All schools say that they treat every child as an individual, but this school actually does it, producing cheerful, humane, confident, mature and thoughtful children with a life-long love of learning ahead of them. Exuberant yet disciplined; quirky but oddly classical; alternative but non-woo. The sort of unique school people move house to be near. ‘If schools got stars for children’s engagement and happiness,’ said a parent, ‘they’d be off the scale.’
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Overview & data
- Pupil numbers
- 235 ·
- Religion
- None
- Fees
- £15,966 - £21,870 pa
- Local authority
- Wokingham Borough Council

Headteacher
Head
Mr Adam Hurst
Since 2019, Adam Hurst (40s). Educated at Kelly College; read English literature at Reading. Began his teaching career at Shiplake College in 2004. He moved on to Caldicott Prep where he was head of sport, then became housemaster of the junior boa
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Learn what pupils and parents really think of this school, along with our expert opinion on the headteacher’s leadership style, the school’s academic results and facilities, the focus on pastoral care, and the range of extra-curricular activities.

Entrance
Now welcomes any child who can ‘access the curriculum’. Tiddlers may begin at the nursery from ‘rising 3’. Pupils entering the school from age 5 upwards are assessed during a day of tests, including maths and English. Unusually, children can start

Exit
Pupils move on at 11 or 13 to an enormous range of senior schools — comps (loads to nearby and well-regarded Piggott Academy), state grammars, independents, boarding schools, single sex, you name it. ’We lose a lot at the end of year 6, sometimes

Latest results
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Learning support & SEN

Pupils

Money matters
- Fee information
- £15,966 - £21,870 pa

Our view
Dolphin’s American founder Ophelia Follett came to the UK in 1968 for a PhD programme at King’s College London. Two years later she was magicking-up this alternative (then Montessori) school with 25 tots aged 2-4 in the gardener’s shed in the grou

The last word
All schools say that they treat every child as an individual, but this school actually does it, producing cheerful, humane, confident, mature and thoughtful children with a life-long love of learning ahead of them. Exuberant yet disciplined; quirk
