Holmwood House School A GSG School

What The Good Schools Guide says

Headmaster

Since 2021, Edward Bond, previously head of lower school at Haileybury where he taught for 20 years. In the (nearly) 100-year history of Holmwood, he is, remarkably, only the sixth head and the second with no family or previous connection with the founder. Educated at Wellington College, thence to Durham where he did his history degree and PGCE. More recently, he gained an MA in educational leadership at Bath. He was previously a senior examiner in history for the IB, as well as being involved in the IB history curriculum review committee – and he has experience of inspecting schools for the ISI too. A ball of energy, he is excitable and bursting with ideas. Currently teaches history – ‘and I might well teach maths next year’. Meets and greets pupils, often pops into classrooms, reads with the younger ones and has been known to play cricket in the yard with the pupils. Lives on site with wife Kathryn and their three sons, who attend a local all-through school. Loves reading (currently an Alex Gerlis spy novel) and sport (is a rugby coach).

Entrance

School nursery (on separate site) from 6 months old and a good clutch move straight up to pre-reception (on the Lexden site) or reception while others leave for local primaries. Majority join reception at age 4 and increasingly at 11 (especially since 2021, when the school started to expand to 16 – first year 9s started in 2023). Non-selective admissions policy and no formal tests at reception, but entry at 11 is through the school’s own entrance tests. Spaces usually available for the higher forms; numbers in years 7 and 8 hold up well.

Exit

‘One of the first questions some parents ask me is, “Do you prepare for grammar schools?” and the answer is yes,’ says head, with half the pupils heading off after year 6 to do just that (or to senior independent schools). Colchester Royal Grammar and Colchester County High School for Girls most popular at this point. They are swiftly replaced with new pupils. Rest leave after year 8 for the nearby day and boarding schools. Royal Hospital School and Felsted are most popular, followed by Framlingham, Ipswich School and King’s Canterbury. Other destinations include Ampleforth, Gosfield, Ipswich High, Rugby, St Mary’s, Stowe, Uppingham and Woodbridge. Likely to be a different picture in the coming years with pupils now able to stay on to do their GCSEs. In 2022, 14 scholarships at 11+ and 35 at 13+.

Our view

Set in a semi-rural pocket of north Essex (or ‘south Suffolk’) handily close to the A12 and two miles from Colchester. The only prep school in the area that offers both day and boarding options. ‘We are essentially a day school, with the opportunities of a boarding school, including occasional overnight stays,’ says the school. On the same site for a hundred years (2022 was the centenary), the school remains academically broad and prides itself on adapting to and understanding children’s needs. ‘We prioritise giving children ownership of their learning,’ adds the head, who got all the pupils to give a presentation to their mums and dads before the last parents’ evening ‘so they knew what their sons felt about their learning, ready for the discussion with the teacher’.

Extensive wooded grounds are pleasant rather than idyllic. Main building, used largely for administration, boarding and school meals, stands amid a sequence of functional ones – and two-storey buildings, set around courtyards and play areas. Much is made of the natural surroundings with well-maintained forest trails, outdoor classrooms and games pitches and running tracks as far as the eye can see. Prep school has its own adventure trail and an outdoor learning space called the Spinney.

The day starts at 8.25am (breakfast club from 7.30am) with teaching until 3.25pm or 4pm for all years. Pre-prep and years 4 to 6 can either go home then or opt for tea, prep and activities at school until 6.15pm, and this is popular with many on at least some days of the week. The later time is compulsory for years 7 and 8. Saturday morning school now ditched.

Houses are named after the elements and there are challenges and competitions, mostly charitable or sporting, all year round, notably the Songfest in the first term when everyone spends an hour learning a new song and an outside adjudicator is invited. Rewards system of golden awards and super stars for younger pupils and show-ups and show-downs (sounds more drastic than it is) for older pupils. Behaviour is very good and pupils are well mannered, opening doors and so on, in a relaxed, unforced way.

Pupils in reception get the newest premises, close by but separate from the main building. Lovely, large and well-equipped spaces for work and play are set within partly wooded grounds. The main pre-prep department (years 1-3) occupies a new(ish) two-storey building that includes a decent sized hall as well as a series of light, airy classrooms, though ‘we like being upstairs best,’ admitted our guides. Two forms in each year. French taught from nursery. Interactive and often messy learning right from the off to get kids switched on to their learning – ‘You want to get boys excited about, say, the earth so we get them making one out of clay,’ says the head.

