St Edward's Oxford A GSG School

Curricula

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

Sports

Rowing

What The Good Schools Guide says

Warden

Since 2021, Alastair Chirnside, previously Harrow deputy; before that, Eton, as head of year, head of classics, housemaster. Hasn’t strayed far from his own beginnings: Dragon, Eton (king’s scholar) and Merton College, Oxford, where he won a congratulatory first in classics and French and a half-blue (lightweight rowing). Quick stint as fund manager at Schroders before returning to the fold. Now back in Oxford, this time with tweenage daughters at the Dragon (one joining Teddies imminently) and wife Zannah, who works in communications team.

Aims to foster ‘scholarship, excellence and a culture of service’ at Teddies, hitherto known more for its friendliness than any of the above. ‘A standout headmaster,’ parents say. Clever, professional (‘it never slips,’ we hear), doesn’t miss a beat – happy talking to mere mortals too, responding thoughtfully to our questions. Scholarly, but not lofty – and very nice. He’s ‘pushing up standards’, parents tell us, ‘ripping the school into shape’. Has reformed curriculum, senior management and houseparent teams, tightened up free time. Has also got people talking, including a few unsettled old guard who thought it was ‘fine before’. And yet – hey presto! – applications are up up up. Families turning up in their droves (and their Land Rovers). Parents either delighted (‘thrilled we got in!’) or nervous (‘we’re terrified our youngest’s not going to make it…’).

Getting pupils out and about: ‘We’re in a city, not down a tree-lined drive,’ says warden. They’re ‘spreading their wings’ through Teddies Collaborates, with year 12s volunteering at local primary schools, museums, food banks, shelters. Of course, Teddies has always been urban, rather than the stately-home-and-a-few-hundred-acres model (‘Being edge-of-town means it’ll never be too wow-factor, and I like that,’ says one mum), but town relations used to be more about pubs than primaries; life here is much more wholesome than it was.

Vision is for Teddies to be UK’s ‘leading co-educational boarding school’, extending to academics, commitment to service, facilities, teaching and the rest. ‘It doesn’t mean getting the best grades’ – it means being innovative, outward-looking, brave. Newsletters are packed with good ideas and explanations of their rationale (parents praise excellent comms). A big ambition and an enormous job, but the new warden is all guns blazing. Reader, take note: Teddies is no longer your insurance.

Entrance

There are 155 year 9 places: 65 per cent offered in year 6; 25 per cent in year 7; 10 percent in year 8. Siblings very welcome, though they’ll need to clear the same hurdles: ISEB pre-test in year 6; interview and activity day for those invited. Interviews are carried out ‘blind’, so the interviewer, a senior member of the academic team, has no information other than the applicant’s name. School’s own papers for later registrations. ‘Children are getting better scores and interviewing extremely well,’ says school, forcing ‘difficult decisions’ in recent years; but ‘don’t confuse increased interest with a different approach to admissions’ because they’re ‘categorically not’ looking for anything new. Simply supply and demand: combination of weekly boarding and new warden has piqued the interest of parents hungry for another credible co-ed option.

Ten spaces at 14+ and 60 at 16+. Online adaptive test, written subject papers and an interview for year 12 candidates. Again, competition tougher than it was.

Exit

Majority to Russell Group: UCL, Bristol, Manchester, Durham, Exeter and Edinburgh all popular. Steady handful to north America or mainland Europe. Two to Oxbridge in 2023. Just under 10 per cent leave after GCSEs.

Latest results

In 2023, 62 per cent 9-7 at GCSE; 48 per cent A*/A at A level (82 per cent A*-B); average IB point score 33. In 2019 (the last pre-pandemic results), 53 per cent 9-7 at GCSE; 45 per cent A*/A at A level (79 per cent A*-B); average IB point score 34.

Teaching and learning

‘They needed to raise their game,’ we were told by lots of parents, and Mr Chirnside’s on the case. New optionality within year 9 (Shell) curriculum means that newbies tailor their timetables, allowing for more time per subject. Metacognition, thinking skills, presentation etc built in from the off and expectations set high. Praise for ‘inspirational’ teachers: ‘He pays attention because they’re brilliant.’ Maximum 20 in lower school classes.

