WHAT? WHERE?

Children cooking at Aberdour School, near Tadworth, Surrey.

Aberdour School is an independent day school in Burgh Heath, near Tadworth, for boys and girls from age 2-11. Tucked away just off the A217 between Epsom and Reigate, it’s set on a pretty 12-acre site that looks across to rolling hills and farmland.

The big news in 2024 is the opening of a new pre-prep. But while the location and facilities here are undoubtedly a big draw – more on those later – the headline feature is the school’s innovative approach to learning which is centred around a curriculum programme called PAL. Personalised Achievement Learning is a system of teaching which was developed at Aberdour in 2007 by the school’s headmaster, Simon Collins. It’s unique to Aberdour School – so much so it’s trademarked – and has been created to put the children and their individuality at the centre of their own education.

Of course every school will tell you the children are at the centre of the learning – and even by Mr Collins’s own admission “it’s not exactly rocket science” – but the offering at Aberdour is genuinely quite unique and you’ll see evidence of the PAL curriculum throughout the entire school. It’s entrenched in the ethos and spirit of the school, and the style of teaching and the school’s resources reflect that.

Aberdour is proudly non-selective with a three-class intake throughout and about 360 pupils in total. Most pupils come from within a five-mile radius, but some also come from Ashtead, Reigate, Epsom and Ewell. The school is made up of a pre-prep (nursery to year 1), middle school (years 2 and 3) and senior school (years 4-6). It was founded as a boys’ boarding school in 1928 but became co-ed in 1994. In the school’s 96-year history there have been just four headmasters. Mr Collins has been here since 2006.

FACILITIES

The school is centred around a handsome Victorian building which houses admin offices and some classrooms. To the right of this is the new pre-prep which opened in September 2023. It’s a swanky new eco-building and a stunning space for the littlies that flows into a separate pre-prep playground.

On the other side are purpose-built classrooms, home to the middle school, which is set for a spruce-up to mirror the pre-prep building. There’s parking at the front, and a drop-off area.

Facilities-wise the school is well-equipped, especially when it comes to tech. There’s an impressive Mac suite which is fully integrated with the iPads that are used throughout the school (nursery to year 2 classrooms share a bank of iPads, and from years 3-6 every child has their own). Every classroom is also fitted with a 75-inch interactive screen.

Then there’s the Innovation Centre (recently renamed the Nicol Centre after the late chairman of the Board of Governors), a smart two-story building housing the tech-focussed classrooms. There’s the STEAM innovations studio, music rooms, music practice rooms, a dance and drama studio, a completely unconventional maths studio (not a desk in sight), and – my favourite – an interactive language studio, built like a film set with a Parisian café, a boulangerie, and a green screen for creating short films.

Aberdour is all about dynamic learning and inspiring children, which makes a lot of sense. If you’re going to learn French, why not do it in a Parisian café?

There’s also an art room, a science block with a fully-equipped science lab, a library, and a digital design factory with more gadgets than you can poke a stick at. The central school hall can be turned into a theatre, and will soon be fitted with a large interactive wall.

SPORT

Children playing cricket at Aberdour School in Tadworth, Surrey.

The pupils at Aberdour School are not left wanting for sporting opportunities or facilities. In addition to the usual traditional sports (cricket, netball, hockey, football, tennis and rugby) there are specialist teachers for gymnastics and golf.

There are sports fields aplenty, three all-weather cricket wickets, a brand new floodlit 3G astroturf, plus a large all-weather sports surface which caters for two netball courts, three tennis courts, plus hockey and football. There’s also a heated indoor swimming pool, and a climbing wall, as well as trim trails. A large indoor sports hall caters to football, basketball, tennis, badminton and netball, and also has cricket nets and gymnastic equipment. There’s also a separate dance studio.

The sporting emphasis is on gaining skills, the development of game awareness and tactics and to encourage enjoyment and a love of sport, and pupils are offered plenty of opportunities to try different sports. Pupils in reception to year 6 swim once a week, in addition to their PE lesson. And competitive fixtures are played against other schools in cricket, football, hockey, netball, rugby, cross country running, swimming and gymnastics.

