Herts &amp; Beds

<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-57480" src="https://herts.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/01/St-Edmunds-prep-external.jpg" alt="St Edmund's Prep" width="1000" height="750" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/herts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/01/St-Edmunds-prep-external.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/herts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/01/St-Edmunds-prep-external-300x225.jpg 300w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/herts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/01/St-Edmunds-prep-external-667x500.jpg 667w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" />
WHAT? WHERE?
St Edmund&#8217;s Prep is just outside of Ware, in the super rural hamlet of Old Hall Green. Approached by narrow lanes, fields and farmland, the school has 400 roaming acres to call its own (well, shared with the senior school, St Edmund&#8217;s College, that is &#8211; more on that later).
The main part of the Prep was built in 1833 and was the former house of William Ward, a theology lecturer from Oxford University, but the school itself was founded in 1874. Back then (and until 2010 in fact!) it was known as St Hugh&#8217;s Prep. As you&#8217;d expect, it&#8217;s been modernised a bit since then, with physical additions like the 1960s Godfrey Wing, (which admittedly stands out a bit against the backdrop of the grand College buildings, but is often the way with older schools growing out of their space), and it started to welcome girls in the 1980s.
Today it&#8217;s a co-ed Catholic school and nursery for just shy of 200 pupils aged 3-11 and while the Catholic values still ring true in everything from the teaching ethos to the attitudes of the pupils, the religious side is certainly not enforced, which is refreshing to see in this day and age.
Taster days are held for those looking to join at all ages and these are accompanied by assessments for places in Years 1 &#8211; 6.
Most pupils, particularly younger ones, are very local, but others travel as far as Loughton, Royston and Bishops Stortford. It&#8217;s safe to say that the school particularly appeals to parents looking for a 3-18 education, evidenced by the fact that 90% move up from the Prep to the College when the time comes. Incidentally, a place in College is given automatically to those who join the Prep before Year 4.
FACILITIES
I&#8217;ve mentioned the expansive grounds &#8211; the school owns pretty much as far as the eye can see, with some of it sub-contracted to a sheep farmer, who invites the kids to bottle feed the lambs in the Spring. Who needs field trips to the farm when you&#8217;ve got that on your doorstep?
<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-57552" src="https://herts.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/01/St-Edmunds-prep-Forest-school.jpg" alt="" width="1000" height="667" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/herts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/01/St-Edmunds-prep-Forest-school.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/herts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/01/St-Edmunds-prep-Forest-school-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/herts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/01/St-Edmunds-prep-Forest-school-720x480.jpg 720w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" />
The main outdoor space used by Prep is called Bounds Field (yep, it&#8217;s &#8216;out of bounds&#8217; beyond that) &#8211; it&#8217;s used for everything from kicking around a football to performing in the amphitheatre. There&#8217;s also an orchard, which the staff and parents have been spending their free time turning into an outdoor learning area with a pond, nature trail and copse, where the accredited Forest School sessions take place &#8211; this is part of the curriculum for Nursery to Year 2 and an additional activity for Years 3-4. They even produce their own home-made apple juice.
<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-57495" src="https://herts.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/01/St-Edmunds-prep-prayer-garden.jpg" alt="" width="1000" height="750" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/herts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/01/St-Edmunds-prep-prayer-garden.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/herts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/01/St-Edmunds-prep-prayer-garden-300x225.jpg 300w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/herts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/01/St-Edmunds-prep-prayer-garden-667x500.jpg 667w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" />
Another community developed space is the Prayer Garden, which was designed by the children for quiet reflection (and made a reality by a parent who&#8217;s a landscape gardener &#8211; handy &#8211; with a little help from other parents and staff). They&#8217;re big on community spirit here and are never short of volunteers for projects like this.
The Prep pupils are very lucky to be able to benefit from the use of the College&#8217;s top-notch facilities, like the imposing Pugin Chapel, indoor pool, floodlit astroturf, tennis courts and sports hall, which they wouldn&#8217;t get at a standalone Prep.
