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We saw innovative teaching, planned with actual children in mind: movement breaks aplenty and ‘practical maths’ on a Friday afternoon, ‘with card games and treasure hunts,’ pupils explain. Year 5s were playing scattergories with parts of speech; word of the week in year 2 was ‘boondoggling’ (wasting time), delivered magnificently through a round of the ‘broken telephone’ game. No boondoggling here, but parents do need to embrace fun and creativity.  Fabulous focus on pastoral care and wellbeing; ‘Learning only happens when the pastoral is sorted,’ school says. Every child enjoying a weekly slot of leadership and teamwork in the great outdoors (aka a dedicated zone on the edge of the grounds) as part of ‘Golden Eagle’ programme. ‘It’s not the right school if you want your five-year-old to be drowned in spellings,’ says a former Londoner, ‘you’ve got to trust that

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What the school says...

At Eagle House our pupils are Learning for Life. Children are central to all we do. Our school is a way of life for all pupils. We unashamedly offer lots and know that busy children are happy and fulfilled children. We are in the business of teaching children to a high standard, turning them into confident and interested learners but the Eagle House experience offers more than this.

Learning for Life means that children benefit from an all-round education. They can feel confident in the classroom, on the games field, on the stage, in the concert hall, in the community. We want our children to learn and each individual is given the chance to stretch him or herself in every area. We instil a desire for knowledge, a respect for each other and the world around them and the motivation to succeed in all they do.
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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.

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Sailing

What The Good Schools Guide says

Head

Since 2023, Ed Venables, previously director of admissions at Wellington College. Grew up in south- west London, boarding at Wellington before Oxford (classics) and 12 years in the City. What brought him back to the mothership? Was ‘in bed with flu’ when he stumbled across the job advert and spontaneously applied; ended up there for 15 years, teaching business and economics, becoming head of department, housemaster and director of admissions. Knows what registrars are looking for; an excellent feather for Eagle House’s cap.

Seeing him now, we can’t imagine him anywhere other than a prep school. It seems he feels the same: ‘If I’m having a bad day, I like going down to nursery,’ he says, describing the littles as ‘sweet’. Their enthusiastic hugs are not always welcome though: ‘Yesterday they’d had spag bol, so I wanted them away from my tie.’ Has dipped into teaching (‘I taught my first Latin lesson – it’s amazing how much I remember and how much I’ve forgotten’); timetabled for year 7 maths next year.

‘London has become such a stresspit,’ he says; children will blossom in a relaxed environment. Fun an essential component, hence the ongoing dad-joke competition with head boy and head girl in assembly. Recent material includes the one about his friend Gemma Pell who struggles to introduce herself in France (be-dum ching). ‘They’re always voting for the head boy because he delivers it so much better than I do,’ he admits.

Key to success will be a clear vision of where Eagle House is going. When he started, he was the fourth head here in a calendar year: a long-standing incumbent retired in December 2022; his successor lasted only a term. Wellington popped a well-liked interim in to tide things over until Mr Venables started in September. He sees this post-kerfuffle restabilising period as an opportunity to refresh the offering. ‘Let’s be outward-looking,’ he says, encouraging evolution. High expectations critical: ‘We’re teaching every lesson to an A* standard; having seen thousands of children come through Wellington, I can see that it’s about curiosity.’ Realistic on the need for ‘knowledge-rich curriculum,’ but school also creating age-related expectations for each of ten non-academic factors. ‘We want to be properly down to earth and relaxed,’ whilst being ‘differentiated on facilities, on space, on modernity.’

Believes that ‘prep schools really can develop children,’ though ‘what we can’t do is change their underlying academic ability’. That applies, of course, to senior schools, and he is clear that Eagle House students ‘go through the same process’ to Wellington as everyone else, ‘though we do well in that process’. The schools are getting closer under his leadership. He’s got three boys himself, one in the final year here and the other two already at ‘Welly’; his wife works here in admissions. Outdoorsy types, they head to north Wales ‘as soon as term ends’ in pursuit of mountains to climb and big views to gaze into. ‘I’m really into my mindfulness, I am Seldon through-and-through,’ he explains, referencing the former Wellington head who led the way on wellbeing in the sector. ‘The school is warm and cosy and Mr Venables is warm and cosy,’ says one happy parent. A very good fit.

