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Our view
This unpretentious prep wears its merger with Charterhouse lightly; it’s still very much its own school but the partnership nevertheless sees around a third of leavers heading off to the prestigious senior school. Popular with London families looking for a more laid-back vibe than the bunfight of the capital, it’s easily commutable and offers acres of space for children to be children in.
Where?
There’s something refreshingly normal about Edgeborough: no intimidating mile-long drive, no OTT bells and whistles and nothing particularly snooty about the place, despite home being a great Victorian pile stacked with wood panelling and original features. Set just outside the Surrey market town of Farnham, surrounded by 50 acres of manicured gardens and more rough-and-ready woodlands, the estate was once owned by newspaper magnate and Daily Express founder Sir Arthur Pearson. After it became a school in the 1930s, it expanded to include functional add-ons. The nursery and pre-prep sit in cosy timber lodges with veg patches and views out to the beautiful grounds beyond.
Head
Head Daniel Cox arrived from Lambrook in early 2022, where he was deputy headmaster and a member of the executive leadership team. Young, approachable and a forward-thinking educator, he sees his and the staff’s role as being ‘guardians of childhood by being facilitators of learning’. It’s an admirable mission and coupled with the school’s strong values of ambition and humility, aiming for the stars but keeping your feet on the ground feels like an achievable goal for all.
Mr Cox wants to ensure each pupil’s time at Edgeborough is filled with fun and adventure. He hopes to send them on to senior school with an ‘Edgeborough tool kit’ as a legacy, so that they know how to learn, make friends and navigate difficult challenges. A real family man (his two daughters are at the school), his fun and enthusiasm are infectious and he’s clearly loved by pupils, staff and parents alike.
Mr Cox will also be responsible for the delivery of ‘The Edgeborough Vision’, a go-getting, inspirational and far-reaching roadmap extending from pastoral care to physical infrastructure that demonstrates how carefully this already-thriving school is shaping its long-term future. Pedestrianisation of the site is one of his initial areas of focus, while other developments include a creative art hub at the centre of the school and repurposing changing rooms into music practice spaces.
Admissions
Edgeborough is proudly inclusive and non-selective. Pupils are welcome to join in any year group, provided there’s space, but it’s Reception and Year 3 that see the largest intakes. Around 80 per cent of Year 6s stay on with a few new joiners in Years 7 and 8. Prospective parents should book in for a tour – then, if they like what they see, children are invited back for a relaxed observation day where staff can note a child’s interactions, parents get the chance to chat to the head and everyone can ensure they feel it’s a good fit all round. All a far cry from the bunfight of the London preps.
Academics and senior school destinations
‘Pushy’ isn’t part of the deal here, and while children do very well, academic results aren’t seen as the yardstick of success. Small class sizes mean SEN problems are picked up swiftly, and clever cookies are earmarked for the future scholars programme. The newly launched scholarship programme allows pupils to nominate themselves or to be nominated by teachers, with scholars benefitting from a additional opportunities to be academically stretched by their teachers alongside tailored enrichment activities.
Reception and Years 1 and 2 are based in a series of smaller buildings on one side of the site, with their own dedicated play areas and entrance. Towards the end of Year 2, children begin to familiarise themselves with the larger site by moving out of their classrooms for specialist lessons.
Years 3 and 4 are based in the lovely stable block with a central courtyard and pupils are taught by specialists for music, drama, art, D&T, sport, French and Spanish. English, French and maths are set from Year 6, when pupils also start learning Latin and classics. Pupils in Years 6, 7 and 8 use iPads for some work; these devices are purchased by parents through the school. Best of all, there’s no Saturday school, so at the weekend, school runs are swapped for lie-ins.
Common Entrance is well prepared for, and the school uses the more skills-based Pre-Senior Baccalaureate framework, which focuses on the active development and assessment of six core skills: communication, collaboration, leadership, independence, reviewing and improving, and thinking and learning. It’s about giving children the tools for learning, enquiry, collaboration, pastoral and emotional skills, social skills and problem-solving rather than ensuring they know certain topics. Year 7 and 8 pupils have a staff mentor to set them targets and establish a coaching programme spanning all areas of school life.
Leavers take core subject exams in the summer and then spend their final few weeks on a leadership programme. As Edgeborough is part of the Charterhouse family, plenty of pupils head over there at 13, but many also go on to an array of top day and boarding schools; in 2024, pupils went on to 17 different schools, a third to Charterhouse and other destinations including Cranleigh, Lord Wandsworth, Prior's Field and Wellington College. Among the leavers there was a haul of no less than 21 scholarships.
