Saint Ronan's School

Since 2024, Joe Lewis, previously a senior housemaster at Millfield School. He was previously at Pangbourne College, where he held the roles of housemaster, head of English, master in charge of cricket and head of careers and general studies.

The son of prep school teachers, he is married to Milly, who grew up at Sunningdale Prep, where her father and uncle were joint heads. They have four children, three at Saint Ronan's.

No open days – parents are shown round personally. All children attend a taster day, and from year 3 are assessed by the class teacher and do a free-writing exercise. Intake covers wide-ranging abilities, but all are expected to behave in the free-range learning environment and pass Common Entrance or the Cranbrook grammar tests, so school is honest when they believe child’s needs are not going to be met.

Around a quarter to Cranbrook at 11+, very few now at 13+. After that, King's Canterbury, Dulwich Cranbrook, Sutton Valence, Bede’s and Hurstpierpoint were the most popular destinations in 2024. However, the school has fed into over 60 different schools over the years. Parents say they are good at helping you choose – staff visit a clutch of senior schools each term so they are well informed. Fifty scholarships in 2024.

This is the biggest boarding prep in Kent, with around a third of pupils sleeping over at least one day a week (maximum four nights) from year 4. ‘Really fun – like one big sleepover,’ reckon pupils. Rooms are up in the eaves, and again you wouldn’t be surprised to find the Famous Five up there having lashings of hot chocolate. Boarders do supervised prep for up to an hour, followed by supper then options such as swimming, singing and playing outside. ‘Motherly’ matron Julie (‘Me Julie’) a big pull (‘when my eldest, who has left, goes back she always goes to see her’) as is food (although school lunch gets mixed reviews).

The Enid Blyton-esque, what’s-not-to-love campus is the perfect setting for this school that sees fun, adventure and creativity as the best way to achieve strong results and create enviable childhood memories. The spectacular 249 acres include ancient, spreading trees, inspiring views, fishing lake, roaming peacocks, meditative garden, Treetops adventure playground (opened by staff dressed as monkeys) and wonderfully non-PC swings. There’s even a farm with pigs, goats, chickens and (handy for the Nativity plays) donkeys. The emphasis is on old-fashioned, wholesome fun, making full use of this natural playground, including bushcraft and mountain biking, as well as forest school, in the 100-acre wood. The Tempest was in rehearsal when we visited, with the audience cycling to the different scenes around the school (‘a bit bonkers, but that’s Saint Ronan's’).

Even the parents get a generous slice of this rural cake, thanks to the Walled Garden coffee shop that many pile into after drop-off and we saw parents walking their dogs on the footpaths that link to the grounds (they all rave about the school’s close interaction with the parent body – ‘It’s more come hither-ish than the other local preps,’ we were told). Everything is named for Boys’ Own adventures – there’s the Gulch, an area around a stream ideal for making mud pies, the Saltmines, an overgrown area with secret pathways, and even the pitches have names, such as Timbuktoo (because it’s a long journey to reach it) and the soon-to-be-in-action Timbuckthree. A classroom on the edge of the woods is the Hobbit House and a converted horsebox called Doris is the grub (tuck) shop for pupils, doubling up as a prosecco bar for parent events. Thank goodness for the uniform, among the most relaxed we’ve seen – corduroy trousers, skirts or pinafores, topped with school sweatshirts in a choice of pink, green, red, purple, light blue and navy. There’s a formal uniform for Fridays, key days and trips out.

Main building is Tongswood House, a grand Victorian mansion built by an Oxo magnate, with original features including a sprung floor ballroom, where frescoes of semi-naked nymphs on the ceiling liven up assemblies. A wood fire burns in the reception hearth and parents can buy free-range eggs from the basket (you can also pick up school-produced pork and apple juice). There’s wood panelling and grand staircases aplenty, but it all feels lived-in and every room, from classrooms to loos, is eccentrically named, such as Drury Lane, 10 Downing Street, The Zoo and Windsor Castle. Children scrape to their feet as adults enter – initially it seems at odds with this otherwise laid-back environment but manners are hot, hot, hot here, along with being kind and honest. And that goes for the staff too. ‘If we heard a teacher shouting at a child, they would have to come into the office and explain why.’ Prefects are elected by the children in a secret ballot ‘which means they go for someone who is kind in the changing rooms, not necessarily just one of the first XV’.

