WHAT? WHERE?

Pupils at Rydes Hill School in Guildford, Surrey.

Rydes Hill is a one-form entry Prep school and Nursery in the leafy Guildford suburbs. It’s a small school tucked away on a small-but-perfectly-formed site north-west of the town centre.

The school is co-ed in the Nursery and Pre-Prep for children aged 2 to 7, and from Year 3 upwards it’s girls-only. Class sizes are small – an average of 16-17 pupils and never more than 22.

For a non-selective school, the results speak volumes – boys and girls go on to a wide choice of excellent schools, almost always their first choice. There’s a huge emphasis on preparation – whether that be children leaving after Nursery (although many stay on), boys leaving at the end of Year 2 or girls leaving at age 11.

There are about 110 pupils in the Prep school, and 50 in the Nursery. But Nursery numbers will continue to grow as the year goes on. While the school is Catholic, it accepts all faiths and none. About one-third of pupils are Catholic.

First impressions are of a school that’s brimming with warmth and happiness. The ethos here is ‘happy children learn’, and wellbeing is high on the agenda.

The school was founded in 1945 by the Daughters of Mary and Joseph, an order of nuns who had been evacuated from Sanderstead to Hatchlands during the war. The main school building was originally a private residence which has been owned by a number of families over the years including William Edmund Elkins, of the Elkins Brewery family, also a former Guildford mayor. It’s a stunning early Georgian red brick building built in the 18th century, and added to during the Victorian years. A handsome clocktower is still part of the building today.

FACILITIES

The site isn’t huge, although the entry along a sweeping driveway through an automatic gate is impressive. The main school building might have a traditional feel, but classrooms are refreshingly big, light and bright – and devoid of the pokey dark corners that you might expect to find in an older building.

Most of the classrooms have the traditional flip-top desks, but also banks of iPads and interactive white boards.

The dining hall – once the living room – is a wonderful space, timber clad with beams and beautiful arched doorways. Think the Hogwarts dining hall on a slightly smaller scale. Another room that also warrants special mention and also radiates a strong Hogwarts vibe is the library. Once the billiards room, it oozes character with elaborate dark wood panelling and a series of original Joan of Arc murals painted onto the wall panels in 1886. Very fitting for a girls’ prep school.

The school hall is a multi-use space used for indoor sports, clubs, assemblies and school productions. There’s a performing arts centre, which includes a music classroom, ballet studio and several music practice room.

A dedicated STEAM suite called The Hub is where you’ll find flexible seating, banks of iPads and laptops, and programmable robots and Lego, plus a green screen and 3D printer.

The Year 6 classroom doubles as a fully-kitted-out science lab.

The Nursery is housed in separate buildings with a classroom for the Acorns (2-3 year olds) and two classrooms for the Oaks (3-4 year olds). A separate nursery playground wraps around the buildings and includes an outdoor theatre, sandpit and climbing equipment.

Outside, there are netball and tennis courts, and plenty of grassy areas, plus a wooded area where the Forest School is taught.

SPORT

A girl plays netball at Rydes Hill School in Guildford, Surrey.

For a small school, Rydes Hill punches well above its weight. The school is not afraid to be competitive and there’s a real ‘have-a-go’ attitude. The sports programme starts in Nursery and is taught by specialist teachers throughout the school. It includes athletics, ballet, cricket, cross country, dance, gymnastics, football, hockey, netball, rounders, swimming and tennis.

The school frequently regularly performs brilliantly in netball and also has representatives in the national (IAPS) schools swimming competitions. Not bad for a school that doesn’t have a swimming pool on site. Swimming lessons, though, start from Reception with children bussed to the nearby Surrey Sports Park. The school also does particularly well in gymnastics, athletics and ballet.

MUSIC & DRAMA

A girl plays violin at Rydes Hill School in Guildford, Surrey.

Music is important at Rydes Hill, and is taught from Nursery all the way through to Year 6. Children have three music lessons each week. Year 1 pupils learn the recorder and in Year 2 they learn the violin. In Year 3, pupils get to trial wind and brass instruments. Across the school, more than 90 instrumental lessons are taught by peripatetic teachers. There’s a school orchestra, junior choir and smaller groups like wind, recorder, string and flute ensembles.

And if music is important, so too, is drama. Speech and drama is taught from Reception to Year 2, and it’s an option from Year 3 upwards. There’s a focus on producing confident speakers, and the formula seems to be working – the school is one of the best in the country for speech and drama results. There are two major school productions each year – among the highlights of the school calendar.

LITTLIES

Pupils at Rydes Hill School in Guildford, Surrey.

Children can start in the Nursery at Rydes Hill when they’re 2 (two years before they’re due to start in Reception). The school offers flexibility in the Nursery, with the option for children to attend term-time only or all year-round (48 weeks of the year). Wrap around care is also available from 7.30am to 6pm.

While the ethos in the Nursery is centred around the children having fun and learning through play, there’s more structure than a typical day-care-only nursery. Children will do more ‘academic’ learning, although much of it is centred around fun activities. And it always moves at the pace of individual children. Each week a sound and a number is incorporated into activities.

There’s a strong focus on getting children prepared for school, and most pupils will have a strong grounding in reading and writing by the time they move on to Reception. Children in the Nursery have specialist teachers for Forest School, PE, music and movement and computing. In Oaks, they also learn French, and all children will do activities like baking.

ACADEMICS

Pupils at Rydes Hill School in Guildford, Surrey.

Academics are a strong calling card at Rydes Hill School with girls (and boys) going on to highly-selective schools. The results are particularly impressive considering it’s non-selective.

