WHAT, WHERE?

An independent day school for girls and boys who are 2 to 11 years old, Springmead School is in beautiful Beckington, a picturesque village lying between Frome and Bath, close to the Somerset/Wiltshire border.

Founded in 2002 by three members of the same family – Madeleine and Stephen Taylor, and Jacqueline Beardsley (who now works at the school as a teacher) – their aim was to open a school where every child was valued and supported both academically and personally. In 2021, the school became part of Forfar Education, a group of high achieving schools and nurseries in London and the south and north of England.

There’s an underlying Christian ethos – they say the Lord’s Prayer, and Grace at lunch time – but it’s not a church school.

There are around 120 pupils on the roll with over 25 staff – an impressive staff to pupil ratio – with children mostly coming from Frome and the surrounding villages as well as towns like Trowbridge and Westbury.

FACILITIES

Everything takes place in the house and gardens of a large but not humungous country house, which is a warren of large, airy classrooms with interactive white boards, laptops and virbrant project work on the walls.

The Nursery, Reception, a library filled with colourful books and a school hall which doubles as a gym are on the ground floor; Years 1, 2 & 3 are on the first floor and Years 4, 5 & 6 are right at the top (the school seems to go up and up and up!). Children have one-to-one lessons with an academic advocate when needed – whatever that need is – in The Small Room. Artworks adorn the stairwells and the large art studio in a separate building is a fabulous new addition.

Meals are cooked on site – I saw some very delicious looking apple pie – and there’s always a hot meal alongside a salad bar. Lunch time here is an hour and a half: 45 mins to eat and 45 mins for lunch clubs (which are big here).

The playground’s decorated with cheery murals and divided with sweet blue picket fences, the lovely wildlife garden has a willow den, pergola and a multi-coloured elephant hiding in the flower bed – there’s a great sense of fun at this school – and there’s a field for sport opposite.

SPORTS

Sport and physical activity are a priority, with over three hours of PE and sport on the curriculum every week (most state primaries only offer two), plus lots of sporty after school clubs. Expect all the usual stuff – rugby, football, netball, hockey, cricket, cross-country, rounders, gym and athletics – as well as softball and dance.

Swimming is hugely popular – and very competitive. Children jump on a bus every week to a local pool for lessons with specialised coaches who’ve all been national and international swimmers. Most children also take additional swimming lessons outside of school. The school’s swim squad – membership of which is based on ability rather than age – are role models for whole school. Olympics 2034 here they come!

Cross country is another strength; pupils compete in local leagues and the school’s produced some excellent runners and swimmers who’ve gained scholarships to leading sports facilities.

NURSERY

The 50-weeks a year (very handy) Little Crickets nursery is led by a Norland-trained qualified teacher, with five qualified nursery practitioners and Norland nannies who come on placements. It’s a very jolly place set over two rooms and with a dedicated playground (soon to be revamped) filled with toys and play frames. Children also have access to the wildlife area and all the facilities in the main school.

Learning is themed and based around the seven areas in the Early Years Foundation Stage framework: personal, social and emotional development; communication and language and physical development. There are specialist teachers for music and French; how many nurseries do you know that offer that? Children tend to move from the nursery onto the main school.

ACADEMICS

Springmead is non-selective and with a maximum class size of 18, they follow the National Curriculum whilst valuing their motto Carpe Diem (seize the day), they retain the flexibility to follow children’s interests and lessons are often themed. Academic results are very good. Using GL assessments, 93% of children achieve average or above average in English and 88% the same in maths.

Each year around 50% of children win places – and often scholarships – at local independent secondary schools like Millfield, Prior Park College, Warminster School and Monkton Combe. The other half go onto state secondaries like Beechen Cliff in Bath, St Laurence School in Bradford on Avon and Sexey’s in Bruton. This a truly independent prep, with no link with a particular school; each child goes onto the secondary school that’s right for them.

HEAD TEACHER

Head teacher Sally Cox has been at Springmead from the very beginning. She met the school’s founders when they were all studying at Kingston University, then worked overseas in an international school in Tenerife before joining Springmead as a teacher when it opened in 2002. She was appointed Head in September 2021.

She seems to live and breathe the school and clearly absolutely loves it. She talks about the importance of supporting the whole child, allowing them to develop into strong, confident humans with a good sense of self, empathy and respect for others, and with a passion for life as well as learning. Whilst the school is non-selective, all pupils made good progress academically. The school makes a lot of effort to ensure that children try as many different activities as possible, so tht they can discover their own passions.

She’s very proud of the school’s welcoming family feel (which I can vouch for) and sense of community. Being a small school means that they can be super reactive and responsive. Teachers – most of whom have been with the school for years – are given the freedom to be creative, with fantastic results. I get the impression that this is a school that goes above and beyond.

The classroom is her natural habitat; she loves to teach and enjoys all of the time she gets to spend with the children, whether in the class, on trips, serving their lunch or in assembly. She’s always available and knows every child and their strengths, interests and families inside out.

REPORTS

Impressively, in every single report from the Independent Schools Inspectorate (ISI), equivalent to Ofsted in the state sector, the school has been declared ‘Excellent’. You can read the latest report here.

