Brentwood School A GSG School

Curricula

International Baccalaureate: diploma - the diploma is the familiar A-level equivalent.

Other features

All-through school (for example 3-18 years). - An all-through school covers junior and senior education. It may start at 3 or 4, or later, and continue through to 16 or 18. Some all-through schools set exams at 11 or 13 that pupils must pass to move on.

UK Independent Schools’ Entry Test

Sports

Equestrian centre or equestrian team - school has own equestrian centre or an equestrian team.

Fencing

What The Good Schools Guide says

Headmaster

Since 2019, Michael Bond, previously vice principal (education) of Berkhamsted Schools Group. Classical studies degree from Liverpool and PGCE from Newcastle. Has taught at RGS Newcastle, Merchant Taylors’ School (head of sixth form) and Christ College Brecon (head of history and boarding housemaster). Much in evidence around the school, ‘eagerly chatting and engaging with students,’ according to parents who describe him as happy, kind, enthusiastic and personable, with ‘a visible passion for learning and his role as head’ and ‘a nice sense of humour’.

Hasn’t allowed Covid to hamper the implementation of his ‘overarching vision’ for the school which hinges on improvements to facilities (though ‘nothing is missing,’ he says), partnerships with other organisations and a boost to boarding and bursaries. Senior leadership structure has already been flattened and the opinions of all staff sought more frequently (‘If I want insight into an interviewee I always ask my colleagues in reception,’ says head). Long game is to ensure that the school’s 400-year-old values – ‘virtue, learning and manners’ – are not just posters on the classroom wall, but all-pervading. Policies have already been rewritten ‘through the prism of the values’, prospective staff now take part in an NSPCC-backed values-based interview, and there is a tangible shift towards ‘assuming a positive intent behind what people do and say’, gently encouraged by the chaplain-led Values Implementation Committee (perhaps a first for an independent school). ‘He has very much embraced the traditional values of the school with a more modern take and a fresher outlook for future betterment,’ approved a parent. ‘Culture eats strategy for breakfast,’ says head sagely.

‘Brentwood Online’ kept things ticking over very nicely during lockdowns and was, he grins, ‘the best INSET teachers could have had’. ‘They’re now completely au fait with technology and it’s changed the way we think,’ he says. Advances include use of technology for student engagement and in music teaching (school has a new recording studio thanks to the success of the Virtual Music Land weekly student concert broadcast on YouTube to great acclaim) plus more individual learning pathways.

Keen on football (‘a long-suffering supporter’ of Newcastle United), skiing and fitness. Married to Suzanne; they have two sons.

Entrance

Up to 200 places available for year 7, about 80 of which are secured by pupils moving up from school’s own prep. All take entrance exam in maths, English and VR. Some are interviewed. An additional 50 places available at sixth form – candidates are interviewed and must score 54-72 points from best eight GCSEs for IB; 50+ points from best eight GCSEs for A levels; and 36-72 points from best eight GCSEs for BTECs.

Exit

Around 80 per cent stay for sixth form. Durham, Bath, King’s College London, Nottingham and Birmingham all popular universities. Four to Oxbridge in 2023. Law and criminology are popular pursuits, as are business and economics. Sometimes a few medics (five in 2023). Four students took up places at top conservatoires in 2023: Arts Ed, The Dang, Wilkes Academy of Performing Arts and Künstuniversität Graz to study acting, musical theatre and music. One overseas in 2023 – to Kunstuniversität Graz to study music. Degree apprenticeships encouraged.

Latest results

In 2023, 57 per cent 9-7 at I/GCSE; 41 per cent A*/A at A level (72 per cent A*-B). IB average 36. In 2019 (the last pre-pandemic results), 62 per cent 9-7 at I/GCSE; 39 per cent A*/A at A level (67 per cent A*-B). IB average 35.

Teaching and learning

Teaching is on a diamond model – girls and boys taught separately in years 7 to 11, then mixed for sixth form (as well as in prep). ‘Classes are more relaxed if students feel they can be themselves during the early years of adolescence,’ believes head. ‘Our children have enjoyed the diamond model approach – single-sex classes to GCSE reduce the stress and anxiety of “performing”,’ a parent told us. Clubs and societies are mixed throughout the school, however, and ‘you can talk to whoever you like at break and lunch,’ pointed out our guide.

