A breath of fresh air

Windlesham House is a boarding prep school like no other. With a tangible spirit of excitement, happiness and enthusiasm, it is impossible not to be swept along by the fun and enjoyment. 70 acres of fields, pitches and woods set within the rolling hills of the South Downs ensure our pupils enjoy the most inspirational of settings, climb trees, build dens and retain the freedom and enjoyment of childhood for as long as possible. It really is a home from home. Nothing is unusual and the possibilities are endless.

Our boarding houses have 140 flexi, weekly and full boarders from the local area, nationally and around the world. Dynamic, inclusive and catering to the varied needs and ages, boarding at Windlesham House is far more than just a home away from home. Whether it is visits from Mutley (the school cat), tea and toast in the Grub Hub, a game of table football, a day out, a silent disco night or simply Friday night treats with a big screen film in the comfy rooms, we ensure all children are part of a special and kind community. We want our boarders to come ‘home’ after school finishes, enjoy their free time and know that there is someone who cares and to whom they can talk.

There is no question of the measure of success in a boarding school – it is happy children! Pupil happiness is at the heart of our school with opportunities and experiences being limitless and enriching.

We offer a bus service for children travelling from London to Windlesham House most Sunday afternoons and from Windlesham House to London most Fridays.

“The London bus each weekend is brilliant. The kids all love it (and the parents enjoy occasionally meeting at the Telegraph pub for a bite to eat before or after pick up and drop off too). There’s a really good community of London parents who are constantly in touch and helping each other out. I never feel left out of the community or events; but if I can’t go I know there are other parents and teachers who’ll look out for my boy in loco parents.” a current London parent

As a school with a ‘gently selective’ admissions policy we are very proud of the tremendous success achieved by our pupils, each fulfilling their own potential during their time at Windlesham House.

100% of our leavers win places at their senior schools of choice and on average 25% of pupils win scholarships to their senior schools of choice.

Of course the number of leavers going to each school each year varies but it is usually between one to six per school. The school choices are carefully made with recommendations from the Headmaster and his team in partnership with parents.

Over the last few years, our pupils have gone on to Ardingly, Bedales, Bede’s, Brighton College, Bryanston School, Canford School, Charterhouse, Cranleigh School, Downe House, Eton College, Gresham’s Haileybury, Harrow School, Headlington, King’s Canterbury, King Edward’s Whitley,  Lancing College, Marlborough College, Oundle School, Rugby School, Sevenoaks School, Stowe School, Sherbourne School, Tonbridge School, Wellington College, Winchester College and Wycombe Abbey to name a few.

Our Diploma & Futures Programme is a bespoke two-year course followed by all pupils in Years 7 & 8. It is unique to Windlesham House and is designed to equip pupils with the skills and attributes required to flourish at senior school and beyond. As a prep school, this is our priority!

The diploma replaces and enhances the CE route with a rich and rigorous curriculum and the addition of essential social, leadership and team skills. In conjunction with our ACE learning Habits, it will ensure pupils become accomplished, confident and resilient young people

Flexible classrooms, part of our commitment to invest in innovative learning spaces, are equipping our children for the changing world. These classrooms inspire reflection, resilience and ownership whilst promoting autonomy. We know that children learn in different ways and believe that this doesn’t just mean pencil or computer, written or spoken teaching; it means everything from the way they sit to the way the teacher interacts with them. Flexible classrooms enable us to provide this indivualised learning in inspiring and innovative spaces.

In a world where sustainability is such an important issue for us to be educating our children about. It is vital that we not only raise awareness, but also lead by example. Here at Windlesham House, we are on this journey as individuals and as a school. Design Technology, for example, is a resource heavy subject to deliver. The department recognises this and are looking at ways to reduce their reliance on virgin natural materials. After their successful art and design exhibition in June where the centrepiece was a commentary on the amount of single use plastic used in the delivery of art and DT. The department pledged to work to reduce this reliance, one such way was by using found materials such as plastic bottle tops which can be shredded using a new processing machine to create pellets which can be used to create a range of products and as a feature in projects such as lamp shades. The department is also exploring ways to use materials such as bamboo, grown on site, to be used in extra curricular projects. Whilst the department is right at the start of this journey staff members are excited about the opportunities to be creative and the impact this will have on the pupils at school now and in future years.

“There are lots of activities and things to do at Windlesham House. You are never bored!” a current pupil

What is the most important part of a school? The lessons? Its location? The facilities? The food? At Windlesham House, it is the child. Whilst outstanding lessons, a beautiful setting, excellent facilities and a healthy lunch are all important, our child-centred approach to pastoral care means we have a community that prides itself on knowing every pupil as an individual. A multi-layered structure ensures the little niggles don’t become big concerns, and the children know who they can talk to when they have things on their mind. A weekly pastoral theme enables the children to share their views on topics ranging from resilience to British Values, empathy to anti-bullying, all as a way of raising awareness and developing them into respectful, caring, curious individuals.

A great tradition and very symbolic of Windlesham House is our Golden Welly house competition where the whackier the challenge the better! Think It’s a Knockout but on a slightly smaller scale. And what do you win? A golden welly of course!