THE ARTS

Children doing wood work at Aberdour School, near Tadworth, Surrey.

The art studio and DT lab at Aberdour are both well-equipped spaces – new kiln was fitted in the DT lab in 2022 and there’s a cool laser cutter. There are plenty of creative opportunities for pupils in mediums from willow weaving and wire sculpture to painting and ceramics. Visiting artists host workshops, and pupil creations are often seen for sale at the annual Christmas market.

Drama is taught from nursery to year 6, woven into the curriculum in the pre-prep and taught by specialist teachers from reception. In addition to two major productions staged each year, pupils take part in class shows. Weekly LAMDA sessions are offered as an extra-curricular activity for years 2-6, and many go on to take their LAMDA exams. Ballet lessons are also offered from pre-prep to year 6.

The music side is strong with 12 peripatetic music teachers offering pupils one-to-one lessons in addition to a weekly timetabled music lessons. Children perform throughout the year at regular informal concerts, assemblies, joint orchestra events with other schools, the House Music competition, external choir performances, the Christmas Carol Concert and the Summer Concert.

LITTLIES

The big news for Aberdour’s littlest pupils is the new pre-prep which houses classrooms for nursery, reception and year 1, as well as a hall and dance studio. There are also four specialist classrooms, creatively housed within four turrets. There’s The Bakery (a beautifully equipped kitchen), The Atelier (a space for creating) and The House of Little Explorers (a STEAM space) and The Sensory Room.

While still part of the main school, the pre-prep has its own entrance and playground including undercover play areas for each class, a Forest School and soon, a kitchen garden.

It’s has been built with sustainability in mind and the decor has a distinctly Scandi feel with soft neutrals, blonde timber and pretty wallpaper murals. Interestingly the school looked to Etsy, the online marketplace that specialises in handmade and vintage items, for much of the decor.

The curriculum theme is ‘Wonder, Inspire, Discover’ – and all learning in the pre-prep will fit into one of these categories.

Pupils at Aberdour School, near Tadworth, Surrey.

The rising two-year-olds are Blossoms, and they attend in the mornings only for between three and five sessions a week. It’s all about creative play with opportunities for exploration and messy play both indoors and out.

The rising three-year-olds are Bluebells, and here the learning is both free-flow and adult-led. At age 4, they move up to Jasmine and Juniper.

In reception and year 1, things move up a notch, but lovely initiatives like a daily visit from the “phonics fairy” keep things lively and fun. On one of the days I visited, the phonics fairy had sent her friend Eunice the unicorn to visit, and he’d left a glittery pile of unicorn poop on the carpet! As you can imagine, the kids loved it!

There’s specialist teaching for Forest School, swimming, music, sport and French.

ACADEMICS

Children with VR goggles at Aberdour School in Surrey

Children undoubtedly achieve to a high academic standard at Aberdour, but there’s equal focus on three elements of educational developments – academics, pastoral care and aspirational development. The latter includes the Aberdour Challenge – like a mini Duke of Edinburgh. The curriculum theme is Create, Aspire, Innovate, Explore.

Specialist subjects are taught from as young as pre-prep and these increase as you move up the school. From year 4 up, classes are streamed and most subjects are specialist taught. Mandarin is also introduced as a language in year 5.

The innovative approach to learning is working at Aberdour – kids do well and go on to excellent schools. In 2023, 43 pupils in year six were offered a staggering 61 scholarships between them and 127 offers from more than 20 senior schools including Reigate Grammar, Dunottar, Epsom College, St John’s Leatherhead, Caterham School, Box Hill School, Woldingham School, Trinity School, Sutton High School, St Swithuns, Worth School, JAGS, Alleyn’s, City of London Freemen’s and Ewell Castle School.

PASTORAL CARE

Children at Aberdour School in Tadworth, Surrey

Pastoral care and wellbeing is a massive strength at Aberdour, and it runs through the school on so many levels.