Into year 10, Pathways and Perspectives courses run alongside GCSEs. They’re going ‘incredibly well’. Topics are modern, relevant and (whisper it) fun, things that teenagers really want to learn about like sustainability, the ancient world, sports science. We’d take ‘jewellery and entrepreneurship’ in a flash, particularly having seen the dedicated studio. More than 75 per cent of pupils take at least two – school says they are ‘more demanding’ and that imperfect work can be graded very highly because metacognition ‘is woven through it’; that said, pupils produce ‘amazing work’ when not constrained by GCSE mark schemes. Parents love them, too, not least because they ease year 11 exam burden. Curriculum now allows for triple science as well as GCSE computer science.

IB and A level peacefully coexist; school recognises that they suit different learning styles. Apparently not a case of the clever ones doing the IB, and take-up evenly split. Pupils need a 7 at GCSE in proposed A level subjects, 8 if it’s science or maths, a bar which worries some existing parents. No one’s pushing STEM here, or not at the expense of the other bits anyway: classics ‘core’, design ‘huge’, languages ‘not under threat’, with two-thirds of sixth form learning them (partly thanks to IB requirements, but still…). Academic expectations rising but stuffiness is not: IB dance newly introduced alongside A levels in computer science, textiles, politics and psychology. Maximum 14 in sixth form classes but most much smaller. New St Edward’s Fellows – Oxford postgrads – spend a few hours a week at the school, ‘inspiring interest beyond the curriculum’.

Approach to homework tightening up: prep timetable reintroduced and prep time newly ring-fenced. ‘This is standard practice,’ warden (rightly) points out, ‘giving pupils a window within which to get their work done so that they have time for other things.’ Shift in emphasis worries a minority of parents whose children are less academically inclined, though as new cohorts move through the school, expectations and routines will bed in. ‘We’re not changing the ethos, just putting more structure around it,’ he says (and, as a happy coincidence, more maths prep might get done). Indeed, it’s ‘not a school that grinds you into total misery,’ says one mum, and Mr Chirnside’s addressing of the ‘laissez-faire attitude’ that used to characterise academics is no bad thing. Parents appreciate ‘immaculate’ reporting home.

Learning support and SEN

Just over 20 per cent on SEND register, majority SPLD or ADHD. School investing in this currently: some parents frustrated at lack of support provided in the past. Mr Chirnside’s response typically pragmatic: ‘I’m not surprised if some have found fault with our provision,’ so ‘we’re doing vastly more than we used to.’ Department has been refocused – now learning support rather than learning development – ‘because they should be delivering help and support’, rather than that responsibility falling solely on teachers. New head of learning support appointed and is building specialist department with ‘more horsepower’. Department working more closely with prep schools and parents before children arrive and meeting regularly with pastoral and academic teams to discuss individual progress.

One-to-one or small-group EAL support available to handful who need it.

The arts and extracurricular

Stunning facilities for music and the arts. ‘They have lifted aspirations,’ says school, and we can see why: Olivier auditorium hosts 1000 people, as extraordinary a space as we’ve seen in a school (no-one would dream of sticking gum under those seats). Ogston music school another purpose-built beauty, all Scandi chic with wood cladding. ‘Music everywhere, all the time,’ say parents: regular music socials; recent production of Chicago delivered much razzle-dazzle; electric guitars out in force for recent LGBTQ+ history month gig. North Wall Arts Centre runs as a charity – another super space which Teddies shares with professional theatre, dance, comedy and music, and exhibitions. Challenging, relevant pieces – parents describe ‘spectacular’ Othello, rewritten with a girl cast as the tragic hero, balanced by crowd pleasers like Sweeney Todd. High-profile guests (Sir Nicholas Hytner and Dame Darcey Bussell both recent visitors to the North Wall); pupils collaborate with their technical staff when working backstage. A real boon.

New St Edward’s Award captures every aspect of school life; pupils opt to pursue Blue or Gold each year. Components for service, academics, leadership allow pupils to set themselves targets and track their progress. A helpful way to structure expectations, opening up conversations with parents – Is Johnny turning up to chess as per his targets? – and allowing school to celebrate all those bits that can otherwise go unnoticed outside the classroom. Lots of confidence-boosting opportunities: ‘He’s really quiet and has never been chosen for anything, and for the first time someone’s given him a shot, given him the chance,’ says a grateful parent.

Varied speaker calendar – John Simpson, Louis de Bernieres – and a bucketful of interesting, varied opportunities which pupils actually enjoy. Very little boys vs girls on the extracurriculars – ‘boys do the arts, the ballet, the music without being labelled as sissies,’ says one parent. Teddies a real winner on this front.

