Frewen College

Since 2024, Mark Loveday BEd (University of Worcester) PGdip NPQH. An alumnus of King’s School, Worcester, before qualifying as a teacher in 2005 and working across primary, secondary and sixth form provisions. Previously deputy head and head of service at Chadsgrove, a specialist school. Was also responsible for the development of a specialist teaching advisory service and the creation of SpLD diagnostic pathways in Worcestershire, as well as the creation of an alternative provision for pupils experiencing emotional based school non-attendance (winning alternative provision of the year in 2023 under his leadership). He is a board director for the national SpLD Assessment Standards Committee (SASC), a board director and trustee of a multi academy trust, a visiting university lecturer and a DfE specialist leader of education (SEND) as well as completing consultancy work for an educational resource company. An outdoorsy type, he enjoys exploring different parts of the UK, particularly coastal areas, walking, cycling and getting out on the water. A keen reader and supporter of the arts, particularly music and theatre.

A specialist school for children whose primary need is dyslexia, speech and language difficulty, dyscalculia and sometimes dyspraxia. The entry procedure is carefully designed to identify those who fulfil Frewen’s criteria. Dyslexia often co-occurs with another difficulty and Frewen looks at the balance of a child’s profile and establishes that the primary need is specific learning difficulty. If the primary need is, for example, autism, then the applicant would be advised to look for another school more suited to that need. After their application is assessed, a day pupil will complete two days evaluation at the school and a boarder three days, including overnight. Pupils can enter into any year group up to year 10, or at the beginning of sixth form - but the school will not take students into year 11.

After GCSE, some pupils leave to pursue courses elsewhere, the rest continue into sixth form, after which they go on to a variety of destinations. Recently University of East Anglia and University of Essex to study History and politics, and Bristol School of Art for an art foundation year. All students go on to further training/education courses, apprenticeships or employment.

The old maxim, 'If the child cannot learn the way you teach, then change the way you teach’, is here in spades. The curriculum is broad and encompasses the subjects you would expect to see in a mainstream secondary, except (unsurprisingly) modern languages. English, maths, science (double), history, geography, art and DT follow the GCSE course. ‘After Mr Gove changed assessment to a memory test after two years,’ IT, drama and music now follow BTEC courses, which have a modular structure with continuous assessment. All classroom staff undergo level 3 training with the British Dyslexia Association in their first year, with some going on to attain level 5 or 7. The school knows the benefits of technology to dyslexics and all students have a Microsoft 365 account on which they can use the full range of built-in adaptations for reading and writing. The school is expert at preparing for exams with the appropriate exam access arrangements.

Teaching group sizes vary, but no group is larger than eight students, which means that staff members have ‘chapter and verse on every student’, explained head of English. Clearly very used to talking to parents about an anxiety-inducing subject, he chats easily about the experience of his students in the classroom and how the emphasis on pace in mainstream school is the undoing of many Frewen students. Many have short-term memory difficulties, or slow processing, and at Frewen, staff are skilled in overlearning (this means repeating information in different ways, so the student doesn’t end up weeping into their laptop with boredom). One feature of Frewen is that students join at various points in their education, so those who arrive later have less time to close the gap. English GCSE can be taken in the sixth form for those who need that extra preparation, or retaken to increase the grade. Functional skills levels 1 and 2 are also used as stepping-stones to the GCSE. The astonishing result is that only four per cent of students do not achieve GCSE English level four or above, though they will still gain functional skills levels one or two. School describes this as ‘reaching the parts that other beers cannot reach’.

Committed maths teachers who love their subject always seem to have a Tiggerish aspect to them and the head of maths pleasingly satisfied our unscientific categorisation. Eloquent about the barriers with which students arrive in his classroom, with low confidence and phobias about maths, he sets about making maths accessible to all, engaging them in number through cunning devices such as playing poker with them. Unlike the standard maths classroom, this one is stuffed full of physical objects for learning. One girl is on the computer, shopping for cosmetics from Boots online, busy comparing prices, savings, budget, totals and so on. In the sixth form, maths A level is offered and further maths can be catered for. One girl’s verdict was, ‘I know I find it hard and I’ll always find it hard but I think I have more chance now of sorting things out.’

The sixth form (around 20 students) has a separate block with common room and teaching rooms. This is one of the tired outbuildings, and plans for a new building are in the pipeline. A levels and BTECs are on offer; the school has a partnership with Bexhill College whereby students spend two-and-a-half days and the rest with the sixth form team at Frewen. A member of staff also attends Bexhill to liaise and keep an eye on things. Support in the sixth form is gradually decreased as the students become more confident at using their study skills to work independently. The students we met were studying a variety of subjects such as music technology, photography, art and design, media, maths and physics. There is plenty of guidance about what path to choose after Frewen – practical, vocational or academic. One sixth former told us he was intending to gain his private pilot’s licence – there is clearly no lack of ambition for the futures of the students.

The art and design-technology rooms are situated in the beautiful stable block, topped by a light and airy belvedere. DT is well equipped with computers and the high-ceilinged workroom is filled with the scent of cut wood and photos on the wall of projects such as a wheelbarrow and a wine store.

Food and nutrition, which all students study up to year nine, is in a slightly less beauteous 20th century outbuilding and is scheduled for a move when possible.

