Essex

WHAT? WHERE? &nbsp;



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St Cedd’s School is a non-selective pre- and prep school for girls and boys aged 3-11 in a leafy part of Chelmsford. Known for its academic achievements, but also for its warm, family atmosphere, it&#8217;s been running for more than 90 years. 



Location-wise it’s a bit of a Tardis. From the entrance on New London Road the school appears compact and nondescript, save for an eye-catching stained glass window of St Cedd. However take a look on Google Earth, and you discover an almost four-acre site including a car park, school buildings, sports pitches and gardens.&nbsp;



FACILITIES&nbsp;&nbsp;



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Given the fairly compact city site, St Cedd’s School has made exceptionally good use of its space, with a Pre-School building, vegetable garden, Upper and Lower school buildings, music rooms, astro turf pitches for sports, outdoor chess, forest school area and a recently added wellbeing centre.&nbsp;



The well-stocked library is a real bonus, with children clearly encouraged to spend time there, curled up on a bean bag, working their way through the shelves. The science set up is also impressive, with a room filled with hexagon-shaped tables and interesting artefacts, while the computer room is lined with screens and doesn’t look short of investment.&nbsp;



SPORT&nbsp;



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There’s an emphasis on sports for all here, with rugby, hockey, cross country, football, netball, cricket, athletics and gymnastics on offer. All pupils learn to swim &#8211; there isn’t a pool, but from Year 2 onwards children have swimming lessons off-site once a week, which is included in the school fees.



St Cedd’s School is punching above its weight competition-wise; recent successes including the U11 girls’ hockey team being crowned regional champs, making the IAPS national finals and the U11 girls’ football team becoming ISFA national champions. It also boasts recent U11 boys IAPS regional cricket champions.



THE ARTS&nbsp;



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The art department is the kind of space you wish you’d learnt art in when you were young &#8211; bright, light, with high ceilings and walls decorated in inspirational work plus plenty of space to spread out and create.&nbsp;



It’s run by an enthusiastic art teacher and boasts fun extras like visiting artists &#8211; one of the most recent being a felt-making workshop run by artist Heidi Street-Ward resulting in colourful garden- and ocean-themed banners on display in the school &#8211; a kiln for making pottery and competitions. During my tour I spotted some original work for the all-school annual Christmas Art Competition, including a clever Xmas tree made out of recycled bottle tops.&nbsp;



Another thriving area is the music department. Everyone in the school learns to play the recorder in Years 2, 3 and 4, so when you leave St Cedd’s School at the very least you&#8217;ll be able to read music and have an instrument under your belt. There are five practice rooms and around a third of pupils learn to play another instrument &#8211; during the tour I saw some children concentrating hard during guitar and piano lessons on their lunch break. 



There are ensembles to join, including wind band, string orchestra, clarinet, flute, guitar, brass, recorder and a Junior and Senior Chamber Choir &#8211; the school&#8217;s a member of the Choir Schools&#8217; Association and has close links with Chelmsford Cathedral meaning children also get the chance to perform there each term.&nbsp;



Confidence through drama and public speaking are developed early at St Cedd’s School, from Pre-School nativity plays to Xmas productions and carol services, harvest festivals, Easter shows and Upper School musical productions, with performances taking place in the main hall.&nbsp;



LITTLIES&nbsp;



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Pre-School is a haven. There’s a 1-8 ratio of staff to children and the building is light and long, filled with ergonomic wood furniture and a darling area at one end housing a teepee, cushions and a projector filling a wall with a relevant image for the time of year or topic, such as poppies waving in the wind, or a cosy fire in winter. 