Although selective, this is no hothouse and there is a genuine emphasis on demonstrating real-world application of learning. ‘The aim is to ensure we teach the competences and content in traditional and emerging subjects and skills that won’t be replaced by computers such as problem-solving, enquiry-based learning, verbal and non-verbal communication, teamwork, independence and interdependence, critical thinking and so on,’ says head. Critical and creative thinking, as well as Global Perspectives, Human Universe and HPQ courses help develop transferable skills, while no fewer than three connected curriculum co-ordinators work with the director of innovative curriculum to come up with intentionally multi-disciplinary projects, such as year 9’s recent Dragons’ Den experience, which involved planning and pitching a new theme park, taking into account marketing, technology, sustainability and customer service – relevant and exciting all in one.

‘The quality of teaching is very high,’ report parents, and teachers go ‘above and beyond’, offering extension work and revision skills classes. Teachers are also praised for regular interactions with pupils outside the classroom – it’s not just about whether you’re in their class. From year 7, Latin and two languages (French or Spanish, and German or Mandarin) for all, with ab initio Italian offered from year 9.

Sixth formers choose from 26 A levels (in any combination), IB (full marks regularly achieved) or BTEC extended diploma programmes in sport or business (Russell Group university places secured by all takers so far). Students credit the diamond model for increase in girls studying economics and STEM subjects. ‘They ease you into making your own decisions from year 7 and as you move up there is a growing expectation for you to take responsibility,’ said a sixth former.

Educational visits and trips to far-flung places help ignite the spark – geographers to Iceland to examine the volcanic landforms, economists to Washington DC and classicists to Sorrento, Rome and Greece. Also curriculum-friendly optional classes including law, Italian, peer-mentoring training, sports leadership and cooking.

Learning support and SEN

Students (currently around 50) with needs including dyslexia, dyspraxia, ADHD and autism are supported by the learning and development team. Individual education plans, one-to-one tuition, subject support and lunchtime drop-in sessions all result in such ‘good and exceptional progress’ that they ‘sometimes outperform their peers’, noted the ISI on a recent inspection. EAL support by teachers who have lived and worked abroad – around 35 students currently benefit.

The arts and extracurricular

‘The school has a strong ethos of developing the whole person,’ say parents, who like the fact that even pupils who don’t consider themselves talented are encouraged to develop an appreciation of the arts. Well-equipped, cavernous design centre named after Hardy Amies (an alumnus, who also designed the school uniform) is a great base for arty types and offers some inviting nooks and crannies for A level artists to keep their work (though very tidy when we visited). Displays of superb artworks displayed both here and throughout the school, with a particular focus on watercolours and sculptures that would not look out of place in a commercial gallery. Next door are DT, ICT and food tech, where we saw students absorbed in thinking creatively, project-managing and seeking solutions – real-world skills.

Partnerships with elite organisations have given a big boost to performing arts. We lost count of the number of super-shiny pianos (thanks to Brentwood’s accreditation as a Steinway School) and there are several organs to be found too (aspiring university organ scholars, take note). Free loans of instruments tempt budding musicians (even French horn and double bass are having a resurgence here thanks to the ‘endangered instrument scheme’) and a collaboration with the Guildhall School of Music and Drama has brought conservatoire-standard strings teaching. Professionally run music recording studio has all the bells and whistles and is in constant use, including for a student podcast. School symphony orchestra, big band, choir and choral society all well attended. More than 60 concerts staged annually, involving over 300 pupils. Places at top music schools regularly achieved.

Creative and innovative drama productions – three a year – have recently intercut Macbeth with video clips of war in the Middle East, and staged Antigone as a student-choreographed modern ballet. Tap, jazz and street dance showcases too. Any of the numerous large spaces on campus can be (and are) turned into a venue, and there’s also the impressive 400-seat auditorium and superb Victorian outdoor stage, brought to the site in the mid-20th century from the ancestral home of school’s founder.