Over in prep, Spanish is added in year 4 and there’s setting in maths and English from year 6. Spark programme in place for year 7s and 8s – focuses on getting pupils to think, analyse, reflect etc. Great enthusiasm for global studies, an amalgam of history, geography and RS: ‘We do all about life and death, battles, medicine, Joan of Arc, religions, everything!’ Support for SEN is a combination of classroom-based and one-to-ones (latter cost extra), with the new SENCo currently drawing up plans for ever more innovative ways of getting youngsters with eg ASD, ADHD and dyslexia to overcome learning barriers. The individual approach is praised by parents: ‘It’s about how can we help you be your best.’ School stepped up well during Covid, with a seamless move into online learning.

Sport is played on most days. Rugby, football, hockey and cricket for boys; hockey, netball and cricket for girls. Plenty of match experience. ‘It’s often the same people in the As but we all get a chance in matches as there aren’t that many of us.’ Twenty acres of the school’s extensive grounds are given over to sport, plus a vast sports hall and an indoor swimming pool. The school has the use of the on-site Lexden rackets club with its tennis and squash coaches.

Drama is a timetabled subject and several productions are staged annually by combined year groups. ‘We rehearse the play for a whole week when it’s our turn,’ a pupil explained. Year 8s have a play all to themselves. Parents feel these opportunities boost all-round confidence. ‘They learn to stand up in front of people and perform from an early age, so it feels natural.’

Music is taken seriously with everyone having the chance to learn a stringed instrument in class as a try-out, with the consequence that some continue learning. There are several choirs. ‘I joined the chamber choir because it goes on tour,’ we were told. There are orchestras for all abilities and everyone gets to perform in concerts throughout the year.

Parents are usually blown away by the art room – a huge, well-lit space with lots of room to spread out and get creative. There’s a kiln and DT area in an adjoining workshop, equipped to a high standard and individual workstations (fretsaws in action when we called). By the end of year 8 pupils have mastered electronic circuits, animation and food-wrapping projects and designed a building.

Enormous library with thousands of books and a balcony that seats at least 60 and is well used. Pupils have library lessons in the lower forms and it is used for supervised prep for all years. It is a year 8 privilege to sit on the red sofas in a corner of the balcony. The Jubilee Hall, used for daily assemblies and staging school plays, has tiered seating for 200, a foyer and exhibition space.

This is a school with an atmosphere. ‘Children feel safe and valued,’ a parent said, and there is praise all round for the ‘buddy’ system where older pupils act as a friend and guide to a younger pupil. ‘It’s a relationship that can mean a great deal on both sides.’ Form tutors, then the relevant head of ‘phase’, are the main points of contact for parents and in addition the school arranges regular consultation sessions. The emphasis is on keeping in close touch so that any emerging difficulties can be tackled early on. There is a variety of ways the school keeps in touch with parents (and vice versa): the weekly bulletin (need to know), newsletter (nice to know), email for particular information concerning subjects or year groups, as well as Facebook and Twitter. If all else fails, or there is a serious personal problem to be discussed, ‘pick the phone up,’ says school.

Boarders

Boarding – two nights a week maximum – available from year 4 with certain nights reserved for particular year groups or for a ‘themed’ night (Burns Night was a recent jolly). Particularly popular with year 7s and 8s, even more so since Covid. ‘Special nights are my favourite, all my friends stay then too,’ said a year 8 pupil. Parents appreciate the flexibility of the school’s offer, ‘especially when you have several children’. Boarders have their own games room with pool and ping-pong tables etc, but also use the sports hall and art and music facilities.

Money matters

Fees average for the area. Some means-tested bursaries available.

The last word

A small-school experience on a big campus, with extensive grounds and facilities that rival some secondary schools. Lots of parental excitement about years 9, 10 and 11 being added.

Special Education Needs

We have a specialist dyslexia unit comprising three full-time teachers and three part-timers. The children can be withdrawn from class for individual lessons and the staff also provide in-class support where necessary. Other members of the teaching staff have qualifications for teaching dyslexic children and the school, in general, offers full support.