Sport

Rowing very successful – gold and silver at recent world championships – with rowers biking up through Port Meadow to boathouse. Rugby (contact or touch), netball, football, squash, badminton, sailing, swimming, cross-country all within curriculum. Cricket (‘brilliant’), athletics, tennis in the summer; recently celebrated first ever girl to make a century for the school. Newish director of sport stretching and professionalising to make Teddies more competitive in the major sports. Plenty of participation, too (‘Even the nerds get a fixture,’ says proud E teamer).

Recent introduction of football as a main team game for girls and boys in all year groups was the culmination of much debate. ‘They love it, it’s really sociable,’ says one parent, though others concerned that it’ll stretch good athletes thinly. Nonetheless, ‘great positive energy’ in sport generally, we hear. Big plans afoot to add to existing facilities, which are already good enough, if not yet state of the art.

Boarders

Full-fat boarding if you want it: more than 80 per cent of pupils there for at least six nights a week, but there’s the option to go home for Saturday night, and lots do; 16 per cent from overseas. Shells in dorms of four, then pairs in years 10 and 11 and singles in sixth form. ‘Masses going on’ at weekends, everyone agrees; on any given Saturday there’ll be oodles staying for house dinner, say, or to see an ABBA tribute band headline the Olivier Hall (in fact, Swede Dreamz’s gig was open to families, too – there’s your reason to shortlist Teddies, if ever you need one). Everybody goes home, or to guardians or friends, for leave weekends – one per half term.

Officially, no such thing as the sporty house or the musical one. ‘They have quite individual characters, though,’ parents reckon – worth digging a bit on this when you come to decide. Relationship with the HM very important, though every parent we spoke to raved about theirs.

Day pupils have a space in a boarding house with lots staying until 9pm on a weeknight – those that take advantage of everything that’s on offer come home to sleep and that’s about it. Most live very locally.

Ethos and heritage

Our story starts in the tenth century, when St Edward the Martyr was murdered at Corfe Castle by his stepmother. Having offered our hero a glass of wine and a kiss (it had been a long day’s hunting), Queen Aelfthryth had him stabbed in the back by her servant. A sorry tale, still commemorated by the school’s cup and dagger emblem, though thankfully it hasn’t dampened pupils’ enjoyment of a good knees-up; plenty of parties (‘not horrible ones,’ parents tell us), plenty of jollity, plenty of being a teenager. School’s advice in run-up to Christmas was spot-on: ‘When all goes well parties are fun and a very good thing… And with due care and attention they almost always do go very well.’ This is a happy school which doesn’t take life too seriously: ‘We’re so pleased because she just has more of a laugh,’ says one mum whose daughter joined from a high-octane day school.

Centred around a handsome 19th-century quad, a Narnia tucked behind residential streets and shops. Woodstock Road divides campus in two: sports facilities and some boarding houses accessed through an underpass. ‘Quad side’ feels secluded, original neo-Gothic architecture working beautifully alongside sympathetic modern development. Charming chapel in one corner; tiny stained-glass window devoted to Kenneth Grahame depicts one of his children’s stories (alas no Ratty or Mole).

Mr Chirnside’s study quiet and comfortable (‘v nice sofas and lamps,’ we noted, clearly feeling those to be important matters); his two big glossy Labs swing their tails as they potter to and fro. School feels very sociable and warm; certainly the first time this reviewer’s been made a cuppa by the head’s wife in their kitchen. Indeed, parents gush about dinners hosted by the Chirnsides – ‘everything was nice, civilised, informal’ – allowing them to meet each other. Pupils needn’t feel jealous: boarding houses being overhauled one by one. We saw Apsley, which had a touch of gentlemen’s club about it with its leather armchairs and piano in the corner: all characteristically tasteful. House kitchen spotless. Main dining room food gets mixed reviews (for the record, we enjoyed our salmon and noodles). Silver lining? ‘He’s learnt to use a toaster and a microwave.’ Deliveroo kept busy.

Parents universally told us that they sent their children to Teddies because they reckoned they’d be nicer people for it: and what greater compliment? ‘They emerge as lovely humans,’ says one mum. ‘At Henley regatta, people come up to them and say, “Good luck, Teddies!” because they’re just great kids,’ says another. Indeed, we’ve long had a soft spot for the school universally known by its childhood nickname, a school for good eggs, albeit occasionally those with a twinkle in their eye. Teddies was going to be okay in life, even if it was headed for a C in its GCSE physics. Is it growing up, getting all serious on us?