Co-curricular
Outside the classroom, there’s heaps of drama – it’s part of the core curriculum right through the school, and every pupil gets the chance to enjoy the limelight on stage or with lights, props and staging. The school’s Dunbar Hall Theatre is impressive, complete with a lighting booth. On our visit the Year 5s were staging a riotous The Pirates of the Curry Bean, and the Year 7s and 8s were rehearsing for Matilda. They’re a talented bunch – last year the school won the National School Theatre Award's best school play award.
Expect masses of music, with five choirs plus the chamber choir (who toured Holland last year). Years 2 and 3 all play the violin and recorder in class, so everyone learns to read music, and musicians progress to an impressive paperless music-tech vibe in the older years, making soundtracks for videos and rocking their lessons with headphones and onscreen keyboards.
Sport is big, inclusive and timetabled from nursery, and there are no stereotypes here – girls are just as likely to be found knocking about with a cricket bat as they are leaping around on the netball court. All children are coached by specialists from the outset, and there’s no shortage of space, with an abundance of pitches, Astros, cricket nets, an outdoor pool and a fantastic cross-country course that cuts into meadow grass before dropping into the woodlands that roll away behind the main school. Fixtures are competitive, and every pupil has their place in a team. Pupils have been busy in recent years across a range of sports adding silverware to the trophy cabinet, and dance is gaining pace – pupils can take lessons in ballet, modern, tap and street, and secure a slot in the school’s annual summer arts festival.
Art and D&T are both suitably impressive and even relatively young children can have a crack at batik, ceramics, printmaking, needlework, woodwork, computer-aided design, metalwork and 3D printing. Year 3 upwards learn touch typing (a very sensible move, especially given the IT-based teaching from Year 6), before moving to Scratch for programming in Year 4 and web design, app design and stop motion animation in Year 8, which is all part and parcel of teaching these bright young things the skills they need for life beyond the classroom.
Clubs include everything from cooking and coding to LAMDA lessons, and there’s a huge emphasis on fresh air: think den building, outdoor cooking and nature trails. Younger children can stay at clubs until 5.50pm, and pupils from Year 4 can stay for wraparound care and activities until 7.30pm from Monday to Thursday. Residential trips start in Year 3 with one night camping on the school sports fields, Years 4 and 5 go off site, Year 6s go to the Isle of Wight, Year 7s head off to France and Year 8s travel to Wales as part of their end of year leadership course.
Boarding
Boarding begins in Year 5 with weekly and flexi options – most pupils do anything from one to four nights a week or opt into the odd B&B night. Bright, cosy dorms sit at the top of the main house and flexi boarders keep the same bed each week. Christmas parties and dorm decorations are among the amusements, with swimming in the summer. Boarding DOJOS awards can be earned for kindness and anyone who wins 30 gets a coveted golden ticket which allows them to invite a friend over to board for the night or share a pizza dinner for ten. Year 8s have their own common room which they are very proud of. There are 55 beds available, and the infectious boarding bug seems to gather momentum as the year goes on – by the summer term, every bed is usually full.
The optional wraparound care is superb. Day children can be dropped off for breakfast at 7.45am before parents dash off to work in London (this is commuter-belt territory) and scooped up again after supper and activities.
School community
This is a small, tight-knit school, meaning staff know their pupils inside out, and there’s no danger of any pastoral issues being missed. Deputy head pastoral Nick Thrower runs a tight ship, and as well as heads of section and a wider pastoral team, there are also seven separate pupil-led school councils, meaning that every voice can be heard and acknowledged. There’s no head boy or head girl; instead pupils apply to be part of leadership teams, including wellbeing, pre-prep, boarding, pupil voice and prefect.
Anti-bullying ambassadors, a week-long wellbeing festival and pastoral tracking mean that this community has well and truly got each other’s backs. The four much-loved international students staying at Edgeborough during their gap years take on big brother and sister roles, and are involved in every aspect of school life.
Edgeborough is a hit with London exiles, and the community is broadly local. Just like the school, families are traditional but not stuffy and prioritise childhood over pressure. There’s a lot of diversity, which creates a strong community, says Mr Cox. ‘I am very fortunate to have the parental body I have,’ he tells us. ‘There is a good whole school mindset.’ The parents’ association organises events throughout the year for those who want to get involved, with fundraising for pupil-selected charities part of their remit.
And finally...
This is a happy school full of happy children. Pupils are encouraged to go for their dreams, but in a sensitive, unpressured way – and learning how to face challenges and failures is all part of the excellent holistic education here.