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Founded in 1820, Wellington College Prep (formerly known as Eagle House) is one of the oldest
prep schools in the UK and it’s not hard to see why it survives and thrives today. Set in 32 pretty acres surrounding a grand Victorian former hunting lodge, it is a forward-thinking, unpretentious place, holistic in approach, allowing plenty of tree climbing and outdoor exploring while maintaining an excellent academic record. Kindness, respect and courage are the trio of school values and children are expected to really take ownership of all three as they make the most of everything this ‘have a go’ environment has to offer.
Where is Wellington College Prep?
Sitting on the Berkshire/Surrey border on the outskirts of Sandhurst, Wellington College Prep's acres of woodland and not-too-manicured playing fields are home to 380 day pupils and flexi and weekly boarders. The main house is surrounded by an eclectic collection of buildings, from classroom blocks to the smart Golden Eagle Centre, with an impressive sports hall and performing-arts studios.
The school recently cut the ribbon on its swanky new music school, an outdoor ‘Ozone challenge area’ and totally refurbished pre-prep, adding a new Early Years space, brilliant outdoor play and learning areas and even a mini food tech area for the smallest pupils.
Head at Wellington College Prep
Ed Venables took over as head in September 2023. His wife Kate teaches at the school, their three children were all pupils here and with over a decade of experience in key roles at Wellington College, this is a head who knows his turf from every angle. He’s also au fait with the world of corporate finance so it’s safe to say that as well as understanding his school, he also knows firsthand what life requires beyond the campus. Ultimately, he sees the role of the prep as ‘building character’ and it’s ‘Wellington Prep’s strong and happy culture that encourages children to be individuals,’ he says with sincerity.
The re-brand to ‘Wellington College Prep’ in 2024 has led to a hugely beneficial re-assessment of the relationship between themselves and the College and one that we found emphatically echoed when we spoke to the head of Wellington College, James Dahl. Whilst it’s not considered a ‘through-school’ as half the prep pupils fly elsewhere for their secondary education, the name change has been a catalyst for a more advantageous partnership. Making the best of everything the college has to offer, from facilities (which they utilise already) to forging links with the health centre, liaising over the curriculum, sharing best practice with professional coaching courses for staff and generally seeking to maximise on the opportunities afforded by the links with Wellington College.
He’s evidently proud of everything his school has to offer (numbers in the prep have grown this year despite the climate) but it’s the pupils of whom he is proudest. Soaking in the sights of the annual whole school ‘Make a Difference Day’ he witnessed older pupils encouraging their younger peers to participate in various activities built around the theme of ‘courage’, embodying the endeavour and togetherness that feel central to the ethos here.
What is the admissions process like at Wellington College Prep?
Entry is non-selective (except for entry into Year 7) and pupils arrive at any time from three years old if a place is available. That said, it can be tricky to get into Year 5, as parents want to bag places before pre-assessments loom. With some 25 per cent of pupils leaving at the end of Year 6 for 11+ entry into a small number of local senior schools, entry is actively encouraged into Year 7. Register by the December of Year 6.
Academics and senior school destinations
Ed Venables weaves both fatherly care and City Trader ambition into the curriculum here. He is big on values and character, but he is also acutely aware of the potential impact of technology on pupil’s learning and their futures. ‘I want to be at the cutting edge, but I also want to recognise humanity and raise children who can work, empathise and communicate with people’. How does he achieve all this? Exemplary teaching with a constant eye on enhancing the pupil experience.
A recent initiative has seen staff complete a foundation coaching course enabling them to use age-appropriate prompts, techniques and resources to better communicate with every pupil and get to the heart of exactly where they need help. Similarly, a new centralised reporting system will bring safeguarding, commendations and academic reporting into one dashboard, ensuring a totally comprehensive picture of each child and using AI to spot emerging trends or analyse anomalies. As well as charting pupils' progress from a standardised national curriculum respective, Wellington Prep also tracks and assesses pupils in relation to their own individual abilities and compared to their specific cohort of peers. Crucially, this forward-thinking school offers parents the opportunity to see the data in advance of parent’s meetings so they can digest it and come prepared with tailored enquiries which quickly get to the heart of what is working well and where parents and teachers can work together to support a child better. Such detailed analysis also means that pupils are focused on working to their best of their own ability rather than competing with their peers. It’s a tech savvy belt and braces that takes Wellington’s existing classroom teaching and personal pastoral care to another level.
Years 3 and 4 enjoy a fully refurbished and dedicated space with retractable walls which allow them to seamlessly interchange between class learning and group activities, whilst Years 5 – 8 are introduced to the privilege of their own Microsoft Surface Pro.
Wellington College Prep's internal Learning for Life programme, Curriculum 200, aims to develop learning skills rather than endless testing, with a focus on extended projects and classroom-learning skills. Common Entrance is out (unless a family specifically requests their child is prepped for it); instead, pupils from Year 5 onwards follow a modular curriculum system aimed at igniting passions and creating meaningful cross curricular learning, and senior schools are delighted by the more independent learners coming their way.
