Summer Fields A GSG School

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What The Good Schools Guide says

Headmaster

Since 2010, David Faber, MA Oxon; first school post but as an Old Summerfieldian, former parent and governor, he already knew the ropes. First time around, Mr Faber went from here to Eton, Oxford (Balliol) and into the Conservative party (the same route as grandfather Harold Macmillan PM); served as an MP from 1992 until 2001. Principle hobbies are cricket (practically a prerequisite here), golf, real tennis, Chelsea Football Club. A governor at Harrow. About to become a trustee of the MCC. Loves history so much (world wars, in particular) that he’s written two books on it.

Parents think he’s brilliant for a host of reasons: ‘champions the boys’; ‘swoon-worthy’; ‘professional, but not slick’; ‘very visible, very available’. He’s ‘the guru’, we hear, when it comes to senior schools: ‘makes a big effort to recognise what will suit each family’, giving ‘very direct feedback’ on the options. ‘It’s reassuring, especially if you don’t know the system.’ ‘Mine actually enjoyed the ISEB process,’ says one disbelieving mum. ‘Without David Faber behind him, I’m not sure he would’ve made it through,’ says another.

Headline addition since we last visited is the pre-prep; parents are delighted. Only day places at this level, of course, but as those boys work their way up into the prep there’ll be more day pupils walking, biking or driving in each day from Oxford and its surrounding villages. Boarding more flexible than it was, with school acknowledging that ‘full boarding isn’t for everyone’.

Mr Faber’s three children have been through a clutch of independent day and boarding schools between them. Son (also Summer Fields, Eton, Balliol) runs an academic mentoring business in London; daughters are finishing Edinburgh and starting Durham respectively. Wife Sophie works at the Rothschild Foundation.

Head of pre-prep is Jo Blackstone, previously at Knightsbridge School. Warm, caring and open, with an easy laugh; ‘I utterly trust her to look after my boys,’ says a mum. Works closely with Mr Faber, the two bouncing ideas off each other very naturally as they sit on big sofas overlooking the croquet lawn.

Entrance

Eighteen places for day boys into reception – ‘you wouldn’t want any more than that flying around’. Play-based assessment (Duplo, dinosaurs, digging) to get the best out of them. Entrance into year 4 (when majority join) and year 5 upwards based on computer-based assessment, creative writing task and interview.

Exit

Everyone stays until 13+, when roughly half go on to Eton or Harrow. Winchester and Radley always up there, too. Historically strong scholarship record (‘That’s the reason I came here,’ says our guide – ‘I saw all the names on the scholarships board!’). Five to each of Eton and Harrow last year (including three King’s Scholars) plus Radley, Uppingham, Winchester and St Edward’s. One or two to local independent day schools, eg Magdalen College School. This may grow as more day pupils work their way up from pre-prep.

Our view

Founded in 1864 in Summertown, then a village on the outskirts of Oxford. Since then, the city has expanded northwards and this stretch has become a busy high street, but Summer Fields has held on to 70 acres of gorgeous greenery, rambling all the way down to the River Cherwell, in which boys go camping, paddleboarding, orienteering. It’s an extraordinarily peaceful space given the location, truly the best of both worlds.

Pre-prep is self-contained but shares the same site, a thoughtfully reconfigured old boarding house. We found reception busy practising body percussion, patting their tummies and heads to see what noises they could make (‘Don’t bang too hard!’ advised their teacher, whom parents describe as ‘wonderful’). Some year 1s were digging in the garden; others, armed with clipboards, were yomping down to the river to hunt for wild flowers. Transition to prep is easy because little ones use the facilities for eg year-round tennis and swimming lessons: we saw year 2s splashing joyfully in the pool playing underwater ‘rock, paper, scissors’. ‘Two or three will go further and further towards the deep end,’ laughed PE teacher; ‘I have to remind them, there’s no prizes for winning the warm-up.’ Music and French also taught by specialists from prep.

Year 4 continues to be ‘quite cuddly’ (according to parents) – they’re based next to Mr Faber’s office, ‘making a racket’, he says, though he loves it really. More independence expected from year 5 – ‘We leave them to it, really,’ parents told us. By year 8, they’re thinking and talking like young men – our guide was reading Simon Sebag Montefiore for fun – but it’s all light-hearted, lots of dissections and battles and volcanoes.

Lessons we saw were industrious, fast-paced, slightly old-fashioned in their embracing of the funny side. Expect high expectations, but not a hothouse. ‘Smell the gap between the numbers!’ implored one teacher of his young mathematicians as he zipped from topic to topic. In-jokes, shared experiences and laughter create lovely camaraderie between boys and staff; they work jolly hard (both pupils and teachers) but it’s never a chore. ‘His teachers are fun, sporty, firm when they need to be’ and ‘cut from the same cloth as the boys’, parents told us. School’s lingo – eg train to London known as ‘squish’ – creates sense of home-from-home.

Newly opened library looks out onto fields, so civilised that ‘even teachers come in here to read The Times’, guides reported. We met a group curled up on beanbags (boys, that is, not teachers), with their noses in everything from Lord of the Rings to Shane Warne’s autobiography. Technology is a bit of a treat: ‘They find French frightfully exciting on the computers,’ one teacher told us, ‘because they can play word games against people at places like Teddies or Uppingham.’ Setting, officially from year 5, is fluid depending on cohort’s needs. School caters for a range of learning needs and EAL, though boys who struggle to access the curriculum will not thrive here.

