Woodcote House School

Woodcote House School is a family-run day and flexible boarding school for boys aged 7-13. Having been in the Paterson family since 1931, David Paterson is the 4^th family Headmaster.  Set in 30 acres of beautiful grounds & woodland in Windlesham, Surrey, just 22 miles from London, Woodcote boys enjoy unrivalled opportunities both in and out of the classroom. With just over 100 boys on the register and an average class size of 10-12, we really can focus on each boy as an individual and tailor our teaching to suit every style of learning.  We ensure that all boys are challenged to reach their full potential, or supported in areas that do not come so naturally. We have a Scholarship Programme, ensuring we can prepare boys for academic, art, music and sport scholarships.  Woodcote has 18 members of teaching staff, with additional peripatetic teachers for specialist subjects, so the staff to pupil ratio is exceptionally high. 

Despite being a small school, Woodcote offers a diverse and enriching curriculum and a wide variety of activities, sports and hobbies.  In addition to the core academic subjects, IT, music and art are timetabled for every year group and, with the increasing importance of pre-tests in Year 6, Verbal Reasoning and Non-Verbal Reasoning are also timetabled from Year 3.  We believe in preparing boys for the future and our senior boys also do Latin, Drama, ‘Go Curiosity’, Politics, Social & Cultural Studies and ‘Learning to Live’ as part of our current Enrichment Programme.  We have 100% success rate to chosen senior schools and support parents and boys through the whole process, from selecting the right schools, through pre-tests, interviews, Common Entrance and Scholarships.

Sport is played every day, with fixtures on Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays across all year groups.  The boys have opportunities to try a broad range of sports as we understand that our main sports of football, rugby and cricket may not suit everyone.  Every boy has the opportunity to be in a team and every boy contributes to school life.  Our activity programme is extensive, and popular activities include sailing, archery, golf, tennis, coding, clay pigeon shooting, cookery, campfire building and gardening, to name just a few.  Activities are usually run by members of staff, or professional coaches are brought in for more specialist activities.  Offsite activities include sailing, dry-slope skiing, paintballing and climbing.

Boys learn better when they are enjoying themselves so we aim to make school life fun whilst ensuring that the academics are taken seriously.  Music, art and drama are a big part of school life with 85% of boys playing at least one musical instrument and every boy gets involved in school plays, whether that is on stage or behind the scenes.  Woodcote provides a happy, secure environment where boys can live, learn and flourish as individuals. We help build self-confidence by encouraging boys to perform in music concerts, read prayers in Chapel, recite poetry, act in plays and give presentations.

Parents are a crucial part of Woodcote life and are invited to attend events throughout the year, including concerts, plays, recitations, Chapel services, quiz nights and, of course, all our sports fixtures.  Drop-off and pick-up are great opportunities for parents to have a quick word with their son’s tutor or meetings can be arranged with tutors or the Headmaster at any time.

Boarding is very popular at Woodcote, with over 60% of boys doing some form of boarding.  We offer a flexible approach to boarding, offering anything from one night per week up to full boarding.  Being only 45 minutes from London, we offer two daily bus services from and to London with many of those boys choosing to board for part of the week as well. Our younger boys often start with one or two nights and build up to a fuller week in their last years.  We hold Trial Boarding Nights for our younger boys and many of them then choose to join our boarding community.  Weekends provide a healthy balance of planned activities and free time. Saturday mornings, which are optional for our younger boys, have 3 lessons followed by Chapel.  All parents are welcome to attend Chapel on most Saturday mornings (followed by drinks with the Headmaster) and those that are supporting their sons in the afternoon matches are also invited to stay for lunch. 

Pastoral tutors, responsible for no more than 12 boys each, provide full academic and social support.  Our team of matrons look after the boys medical needs and we have a school counsellor, who sees any boy that would like her support.  As a small school, every member of staff knows every boy, which enables us to provide exceptional pastoral care and identify any areas of concern about a boy’s academic or social welfare.

Our aim is for Woodcote boys to be honest, confident, respectful and trustworthy, together with a sense of humour and a balanced perspective on life. We demand high standards of behaviour and manners, recognising how important these qualities are, not only during their time at school, but in their future lives as well.