Very long list of co-curricular activities from Trivial Pursuit to Spanish film club (Cine & literatura), and students must take part in at least three. Talks by guest speakers invited by Sir Antony Browne Society are popular, according to our guide (a keen member) – hot topics include politics, finance and medicine. Outdoor education is engaged in with enthusiasm and makes the most of school’s green spaces. DofE popular, as is the 150-year-old CCF whose 500 members scramble through school’s woodland and take aim in the onsite shooting range. Community service (entered into ‘willingly’, confirms our guide) raises thousands for charities locally and internationally.

Sport

International reputation as a breeding ground for top sportsmen and women – certainly in football (Frank Lampard et al) but in other disciplines too such as rugby, hockey, cricket, football, squash, tennis, water polo, netball, fencing and athletics, to name but a few. Potential stars of the future are nurtured on the Brentwood School elite player pathway, while BTEC national extended diploma in sport develops vital vocational skills.

Every Saturday in term time around 400 pupils pull on a Brentwood strip and more than 100 school teams compete in inter-house and inter-school competitions, as well as at county and national level. Competition unashamedly important, but PE curriculum is designed to instil the habits of a healthy, active lifestyle.

Extensive on-campus sports facilities feature two neat Astros, acres of pitches and playing fields, comprehensive indoor sports centre, 25m indoor pool, fitness suite, gym, dance studio, glass-backed squash courts – oh, and a fencing salle. Brentwood School was an official training venue for the 2012 London Olympics and the 400m running track is a nice souvenir. Many school coaches draw on their professional careers (two fencing internationals on staff).

Boarders

International students account for around 90 per cent of Brentwood’s boarders, all fully integrated into day school life but who ‘go home’ to family-style boarding houses. Comfortable girls’ house in a quiet spot across the road from the main campus, while windows of the spacious boys’ house overlook the playing fields. Both have communal areas for study and relaxation and regular routines for homework and bedtimes. Caring houseparents keep parents in the loop, wherever in the world they may be, and happily organise weekend activities to suit boarders’ interests (competitions, cinema trips and shopping). Plans afoot for boarding expansion – ‘Flexi boarding might be helpful to more parents in future,’ hints head.

Ethos and heritage

Brentwood’s Weald Hall and land were bought in 1557, during the English Reformation, as an act of penance by one of Queen Mary’s magistrates, Sir Antony Browne. He, the story goes, felt remorse after condemning 17-year-old William Hunter to burn at the stake for his Protestant beliefs. A boys’ grammar school, principally boarding, was established there and in 1622 received its motto (‘virtue, learning and manners’) from the pen of John Donne, dean of St Paul’s. Girls were admitted into the sixth form in the mid-1970s and into the main school in 1988.

Only a few features survived the demolition of Weald Hall in the mid-20th century but the 75-acre site in the heart of Brentwood remains a significant landmark, just across the road from the town’s dramatic cathedral. Atmospheric Old Big School, built in 1568, still has the original front door (and intriguing century-old student graffiti) and remains in everyday use for lectures, meetings and discussions. There’s also a beautiful Victorian chapel dating back to 1868. Other buildings – generally of a more functional aesthetic – have been established at regular intervals since to accommodate various academic departments and in many cases are named for the worthy who cut the ribbon (performing arts in Wessex, declared open by the earl; science in Queen’s, self-explanatory). Mix of old and new lends the campus a relaxed, collegiate feel, with wide pathways and pockets of greenery dotted with water features (ducks and fish). Given the urban setting, an impressive amount of space both outside and in (rarely have we seen so many huge rooms, ideal for formal and informal gatherings and discussions). Pupils speak with great fondness for the school and its history; one told us of charming chats with ‘old Old Brentwoods’ (octogenarians) including a former naughty schoolboy’s tale of carving marks in the bricks of a school building with a coin – ‘the marks are still there!’

Notable former pupils include Douglas Adams, author of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy; Sir Hardy Amies, couturier and dressmaker; Lord Black, deputy chairman of the Telegraph Media Group (and chair of the Royal College of Music); Frank Lampard, footballer; and Jack Straw, former lord chancellor.

