WHAT? WHERE?

A top UK independent co-ed prep boarding and day school for children aged 3 – 13 tucked away on a leafy site between Rugby and the village of Dunchurch.

Set in 90 acres of idyllic parkland Bilton Grange, or BG as it’s affectionately known, combines gothic charm and Harry Potter vibes, extensive modern facilities, with acres of space for exploration – and tree climbing!

As you come up the drive, you leave the bustle of the main road behind only to be blown away by the school’s stunning centrepiece, a mansion worthy of a period drama, designed by Westminster architect Augustus Pugin nestling in wild gardens, woodlands and countryside.

Pupils can board fully, weekly or flexi, or come as day pupils. Saturday school’s compulsory for Years 6, 7 and 8, but optional for Years 4 and 5, with Year 3 having the opportunity to attend Saturday morning hockey. There’s sport and matches for all on Saturday afternoons.

Years 4 and 5 follow the Big Saturday programme and up to 80% choose to attend. BG Saturday Activities range from football to natural history club, drama and bushcraft with a life skills option learning how to iron, clean and mow a lawn – all handy to know!

Famous Old Biltonians include Taio Cruz (singer, songwriter, rapper & record producer), former MP Sir Nicholas Winterton, professional cricketer Richard Montgomery, Team GB Olympic hockey player Rob Thompson, Olivier-nominated actor/singer Alexander Hanson and actor and Charmed star Rupert Evans.

There are currently 383 pupils on the roll with around 60 boarders and classes averaging 15 – so plenty of attention for your kids here.

FACILITIES

Impressive. Dating back to 1873 the school is rich in history. Augustus Pugin was commissioned by a previous owner around 1846 to design a mansion around the pre-existing Georgian farmhouse, at the same time he was designing the House of Lords and the Commons at Westminster. His work includes the interior tiles, stained glass, panelling, the heraldic sculptured beasts on the hallway staircase, the gorgeous patterned wallpaper, door furniture, walled garden in the grounds and adjacent cottage.

In 1887 when the first Head, Reverend Walter Earle, moved the school into Bilton Grange he had had the brewhouse and working men’s room converted into a chapel, adjoining the mansion.

Pupils at BG have the use of a good size dedicated theatre, a 25m indoor swimming pool, a sports hall with squash courts and a full-size floodlit AstroTurf hockey pitch in a listed Victorian kitchen garden. They can also learn to tee-off in a revamped 9-hole golf course, with a recent training camp proving extremely popular.

The school is understandably proud of its Design Technology Department, located in a converted stable block, which continues to be at the forefront of most Prep Schools and would rival many senior schools! Facilities include a 3D printer, vinyl cutter, milling machine and its own CAD (Computer Aided Design) room.

A team of inspirational teachers fire up the pupils’ imaginations with pupils consistently achieving scholarship success to top senior schools. Successful personal design projects range from up-cycling old floorboards into a coffee table to a bench made from an old copper boiler tank and a bespoke doghouse.

For outdoor adventures, the school boasts several woodland areas of note:

the Bath Spinney, a den builder’s paradise, centred around an old military parachute protecting the much-used fire-pit – a regular haunt of the school’s scouting groups.
the Wild Gardens – home to the ‘Best Climbing Tree in all the World’ and the location for the Outdoor Learning programme – a timetabled curriculum subject for all children in the pre-prep.
the Scout Forbid – a woodland space exclusively for the school’s Junior adventurers.
most recently introduced is the ‘Wigloo’ – yes, you heard me. A wooden igloo created from trees felled from the school grounds.

In fact, outdoor learning is a huge part of life here. The setting has a picture-book quality and children are given the chance to safely explore their natural surroundings, climb trees and let their imagination run free.

Early Years facilities have been fully refurbished and extensive 3+ provision in The Nest and Reception classrooms which have been designed to support a child-led, play-based approach. There are secure outdoor areas and in Year 1 you’ll find double doors from the classrooms to enable free-flow outdoor access for younger children.

There’s a nurturing environment here, and a relaxed, family feel with many fun quirks (read more on this later).

The uniform is getting an overhaul this year, to be more co-gender. Summer dresses are out and there’s a choice of trousers, shorts, culottes or skirts. Girls choose whether they want to wear a shirt and tie in summer. There’s a comfy new sports kit too.

