St Edmund's College Prep School A GSG School

What The Good Schools Guide says

Head

Since 2013, Steven Cartwright, who joined the school in 2009 as deputy head, then acting head. Initially turned down the top job ‘because I wasn’t ready or experienced enough’, returning a few years later when it came back up for grabs. The school was his first experience of the independent sector, having been state educated (St John Henry Newman, Herts) and having taught in primary schools in Royston, Nottingham and Mansfield following his geography degree from St Mary’s Twickenham and PGCE from Nottingham Trent (with a year in industry in between).

‘My wife and I got married here,’ he told us, ‘this place is close to my heart.’ The feeling is clearly mutual as parents told us that ‘one meeting with Mr Cartwright and you choose the school because of him’. One parent even wished ‘to clone him’. Easy to see why with his calm, compassionate manner and knack for putting people instantly at ease, peppering the conversation with comical anecdotes. Exudes humility too. Parents told us ‘his kind nature sets the tone, you get no cattiness here’ and that he ‘totally gets children and is able to spot the smallest anxiety’. We were also taken with his lovely dog – when she’s not being walked by the children, she sleeps by his feet.

Fun, magic and wonder are all in a day’s work for Mr Cartwright, who recently turned the school into a chocolate factory, with all the pupils dressing up as oompa loompas (although they narrowly missed the world record for the most in one place). He showed us the Willy Wonka bar given to each child, complete with golden ticket. On another occasion, he staged a meteorite landing on the field – even some of the senior staff fell for it, as did a pupil’s grandad who happened to be a Cambridge professor. ‘As he scratched his white beard in awe at pickup, I realised I had to come clean.’

Very much a family man, he is married with two daughters (one doing a master’s, one still in the school) and still lives near his parents, his brother and his sister. His interests include squash, climbing and running. A strong faith too, as befits this Catholic school.

Head of overall school since 2019 is Matthew Mostyn, previously second master at Stonyhurst.

Entrance

Into nursery (lowering from 3+ to 2+ in September 2025) subject to observational assessment. Other bulge points are reception and year 4, when there’s also an interview (and, from year 3, tests in maths, English and NVR). Worth enquiring about other year groups, including mid-year. Children joining at year 4 and earlier have assured entry to the college (with the option to apply for a year 7 scholarship). Strong sibling policy.

Exit

Ninety per cent of year 6 transfer to the college (some with scholarships), the rest to other independent or state schools. All pupils take the entrance test for setting purposes and exam practice – also stops those who joined in upper prep years feeling singled out.

Our view

In a sea of local competition, this prep knows its place: a caring, grounded school that focuses on the whole person, and with the opportunity to stay to 18. As parents see it, Bishop’s Stortford Prep is the academic one, Heath Mount is the Hunter wellies one, St Joseph’s in the Park is the tiny, nurturing one and Duncombe is the Cognita-owned one. ‘St Ed’s appeals to parents who like the warm, gentle, values-driven approach,’ summed up one mother – although parents advise checking out the college too if you’re thinking of strapping yourself in for the long haul as ‘there’s quite a different feel there, they’re quite separate’.

Not that they’re far apart, with the 19th-century prep just a few steps away. Extended in the 1960s, it boasts large classrooms, an assembly hall (which fits all of them), an appealing little chapel (in daily use), a well-stocked library and computer room. Science lab is complemented by college labs for older pupils, who enjoy whodunnit days and rocket design workshops. Outside there is plenty of space to play, as well as an outdoor amphitheatre and wooded area, the ideal location for the forest school.

Broad curriculum from the off, with French from nursery and Spanish and German added in year 4 and taught by native, specialist teachers. Specialist teaching too in music, swimming, dance, PE and forest school from nursery, with art added in year 1 and drama added in year 3. Maximum 20 in a class, but average is more like 14.

We found pupils excited by their learning, with high level of exuberance starting from nursery where children were literally jumping up and down – right through to year 6 where children were bursting to tell us about dressing up for history days. In reception, children were singing about the weather (no mean feat to make sleet sound cheerful), while year 2s were compiling stories about a giraffe that lost its spots. ‘We’re including adjectives and noun phrases!’ said one eagerly. Things were quieter in other classrooms (times table time and spotting the mistakes in a recent assessment) – ‘Sorry, it’s usually more fun,’ whispered one teacher.

Parents like the ‘lack of pressure’ and that ‘it’s not the kind of school where you brag how good your child is at maths’. One told us of the ‘gentle way they have of opening up their brains and getting them to mature’. ‘She’s become this self-motivated, well-rounded and confident girl,’ raved one parent about her daughter.