The hub of teaching and learning is the auditorium. This is a large area, centred on a lowered rectangle, set out for exams at the time of our visit, surrounded by classrooms on three sides and a space on the fourth, which can be used as a stage with the audience seated below. It was busy with students moving lessons and we watched teenagers chatting, picking up water from the cooler and settling down. The head is greeted by some pupils and hurries others along. It could be any school, except that the classes are so much smaller.

If you are looking for traditional sports teams bundling out every weekend, or you have a budding sports star, then Frewen is probably not the place for you, though there is plenty of variety of exercise on offer within the structure of the school day. The grounds are a large 60 acres with 100 acres of ancient woodland attached. This is used for outside activities such as cross-country, camping and a gleeful game called Jack Strike a Light, which is a wildly exciting hide and seek caper in the dark with a torch. There is also the outdoor swimming pool, once an ornamental pond (hence the long, narrow rectangle shape) for summer bathing.

Approximately one third of the students are boarders. The youngest are in year 7, although in special circumstances, year 6 have boarded. No weekly boarding, but boarders are free to go home at the weekend. Of the 40 or so boarders (a few internationals), generally around 15 remain at the weekend unless there is a special event on. Girls are housed in a light, modern house in the grounds (the old head-teacher’s house). The boys are housed in the old part of the main building and most of the rooms look over the gardens to the back. Juniors (years 7-9) may share three to a room, pairs up to year 11. Sixth formers may have a single room. Boarders have plenty of contact with boarding staff. Each student has a designated adult whom they meet every week for a pastoral chat, going through achievements, setting and discussing small personal targets.

Once a week, boarders walk into the village and buy themselves snacks and little treats at the village shop. Whilst the school encourages healthy eating (at break time we saw an orderly queue of teenagers waiting to be served a cup of steaming, hot, homemade soup), the boarding staff clearly know that strawberry laces, onion rings and fizzy cola bottles are all crucial to wellbeing. There are kitchens in the boarding common rooms where students can make hot chocolates, toast and so on. Occasionally the minibus is commandeered to make a joyful trip to the big supermarket in the nearest town.

Activities are arranged for the weekends; Bedgebury with its cycling and outdoor activity areas is close, and other trips include crazy golf, paintballing or paddle-boarding. Everything seems very low key and homely – the atmosphere of the squeaky floorboards, rakishly angled door lintels and ancient criss-crossed windows feeling like a well-lived in place (if your attitude is ‘slightly scruffy’, then you probably don’t get this school).

The school has on-site therapists - speech and language, occupational and counselling, and approximately one third of pupils have had therapy at one time or another. Some children are prone to anxiety because of their previous experiences and can be offered counselling if it is felt necessary. There is no withdrawal support given for learning. With all the staff trained in dyslexia support at least level 3, all necessary support can be given within the classroom.

Many of the students arrive feeling beaten down by their previous experiences. One parent said her son was ‘full of fear and anxiety and had very little self-belief and low confidence’. The school gives them a feeling of belonging – here they are understood, accepted and not on the periphery. One parent told us the ‘kindness and understanding of the staff of my child’s struggle up to that point spoke volumes’. The mutual supportiveness of students towards each other was also mentioned by both school and parents. One parent talked about the solidarity between students and another commented, ‘My daughter is so happy, everyone understands her and is in the same boat.’

School says bullying is not really an issue as most children have met bullying before, so it is the last thing they want in the school. The students tend not to be that streetwise (hard to be streetwise in the middle of the Kentish countryside) but are not isolated from social pressures. The difference at Frewen is that if a student ‘gets themselves in to a bit of a muddle’, it will be spotted and staff will help sort it out. Boarders have phones in the evenings and from year 10, students are allowed phones during the day, partly as learning aids.

The school also understands that parents can be exhausted and stressed by the time their child reaches Frewen - and in need of some care themselves. Parents point to the ‘fantastic communications’ from staff, saying the form tutor is the first point of contact.

Disruptive behaviour is not a feature of life at Frewen, possibly because of its admissions criteria. As one parent commented, a diagnosis of dyslexia does not include behavioural problems. Their detailed policy on behaviour is on the website.

Students are drawn from a wide area and a wide range of backgrounds. Those funded by local authorities mostly come from Kent and East Sussex. Some families relocate specifically for the school. Minibus routes start from Bexhill, Tunbridge Wells and Ashford for day pupils. About two-thirds boys to girls – with the distribution a bit haphazard throughout the school, but all agree there is more mixing between year groups than in a larger school. One parent said that her teenage daughter does miss not having more female friends – ‘She’s exceptionally happy in the school.’

Approximately two-thirds of students are funded by local authorities and one third are self-funded. More children in the prep school tend to be self-funded, as diagnosis of dyslexia becomes more possible over time. Some pay privately and then look into getting local authority funding at a later stage. The number of funded students has gone up in recent years, and the school helps to support parents through the EHCP process up to and including, where necessary, attending tribunal. One parent talked about how helpful the school was at explaining letters received from the LA and her gratitude for their presence at the tribunal: 'They didn’t have to!' The school can also put prospective parents in touch with professional organisations specialising in supporting parents through the EHCP process.

The school house is extraordinarily serene (ignore the parked cars) as you approach; as if time has passed on without changing it. However, inside, it is specialist teaching on steroids. There is an overwhelming sense that the students have possession of a place that is all their own. They are free here to have time to develop into the people they want to be. Staff encourage them to value themselves and eventually walk, fully-equipped, over the bridge to face the world beyond. What more could you ask from their schooldays?