Ashfold School A GSG School

Sports

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

Shooting

What The Good Schools Guide says

Headmaster

Since 2018, Colin MacIntosh, previously deputy at Beaudesert Park School. English at St Andrews, then to Shrewsbury School as chaplain’s assistant: ‘The plan was to stay for a year, but they asked me to teach some English,’ and now here he is, a few preps later. An easy chit-chatter, self-deprecating, teacher-done-good rather than greasy-pole climber: ‘I wouldn’t give myself a job now!’ he jokes of his younger self, having never actually done teacher training.

Well cut out for it, though, having boarded from 7: ‘Dad was in the army.’ Describes those staff as ‘amazing’ (he went from Foremarke Hall on to Repton); ‘It’s part of my job to give the children here equally brilliant memories.’ His study couldn’t be more prep school if it tried: a sumptuous Jacobean mantelpiece adorned by five shiny silver cups, weighty dinner invitations from senior school heads and a Union Jack, a couple of footballs balancing in the fireplace below. Parents describe him as ‘the classic English headmaster’. It follows, then, that, ‘It breaks my heart when I see prep schools going out of business.’ Pupil numbers now at 300, up on a couple of years ago; head feels ‘lucky’ that ‘we’re standalone’ whilst others are being gobbled by senior schools or private equity.

Less formal than it was, more family-oriented. Head ‘often pops up if everyone’s having a cuppa in the saloon after drop-off’, parents report. Big campout becoming an annual event: ‘On the grounds, bonfire, food truck, festival atmosphere,’ he says. Assemblies, based around a Bible story, bring school together. ‘I’ll celebrate anything: one child came first, second and third in the wonky veg competition; somebody else had won about ten swimming medals, she had so many that she looked like Mark Spitz [tanned and moustachioed 70s Olympian],’ he chuckles. ‘I like it to be something that amuses everybody.’ A good sport with a gentle sense of mischief, ‘always available to participate in any hairbrained idea that the parents’ committee have,’ says a grateful mum.

Lives on site with his wife, who’s the cover supervisor, and two teenage children, both at Bloxham (where he is a governor). Saturdays spent ‘watching them play sport’, Sundays at church in Long Crendon. Occasionally enjoys a ‘lazy morning with the papers’ – well earned, by the sounds of it.

Entrance

Intake into nursery or reception is first-come, first-served. For those joining later, taster day includes tests in maths and English; lots of those we met had come from village schools nearby. ‘Several’ year groups at capacity but places do come up.

Exit

Most leave at 13+, the biggest cohort heading to Bloxham. For single-sex, girls to Headington (some at 11+) and boys to Abingdon. Stowe the most popular boarding destination. Ones or twos to Cokethorpe, Kingham Hill, Marlborough, Berkhamsted etc. A couple of academic scholarships each year alongside a few more in sports (including Millfield recently), drama and DT.

Two or three leave at 11+ to a variety of places, some for local secondary or grammar. A few drop out before that stage, either leaving the area or moving to a bigger, more competitive setting.

Our view

Cor, blimey: Dorton House, the 17th-century mansion which Ashfold calls home, is a spectacular pile, Grade I listed no less. ‘Don’t walk on the grass!’ children hollered from the upper windows as we pulled up, their shouts gloriously at odds with the picture-perfect setting. Indeed, despite the fancy buildings you don’t need airs and graces to fit in here; one of Ashfold’s charms is how carefree the children are. ‘We had to replace the coving,’ says a staff member of the ornate ceiling above the grand wooden staircase, ‘because children kept jumping onto the landing above it.’

Classes throughout school no larger than 18, usually more like 14. Teachers say lessons are more interactive than they were, though we saw a bit of old-fashioned chalk and talk on our way around. Setting in maths from year 5 and across all core subjects from year 6. Currently overhauling academics in upper years, introducing creative forms of assessment (presentations, public speaking) and linking English with the humanities. One topic will pull together classroom learning, assemblies, displays around the school: year 6 were considering journeys when we visited, including Windrush, the industrial revolution and the movement of folk music. ‘It’s quite nebulous on purpose, we are all doing it already,’ school says, but ‘having a topic for the term focuses everyone’s mind.’ Common Entrance still there in core subjects – ‘It’s a rite of passage,’ says head – but school exploring alternatives with ISEB.

‘Parents want them to be stretched not pushed, they’re not looking for a hothouse,’ head says. Indeed, support for less academic pupils has always been a strength here; a cracking selection of graphic novels in the library entices reluctant readers. Some parents wish there was more extension and challenge for the most able. School aware of this and working towards NAACE certification. Top set year 8s were certainly scratching their heads when we came across them in maths. ‘Teachers here push you, but it’s not so hard that you can’t get the hang of it,’ say pupils.

Dyslexia screening starts in year 2 and school very proactive in identifying potential needs even before that. Twenty-six per cent on the SEND register, supported by team of 10 learning support staff including five floating teaching assistants (parent grumbles about lack thereof have been addressed). Peripatetic occupational therapist and speech and language therapists work one-to-one with pupils weekly (at an extra cost to parents). From year 5, additional sessions of English and maths in place of Latin, if parents and school feel that would be beneficial. Can make adjustments for those with mobility issues, eg portable ramps, but this is not a great school for a child with limited mobility; there’s a lift in the art and design centre but not in the main house. ‘Large handful’ require EAL support, provided as appropriate.

