60 Tatler Schools Guide 2020 tatler.comRUGBY
SCHOOLEvery two years Shrewsbury studentsand staff spend a fortnight volunteeringat a hospital and eye clinic in MalawiOAKHAM SCHOOL
Chapel Close, Oakham,
Rutland LE15 6DT
Website oakham.rutland.sch.uk
Head Henry Price, MA, from
September; previously Head of
Wellington School, Somerset Pupils
1,040. Day: 261 boys, 228 girls;
boarding: 286 boys, 265 girls Faith
C of E Ages 10–18 Term Fees
Day: £7,120; boarding: £11,670
Oxbridge 2% Registration Early
entry is encouraged; £100 fee
Admission CE or school’s own
exam, interview and previous
school’s report Alumni Cricketer
Stuart Broad, sailor Emily Nagel,
author Louise Doughty
This is a landmark year for Oakham
as they welcome new Head Henry
Price. He arrives from Wellington
School in Somerset, where he was
also Head; prior to this he was
a Senior Housemaster at Rugby – a
very safe pair of hands. The IB
was a huge draw for Price, all
the more so following the school’s
successful launch last year of the
internationally celebrated IB
Middle Years Programme for pupils
in those all-important exam-free
years. ‘I have three children with
very different personalities and
interests, but I am confident that
Oakham will bring out the best
in each of them,’ one parent says,
highlighting this school’s genuine
gift for nurturing individual
talents and encouraging a diverse
range of future ambitions – from
broadcasting and economics to
aspiring interior designers and
magazine editors. This is one of
the country’s largest co-ed schools,
and there is no shortage of
artistic, dramatic and sporting
opportunities: the new Artist in
Residence has already collaborated
with students to host an exhibition
in the Wheelhouse Gallery;
A Christmas Carol was the most
technical production yet (think
holographic projections); and 56
Oakhamians have been selected for
regional sports academies. A
purpose-built Medical and Pastoral
Centre, a new lead Mental Health
Practitioner and dedicated Body
and Mind Programme ensure thatpastoral care is never a bolt-on.
Wellbeing is further enhanced by
Oakham’s boarding system: the
youngest and eldest students have
their own space to enjoy their child-
hood or prepare for adulthood,
while the mixed-age middle-school
houses feel like big happy families.OUNDLE
The Great Hall, Oundle,
Northamptonshire PE8 4BH
Website oundleschool.org.uk Head
Sarah Kerr-Dineen, MA, since
2015; previously Warden of Forest
School, London Pupils 1,114.
Day: 144 boys, 123 girls; boarding:
516 boys, 331 girls Faith C of E
Ages 11–18 Term Fees Day: £7,835;
boarding: £12,230 Oxbridge 10%
Registration Minimum two years
before entry; £250 fee Admission
CE or school’s own exam and
interview Alumni Sir Peter Scott,
Richard Dawkins, Cecil Lewis
PREP Head Sam Robertson
Pupils 266 day: 136 boys, 130 girls
Ages 4–11 Term Fees £4,100
If Oundle girls used to be mocked
for looking like a massive MC
Hammer fan club, the tables have
turned: somehow, culottes are cool
again, and now they resemble acollective Cos advert (though it
seems safe to presume that Cos
customers don’t wear pyjamas and
sports socks under their billowing
trousers). Apart from the idiosyn-
cratic uniform, a key selling point
of this school is that it is scattered
throughout a beautiful, biscuit-
hued market town: at break-time
you’ll see students lining up to buy
doughnuts from the bakery; after
lessons they indulge in the years-
long tradition of cheesy chips at
the Coffee Tavern café. This set-up
instills a strong community spirit:
over 320 pupils and 50 staff are in-
volved in the school’s Community
Action programme, and more than
£86,000 was raised for charity last
year. ‘We want Oundelians to be
confident, well-rounded, funda-
mentally decent human beings: all
aspects of our education are under-
pinned by this ethos,’ the school
says. One of the biggest boarding
schools in the country, Oundle of-
fers a seriously impressive range of
activities: 2018 saw 27 residential
trips to 17 foreign countries, 26,000
instrumental lessons, 70 pupil
compositions played in concerts
and eight full-scale school perfor-
mances and three house playsperformed in the spectacular Stahl
Theatre. The futuristic SciTech
building is proving a soaring suc-
cess, and 2020 will see a new
Sports Centre. With fabulous
grades, top-tier sport and a truly
creative arts departments, Oundle
is renowned for producing modest
yet high-achieving citizens.THE PERSE
SCHOOL
Hills Road, Cambridge CB2 8QF
Website perse.co.uk Head
Edward Elliott, MA, since 2008;
previously Head of Sixth Form
Pupils 1,181 day: 737 boys, 444
girls Ages 3–18 Term Fees £5,998
Oxbridge 28% Registration By
December of year before entry; £150
fee Admission School’s own exam
and interview Alumni Sir David
Tang, musician David Gilmour,
geophysicist Dr Melanie Rodgers
PREP Head James Piper
Pupils 285: 151 boys, 134 girls
Ages 7–11 Term Fees £5,442
The Perse School has a reputation
for having very clever students: in
2018, 78 of them secured a clean
sweep of A* (9/8) grades in all of
their IGCSE subjects, with one
pupil achieving 14 A* grades. Since
they already have starry results in
the bag, there is a strong focus
on encouraging pupils (and
parents) to think beyond exams:
their strapline is ‘intellectual
curiosity’, and they’re big on wider
learning and emotional intelligence.
Consequently, there are over 100
clubs, including the Exploration
Society, which takes students on
expeditions everywhere from the
fields on the other side of
Cambridge to the Peak District,
Sweden and Morocco – it’s no
wonder that nearly 600 students are
involved in some capacity. Head Ed
Elliot is directly involved with the
drive to nurture students beyond
the syllabus and he runs what he
calls ‘local studies’, a mixture of
history and geography that takes
pupils out into the surrounding area
to see sites of interest. Elliot is big on
philanthropy (the Perse was
originally founded as a free school)
and the school awards around £110-19-Schools-Guide-PublicMidlands.indd 60 14/08/2019 21:57