WHAT? WHERE?

Aysgarth Prep School, North Yorkshire outside — Photography by West Yorkshire Photographer Pete Barnes

Aysgarth School is co-ed day and boarding Prep in Newton-le-Willows near Bedale, set in 55 lush acres of woodland close to the foothills of the Yorkshire Dales. This purpose-built red brick school – on the sturdy side of handsome – was opened in 1890 after the school outgrew its original 1870 site and houses a standalone Pre-Prep (3-8 years) in the grounds, with a 50:30 boys to girls split. From Sept 2024, the Prep (8-13 years) will also become co-educational.

Aysgarth Prep School, North Yorkshire aerial view

With just 220 pupils, and class maximums of 14 for Pre-Prep and 16 for Prep, the emphasis is very much on personal attention here – 1:5 teacher-to-pupil ratios from Year 4 onwards are pretty extraordinary by anyone’s book. Very much a traditional boarding school, with its Christian ethos (chapel attendance every day) and emphasis on the school community, Aysgarth has a high percentage of boarders – around 85% either full time, weekly or ‘regular’ (the Aysgarth version of flexi, but with your own assigned bed for the term). An increasing number come from London and the south, though the majority of pupils still hail from Yorkshire and surrounding counties. There are also a small clutch of 10 international boarders that call it home.

FACILITIES

/SPORT

Aysgarth Prep School, North Yorkshire rugby team

With so much land at Aysgarth’s disposal in this hardiest of counties, you won’t be surprised to know that the kids do bucketloads of outdoor sport here. Hockey, football and cross country are strengths but it’s rugby and cricket that rule the roost – in 2023 the rugby U13 won the Prep Schools North of England Rugby Schools Cup, whilst the school has been named as one of the Top 50 prep schools for cricket in The Cricketer Schools Guide 2024 with Aysgarth hosting junior Yorkshire fixtures and the pupils training all year round – the U11 and U12 cricket teams are both County Champions of Yorkshire.

Aysgarth Prep School, North Yorkshire mountain bikers

Facilities abound across a huge variety of sports, with a hockey/tennis Astroturf, 16 metre heated indoor swimming pool, 6 cricket pitches, 6 grass squares, 9 cricket nets (indoor and outdoor), a cricket pavilion, 8 football pitches, 7 rugby pitches, grass running track, cross country course and a full set of field event facilities, a shooting range, a huge sports hall, gym, climbing wall, three-hole golf course, and access to the 18-hole golf course at Bedale and a nearby reservoir for sailing. In summer the kids can bring bikes to school and zip around the woodland.

Aysgarth Prep School, North Yorkshire PE

In the Pre-Prep, the children practice and play in mixed teams across cricket, hockey, athletics, swimming, tennis and football, with netball just for girls and rugby an option. When girls join the Prep from September that combination is likely to continue, with the added option of horse-riding which is being newly introduced.

Beyond the sports teams, the children are offered everything from dance and fencing to triathlon and gymnastics. In short, your kids will be exercised.

/CREATIVE ARTS

Aysgarth Prep School, North Yorkshire music

The Reynolds Hall for Performing Arts, refurbished in 2014, hosts drama and musical performances, and both art forms seem to have strong appeal here, ignited both by the teachers and also perhaps the size of the school where it’s the norm to pitch in. On the day I visited, the lead in the production of Matilda had fallen ill with two days to go before the performance, and one of the boys in the common room nonchalantly said that he’d stepped in and would “give it a go”. A third of all pupils in the Prep take LAMDA exams (100% merit/distinction) and the whole of Year 5 is currently working towards a group exam in choral speaking.

Aysgarth Prep School, North Yorkshire choir

Musically the school is strong, and eclectic too – it’s officially the first school I’ve reviewed where I’ve come across three Prep pupils letting rip on the bagpipes! Around 80% of children here learn an instrument, making use of the 8 practice rooms, 2 rehearsal rooms, music classroom and chapel including those in the Pre-Prep who can learn piano, keyboard, cello and recorder. All children are given a timetabled daily music practice of 30 minutes, in addition to their lesson time – that’s pretty rare in my experience, and perhaps explains why there’s so much energy around music here. Choir is a big deal, with a Pre-Prep choir, Junior Choir and also the audition-only Senior choir singing the Sunday service as well as performing in cathedrals in Lincoln, Liverpool, Ripon, Durham, Bayeux and, most recently, Ypres.