<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-57494" src="https://herts.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/01/St-Edmunds-prep-French-and-science.jpg" alt="" width="1000" height="750" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/herts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/01/St-Edmunds-prep-French-and-science.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/herts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/01/St-Edmunds-prep-French-and-science-300x225.jpg 300w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/herts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/01/St-Edmunds-prep-French-and-science-667x500.jpg 667w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" />
Indoors there are specialist Art, Drama, Music, ICT and Science rooms. The latter is also combined with French, so there are plans to separate these to create a modern science space for practical work.
WHAT ELSE
St Edmund&#8217;s Prep is proud to hold an Arts Council Gold Artsmark award for outstanding provision in the arts. The pupils benefit from a specialist art teacher and TA and exhibit their work at the annual Chigwell Art Exhibition.
Alongside the main College, St Edmund’s Prep is now also a World Class High Performance Learning (HPL) School, and a member of the Fellowship and Global Community of HPL Schools.
<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-57493" src="https://herts.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/01/Art-2019_09_10_StEdmundsCollege-0370.jpg" alt="" width="1000" height="665" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/herts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/01/Art-2019_09_10_StEdmundsCollege-0370.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/herts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/01/Art-2019_09_10_StEdmundsCollege-0370-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/herts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/01/Art-2019_09_10_StEdmundsCollege-0370-720x479.jpg 720w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" />
Performance-wise they don&#8217;t do things by halves with recent productions including Peter Pan (complete with flying children!) and the ever-popular Shrek. There are also loads of opportunities to perform throughout the year, from taking part in the Young Voices Concerts at the O2 to LAMDA recitals and all Year 1-6 children participate in the annual Easter Story retelling in the College Chapel.
<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-57497" src="https://herts.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/01/St-Edmunds-prep-peter-pan.jpg" alt="" width="1000" height="750" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/herts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/01/St-Edmunds-prep-peter-pan.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/herts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/01/St-Edmunds-prep-peter-pan-300x225.jpg 300w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/herts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/01/St-Edmunds-prep-peter-pan-667x500.jpg 667w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" />
Around 100 pupils take private instrumental lessons and all Year 2 children get a term&#8217;s free group tuition on violin, cello, ukelele or recorder, with a view to whetting their musical appetite, and there are choirs and instrumental groups for Years 1-6 too. The popularity speaks for itself as there were over 100 music, drama and dance entries in last year’s Performing Arts competition.
On the sporting front, they&#8217;ve got plenty to shout about, too, as holders of a a prestigious Gold School Games mark. Their strongest sports are football and netball, with the U11 football team winning the Hertfordshire county title last year, and the U11 and U9 netballers regularly sweeping the board in inter-school comps.
<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-57551" src="https://herts.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/01/St-Edmunds-prep-sport.jpg" alt="" width="1000" height="665" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/herts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/01/St-Edmunds-prep-sport.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/herts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/01/St-Edmunds-prep-sport-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/herts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/01/St-Edmunds-prep-sport-720x479.jpg 720w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" />
The kids also benefit from specialist swimming and tennis coaching throughour. Outside of Football, Netball and Cricket, Tennis also forms part of the PE programme, as do Lacrosse, Basketball, Rounders and Athletics.
Pupils can also fuel their passions in one of the many co-curricular activities. There are dozens to choose from which change termly and are all led by professionals and experts. There&#8217;s a wide range of sports, and performing arts (including LAMDA exam prep and prop making for upcoming productions), as well as things like Lego, First Aid, Knitting, Photography and Karate.
<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-57492" src="https://herts.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/01/karate-club-2019_09_10_StEdmundsCollege-0325.jpg" alt="" width="1000" height="665" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/herts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/01/karate-club-2019_09_10_StEdmundsCollege-0325.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/herts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/01/karate-club-2019_09_10_StEdmundsCollege-0325-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/herts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/01/karate-club-2019_09_10_StEdmundsCollege-0325-720x479.jpg 720w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" />