ACADEMICS

Excellent. Bilton Grange feeds into a broad range of independent schools and Rugby’s state grammars. Consistent and outstanding Common Entrance and Scholarship success over recent years is a testament to the quality of teaching and learning with many of BG’s brightest boys and girls joining Rugby School.

BG works with every family to decide on the right school for their child. Last year every senior went to their first choice of secondary. ISI inspectors found that the quality of Bilton Grange pupils’ personal development and their academic and other achievements is excellent, the highest grade. Read the report here.

Little Grange Nursery, an independent facility rated Outstanding by Ofsted, opened in the school grounds in August 2022 for children aged six months for five years. Children have access to the beautiful grounds and parents can choose their next school pathway from state or independent route. It’s open 51 weeks a year and closed only over Christmas and New Year, so ideal for busy, working parents. A lot of time is spent outdoors with forest school every day and a really chilled and relaxed vibe – most of the kids were wearing slippers when I visited (jealous much?)

The Nest Pre-school for children aged 3+ is a very sweet, well established learning environment. The imaginative curriculum follows the ‘curiosity approach’ in their ‘Busy Learning’ time with adventure outdoors in the grounds every day. Reception teachers have driven a curriculum overhaul which provides a wonderful blend of high quality, bespoke teacher-led interventions, and child-led exploratory play. Psst – if you want your littles ones here get your name down quick as there’s a waiting list.

Year 1 sees children learn within play which has seen great results across the board. Children can choose how they work through activities aimed not only at developing core skills, but encouraging collaboration, critical thinking, gross and fine motor skills and communication. Woodwork has recently been introduced to build skills like self-esteem and resilience and there are plans for a permanent supervised outdoor woodworking area in the Forest School.

Pre-Prep specialist provision is outstanding with experts in their field delivering class sessions including super-talented Mrs Gray, the resident Pre-Prep musician who holds the awesome accolade of performing on the Downton Abbey film soundtrack, recorded at London’s Abbey Road studios. Music provision is available for all, with instruments available to take home. From Year 1 children will rotate learning different instruments before practicing strings in Year 2 and brass in Year 3.

Prep From the very start an accessible and highly stimulating curriculum provides pupils in Years 4 to 8 of all abilities the appropriate level of stretch and challenge to be the best they can be. Pupils are encouraged to be confident and adopt a ‘can do’ attitude. Study skills are developed and learning how to learn is a key facet of a Bilton Grange education, and is, in the school’s view, an essential skill for modern life.

Maths, English and Science are the core focus, complemented with a vibrant humanities, technology, creative, performing arts, musical and sporting study programme. The syllabus is enriched by visitors to the school and trips to various places of interest including Warwick Castle, Lunt Roman Fort, Sulgrave Manor and Bosworth Battlefield.

Throughout the curriculum BG aims to promote excellence and achievement. Talented pupils are invited to join the ‘High Flyer’ groups operating in the various scholarship areas.

Years 7 & 8 follows the CE syllabus in Maths, English and Science while Humanities, Modern Foreign Languages (French and Spanish) and Classics are still studied and assessed but through their own forward-thinking curriculum. Children are fully prepared for the demands of senior school life.

SPORTS

There’s plenty of room for sports. One of the most impressive features is BG’s full-sized, artificial turf hockey pitch in the listed Victorian Kitchen Garden.

Major games played here are hockey, rugby, cricket, and netball. But coaching is available in athletics – with many of the school’s talented athletes reaching national finals – tennis, Tae Kwon do, swimming, badminton, horse riding and golf. Girls in the prep school now play cricket instead of rounders to promote equal opportunities.

One major benefit of the recent merger with Rugby School is that BG pupils now also gain from professional coaching of top-level senior school standard.

WHAT ELSE?

The list of extra-curricular clubs for children in Year 2 upwards is long; there are more with than 20, including Lego, ballet, film appreciation, bee-keeping, fencing, yoga and even a dedicated group of Eco-Troopers who volunteer to empty the recycling bins each week!

As for pastoral care, tutors are the first port of call (though children are encouraged to talk to any trusted member of staff); boarders have a pyramid of support. There’s digital tracking for pastoral care and a new Welfare Management Team which meet and discuss pupil care and cases. Future plans include a pastoral wellbeing hub in an unused courtyard which headteacher Gareth hopes to turn into a memory garden.

