Spratton Hall

The Good Schools Guide Review of Spratton Hall , Northampton, NN6 8HP

Our View

Set in 50 acres of attractive countryside, the main house around which the school has developed is a handsome 18th century building with Victorian additions, in particular a lot of brickwork. The gardens and grounds at Spratton are intelligently conceived and beautifully tended. To stand on the mound in the front of the house is to be astonished by the beautiful sweep of games pitches, tennis courts, Astroturf and grass athletics track. Nearer the teaching buildings a garden adjoins the science block and is stocked with suitable herbs and plants to aid academic research; another garden is for peace and quiet.

As far as facilities are concerned, everything looks bright and functional. The pre-prep is a delightful airy building with interesting levels and bags of space for running around; the science block is well equipped and encouraging, or so we thought. But it’s undergoing a complete make over in a building programme which includes a sports dome (completed 2010) with an indoor tennis court and moving on next year to a performing arts building. How does the school manage such expenditure in these hard times? ‘We own everything and owe nothing,’ says the head. Even so….

There is bags of music with endless orchestras and jazz bands, choirs and smaller groups, computers to aid composition and opportunities for performing in assembly and wider audiences. Lively art and drama with much involvement all round. A breath-taking library with a full-time librarian where, another example of the head’s attention to detail, even the chairs have been carefully selected to give a feel of encompassment and warmth. Lots of guest speakers and suitable activities with which to catch young book worms. There are no lessons on Saturdays but bags of matches with much success. Some parents told us that the selection of teams was a little static and that if your child hadn’t been selected early on in his or her career there wasn’t much chance of playing for the top teams; others disagreed. All talked of the competitive way in which Spratton Hall pupils approach their sport and their sporting behaviour, something not always shared by the parents.

This is an extraordinary school which would seem to be surfing the wave under its experienced and confident headmaster. He has assembled some outstanding teachers, has the imagination and financial back up to build new facilities and improve on existing ones, understands the necessity for good food (the lunch we had was excellent) and has set up a clearly delineated framework within which children can feel safe and appreciated. Some may feel that the organization is too anodyne, too predictable, too carefully constructed without room for mystery and muddle, barked shins and the tears of disappointment. Others will feel this is the ideal arena within which to learn and grow; in the words of the prospectus, to ‘blossom.’ Registration numbers for the next three years apparently suggest that most parents feel the latter. Anyone living within commuting range should certainly check it out. Not a school to be overlooked.

Head

Since 2004, Mr Stephen Player (fifties). Previously head of Brandeston Hall in Suffolk, where he was fully involved in coaching games and teaching English before his translation. Read Sports Science and English at Loughborough before taking his MA in educational management. It shows.

Initially his talk is of graph-filled, objective assessments of his SMT (‘outstanding’), the beauty and effectiveness of appraisals (parents are encouraged to contribute their ideas), attainment targets, and EYFs : jugfuls of jargon but always with an underlying sense of humour, a twinkle amidst the statistics. Ambitious for the school (‘I certainly have no thoughts of moving on’) some parents feel he has turned it into an academic hothouse. Mr Player’s response is that he believes in setting realistically high standards now that he has an excellent teaching staff in place and he wants the best for the children. He certainly believes in ‘celebrating the children’s work’: the walls are plastered with paintings, pictures, photographs and poems - NB the poeTREE - and to visit a classroom in the pre-prep with him is to risk a minor injury as budding scholars home in to show off their latest examples of joined up handwriting, coloured in drawings, arithmetical triumphs. The buzz is tangible. There’s a faint whisper of ‘cloning at Spratton’ in the Shires: Mr Player certainly believes in structure. For instance, boys and girls in the pre-prep and prep are told where to sit and always with a boy next to a girl (or the other way round). But within the ‘safety of structure’ there is much fizz and bounce. The variety of activities for which pupils are awarded their colours makes the idea of ‘cloning’ difficult to accept. Mr Player is an enthusiastic inspector of schools with an eye for detail but a manner which is quick to praise. The overall atmosphere is best summed up by the mum who told us, ‘the children are happy because they feel secure and know Mr Player and his staff care about them.’ No assessment of Mr Player is complete without Mrs Player who is head of the learning support department, rides with the children, clearly loves them and seems to have the enviable gift of eternal youth.

Entrance

‘We are selective but not overly,’ says the headmaster. No obvious formal assessment; more importance attached to the taster days: how the children respond to the novelty and how others respond to them. Will they fit in? Boys and girls may enter at any age and stage, providing there is room. Children are screened on arrival for any learning difficulties and those who need it are given expert help. Scholarships are not available but bursaries are. In terms of finance, there is little difference. Don’t be afraid to ask.

Exit

As might be imagined with a day school, most children exit to the usual local suspects: Oakham, Uppingham, Oundle, Rugby, Kimbolton etc though the head is characteristically active in getting around and widening the pool. Shrewsbury, Harrow, Winchester, Tudor Hall, Cheltenham Ladies get an occasional mention and a significant fact is that 60-70 per cent of children go on to board, so distance is not automatically perceived as a problem. The head is assiduous in trying to encourage parents to consider the right school for their child (‘parents don’t always understand that’) and he knows a lot of registrars and heads. He is also prepared to recommend a child leaving early if in his opinion Spratton is not turning out to be the right school. This has been occasionally misunderstood but the overall message is that the head is ‘approachable and empathetic.’ There is an impressive annual harvest of scholarships, many of them serious ones.

This school has not yet completed our SEN Survey

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