Cookery club is held twice weekly and Gardening and Eco clubs are popular too &#8211; in fact, the school has a really strong environmental focus and has received an Eco School Green Flag Award. They even follow an eco code and the pupils have voluntarily asked to put up signs about switching off lights and not wasting water.
There are also plenty of chances to play to their strengths in the inter-house competitions which include everything from an annual spelling bee to dance, music, drama, sport and even a pancake race!
<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-57498" src="https://herts.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/01/2019_06_19_St_Edmunds_College-3994.jpg" alt="" width="1000" height="665" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/herts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/01/2019_06_19_St_Edmunds_College-3994.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/herts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/01/2019_06_19_St_Edmunds_College-3994-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/herts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/01/2019_06_19_St_Edmunds_College-3994-720x479.jpg 720w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" />
In the classroom St Edmund&#8217;s predominantly follows the National Curriculum but has specialist teaching in Art, Spanish, German, French, Latin and Drama . Whilst as a rule Catholic schools tend to recognise parents as primary educators, at St Edmund&#8217;s it&#8217;s very much considered a partnership between parents and teachers, which is reassuring to hear.
And there&#8217;s a big focus on the Growth Mindset style of education and the 5 Rs (resilience, responsibility, readiness, respect and resourcefulness) &#8211; perhaps they can put their last inspection results down to that, with the school being rated outstanding in personal development.
WORD ON THE GROUND
I was lucky enough to nab some one-to-one time with a couple of parents whose son had just had his interview for the College. Completely off the cuff they told me that they were so impressed by the children&#8217;s confidence and eloquence when they first looked around the school that they would have been really proud to have been their parents. Now it is their children making that impression on prospective parents.
They particularly waxed lyrical about the way the children are so well looked after here, and whilst they were initially sceptical about choosing a Catholic school (as non-Catholics themselves) the values appealed to them and they were won over by the amazing opportunities here.
THE HEAD
<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-57483" src="https://herts.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/01/Mr-Cartwright_StEdmundsCollege-9571_Fotor.jpg" alt="" width="1000" height="762" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/herts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/01/Mr-Cartwright_StEdmundsCollege-9571_Fotor.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/herts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/01/Mr-Cartwright_StEdmundsCollege-9571_Fotor-300x229.jpg 300w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/herts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/01/Mr-Cartwright_StEdmundsCollege-9571_Fotor-656x500.jpg 656w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" />
Steven Cartwright took the helm in 2009 and since then the school has grown and grown. He&#8217;s an animated and engaging Head, who the kids seem to be encouragingly comfortable with, and in return he puts his trust in them &#8211; in this case, two Year 6 girls were plucked at random (completely un-prepped) to accompany us on the tour and invited to share their (honest!) opinions of what goes on here, which if you ask me, shows an utter confidence in the contentment and maturity of his pupils.
Perhaps this has something to do with Mr Cartwright&#8217;s continuous questioning and encouragement to think independently, as well as the value that he and the school put in &#8216;pupil voice&#8217; &#8211; there are bags of opportunities for them to feel empowered by taking on roles like arts, eco and sports ambassadors.
WRAPAROUND CARE
There&#8217;s a Breakfast Club from 7.30 &#8211; 8.30am and a Teatime Club from 3.30 &#8211; 6pm which are both run in the Prep building.
FEES 
Nursery costs £2,048 per half day week per term and £4,096 per full day week per term. Reception to Year 2 is £4,706 per term and for Years 3-6 it’s £5,995 per term.
THE MUDDY VERDICT
Good for: Parents who like the idea of an all-through education and the benefit of senior school facilities on site, and who put stock in modern-day values like kindness, community and caring for the environment as well as an all-round education which fosters resilience and independence. 

Not for: Those who prefer a contemporary or urban setting and can&#8217;t overlook the religious aspect of school life. While the Catholic element certainly isn&#8217;t in your face here, the religion&#8217;s core values do underpin life at St Edmund&#8217;s, and although many find this a draw, it&#8217;s won&#8217;t be for everyone. 

Dare to disagree: Be my guest! Click <a href="https://www.stedmundscollege.org/how-to-apply/open-events/">here</a> to book your place on the whole school open day on 21 September 2024. You can also read our review of St Edmund&#8217;s College (Senior &amp; Sixth) <a href="https://herts.muddystilettos.co.uk/kids/school-reviews/st-edmunds-college-ware/">here</a>.
<a href="https://www.stedmundscollege.org/prep/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">St Edmund&#8217;s Prep School</a>, Old Hall Green, Ware, Herts, SG11 1DS

St Edmund’s Prep School, Ware

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