Pre-prep has its own building, built in 2006 and organised around a paved courtyard. Classrooms open out onto paved area for play: bright and well-organised if lacking the charm of the mansion. ‘Step around the gloop!’ we were warned on entering the nursery room, tinies pottering around wielding spades, paintbrushes, dirty hands. ‘We went in a meadow and I drawed [sic] a flower,’ one announced proudly; they’re outside a lot in the revamped forest school. Reception excited about getting out there later: ‘We’ll need our dungareeses [another sic],’ they told us wide-eyed, ‘to stop the stinging and the mud.’ Pumpkins and strawberries grow in the playground. Working parents take note: even the littlest could stay from breakfast until after tea.

Beautiful pitches, courts, full-sized AstroTurf and a lake (great excitement when one young angler caught a 2lb perch, ‘the biggest ever caught from Ashfold lake’ and on his ‘first experience of fishing’!). ‘Real access to team sport from an early age,’ say parents, pleased that ‘everyone’s on a team and yet they keep it competitive’. Boys play rugby, football and hockey (though rugby dominates, parents say); girls play netball, football and hockey; cricket co-ed. Lots play at local clubs, too. ‘They win, they lose,’ parents told us, praising Ashfold’s ‘sportsmanship’ when ‘annihilated’ the previous week. Equestrian team train off site. Outdoor swimming pool heated into October, if the weather’s kind, but serious swimmers will need to get their year-round fix elsewhere.

Three-quarters have individual music lessons. ‘My children love the music but it’s a bit discordant in our house with the trumpet and the cello sometimes going at the same time,’ laughs one mum. Small orchestra, three choirs, string ensemble. Music and drama are ‘dream team’, timetabled together to enable flexibility over who’s doing what. ‘Stand-out’ LAMDA, parents told us. Modern art and design centre also houses popular cookery lessons. High ceilings and lots of light in the art room, crammed with pupil work even when we visited early in the academic year. Big plans for new theatre (a long time in the offing, one parent tells us with an eyebrow raised). Children love extracurricular computing, too; parents and pupils sing department’s praises. Q Club invites outside speakers including recently a pilot who’d flown in Afghanistan. ‘We can do anything here,’ one pupil tells us, ‘though I like colouring the best.’ Year 5 upwards routinely stay until 6pm doing activities.

Pastoral care strengthened because everybody knows everybody: ‘We say good morning to all the parents at drop-off so if something needs discussing we’re often already talking,’ school says. Flip side, say parents, is that when problems emerge between pupils it can be hard to find space. ‘We try and mediate, teaching them to behave, how to get along.’ Disciplinary system clear: a caution first and then a minus (‘pretty serious’). Pupils carry house books in their pockets, recording merits (good work) and pluses (being helpful) on the hoof. They feel listened to: ‘We had a day where everyone sat in the saloon and had one ginormous meeting about how they feel.’

It's all quite innocent here. ‘It’s not all Railway Children and apples, but in this environment we can let children be children and run around,’ school says: we were approached at one stage by a group asking very politely if we could please help them because their friend was stuck in a cupboard. They’re not too polished, either: ‘What’s your favourite subject?’ we asked one boy as he sat in the back of his French class. ‘Breaktime, and then lunchtime!’ he giggled. Others we met raved variously about trips (apparently the chocolate bars at Cadbury World are ‘massive’), the zip wire and how nice it is to have friends throughout the school.

Year groups split across a few rather monastic rooms for lunch, long wooden benches and wrought-iron chandeliers. Children take turns to serve each other from the head of the table; ‘What we really need is a lazy Suzan,’ sighed the little girl sitting next to us. Food hit-and-miss, a few parents told us (‘Thank goodness for the baked potato option!’), though school points out that it was ‘very popular’ in recent parent questionnaire and bangers and mash seemed to go down well with our lunch companions. Salad bar for year 8s. Afterwards, everyone says grace and then a couple are volunteered to do the scraping and piling for the whole table, only the odd piece of sweetcorn going flying on the day we visited.

Families drive from villages in every direction – Thame, Aylesbury, towards Oxford (‘It’s not worth driving into Oxford,’ says head). Often they’ve chosen Ashfold over exceptional village primaries. Lots of ex-Londoners, many moving back to be closer to granny and grandpa. ‘It’s horsey and farmy because we’re surrounded by fields,’ says one. ‘Part of the reason why we moved out of London was a sense of community,’ says another. A comfortable parent body; healthy turn-outs to class drinks in the pub, we hear.

Boarders

A day school with boarding, designed to be flexible and fun; think grandmother’s footsteps and summers evenings in the pool. ‘You quickly learn it’s not a sleepover because you’ve got to do school the next day,’ head says. Flexi-boarding Monday to Thursday from year 5, big dorms within the mansion; not particularly personalised, but that’s what we’d expect in a flexi environment. ‘We get to have tortillas and pizzas and Frosties and croissants,’ one happy customer tells us. No Friday night boarding, ‘so we have our dinner parties on Thursdays instead,’ parents report.

Money matters

No formal bursary support currently available; in the past, school has offered temporary assistance when needed.

The last word

Not a place for the sharp-elbowed. Outdoorsy, relaxed children, passionate about everything from tree-planting to Taylor Swift, run free in 30 glorious acres. ‘It’s just incredibly nurturing and kind,’ as one mum told us: a country prep doing what country preps do best.

Special Education Needs

Learning Support is available to all children who have identified Specific Learning Difficulties. However, Ashfold is a mainstream school and not a special needs school. For a child to thrive at Ashfold in addition to limited classroom LSA support, no more than 1 hour of individual tuition per week should be needed. Consequently, Ashfold would not be suitable for children with more than a mild level of learning difficulty. All children are screened for dyslexia when they are 7 years old, or if they wish to join the school when they are 7+. Where a number of dyslexic indicators are identified, an educational psychologists report is commissioned and where possible, support provided. 09-09

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