The 30 per cent on the SEN register include those who are not (yet) diagnosed. Mostly dyslexia, one or two with autism and ADHD. No EHCPs. As head of academics and a year 6 teacher, the SENCo has real sway in ensuring in-class strategies – mind mapping, getting those losing focus to hand out pens etc. On the down side, she only has one afternoon a week for SEN duties. ‘Definitely makes the offering less strong,’ felt one parent, but another disagreed – ‘Other schools didn’t want to know but here, my children have come on leaps and bounds thanks to the inclusive and detailed approach.’ Impressively, there are seven TAs, and the college SENCo is used as a dyslexia screener and for transition to the college. Unusually, no one-to-ones, but small-group interventions in reading, maths, Read Write Inc, spelling etc.

Art teacher a ‘force of nature’, say parents – and perhaps it was just as well her studio wasn’t accessible (due to flooding) on our visit as pupils told us we’d probably be attacked by some papier mâché. ‘She displays everything!’ Indeed, everything from pop art to graffiti is around the school – and pupils even help with props for drama productions, which are then used to cheer up the otherwise lacklustre stairwells.

We were shown a fistful of musical production programmes, most recently for Shrek performed by year 6s, with year 5s in chorus. ‘We need to develop the years 3 and 4 productions – Covid knocked us back,’ admits head, but for younger ones there’s the nativity and pupils of all ages were itching to tell share their recent poetry recitals. ‘We’re doing A Christmas Carol,’ another added, ‘and we’ve been pretending to interview Scrooge to ask why he only likes certain things!’

Half the pupils learn an instrument (piano, guitar and drums played most widely) and the top drawer perform in the college orchestra (two pupils currently) while others join the junior ensembles. Everyone loves the rush hour concerts ‘in which we grab a few guitarists or other instrumentalists for ad hoc concerts when parents do pickup’. Many pupils secure music scholarships.

Sport gets a good balance of competition and inclusivity with A-C teams. ‘My daughter joined in year 5 – she’d never picked up a hockey stick, yet they had her on the school bus to fixtures within two weeks,’ said a parent, another telling us her child ‘can’t do sport for toffee but would like to be able to, and they always include her’. Football, rugby and cricket for the boys; netball, hockey and cricket for the girls. Plus gymnastics, basketball, lacrosse and swimming (in college pool), among others. Girls’ football well established.

Bulging list of after-school clubs, with most pupils staying until 4.30pm daily. Most (DT, chess, sports etc) free, although you might be asked to chuck in a fiver for ingredients for cookery club or for paint ball pellets, tins of beans and ration packs for cadets, which is run by the head himself. ‘You make fires, build bases and shoot guns!’ one boy wanted us to know. Photography costs a pretty penny, but it’s the real deal run by a specialist.

Every year group gets a day trip each term, and from year 2, there’s a campout on the field, building up to a stay at an environment centre in year 3, a religious retreat in year 4 and a week away in years 5 and 6.

You’re left in no doubt as to the school’s Catholicism, with crucifixes, prayer tables, daily prayers and ‘a lot of time in chapel’, according to a pupil (school says that’s not true). But only 30 per cent of pupils are Catholic, the rest from other religions, notably Jewish and Muslim, or none – the latter saying ‘the religion is mainly a values thing, it doesn’t bother me’.

Masses of fundraising via sponge-the-teacher, welly walks and cake sales. A break the rules day up next: no jewellery, no healthy snacks, no own clothes, no squash in your bottle – they’re all out of the window, provided you pay a £1 for each. On other days, rules are rarely broken, the children assured us, which school says is achieved by high expectations and small class sizes, though children reckon it’s because ‘nobody wants a yellow sticker’ – the very words whispered with shame.

Pastoral buzzwords are kindness and resilience. There’s a school nurse, with a worry box outside, along with a prayer box in the chapel. One boy said a teacher had loaned him a teddy bear when he was sad. A parent told us the school was ‘phenomenal’ when they faced a bereavement. Year 6s take on roles of responsibility (lots, including school council, house captains, chaplaincy) with pride and glistening badges filling their lapels. Lots of cross-year friendships.

Food served at the main college, where we followed tiny nursery children holding hands in their red polo shirts and sweatshirts, excited by the prospect of fish and chips. Some parents would like more encouragement ‘not just to go for the beige food every time’.

More run-of-the-mill cars than Chelsea tractors in the car park, with the odd Lamborghini thrown in. In the main, hardworking, dual-income families – medics, lawyers and financiers through to postmen, teachers and taxi drivers. Most from a 35-mile radius, which creeps further north higher up the school. Good sense of community, say parents.

The last word

An unpressured and tailored education focusing on the whole child, with the bonus that they can stay to 18. Parents are often sold within 30 minutes, usually by a combination of the much-loved head and the pupils’ happy faces.