Culford School - The School Today

The School Today

Culford is a selective school accepting pupils from a broad ability range. Half of the senior pupils are boarders. Three schools are housed within the Park:

• Pre-Prep (Fieldgate House) is for day boys and girls from the ages of 3 - 7. Founded in 1984, it is set on the village side of Culford Park. The current headmistress is Mrs Sarah Preston.

• The Preparatory School is a boarding and day school for pupils aged 7 – 13. It occupies the north of the Park, surrounded by its own pitches, but also uses Senior facilities. The present headmaster is Mr Mike Schofield, formerly a Senior housemaster. Upper 3 (year 8) entry to the Senior School is by Common Entrance.

• The Senior School is also a mixed boarding and day school, for ages 13 – 18. The houses overlook parkland and pitches, with academic pursuits centred upon Culford Hall and the newer buildings. Pupils join from UK and overseas prep and maintained schools; scholarships, exhibitions, bursaries, Forces allowances and Methodist Schools assistance are offered.

The ten thousand volume Library is an oak panelled room overlooking Culford Hall’s south front, completed for the visit of King Edward VII in December 1904. The Centenary Hall, containing a Studio Theatre opened in 2006 by HRH the Duke of Gloucester (twenty five years after his first visit for the school's centenary), is also within the main building.

The Culford Foundation has raised funds for a new Pre-Prep nursery and dining hall; an astro-turf; the William Miller Science Centre (built in 2002 following a £1m donation by an Old Culfordian); and the restoration of Culford Hall. The Foundation also maintains the Old Culfordians association.

Culford is a Christian Methodist foundation, and the Church supports the school whilst accepting pupils of all faiths and none. There are nine acts of weekday worship plus Sunday services at St Mary's church - pupils who so wish are confirmed jointly as Methodists and Anglicans. The Chaplaincy provides compulsory chaplaincy studies until the Fifth Form (Year 11): a new Chaplaincy Centre opened in 2008.

A November 2008 inspection report by the Independent Schools Inspectorate (ISI) states that the school is “outstanding” at the spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of pupils; in the quality of its pastoral care and boarding provision; and in its community links and its governance and management. The quality of the educational experience provided, and pupils’ learning and achievements, are “good, with many outstanding features;” and teaching is “good, and in a high proportion of lessons it is outstanding”. A parallel Ofsted report rated boarding provision as outstanding; and the Nursery, for children aged 3–4, was rated outstanding in every area by Ofsted inspectors in June 2008.