/GENERAL

Aysgarth Prep School, North Yorkshire science

All the usuals are here, but it’s worth mentioning the two well-appointed science labs (with a third on the cards for physics), and the well-equipped Art & Design Studio with its potter’s wheel and kiln.

ACADEMICS

Aysgarth Prep School, North Yorkshire pupils reading

Aysgarth isn’t academically selective, but you wouldn’t know that to look at the scholarships stats – a 50% hit rate for 2024 to the likes of Ampleforth, Barnard Castle, Fettes, Oundle, Radley, Rugby, Sedbergh, Shrewsbury, St Peter’s and Uppingham, with spots nabbed at Eton and Harrow too.

The school very much sees itself as a standalone rather than a feeder school, there to make individual recommendations based on the children’s needs and talents, so you’ll see here a deliberate 50/50 balance between academics and other pursuits, with an emphasis on exercise, friendships and trying something new, whether that’s Airfix and mountain biking through to Remote Control Car club and Friday night cookery club, run by the head master’s wife, Hester.

SEND

Aysgarth Prep School, North Yorkshire young pupils

According to 2023’s ISI report, round 30% of the children have some kind of SEND, with half of those given a personalised plan. Where possible the children are assisted within the class room but small group and one-to-one help is also available. There is currently a blind pupil at Aysgarth (his brother, also blind, has already been through the school) who has galvanised the whole school community into supporting blind charities. The day I was at the school one of his friends was walking with him to his next lesson; he was supported and confident in himself, just one of the boys, fully integrated into the school. Really impressive.

PASTORAL CARE

Aysgarth Prep School, North Yorkshire head teacher

With a bijou 220 pupils, pastoral tracking and day-by-day care is obviously an easier task than at some other larger schools. Aysgarth is a STEER Champion School for consistently applying the mental health tracking technology to support its pupils, while the school also works with Teenagers Translated to find practical solutions to best help the pupils, staff and parents.

The framework for pastoral care here starts with the Head Teacher and his wife who see themselves as ‘parents’ to the boys in their care. They’re supported by the Deputy Head Pastoral (an ISI inspector – handy), the Housemaster and the extended team of nurse, matron and form tutors along with a counsellor once a week. There are weekly staff meetings to discuss the children, and various gentle interventions to encourage the boys to open up such as ‘Chip Chat’ – literally a chat over chips with the oldest boys to see if everything’s OK.

BOARDING

Aysgarth Prep School, North Yorkshire boarding

You’ll find the dorms within the main building for Year 4 onwards. There are three floors for boarding, the first floor for Year 4 who generally will do 2-3 nights a week (it’s a two-nights-a-week minimum commitment but there’s flexibility on the days themselves). The second floor is also boys’ boarding and the third floor is being rejigged for the girls’ accommodation with its own common room and with the usual security caveats. Boarding does sound like a lot of fun here for the boys – according to the Head “you’re never too far from a Nerf gun war” and the hallway also bears the scuffs from Corridor Cricket. The dorm rooms are light, bright and nudging above the average for aesthetics if you care for such things (to be generalist about it, the boys won’t, the girls probably will).

NURSERY & PRE -PREP

Aysgarth Prep School, North Yorkshire nursery

The Nursery kids were beyond cute, hiding in the cupboards of their mud kitchen and giving themselves away by laughing. Forest School starts at Nursery going through to Pre-Prep 3. There are 10-11 in Pre-Prep classes, based on the limits of the building, and it’s a homely place, absolutely practical, a bit scruffy in places, and none the worse for that. There’s plenty of space for play, and as with the Prep school it’s super outdoorsy – the Reception class had just come back from a cross country run and the kids had mud all up their legs and seemed to be having a blast.

THE HEAD

This is the second Prep school headship for Jonathon Anderson, having previously been at the helm of Clayesmore School in Dorset and before that, Deputy Head, Director of Studies and Boarding Housemaster at Westbourne House and Assistant Boarding Housemaster at Swanbourne House. He looks every inch the rural headmaster, with tweed and tie, and practical zip up fleece and, one year into the job (he started in March 2023) he is clearly comfortable and starting to make his moves. There’s been an investment in DT equipment, more staff training, a greater connection with parents (the walled garden is coming in handy for hosting events) and an explicit desire to increase boarding numbers. His wife Hester, a teacher in her own right, is very much a partner, and describes herself as “mummy” to the boys in their care, particularly the younger ones. Their own son also attends the school.