Well equipped with technology. Every classroom has an interactive whiteboard and in the Upper School, pupils in Years 7 and 8, all have their own laptop for use in lessons, preps, and outside of school when necessary.

The introduction of iPads means that younger children in early years and pre-prep can document and reflect on their own learning, and share this ‘almost live’ with parents, which has been a huge hit. Daily observations have helped parents to feel in touch with their child’s learning.

But it’s a mobile-free area in school (phew). Boarders have access to them in the evening for keeping in contact with their families.

Music – Each child from Year 2 up has the opportunity to learn one or more instrument, from a list of 22. An impressive 75% of those eligible play an instrument regularly with 184 instrumental lessons a week.

Bilton Grange recently become the first co-ed prep school to start its own independent choirister programme which has been a huge success. Pupils can audition from Year 3 for The Rugby Choiristers at Bilton Grange, and train each morning with no weekend commitments. There are some 40 choiristers headed up by the director of music at Rugby School and the former Headmaster of The Chorister School, Durham Cathedral (who is now Rugby School Head of Keyboard). Other music groups at the school include Baby Blue Note Jazz, senior woodwind, a guitar ensemble, superstrings, a percussion group, plus a jazz and rock BiG Band.

Speech and drama – 97 children (40%) are sitting LAMDA exams.

Design Technology – the curriculum spans from The Nest through to Year 8. Pupils learn how to safely use and enjoy working with a range of materials, tools and machines. This forward-thinking department enjoys supporting and guiding pupils to think outside of the box with personal projects.

As well as timetabled lessons, pupils can choose additional DT activities and options in the evening.

The school is enormously proud of its creative arts and DT department. Retired engineer Malcolm Farrant, an OB (Old Biltonian), gave his name to The DT Farrant Award – a new competition to inspire budding young designers and engineers.

House system – BG has four sections in the Prep that have recently been renamed after prominent buildings designed by Augustus Pugin: Alton, Cheadle, Oxburgh and Westminster. At Pre-Prep there’s Sycamore, Cedar, Oak and Poplar named after trees on the school grounds where each house meets termly.

Children are involved in all sorts of decision-making from sitting on the School Council, to the Charities Committee, Boarding Council, Food Council and more recently forming an Eco Council in prep school.

Parents’ group, FAB (Friends at Bilton), plays an important part in organising events such as the Christmas Fair, the Family Christmas Ball, a Divali celebration and a Champagne Shopping Evening, raising money for specific projects like renovating the organic garden, or funding the newly installed ‘wigloo’.

BOARDING

A strong, caring and supportive family orientated home-from-home environment ensures pupils’ wellbeing is central and is what makes BG stand out as one of the best boarding schools in the country.

There are currently some 60 full and weekly boarders who live in two single-sex houses at the heart of the school upstairs in the Pugin Mansion with stunning views and grand rooms across the estate.

Overseen and run by a Housemaster plus two residential House Mothers, a residential couple, who are Assistant House parents, boarding tutors, graduate assistants and residential gap year students, the school proudly boasts of bucking the UK and national trend of declining full and weekly boarding numbers.

Assistant Head, Boarding, Mark Tovey, his wife Clare and their three children Xander, Lyra and Sennen, along with the family’s Cocker Spaniel Roxy, live between the two houses.

Girls’ rooms are all named after world famous ski resorts, while boys’ rooms are named after world famous surfing beaches – two of the Tovey family’s favourite outdoor pursuits.

The school is very proud of the pastoral pyramid which lives, works and supports the boarders at BG. There’s even a night matron who is up through the night to check and oversee all boarders are safe and well while also ensuring the washing machines keep going throughout the night!

One of the great attractions of boarding is the flexibility of the four options on offer: Flexi (a regular night or once every so often), weekly light (Mon, Tues, Thurs, and Fri); weekly (Mon-Sat) or full (termly). The school regularly houses around 65-70 boarders most nights and has plans to increase this further.

BG is also immensely proud of the multicultural diversity within the school and boarding community. The current catchment of boarders is largely from the UK with international students from France, Spain, Russia, Hong Kong and China.