Every club and society under the sun. Boys sign up on the noticeboard (‘Beautiful handwriting!’ we noted in our scrawl) with no parental involvement required. Junior Trivial Pursuit particularly popular when we visited, judging by list of names. Lots of music, quite trad, with fully-robed chapel choir who perform at Oxford colleges: ‘Stanford, Howells, this weekend it’s a coronation anthem.’ Christian ethos underpins the school, though ‘when we pray it’s not very religious,’ boys told us with great sincerity. Their favourite hymn? ‘Jerusalem, of course.’

‘Mens sana in corpore sano’ runs school’s motto (‘healthy mind, healthy body’), so it’s no surprise that when these boys aren’t polishing up their general knowledge, they’re playing rugby, hockey, football, rackets of every description, swimming, cricket: ‘Whatever season we’re in, that’s his best,’ says one mum. Boys work together, winning and losing with equal grace (‘though we don’t really lose at athletics,’ our guide shrugged); they reckon their football is ‘really special’, though everyone seemed cricket mad when we visited in the summer. Exceptional facilities: rifle range used by university and St Edward’s; ‘very cool’ golf course. Iconic red-and-white thatched pavilion damaged by fire in 2003 and rebuilt ‘with all mod-cons, even a loo’. Parents turn up to spectate whenever they can, ‘sometimes dialling into a conference call from the boundary,’ says one. ‘We had three boys playing cricket in three different places today,’ says another, ‘so we had to divide and conquer.’ ‘Heavy on the kit,’ we heard, ‘but once you’ve handed it over at the beginning of term nothing ever goes missing.’ Weekly emails outline exactly where everyone needs to be and when; ‘they even tell us where to park’ – a godsend in Oxford. Match teas famously delicious, report discerning parents, ‘like a wedding!’

Grounds allow for kayaking, canoeing, clay pigeon shooting, birdwatching and dog walks. Year 4s had just done a Swallows and Amazons-style night in the wild when we visited. Annual ‘hay feast’ sees boys building forts out of the farmer’s bales; ‘then the whistle blows and the whole school charges, like a game of bombers and fighters’. ‘It’s these special moments which they’ll remember forever,’ staff say.

Boys fed constantly, from little tea and afternoon break to marshmallows on the campfire and, when we visited, Coronation-themed shortbreads. Everyone eats in the high-ceilinged dining room – ‘Hogwarts vibes,’ as our guide put it. No elbows on the table, we noticed, removing ours before anyone saw.

Naturally, the fun and the biscuits sometimes go to their heads, warranting clear boundaries. Blues for ‘something bad, like forgetting your calculator or smuggling sweets’ and reds ‘for a good essay on Macbeth, maybe’. All feeds into termly house point competition, victors rewarded with a ‘League Treat’ sweet hunt or movie night. As a result, they’re beautifully behaved, immaculately polite, ‘never potty-mouthed’ (they claim). ‘Manners Maketh Man, please, boys!’ read a reminder on the noticeboard, and those we met had certainly got the memo: never have we been called ‘Ma’am’ so often or had our water glass filled so quickly. Socials with Tudor Hall – bowling, Scottish dancing – provide further opportunities to practise. Boys stand up when an adult enters the room, not in an obsequious way but ‘to mark the change of mood’, explains our guide.

Most staff live on site with toddlers, pets, other halves, meaning pastoral care feels very natural. Boarders wake lodge (house) parents in the night, ‘with jetlag or a tummy ache, or just for reassurance’. We saw a couple of instances of boys being looked after exceptionally nicely, teachers and boarding parents really caring for their young charges.

Day families live locally and buy into the boarding school rhythm: even on a Saturday, ‘I’ll often not get them home until the early evening,’ says one such parent. Majority of boarders live within 90 minutes or overseas (15 per cent). Alumni remain loyal – ‘they all come back if there’s a memorial service’ – and there’s a fair few on the parent body. Indeed, for many Summer Fields becomes something of a lifestyle (and a jolly nice one, we might add): ‘On a sunny Saturday, watching the big ones play rugby, my littlest hiding in the bushes, life is pretty good.’

Boarders

Some board from year 4; most others join them by year 7 or 8. No flexi. Lodges (houses) organised horizontally. Boys can go home after Saturday lessons and fixtures – a ‘more friendly’ offering than in the old days, says school. Plenty stay in at weekends for rehearsals, evensong or just because they want to (‘That’s always an awkward conversation with mum!’). And no wonder, for this is prep school boarding at its finest: subscribers to the Beano or National Geographic will find their new issue awaiting them on their beds; Wednesdays and Saturdays are ‘buzzer’ days, with boys given £40 pocket money each term to spend on toys; summer evenings are for long games of pyjama cricket. The rest of the year, they potter inside playing cards or table football; Sunday mornings are for watching Match of the Day. Cosy cabin beds provide plenty of space to store teddies.

From year 4, boys collect their clean laundry and change their sheets: ‘Better to learn at prep school, boys!’ lodge parents remind them, mindful that most will go on to board at 13+. An excellent training.

Money matters

Means-tested bursaries available. Maclaren Foundation, formed 30 years ago, provides transformational bursaries for pupils joining in year 7; school recognises ‘pastoral duty’ to secure bursaries at senior schools. Short-term hardship funding available.

The last word

With a kit list that includes tweeds and pocket combs (alas, the letter-writing kit is now optional), these enthusiastic little boys become thoroughly nice young men before you know it. You can spot them a mile off: smart, not swanky; confident, not arrogant; wholesome, articulate, sometimes eccentric in a spectacles-fixed-with-sticky-tape way. The best bit: ‘On a play date,’ one mum reports, ‘not only will he make conversation over tea, but he’ll also load the dishwasher afterwards.’ Now, what more could you possibly want than that?

Special Education Needs

Boys are given one to one help with a trained SEN teacher. Nov 09.

Who came from where