PASTORAL CARE

Staff know the children really well and are approachable and supportive. Children know they can go to any teacher if they have a problem but generally the class teacher is the first port of call – and the Head is always available. ‘Thrive’ sessions (an assessment and planning based intervention that aims to develop children’s social and emotional wellbeing) are there for those – children and parents – needing any kind of extra support.

All children’s views and ideas are shared at regular ‘surgeries’ and half-termly school council meetings via school council members from each year group who are elected by their classmates. There are are also Online Safety Cadets; children can talk to them about issues or worries around gaming and social media.

WHAT ELSE?

Performing arts are a strength. All children are given the chance to perform – performance skills are life skills – and they visit live theatre every year. Everyone takes part in annual Nursery, Pre-Prep and Prep productions, there’s an inter-house poetry competition and the school takes part in local poetry and prose competitions including the Mid-Somerset Festival. Most children take part in the annual Showcase, a talent show cum variety performance, which sounds huge fun. Performances take place in the village hall or nearby theatres, giving them a real sense of occasion. On my visit, budding thesps were practicing their pieces for their LAMDA (drama) exams – they’ve got some talented kids here.

Children begin to read music and play the ocarina and recorder in Year 2; by Year 6 there are lessons in composition and keyboard. Over half the children play an instrument or have individual singing lessons. There’s a Pre-prep and Prep Choir; the latter have appeared at the Young Peoples Festival in Salisbury and the Mid-Somerset Festival in Bath. The specialist music teacher is a lead singer with Bath Opera. Tra la la!

Children learn survival skills, science, plant lore, bushcraft (with a leader who was trained by Ray Mears, no less), geography and mapping, and develop key observational skills as well as ‘school’ subjects in the Go Explore programme.

Year 6 pupils are role models for younger ones through an Ambassador Programme, based on ‘The Springmead Way’ values of be kind, respectful, to listen, to share and to treat others as you would be treated. Pupils are trained to support and mentor, and given responsibilities in the school.

QUIRKS & BOASTY BITS

The Springmead Award scheme is their version of the Duke of Edinburgh Award. Pupils take on a hobby, a physical activity, community service, a first aid course, go on a residential trip and a hike – at increasing levels of difficulty – to be awarded Copper (Year 3), Bronze (Year 4), Silver (Year 5) and Gold (Year 6) Springmead Awards. Great idea.

The Nursery don’t just put on a nativity play, they make a nativity movie (and we’re not talking about filming a stage production). The Head of Early Years, who is a skilled amateur film maker, helps pupils to write, choose characters and costumes, perform and film the nativity on locations around the village. Already featured on BBC’s Points West, the BBC are coming back to record the whole nursery making an adventure film. Watch this space.

They produce high achieving pupils, who go on to earn First Class degrees at Russell Group universities.

Two pupils have qualified to take part in the Schools Biathlon Championships. A former pupil plays for the England Under 18s rugby.

The school’s been recognised by the Independent Schools Association (ISA); most recently, the nursery was shortlisted for the National ISA Award for Excellence and Innovation in Early Years in 2022 and for the National ISA Award for Excellence in Pupil Personal Development in 2020.

They take part in the National Gallery’s Take One Picture project and put on an art exhibition in a marque.

They’ve got their own You Tube channel.

CO-CURRICULAR & WRAPAROUND

The school day runs from 8.30am to 3.30pm but you can drop off from 8am and there are after school care and extra-curricular clubs until 6pm, with snacks and high tea if you wish.

Believing that the more children try out, participate and engage in new ideas and concepts, the more they engage in class and in subjects across the curriculum, the school has a comprehensive enrichment programme. With lots of enthusiastic and talented staff, there are masses of after school and free lunch time clubs and activities for Reception upwards. At the last count, there were 35, including musical theatre, eco, digital art & media, history detectives, debating, cheerleaders, karate and super science alongside all the usual sports, arts, crafts and music, and they change termly. Children choose a minimum of three, one of which should be a sport.

MOBILE PHONE POLICY

None allowed in school; any used for the school commute are handed into the office for safe keeping during the day.

FEES

2024/25 termly fees: Nursery £67 full day, £33.50 morning or afternoon only; Reception £3,900; Years 1 & 2 £3,990; Years 3 – 6 £4,155.

WORD ON THE GROUND

Parents value the school for its nurturing atmosphere, traditional values and tight-knit community. They praise it for the passionate, engaging teaching; teachers develop excellent relationships with the pupils, work hard to bring topics to life, encourage self-learning, offer lots of opportunities and support at each child’s individual level, and welcome feedback from parents. As for pastoral, the communication, care and action is fast, effective and supportive. Everyone appreciates the wide variety of extra-curricular activities and after school and holiday clubs.

MUDDY VERDICT

Good for: If you’re after a small school that offers a breadth of opportunity and personal attention through the dedication and passion of the Head and staff, stop right here.

Not for: Those who believe a prep should have an equestrian centre and Olympic-sized swimming pool will be best off elsewhere.

See for yourself: Contact the school at admissions@springmead.com to arrange a personal visit or book a place on their next open morning on Weds 26 March. There’s also a Discovery Day on Fri 7 March and a Breakfast with the Head on Fri 14 March.

Springmead School, 13 Castle Corner, Beckington, Frome, Somerset BA11 6TA. Tel 01373 831555.

Springmead School & Nursery, Frome

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