Pastoral care, inclusivity and discipline

Wellbeing a key focus. Mr Chirnside has already invested in a new head of wellbeing; ‘The depth wasn’t there, they’ve acknowledged that they need the resources,’ parents say. ‘We’ve been so impressed with the HM, the matron, the pastoral care,’ says one family; ‘school is talking more about roundedness,’ says another; ‘they were really helpful when he was heartbroken for the first time.’ New wellbeing curriculum supported by housemasters and housemistresses and tutors, ensuring plenty of space for those difficult conversations. ‘A culture of acceptance,’ we hear, ‘relationships between pupils are natural and inclusive.’

A positive place. School gets ‘balance between elite and fun,’ parents tell us. Lots of praise for effort from cheerful staff: ‘He gets these emails saying great job – wow, he never got those at his old school’; ‘My son’s brainy but a bit anxious – he is flying being near the top of the pack,’ says another.

Discipline a hot topic. Warden has arrived with high expectations and ‘totemic’ (his word) new policies. Clampdown on mobile phones (‘parents really like new rules, children really don’t,’ he says, comfortable that views on the matter will vary) see Shells going cold turkey, other than at weekends, in first term. Nokia handsets available for those that want to call home – aim is to encourage engagement with school life, not to create misery. Access to Summertown restricted: ‘It’s in their long-term better interests,’ school explains – and most parents welcomed the idea that their teenagers would be hitting the tennis courts rather than Tesco (plenty of opportunity for that, too). Housemasters ‘who were running a social club’ have been moved along, we heard. Opinion divided, from ‘things were getting out of hand’ to ‘it’s a shame they can’t sneak off to the pub anymore’ via ‘it’s a bit sergeant major!’. More reciprocity to sanctions: damage school property and you’ll find yourself picking up litter. ‘We’re just bringing Teddies into line with where it needs to be in the modern world,’ says warden. Changing a culture takes time: give it a couple of years and incoming cohorts won’t know any different.

Pupils and parents

Majority from Oxford, London, home counties; 40 nationalities represented. Coach service scoops up boarders in south Kensington and more at Beaconsfield. New routes being introduced from Dulwich, Putney, Chiswick, Maidenhead. Less rarefied than some: one parent’s claim of ‘almost a grammar school feel’ seemed a bit of a leap, but we saw what she meant. Blingy? Not really. Glossy? Yes, a bit, but frankly who doesn’t enjoy champagne and a branded toffee apple on bonfire night? ‘It’s a special place that doesn’t attract alpha parents,’ says one, delighted to find it ‘quite low-key, really’. ‘Pretty normal’ mix, says another, ‘in that some people have a castle, but most don’t.’

Is Teddies cool, we wondered? It’s what we’d heard. The warden smiled: ‘If by cool you mean popular and in demand, then yes.’ Mullets recently became so popular they had to be banned: irony alive and well. Lots of cool cats amongst alumnae: actors Sir Laurence Olivier, Emilia Clarke (Games of Thrones – though school production of West Side Story makes it onto Wikipedia), Florence Pugh (Little Women); Jon Snow (journalist); Kenneth Grahame (author of Wind in the Willows).

Money matters

Push on means-tested bursaries aims to have 160 pupils receiving significant financial support in the coming years. School works with Springboard charity too. ‘It’s a very grounded community; he got scooped up by it,’ says one parent. Fees comparable with similar schools; day fees may seem steep but don’t forget you’re getting everything that boarding offers except an actual bed.

The last word

Potent IB/co-ed/weekly combo has been turning heads for a while, of course; a civilised location, not too muddy and halfway between Notting Hill and Daylesford Organic, holds more appeal post-pandemic; and now, a visionary warden with a serious CV who’s giving the place a good shake-up. We think this could be a watershed moment for our loveable old pal, the beginning of a bold new era. Just don’t forget us, Teddies, when you hit the big time; after all, we’re right behind you all the way.

Special Education Needs

We have a small Learning Support department (one full-time member of staff and one part-time). Learning development at St Edward's takes the form of coaching, guidance and advice for all pupils on all learning challenges they face. There is a strong culture of tutoring, coaching and excellent pastoral care at the school which is designed to address the individual needs of all pupils.

Who came from where