Reading is a big thing here: there’s a lovely bright and airy library, and the school is rightly proud of its excellent biennial literary festival, where pupils from Wellington College Prep and other local prep and primary schools get to meet such superb children’s writers as Chris Riddell, William Sutcliffe and Jacqueline Wilson. Saturday school is still a firm fixture for pupils in Year 5 and up.
Wellington College takes the top spot as a senior school destination with between 50 and 60 per cent of pupils heading there. Bradfield and Lord Wandsworth College also take podium slots, but pupils also regularly go on to Marlborough, Eton, Radley, RGS Guildford, Sherborne, St Edward's Oxford, Downe House, St Mary's Ascot and St George's Ascot.
Co-curricular
As with most boarding preps, pupils take part in sports every day with at least 4 ½ hours spent doing outdoor education, games or swimming each week. Boys play half a term each of football and rugby before Christmas, followed by hockey and then cricket in the summer term. Girls play netball, hockey and cricket with girls football creeping in and gaining momentum. We hear rumblings that a new swimming pool may well be on the cards.
While keen rugby players might prefer a school where their game gets a larger slice of the pie, and super-competitive types might not get the airtime they might elsewhere, sport is for all at Wellington Prep, which includes fielding mixed-gender teams. That said, as well as bringing their inclusive attitude, pupils often bring home the silverware too (we hear Lambrook, Cheam, Hall Grove and Edgeborough are the biggest rivals), and do very well in national competitions. The school also has the advantage of unfettered access to the stonking facilities at Wellington College, including racquets courts, a golf course, real tennis, Astro and sports fields. The children we met gushed about the opportunities on offer: ‘you can’t not like sport here, as there are so many different options to pick from’, said one.
A big, big nod must go to the music department, especially now that the new Music School building is open. The eight fab practice rooms, two teaching rooms and a small performance space mean budding young musicians are more than well catered for. Nearly 100 pupils sing in the senior choir, locally as well as on international tours, with an impressive repertoire mixing modern and traditional. Over 70 per cent of pupils learn an instrument, with peripatetic teachers heading over from Wellington College. There is also an orchestra, chamber choir, flute group and harp group.
Drama is another hands-down winner, with a number of children signing up for
LAMDA exams
and up to three productions on the go at any one time (Year 7s and 8s perform at Wellington College's professional grade theatre to give them a feel for the West End), plus there is an annual trip to Edinburgh to perform at
the Fringe.
Art is part and parcel of life here with a huge art room bursting with clay and pottery work and boasting three new 3D printers. Our visit coincided with a lesson for a group of children from the local primary – a partnership which Wellington College Prep takes very seriously.
As a further development to the all-important character education, the school has joined forces with an external company who will work with children in Years 3-8 to develop a set of values and behaviours which will come together to form a ‘wheel’. Pupils will learn resilience or empathy for example as they progress through the school, understanding how to develop these skills and demonstrate them in everyday life. Teachers will recognise and acknowledge where children are demonstrating these values and where they may need more help.
Boarding at Wellington College Prep
Boarding (a mix of weekly and flexi) is popular but not compulsory, with space for 60 pupils from Year 3 up. There are nearly 30 full boarders with the remainder taking the flexi-option and the school operates a weekend-in and weekend-out pattern (fortnightly boarding), with boarders able to stay in school for a seven-day and then a five-day stretch – in practice, boarding is 2 to 6 nights a week.
Pupils sleep in bright and spacious single-sex dorms at the top of the main house (which helps with the real home-from-home feel), but all gather together in the funky newly renovated common room, which is a delight – it’s just off the main building’s double-height, stained-glass, firelit front hall. You can just imagine those choristers at Christmas lining the sweeping staircase and carolling their hearts out. Phones are a no-go on the school site apart from for full boarders who are allowed them for a short time in the evenings (Year 8 boarders are allowed the additional privilege of toast and hot chocolate).
School community
The school’s weekly boarding provision is to thank for a recent influx of west London families; pupils can hop on the minibus back to the big smoke every Friday afternoon. There’s also an extensive minibus route (shared with Wellington College) around Berkshire, Surrey and Hampshire. The pre-prep has attracted a lot of interest from families considering private education for the first time and pre-preppers are now absorbed into the house system from the get-go so they can be part of the community-galvanising and cheerful rivalry too.
Parents tell us that school comms have improved under Mr Venables’ watch and pupil voice is high on the agenda with several school councils, an updated prefect system and a ‘feeling safe’ survey which canvasses the opinions of even the tiniest pupils.
And finally...
Traditional but not stuffy, popular, forward-thinking and not overly polished, this is an exciting school with a head who embraces AI and sanctions the building of a dedicated wellbeing hub in the same breath. Wellington Prep delivers the care and guidance that children need today in order to develop the skills and attributes they will need for the future.