It’s suspiciously clean and tidy, one of the tidiest Pre-School spaces I’ve ever seen, but still has a warm and welcoming feel. Wellbeing-wise there’s a colour-coded monster so children can use the chart to show how they’re feeling &#8211; a simple yet effective way of keeping a check on things. Three outside spaces mean plenty of chance to let off some steam at break and lunch.&nbsp;



ACADEMICS



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St Cedd’s School isn’t an exam-passing factory, however pupils do move on to some of the best state and independent schools in the area, such as Brentwood, New Hall and Felsted, plus it&#8217;s the biggest independent feeder school to King Edward VI Grammar School. Test results show the majority of pupils are above the national average. &nbsp;



Each year dozens of scholarships and awards are secured by pupils, from senior independent schools across the county and beyond, covering a range of disciplines including music, sport and chess, in addition to academic scholarships. In 2022-23, 17&nbsp;pupils (40 per&nbsp;cent) were offered Grammar School places.



There are specialist teachers for music, art, PE, science and languages. International Studies in Years 5 and 6 gives pupils a global perspective while an Eco Committee drives green initiatives throughout the school, from recycling to smart meters and the monster-shaped bins dotted around outside.&nbsp;



PASTORAL CARE&nbsp;



Wellbeing is taken seriously here with a Head of Pastoral overseeing projects such as the St Cedd’s School worry monster, which is introduced at Pre-School and continues to Year 6 &#8211; there’s one in every classroom, with children encouraged to write down any concerns they have and feed it into the mouth of the cuddly monster. There are also anonymous worry boxes in corridors and classrooms too plus group talk ‘Chatterbox’ sessions with the School Matron where children can share concerns.



A wellbeing centre, a recently-built hut with a garden, is a space that’s specifically not a classroom, but rather somewhere children and teachers can choose to hang out, play, chat and create. Year 6 pupils are also paired with a Year 1 pupil for reading sessions and to act as role models and build responsibility and kindness.&nbsp;



THE HEAD&nbsp;



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Matthew Clarke arrived at St Cedd’s School from nearby Felsted Prep, working his way up from Head of Upper School to Deputy Head before landing the big job in 2018. He has a refreshing, progressive outlook, believing the school should be teaching children, not subjects, and is clearly proud of the&nbsp;school’s community vibe. 



Mental health is clearly on his radar, hence the wellbeing centre, mindfulness time on Tuesdays and worry boxes. Looking to the future he’s keen on increased sustainability initiatives and ways to further develop the existing facilities &#8211; watch this space.&nbsp;



QUIRKS&nbsp;



The school has its own song, which Head Matthew Clarke will happily break into with little encouragement, and also its own newspaper (Young Journalist) compiled by budding scribes in Year 6. Staff carry around Kindness and Courtesy Coins and if they spot a pupil being particularly kind or caring the child is given a coin to put in a box divided into the school’s four Leagues &#8211; at the end of term the League with the most coins is awarded a cup. &nbsp;



WRAP-AROUND CARE&nbsp;



Children can be dropped off from 7.30am for Breakfast Club (£5 per session) and there’s an After-School Club (£17.50 per session) until 6pm; for Upper School pupils a supervised homework session is also included. There are also 80-plus clubs and activities to be involved in at St Cedd&#8217;s School, including dozens of after-school clubs, most of which are included in the school fees.



ISI REPORT



The last full <a href="https://www.stcedds.co.uk/docs/ISI_Inspection_Report_/St_Cedds_School_EQI_Report_March_2022.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">ISI</a> inspection and report took place in 2022, which was glowing.&nbsp;



FEES&nbsp;



Pre-School, from £3,490 per term; Lower School, from £4,180 per term; Upper School, from £4,470 per term.



WORD ON THE GROUND&nbsp;



St Cedd’s School has a reputation locally as an inclusive, nurturing, holistic, fun school. The vast majority of pupils live locally with a 30-minute commute or less, so parents can easily get to know their kids’ friends and other parents, which feeds the community vibe.&nbsp;



THE MUDDY VERDICT&nbsp;



Good for: Anyone looking for an innovative, pastorally-driven school with great facilities and excellent academic results.



Not for: Parents wanting a through-school without the hassle of changing at Year 5 or 6. 



St Cedd’s School, 178a New London Road, Chelmsford, Essex, CM2 0AR. Tel: 01245 392810. <a href="http://www.stcedds.org.uk/">www.stcedds.org.uk</a>

St Cedd’s School, Chelmsford

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