Unlike most independent schools, students at Rydes Hill sit SATs in English and maths in Year 6. The results are excellent with 100% of pupils meeting the ‘expected standard’ and 57% of pupils achieving a ‘greater depth of understanding’. By way of comparison, the national average for each of these is 72% of students meet the ‘expected standard’ and 30% achieve a ‘greater depth of understanding’.

Rydes Hill students work hard – there’s homework every day – but the small class sizes mean they also get lots of individual attention. The school prides itself on offering a broad, rich and well-rounded curriculum, and there’s a focus on learning skills that can be applied across all subject areas. Cross-curricular learning is common – particularly with the integration of STEAM subjects into other topics.

From Reception children have specialist teachers for French, speech and drama, ballet, computing, music and PE. From Year 4, specialists teach science and in Year 6 pupils have a specialist teacher for maths.

Boys leave at age 7, and typically move on to schools like RGS Prep in Guildford, Aldro in Shackleford, or Cranmore School in West Horsley. Girls leave at 11, and move on to Guildford High, Tormead, St Catherine’s, Prior’s Field, Farnborough Hill and St Theresa’s as well as schools in the state sector.

The process for girls leaving at 11 starts in Year 4 or 5, with a big emphasis on helping families find the right school for their child and then working towards achieving an offer.

PASTORAL CARE

Cody the miniature poodle, at Rydes Hill School in Guildford, Surrey.

In a school of just over 100 students it’s little surprise that Rydes Hill creates a strong family feel. The nurturing vibe is strongly felt, and an important part of the school’s recipe for academic success. Headmistress Sarah Norville is on the gate every morning to greet parents and students. And her open-door policy means that families and pupils can pop into her office with concerns, issues or just something worth mentioning at any time. Children can also go to their class teacher with problems.

The fact that every teacher and staff member knows each child well, means that if there are issues, the school can jump on them quickly – so things don’t escalate.

There’s a dedicated ELSA to support children’s wellbeing and development. The school offers ELSA support as a complementary service for any child who needs it, usually in an eight-week block.

The school also subscribes to Girls on Board, a programme which helps girls understand and navigate the complexities and dynamics of girl friendships. The programme is explicitly taught at the school as a lesson.

And then there’s Cody the miniature poodle who is at the school every day except Tuesday – and who’s very well-loved by students and staff.

THE HEAD

Sarah Norville, head teacher at Rydes Hill School in Guildford, Surrey.

Sarah Norville is warm and engaging, and very approachable. She’s been Headmistress at Rydes Hill since 2018, having come from St Mary’s Catholic Primary School in Wimbledon where she was the head teacher for 11 years.

She’s not one for hothouse-learning, and is firmly of the belief that happy children will want to learn. But by the same token, she says that if children are ready to learn then it’s good to get going. She’s big on preparation – and it’s a process that’s steadily ongoing for all pupils from the moment they arrive.

Sarah is also a strong advocate of single-sex education for girls after the age of 7 – and believes girls should not be afraid to be competitive.

QUIRKS

Reception at Rydes Hill is called Kindergarten, with children moving on to Lower Transition (Year 1) and then Upper Transition (Year 2). In the Prep School, Year 3 is Lower Prep, Year 4 is Middle Prep, Year 5 is Higher Prep, and Year 6 is Form One.

WRAP AROUND CARE

A girl at Rydes Hill School in Guildford, Surrey.

Nursery places are offered as both term-time only and year-round, and the Nursery has extended day care from 7.30am-6pm.

Before and after school care is also available for children in the Pre-Prep and Prep schools – there’s Breakfast Club from 7.30am and Early Bird Club from 8am. After school ends at 3.15pm, Stay and Play is offered until 6pm. There’s also a wide range of extra curricular clubs offered from cross country and coding to ballet, netball and art clubs.

ISI REPORT

The most recent ISI inspection was a progress monitoring inspection in October 2022 in which the school was found to meet all of the requirements of the Education Regulations. You can read that report here. The most recent full inspection was in 2017, when the school was judged to be ‘excellent’ across the board. Read that report here.

MOBILE PHONE POLICY

Mobile phones are not permitted at school. However children in Years 5 and 6 who walk to school are permitted to bring phones, but they must be checked into the office during the school day.

TRANSPORT

A boy at Rydes Hill School in Guildford, Surrey.

There are currently no school bus services, due to a lack of need. In the past when there’s demand, a bus service has been offered.

FEES

Fees at Rydes Hill School are among the lowest in the area for a prep school. In 2024-25, Nursery fees start at £933 per term for one full day rising to £3,896 per term for five full days. Termly fees (including lunch) are £3,730 for Reception; £4,185 for Years 1-2; £5,584 for Years 3-4; and £5,711 for Years 3-6.

WORD ON THE GROUND

Parents like the size of Rydes Hill and the small class sizes. They’re also attracted to the warm family feel of the school.

THE MUDDY VERDICT

A girl at Rydes Hill School in Guildford, Surrey.

Good for: Families looking for a small affordable prep school where every child is well known and will be on the receiving end of plenty of attention. Children are well rounded and attain excellent academic results. Good flexible after-school care is particularly helpful for busy working parents.

Not for: If it’s acres of space and a rural setting you aspire to, Rydes Hill isn’t that school. Parents of boys who are looking for an all-through prep school might also might want to look elsewhere as provision ends at Year 2 here. (Although boys leave very well prepared for their next schools.)

Dare to disagree? There’s a family Bear Hunt Open Day on Sunday 6 October, 10am-12pm. Or you can book an individual tour of the school and see it for yourself. Book here

Rydes Hill Preparatory School, Rydes Hill House, Aldershot Road, Guildford, Surrey, GU2 8BP. Tel: 01483 563 160

rydeshill.com

Rydes Hill Prep School and Nursery, Guildford

You may also like