Pastoral care, inclusivity and discipline

A large school (over 1,100 students on roll) but with friendly small-school feel. Pastoral care is ‘very strong’, say parents – delivered effectively by form tutors, heads of year and deputies, a director of pupil wellbeing and non-teaching pastoral mentors. All are genuinely on hand to help, said our guides. ‘Our personal experience as a family is of kind and proactive support,’ one parent told us. ‘The school has put so much thought into the wellbeing of students, with a genuine understanding of current needs,’ remarked another, singling out for particular praise a card system that allows children with, for example, social anxiety to skip the queue for lunch without question, and classrooms organised to best suit individual learning styles.

Director of wellbeing gauges pupils’ opinions on topics such as sexism, racism, social responsibility, LGBTQ and environmentalism, and discusses the kind of support the school can offer. Very much a two-way street, with an explanation of the measures being introduced at management level, and pupils reporting back on the efficacy. Student Inclusivity Group considers the school culture and discusses seismic events in society. One morning per term is off timetable for The Big Conversation on a theme (recently racism, gender and sexism, homophobia and LGBTQ+) – an introduction of the key principles, followed by discussion. ‘This shows students it's fine to have different opinions,’ says head. ‘If you draw big enough circles you can sit within them and agree to disagree respectfully.’

Structured approach to discipline with ‘time to change’ a crucial rung on the sanctions ladder for the perpetrators of low-level misdemeanours who are required to spend 15 minutes completing a GoogleForm on the incident and why it was not acceptable and then to talk it through with the member of staff involved. ‘When youngsters make mistakes it’s so important to have a conversation about what they have learnt from the experience,’ says head, ‘it’s “black box thinking”.’ More serious transgressions attract a Saturday headmaster’s detention – Mr Bond comes into school to hold the discussion personally. Students with positions of responsibility also help to uphold standards of behaviour.

Pupils and parents

As they criss-cross the campus between lessons, students here are smiley, sociable and quick to engage in lively chatter. There is a laid-back air of self-confidence about many of them that can only come from feeling secure in their surroundings. Demographic has altered in recent years and ethnic diversity is now almost in line with the national picture. Parents mostly professionals, many City. Ten bus routes and the train line bring students from an hour’s radius encompassing Southend, Woodford, Ilford. Small number of international boarders mainly from eastern Europe, central Europe and the Far East. Friends of Brentwood School brings families together with a calendar of well-attended social events. ‘I feel the school invites the whole family to be a part of school life,’ a parent told us. ‘We have thoroughly enjoyed the experience and will miss it very much when our last child leaves.’

Money matters

‘Children of judges and those of mechanics and tradesmen should mix on equal terms,’ an early headmaster once commented, and this was once a direct grant school – so wide access is in the DNA. Scholarships include academic, art, chess, dance, drama, music (singing too) and sports. Typical fee reduction 10 per cent. Sixth form scholarships offered on the basis of performance in a two-hour critical thinking paper.

Over £2 million a year (from fees) spent on means-tested bursaries, some 100 per cent. School keen to further increase provision of transformational bursaries through its own charitable foundation and partnerships with organisations (such as current link with Guildhall for music and drama and local 11-16 schools). Wise financial investments top up the bursary pot. ‘We can offer children this life-changing education and by the same token children from privileged backgrounds benefit by not being educated in a bubble,’ says head. ‘Our bursary students are among the hardest working and are role models for all the others.’

The last word

No lip-service here, just an extremely well-resourced and well-run school with the wherewithal to instil a sense of integrity and personal responsibility into young individuals and encourage them to appreciate and capitalise on their many educational opportunities.

Special Education Needs

The Learning Development Department at Brentwood School aims to support those students who need additional help to access the curriculum fully and become more efficient and effective learners. The Department provides specialist teaching and resources. Throughout the secondary years, small group tuition, targeted intervention and English as a Foreign Language classes take place. International students are prepared for IGCSE and IELTS. Students with specific learning difficulties or other special needs are advised and assisted in all aspects of school life. The emphasis of the department is on developing independent learners, fully integrated into school life, assisted by specialist and subject teachers. 09-09