The pre-prep is in a separate bright and modern building (where a corridor poster advises on 20 things to do before leaving pre-prep, such as dam a stream, make a mud pie and hold an animal), shared with music, and there’s a cosy nursery in the former headmaster’s house. New buildings for computer science, art, engineering and design (‘so pupils can make a beetle in art, put an engine underneath it in engineering and programme it to work robotically in computing’) – aim is to be leading prep for STEAM. Large nirvana of a library complete with cheery-looking jars of book suggestions and a book tree. Delightful chapel.

Three-form entry, with maximum class sizes of 18 and four-way setting in English and maths from year 4 (‘deliciously small groups’); setting also in French from year 5 and science and Latin from year 6 (‘we used to have the scholarship class, but it just produces a sense of entitlement’). Subject specialists from reception in music and sport, from year 3 in computer science, art and DT and sciences, and from year 4 in everything. Teachers need not apply unless they get the job done with humour, compassion and love and prioritise energy, enthusiasm and the example they set; many had previous careers, eg deputy head used to work on the oil rigs. ‘Time after time, I’ve seen teachers getting down on their knees to talk to a child – there’s a real connection,’ said one parent. Long school day – 8.30am to 5.15pm, with prep afterwards at home or at school from year 5 until 6pm. Homework selected from ‘walk, jog, run’ levels, with most choosing ‘run’ – ‘psychologically clever as you hook them into the most challenging without forcing it on them’. ‘I don’t think you realise quite how strong the academics are until you leave because the children never feel pushed,’ said one parent.

Pupils say you ask what musical instrument someone plays rather than if they play one, such is the popularity of the peripatetic teaching. There are oodles of choirs (year groups, chapel and chamber), a 40-piece orchestra and 19 ensembles, with performance opportunities ranging from musical breakfasts to Rye Festival. Drama part of the curriculum until year 5, with senior productions thereafter, including backstage opportunities. School was first prep to put on Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Art has breadth but heavy on ceramics, the teacher’s specialism.

Core sports are hockey, lacrosse, rounders, cricket, netball (girls) and football, rugby and cricket (girls and boys), but tennis, athletics, swimming and cross-country also strong and fencing, golf and sailing on offer too. Plenty of silverware – unbeaten first team in rugby in the season we visited (‘and it’s not a Micky Mouse circuit down here’) and finalists for IAPS national cricket (mixed set team), although some parents say it’s less easy to get matches since the school’s got bigger and one reckoned, ‘If you’ve got a really, really sporty child, they might struggle as they have such a rainbow of children’ (school disagrees). There are other options on extras afternoon for the non-sporty, including farming, funky dance, fishing, beekeeping and touch typing. ‘The school excels at finding strengths – not just academic,’ said parent.

Pupils are friendly, spirited and chatty with a twinkle in their eye. They’re supportive of one another too – as likely to pat others on the back as punch their own fists in the air at exam results time. Lots of mixing of year groups. Mental health a priority, with an online tracking system giving staff an insight into, for example, how much each child is prepared to disclose about themselves and how much they trust others.

Parents are a mixture of City and media types, doctors and farmers – all very inclusive and friendly with no social divides, say parents. All describe the school as ‘magical’, with many claiming an immediate ‘gut feeling’ that this was ‘the one’: ‘I thought it would be quite stuffy, but straightaway it reminded me of St Trinians,’ said one. Not the anarchy, she was at pains to add, but ‘the eccentricity and fun’. Some grumbles around school’s recent growth, but all agree ‘the family feel has remained’. Minibuses bring children in from Staplehurst, High Halden, Burwash, Wittersham and the villages en route. Alumni read like a fantasy dinner party guest list: BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner, spy Donald Maclean, MP Airey Neave, Olympic rower Matthew Parrish, and the late Mark Shand, travel writer (and brother of Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall).

Roald Dahl, eat your heart out. This quirky rural prep encourages kids to be kids, without trying to squash their imaginations or sense of the absurd and mischief. A far cry from PR-led schools where everyone stands on ceremony, this place fizzes with warmth, gusto and authenticity. A joy for curious, energetic kids and parents for whom education is about more than just grades.