Entrance

Most join in nursery and years 3, 5 and 7. Register early. Taster day for all, plus CAT test from year 4. Years 7 and 8 a popular bridge for Wellington offer-holders leaving primaries or preps at 11+. Changing its name from Eagle House School to Wellington College Prep in September 2024.

Exit

Some to local 11+ destinations (Lord Wandsworth, Reading Blue Coat, RGS Guildford); ‘I need to give parents the best advice,’ says head, ‘and I mustn’t be swayed to keep them in year 7 and 8.’ Majority stay until 13+, when at least half skip up the road to Wellington. The rest go to ‘millions of other places,’ including Bradfield, Charterhouse, Canford, Millfield, with ones and twos to single sex (Eton, Radley, Woldingham, Downe House). ‘I want us to know all the senior schools inside out,’ head says. Nine scholarships in 2023 (including six to Wellington) across music, academic and sport.

Our view

We saw innovative teaching, planned with actual children in mind: movement breaks aplenty and ‘practical maths’ on a Friday afternoon, ‘with card games and treasure hunts,’ pupils explain. Year 5s were playing scattergories with parts of speech; word of the week in year 2 was ‘boondoggling’ (wasting time), delivered magnificently through a round of the ‘broken telephone’ game. No boondoggling here, but parents do need to embrace fun and creativity. ‘It’s not the right school if you want your five-year-old to be drowned in spellings,’ says a former Londoner, ‘you’ve got to trust that they’re going to learn that stuff.’ We watched year 7 discuss trigonometry as they drew triangles on whiteboard-covered walls; ‘It’s really visual and allows for natural collaboration’, explains their teacher, standing back and letting them get on with it. Main teaching block about to be updated (thanks, Wellington).

Thriving literature festival attracts name-droppable authors – ‘Jacqueline Wilson was really nice’ – and makes it easy for children to enthuse about reading. ‘We can buy books and get them signed,’ says one, explaining the concept of sticking it on the bill, ‘mum says she doesn’t mind, but she also likes it when I get things out of the library.’

Average class size of sixteen in years 7 and 8 (tutor groups smaller); children known ‘incredibly well’ by staff and teaching groups organised flexibly depending on the cohort. Scholarship preparation now delivered via optional extension across years 7 and 8 rather than via an exclusive scholarship set; ‘formal scholarship setting’s not helpful from a social perspective’, says school. Big enough to allow for fluid friendships, with school approaching a capacity of 410. Saturday school for years 5 upwards on alternate termtime weekends - optional for years 3 and 4.

SEN department sits in main building, though most interventions take place in class. Small groups taken to ‘Learning Hub’ for additional sessions. Core skills replace Latin in the timetable if need be. Nessy spelling club run by specialist dyslexia teachers. Four full-time staff plus external SLTs or OTs who visit weekly.

Fabulous focus on pastoral care and wellbeing; ‘Learning only happens when the pastoral is sorted,’ school says. Cosy spaces for pupils to drop into: ‘We can come here to calm down,’ pupils say, as can mums and dads after drop-off. New wellbeing centre ‘will be at the heart of the school,’ with rooms for play therapy and counselling. All staff being trained in coaching to encourage students to solve their own problems, helping them believe that they’ve got the answers in themselves. We enjoyed a display of pupil artwork exploring wellbeing and mindfulness. ‘We quietly empower the children,’ school says.

Gorgeous new early years building is light and bright. Nursery tots get to use facilities including big gym for their PE. ‘Even in nursery you get to do interesting things like learning about letters,’ our guides tell us. Junior school – reception to year 2 – organised along its own corridor. We found year 2s questioning stereotypes (‘My cousin is a girl and she plays rugby for England!’) before leaping, almost literally, into a ‘Corefulness’ session to develop their reflexes, like Pilates for children (‘Be careful!’ one says as the teachers join in).

Every child enjoying a weekly slot of leadership and teamwork in the great outdoors (aka a dedicated zone on the edge of the grounds) as part of ‘Golden Eagle’ programme. When we visited, exchange students from Wellington College International Tianjin were baking bread over the fire. Blind rope courses, shelter-building, bulb-planting, knot-tying; Thames Basin Heath Partnership come in to teach good dog-walking. One week each summer set aside for residentials (year 4 upwards). ‘Lots of them have never been swimming in cold water, so we have to teach them to put on a wetsuit and then get it off again’ – and if that won’t build resilience then, frankly, what will?

