Skip to main content

What says..

If music, drama and art shine, sport dazzles. It is integral to life at Aldenham and in a setting that needs to be seen to be believed. Teachers ‘easy to talk to’ and ‘down-to-earth’, say students – the rapport evident in the lessons we sat in on. ‘Jamie, you’ll know this’, ‘Yes, I remember that well!’ etc. ‘The teachers are also with them for things like football or DofE, so they know them in the round,’ explains head. Two enrichment afternoons a week, and most students belong to...

Read review »

What the school says...

Established over 420 years ago, Aldenham School still occupies the same site of more than 110 acres of beautiful Hertfordshire countryside. Aldenham offers uninterrupted co-education for 3-18 year olds. Boarders (from age 11) and day pupils benefit from individual attention in small classes, with a personal tutor for each pupil.

Do you know this school?

The schools we choose, and what we say about them, are founded on parents’ views. If you know this school, please share your views with us.

Please login to post a comment.

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.

What The Good Schools Guide says

Head of Foundation

Since 2022, Alex Hems MA (Oxon), PGCE (Cantab), previously head of St George’s School in Edinburgh. Grew up in Northwood, where she attended St Helen’s – ‘It’s nice to be home,’ she says. Career path never in question, even as a tot – ‘I used to arrange my toys in ranks and award them effort prizes!’ Alas, no time for teaching these days, but says she gets to know students in breaks, assemblies, chapel and through ‘popping into’ boarding houses. Older ones say they see her a lot; younger ones less so. They describe her as ‘friendly’ and ‘firm but fair’.

Aims to raise the academic profile at Aldenham, perhaps inevitable given the heavyweights peppering her CV: Alleyn’s School, followed by St Paul’s Girls’, North London Collegiate and Francis...

Subscribe now for instant access to read The Good Schools Guide review.

Already subscribed? Login here.

Please note: Independent schools frequently offer IGCSEs or other qualifications alongside or as an alternative to GCSE. The DfE does not record performance data for these exams so independent school GCSE data is frequently misleading; parents should check the results with the schools.

Who came from where

Who goes where

Special Education Needs

We have an extremely good SEN Department. However, pupils do need to be able to cope in the normal classroom situation; they are not taught separately, but have extra individual tuition as and when necessary with qualified SEN teachers. Study skills support is provided in small groups. 10-09

Condition Provision for in school
ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder Y
Aspergers Y
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorders Y
CReSTeD registered for Dyslexia
Dyscalculia
Dysgraphia
Dyslexia
Dyspraxia
English as an additional language (EAL)
Genetic
Has an entry in the Autism Services Directory
Has SEN unit or class Y
HI - Hearing Impairment
Hospital School
Mental health
MLD - Moderate Learning Difficulty
MSI - Multi-Sensory Impairment
Natspec Specialist Colleges
OTH - Other Difficulty/Disability
Other SpLD - Specific Learning Difficulty
PD - Physical Disability
PMLD - Profound and Multiple Learning Difficulty
SEMH - Social, Emotional and Mental Health
SLCN - Speech, Language and Communication
SLD - Severe Learning Difficulty
Special facilities for Visually Impaired
SpLD - Specific Learning Difficulty
VI - Visual Impairment

Who came from where


Subscribe for instant access to in-depth reviews:

☑ 30,000 Independent, state and special schools in our parent-friendly interactive directory
☑ Instant access to in-depth UK school reviews
☑ Honest, opinionated and fearless independent reviews of over 1,000 schools
☑ Independent tutor company reviews

Try before you buy - The Charter School Southwark

Buy Now

GSG Blog >

The Good Schools Guide newsletter

Educational insight in your inbox. Sign up for our popular newsletters.