QUIRKS

Aysgarth Prep School, North Yorkshire dogs

OMG, sooooo many. There are around 16 dogs on site (not even joking) with at least seven permanently residing at the school and there’s an official Aysgarth DogBlog on social.

The school has more than its fair share of wacky games from centuries past, led by ‘Spotlight’ where around 100 of the Senior pupils ‘break out’ of the school and try to make it to the cricket pavilion in darkness, without being caught out by the staff’s flashlights. The kids are crazy for it – they announced the date of Spotlight when I was at the school lunch and the excitement was palpable.

There’s also the century-old game ‘COW’ – which is ‘cricket on the wall’, where runs are scored by launching the ball into the Headmaster’s garden or the orchard. And then there’s a game where the kids try to throw a tennis ball 80ft up onto the top of (or over) the school Tower. The few that manage it get to graffiti their name onto a tower brick.

Aysgarth Prep School, North Yorkshire sports

You want more? Three Pavilions is a game for the leavers, where they have to get around all three school pavilions without getting caught. Or there’s Christmas Games with a junior and senior race around the school to win as many of the 30 games set up at various stations as possible. Basically it’s a whole load of old fashioned fun and the kids lap it up.

Finally, not so much quirky but unusual these days, lunchtimes have an adult at the head of the table, prayers and then teacher announcements. The kids I sat with had exceptional manners – asking how I was, offering me food, clearing my plate, answering my questions politely. They were lovely kids, actually.

FEES

Pretty sharp if you’re thinking you’ll get more for your buck up the North of the country. It’s £8370 per term for day pupils in the Prep School and £10,890 per term for Boarders (full and weekly). Regular boarding for 2-3 nights a week is an additional £1255 per term for 2 nights and £1670 per term for 3 nights. Pre-Prep full time starts at £3405 for Reception moving up to £4525 for Pre-Prep 3. Nursery costs from £875 – £3405 per term. If you want a bit of help, there are scholarships available for up to 25% of the fees at 11+ and there are Forces reductions for 10% from Reception to Year 5. As a member of the Oxford Group, Aysgarth is in the bottom half of school fees.

ISI REPORTS

The most recent report is for regulatory compliance from June 2023, in which all criteria were met. You can see all the reports here.

WRAP AROUND CARE

Aysgarth Prep School, North Yorkshire design and technology

Pre-Prep pupils can be dropped off from 8am for an 8.40am start and can join an after school club until 6 pm. Prep School day pupils collection is up to 8pm if involved in activities and 6 pm if not. Aysgarth doesn’t offer flexi-boarding, only regular boarding that requires a termly commitment to the 2 or 3 days a week.

MOBILE PHONE POLICY

For Years 4, 5 and 6, mobiles may only be used for away matches longer than one hour’s travel, outings or on the train at exeats (SIM card is removed, so no data/Wi-Fi). For Years 7-8, pupils can use their mobile phones only in the Common Room on Wednesdays after 6:30pm, Saturday after 6:30pm and Sunday after 11:00am. SIM cards are handed in at the beginning of term and the pupils have no access to Wi-Fi at school, so mobile phones are really more of a mini-games console. There are 4 call boxes in school for phone calls home. Pupils must charge their phones/devices on the charging day (Monday) never in dorms, and no chargers or power banks can be brought into school. IPads/Tablets/Kindle Fire Fox are not allowed in school.

TRANSPORT

Aysgarth Prep School, North Yorkshire train station

Northallerton (20 minutes) and Darlington (30 minutes) are the nearest train stations, both on the fast main line from London to Scotland. It’s just over two hours to London from Northallerton train station. For air travel, Durham Tees Valley Airport is the nearest airport (45 minutes) and Newcastle and Leeds-Bradford are both about one hour away. Manchester Airport is 2 hours’ drive.

VIDEO

Take a look for yourself at the school video.

THE MUDDY VERDICT

Good for: Parents looking for a traditional English Prep school education with plenty of outdoors exercise, innocent charm and academic success. The addition of girls in the Prep from Sept 2024 will no doubt be a help to those parents with a mixed pack of kids.

Not for: The rural setting is charming but remote, and those looking for a more globally connected school might want to look elsewhere.

Want to see for yourself? The next Open Morning is for thePrep School (8 – 13) on 12 October 2024 and Pre-Prep School (ages 3-7) on Fri 1 November 2024.

Aysgarth School, Newton-le-Willows, Bedale, North Yorkshire, DL8 1TF. Tel: 01677 450240.

Aysgarth Prep School, North Yorkshire

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