Performing arts flourishing. Recent production of the Addams Family saw year 8s starring whilst year 7s ‘did singing and dancing in the background’. Everyone has a go: ‘I used to play the guitar but I got blisters. I’m glad I tried it, though.’ Choir timetabled for all. Theatre set up for Wind in the Willows when we visited – Wellington’s drama department are brilliant when it comes to borrowing props. We were star-struck to meet Ratty in the common room later: ‘It’s a very long script,’ she told us.

Everyone does at least three clubs spread across sporty, cultural, academic. Forms for signing up go straight to the pupils, encouraging ownership. Greek mythology popular, as is sinister-sounding ‘Manhunt’, a game of tag-meets-hide-and-seek played in the woods after dark. Airfix ‘gives them a quiet creative option for the winter months,’ says teacher, a pile of Titanics piled up in the corner ready to be built and painted. ‘Colour, chat and chill’ club is another winner. No obvious pattern of girls-do-this-and-boys-do-that; we saw them mixing happily.

Lots of pupils we met told us that sport was their favourite thing about school, ‘particularly when we beat Lambrook.’ Curriculum based on football and rugby for boys; netball for girls; hockey, athletics, cricket for everyone. Girls’ football club popular. Not especially alpha (‘it’s quite nice to be on the F team, when you’ve got your friends with you’), though recent success at IAPS (U13 footballers won) and nationals has put a spring in the step. Indoor pool onsite, plus everything else that you’d expect, but Wellington’s facilities add serious clout including a golf course.

Vertical houses encourage cross-pollinated friendships; ‘He loves being friends with so-and-so in year 8,’ one mum says. Make a difference (MAD) day each year is about learning how to be happy and healthy ‘inside and out’. Cue baking, boxing, fireside marshmallows; ‘They ate crickets and wasabi paste and wrote about whether they liked it.’ More delicious are the lunches: ‘curry Mondays’ the favourite. Tokens for clean plates earn prizes for the winning house eg bowling in Bracknell. We joined year 3, whose main topic was whether pudding (cupcakes) would turn everybody’s tongues blue (they did) and what, then, would’ve happened if the icing had been rainbow-coloured? Food for thought, eh? Re-fuelled, plates spotless, they hurtled happily off to play laser-tag in the woods as soon as they were finished.

Many live nearby, especially the younger ones. ‘Lots of professionals, some entrepreneurs and the occasional trustafarian,’ one parent tells us. ‘You don’t need to put all your make-up on for drop-off,’ says another, ‘it’s more relaxed than elsewhere.’ Families are comfortable (both of our guides were hitting exotic climes for the upcoming holidays) but not especially ostentatious. A little more internationally diverse then some country preps, being that much closer to London.

Boarders

Almost 70 beds across ten dormitories. Just over 50 flexis at the time of our visit with a big handful of weeklies and a few full boarders providing consistency in the boarding house. Flexis share dorms with weeklies, so that it’s not just a sleepover. Children have decorated dorms with photos, teddies, bunting – much cosier than elsewhere, we thought. Modern, comfortable common room well-stocked with board games, table football, colourful scatter cushions. School nurse is just there.

Money matters

Fees not quite top of the market. Wellington College Prince Albert Foundation funds life-changing bursary places from year 7 for those going on to Wellington; means-tested support also available for others joining in years 7 and 8.

The last word

‘Don’t grow up: it’s a trap!’ warns a poster on the common room wall, and the tweenage girls playing on the wooden fort certainly seem to have heeded that advice. With energetic new leadership and an injection of resources from the neighbours, Eagle House seems to be flying – ‘The closer the connection with Wellington, the shinier it becomes,’ as one parent put it – but we found at its heart a relaxed, playful prep where children can get ready for big school whilst remaining little for that much longer.

Special Education Needs

Condition Provision for in school
ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder
Aspergers
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorders Y
CReSTeD registered for Dyslexia
Dyscalculia Y
Dysgraphia Y
Dyslexia Y
Dyspraxia Y
English as an additional language (EAL) Y
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 Y
SLD - Severe Learning Difficulty
Special facilities for Visually Impaired
SpLD - Specific Learning Difficulty
VI - Visual Impairment

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