An extensive action-packed Activity and Options programme during the week takes in academic challenges, sports sessions, art, DT, horse-riding, scuba, music, bee-keeping, Outdoor Adventurers, Brownies and lots more.

At the weekends, boarders enjoy being at home and playing in their surroundings but also visiting various attractions from paintballing, go-karting and trampolining to Milton Keynes SnowPark, West Midland Safari Park and Rutland Aqua Park.

Saturday night is film night in one of three movie areas allowing all boarders to watch age-appropriate films while munching sweets and snacks from Mrs Tovey’s Tuck shop. Children wear with pride clothing from the 1873 BG boarding brand celebrating the date when the school was first founded.

HEADTEACHER

Head Gareth Jones took the reins in September 2021, he was formerly the Headmaster of St Andrew’s Prep School in Eastbourne and previously at The Dragon. He’s a warm character and passionate about ensuring Bilton Grange is a leader in the 21st Century. Indeed, in his short tenure he’s already made a raft of changes to promote a more inclusive culture and has worked hard alongside colleagues at Rugby School to make a success of Little Grange Nursery and Chorister programme. The synergy across the different phases is clear to see and there’s no doubt he wants to modernise the school, without losing its wonderful history.

QUIRKS

Like J K Rowling’s Hogwarts, BG has its very own ‘sorting ceremony’. On entering the Prep in Year 4, all children are placed in the ‘Hobbits’, as they await selection for the four main houses, known as Sections. Towards the end of the first term, the Hobbits are then sorted into Churchill, Mountbatten, Nelson and Wellington Sections in BG’s own sorting ceremony. They are draped in the old BG ‘sorting’ flag (a lion) which arises from its year-long slumber, slowly contemplates their future and then reveals their destiny to the excitement of their peers and section elders from Year 8.

Another lovely Harry Potter-like tradition is the termly candlelit dinners – where the boarding community gathers for a candlelit dinner in the beautiful wood-panelled dining room. Boarders dress up in their evening attire and play host to a mix of BG teaching staff, governors, senior school representatives and other guests. Recently, they hosted a medieval feast in the Gallery too where the catering team went the whole hog (pun intended).

WRAP AROUND CARE

Minibus runs in the morning bring children in from the villages. Under normal circumstances there’s after school care at Pre-Prep up to 6pm. At Prep, children have the choice to stay for tea and then evening Options. The Options programme caters for all interests from horse-riding, chess, Brownies, Cubs, Scouts and Guides to studying Greek, Improv (Drama), programming and scuba diving.

FEES & BURSARIES

From 2022 fees per term are: Reception £3,810; Year 1 £4,130; Year 2 £4,270; Year 3 £4,570. Fees for Prep start at £6,490 up to £7,360 per term, with flexi-boarding £49 per night, weekly boarding £9,300 and full £10,020.

Bursaries are available for pupils requiring financial assistance in Year 6 from local primary schools.

WORD ON THE GROUND

The parents we heard from loved the school and their happy, engaged kids. They describe Bilton Grange as providing a fantastic education in a magical setting and say teaching staff are always going above and beyond with their commitment, creativity, and enthusiasm, supporting pupils with a wealth of innovative resources, patience and kindness. They also like the academic and SEND support and say the school is nurturing, inspiring and inclusive. One Year 5 parent says the school gives children a feeling of being part of another family, and kids are never rushing to go home; while a Year 7 parent told us that as a preparatory school, BG does just that; it prepares pupils for their senior school, and outstandingly so, and in every area of the child’s educational experience. Kids told me they love the sports and activities available, along with after school provision so they can spend even longer with their friends.

THE MUDDY VERDICT

Good for: Parents looking for a pastorally driven, outdoorsy school with excellent facilities and outstanding academic results. The weekly swimming lessons in pre-prep are an extra bonus as are the various boarding options. Ideal for entry into Rugby’s state grammar system as well as the independent sector.

Not for: Parents who wrap their offspring in cotton wool – here, children are encouraged to play outdoors, climb trees, get muddy building dens and generally live out an adventure storybook fantasy.

Prospective parents are welcome to make an appointment to visit the school, and meet the Headmaster at any point during term time. There’s an Open Day on 5 Oct.

Bilton Grange Prep, Dunchurch, Rugby, CV22 6QU. Tel: 01788 818246

Bilton Grange Prep School, Rugby

You may also like