Firstly, there’s the PAL system which means that every child from year 2 upwards has their own PAL tutor – one of three teachers at the school whose job it is to oversee the academic and pastoral care of individual pupils. Children have the same tutor throughout their Aberdour journey, which means that tutors know the pupils well and are able to track their progress, home in on their strengths and work to bring out the brilliance. Each child will spend one hour a week with their PAL tutor and this time is very personalised and bespoke to each child’s needs. They’ll usually meet in the PAL suite, where children can kick their shoes off and get comfy on a one of the squishy velvet sofas.

There’s still a formal tracking system in place, and of course form tutors, heads of school and heads of department are all monitoring pupils.

Wellbeing is built into the timetable with a daily meditation and mindfulness exercises and weekly yoga sessions. Successes are celebrated at sharing assemblies and leadership roles are assigned in year 6.

THE HEAD

Simon Collins, head teacher at Aberdour School, Surrey

The lovely Simon Collins. He’s like a rock star among the kids at Aberdour – they love him. And why not? He’s is basically Mr Aberdour – he’s been headmaster here since 2006, developed the unique PAL curriculum, and it’s clear he lives and breathes Aberdour and education with a genuine passion and enthusiasm that I’ve rarely seen at such an exuberant level.

His own son attended the school (although he’s since moved on, completing a Masters at Durham University), and he lives on site. Before Aberdour, Mr Collins was at Godstowe Prep in High Wycombe for five years, and at More House School in Frensham, for four years before that.

His innovative learning model stems from his own less-than-happy experiences at school – which he didn’t want repeated for others. “Childhood should be magical, and full of wonder and love,” he says. “Every child has brilliance in them – and I’ve made a promise to find out what that is, and I will. So I had to create a system to do that.”

He wants kids to have a Famous Five childhood mixed with a hefty dose of Swallows and Amazons, but also to also gain experience and expertise in our technological and modern world. Safe to say he’s achieving this.

QUIRKS

Are padded chairs for children considered a quirk? Probably not, but nonetheless I don’t think I’ve seen comfy chairs in many schools. Mr Collins’s logic is quite simple: “Have you ever tried to sit on a hard plastic chair for any length of time without squirming?” He has a point!

The school also has an independently run café especially for parents that’s open before and after school.

WRAP AROUND CARE

Ballet girls at Aberdour School, near Tadworth, Surrey.

Breakfast club starts at 7.30am, and there’s an after-school / homework club until 6pm as well as a huge range of extra curricular activities that includes things like ballet, robotics, music, tennis, orchestra, chess, judo and gymnastics.

ISI REPORT

The most recent ISI Inspection was in March 2023. You can read the report here.

MOBILE PHONE POLICY

Children are not permitted mobile phones in school. On the rare occasion that a child may need a phone before or after school, they must be signed in at the office during the school day.

TRANSPORT

The school does not operate a minibus service. A turning circle at the front of the school makes drop-off and pick-up easy.

FEES

Children in the grounds at Aberdour School, Tadworth, Surrey.

2023-24: Nursery fees start at £1,810 per term for a Blossom (2 year olds) morning session. For Bluebells (rising 3 years) and Jasmine and Juniper (3-4 year olds) it’s £2,400. Reception is £4,610 per term; years 1 and 2 are £4,800, year 3 is £5,650 and for years 4-6 it’s £6,030.

WORD ON THE GROUND

Families love the warmth and energy at Aberdour – and the fact it delivers an education that is both holistic and in many ways traditional, but which also at the forefront of learning with technology. Aberdour kids are happy kids.

THE MUDDY VERDICT

Good for: The school’s strapline is “Finding the brilliance in every child”, but this isn’t just a marketing one-liner – there are active programmes in place to do this. It’s a warm and friendly school, and gets great results. And if your child is techy – they’re going to love it.

Not for: Those seeking a hot-housing and academically pushy environment.

Dare to disagree? Check the school out for yourself. The next open morning is on Fri 11 Oct. Register here .

Aberdour School, Brighton Road, Burgh Heath, near Tadworth KT20 6AJ. Tel: 01737 354119. aberdourschool.co.uk

Aberdour School, Burgh Heath, near Tadworth

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