We are one of the few prep schools in the UK to have a dress code rather than a uniform. This helps to create a more relaxed atmosphere, particularly as the children spend so much time outside! It also means that girls are not restricted to skirts, allowing them to play comfortably and engage in all the daring, outdoorsy stuff that the boys can, or to do cartwheels unashamedly.

We have exceptional sports facilities for a prep school – a 9-hole golf course, a 25m six lane swimming pool, full sized astro, fantastic sports hall, hard and grass tennis courts and multiple sports pitches. Through our extensive games and PE curriculum all children experience a full range of sports and have the opportunity to pursue others during co-curricular time. Some unusual sports that we offer are NFL Flag Football, artistic swimming, polo, clay pigeon shooting, riding, dance, skiing, fencing and table tennis. All of that on top of our games provision of football (girls and boys), netball (girls and boys), rugby, tennis, hockey (girls and boys), cricket (girls and boys), athletics and swimming.

We have pupils who excel at their chosen sports but we are aware of the pressures that sport can put on children and teenagers, both physically and mentally. With that in mind, we developed our sports academy programme to provide a holistic package of support to our sports scholars that would enable them thrive in their disciplines and maintain the mental strength to take their sport forward through their time with us and on to senior schools and beyond.

The Academy is for everyone who wants to excel at their chosen sport(s), improve their fitness and mental health and maybe gain an elusive sports scholarship at a senior school. Whatever their sport, motivation or end game, we will support all those involved equally.

Windlesham House runs its own fleet of minibuses offering a comprehensive bus service for pupils five days a week in the local surrounding areas.

A bus timetable detailing the bus stops, collection and drop-off times is available from the school office.  Additional pick up points will be considered as well as new routes if there is sufficient interest in that area.

On arrival at the school, the driver will drop children next to the main school building from where they will be able to safely access the school buildings.  Pre-Prep children will be escorted by the driver to the Pre-Prep building where they by handed over to a member of staff.

As our children and community embrace our values, the Windlesham Way continues to embed kindness in everyone. Our guide to how we should treat each other and everyone we come into contact with challenges us to show respect, courage and the strength to hold to our values and do what is right at all times.

Our simple code of conduct centres around respect – for each other, for the school and for oneself – allowing children and staff to understand how to interact and the importance of empathy. This in turn leads to kindness and consideration and an environment in which everyone is thinking about the needs of the whole community.

We have a deserved reputation for our values – we cannot learn kindness, it is not found in textbooks – but as role models, we can define and model this incredible behaviour.

We have exceptional sports facilities for a prep school – a 9-hole golf course, a 25m six lane swimming pool, full sized astro, fantastic sports hall, hard and grass tennis courts and multiple sports pitches. Through our extensive games and PE curriculum all children experience a full range of sports and have the opportunity to pursue others during co-curricular time. Some unusual sports that we offer are NFL Flag Football, artistic swimming, polo, clay pigeon shooting, riding, dance, skiing, fencing and table tennis. All of that on top of our games provision of football (girls and boys), netball (girls and boys), rugby, tennis, hockey (girls and boys), cricket (girls and boys), athletics and swimming.

Rated by The Good Schools Guide as creating “possibly the best music (they have) seen in a school“, we encourage the children to participate in ground-breaking children’s concerts, using the very latest technology to enhance the children’s performances.

With over 70% of the school taking individual music lessons, 260 lessons are delivered each week! A diverse range of instruments can be heard throughout the week which is inspiring – currently the school is filled with the tones of Rather Be by Clean Bandit being played on our lovely South African marimbas and Bach’s Toccata and Fugue on our incredible pipe organ in the chapel – and with the famous Windlesham’s Got Talent at the end of the spring term, it’s full steam ahead!

All children (from Reception to Year 8) have a weekly music lesson where they learn and appreciate different genres from rap to classical as well as learning how to compose. Every child in the school is involved in performing in concerts and shows and will be on stage in front of a large audience at least twice each year. There is something for everyone

We might be small but every action we take contributes to global action. Windlesham House has therefore developed a comprehensive and evolving environmental strategy linked to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations to emphasise our role in a much larger global picture. By helping children to understand their importance they can be change-agents of the future – this is a vital part of any child’s education and something that will shape their future life choices.

We are a child-centred school that is forward thinking, outward looking and innovative in our approach to teaching and learning. We constantly evaluate the outcomes for children to ensure they are as high as possible.

Following considerable research and consultation, we have introduced several fully flexible classrooms. These innovative learning spaces are based on the principle that each child has different learning preferences. For far too long we have assumed that one learning environment (which has effectively remained unchanged in form and function for hundreds of years) is the best way for all children to learn and make progress. In our new classrooms, rows or groups of desks and chairs all facing the teacher’s desk have been replaced with zoned areas and a variety of low tables with stools, higher working areas, writing bars, floor cushions and various other comfortable working spaces. Children are encouraged to be independent in the choice of where to sit based on what they find most conducive to their engagement in the lessons.  The results have been impressive; children love their new classrooms, find the connection to their teachers greater and feel the new rooms allow them to tackle more complex work more successfully.