting reputation and while there is certainly no skew towards sport over other co-curricular pursuits, there is discipline-specific coaching in rugby, hockey, athletics and cricket from Year 1 and weekly swimming lessons for reception to Year 2. As well as the incredible facilities on site (everything you could want from indoor pool to floodlit Astro’s), the school also owns the nearby Ryland Centre, which has an athletics track. Pupils have regular games and PE lessons and there are fixtures for prep pupils of all abilities.
Extracurricular activities are the extra icing on this already wide-ranging cake, and even the youngest pre-prep children take part in a wide variety of clubs, from cello and fencing to story, dancing, mindfulness and gardening. Prep pupils are also strongly encouraged to try things they haven’t done before, which is achieved by teachers helping to steer them towards activities they might enjoy or that might positively challenge them – or through asking older pupils to peer-inspire the younger ones by talking about their own experiences. By the way, the school even has its own observatory for budding star-gazers.
Boarding
Boarding is on offer from Year 3, and all prep boarders make their home in Page House, adjacent to the senior houses and under the house-parental supervision of Mr and Mrs Lawton. Years 3 to 5 are escorted to and from the boarding house at the beginning and end of the day, while the older children are trusted to make the very short journey by themselves.
It’s either weekly or full boarding here, and the 90 or so prep boarders enjoy the perks of the biggest back lawn ever and Astros in their free time, as well as a schedule of activities for Saturdays and Sundays. Page House is incredibly well appointed and super-smart for these lucky youngsters, who are carefully looked after by a team of resident houseparents and non-resident house tutors, as well as the school doctor and a team of nurses in the on-site boarders’ clinic.
School community
‘Children need to be happy to thrive academically,’ says the head, and it’s a belief that staff here really take to heart. From the outset in the pre-prep, pupils use the My Happy Mind scheme to help them understand how their brains work and why things like breathing techniques can help them change the way they feel. A very open-door policy and the enthusiastic welcoming of parents and grandparents into school on a regular basis all add to the feeling that this is a family-friendly space.
There’s a pastoral support network for each child, as well as an anti-bullying team made up of pupils and staff mentors. Buddy boxes around the school are another means by which children can connect – they can simply drop a note into one of them if there’s something they want help to address. A new depiction of the school values is in progress, with a symbolic representation of a tree with a value radiating out on each branch from the central trunk of kindness.
Parents work hard to send their children here, and Bromsgrove strives to ensure that they are fully in on everything that makes the school special, creating a very cohesive community.
And finally....
A kind, experienced and thoughtful head sets the tone at this outstanding prep where top-notch facilities and an inspiringly creative and broad curriculum meet a village-school feel. It’s a big place but designed to make little children feel confident enough to fill it.