WHAT? WHERE?

One of the oldest schools in the UK, Repton School was founded in 1557 on the site of a seventh century Anglo-Saxon Benedictine abbey and subsequently a 12th century Augustinian Priory in Repton, Derbyshire. Repton is a Christian co-ed day and boarding through school, with the Prep School housed on a separate site a couple of miles away. The Senior school is known as a robust all-rounder option with a particular strength in sport, with 630 pupils, 13-18 years (Y9-Y13) 270 of whom are in the Sixth Form. Together with the Prep School (read my review here), Repton School is home to over 1,000 children, making it one of the bigger independent schools in the area, though as you’d expect, class sizes are contained – a maximum of 18 up to GSCE and 10 for A level.

This review focuses on the Senior school which you’ll find in the heart of Repton village, its famous Arch (the sole remains of the Priory’s original gatehouse), marking the school’s entrance. The school site spans 75 acres and includes a heady mix of the historic, such as the Old Priory which now houses the Library and School archives, and the new – the Science block is all glass and angles and modernity at every turn with its own observatory and electric car workshop.

The school spills out from its site all across the village with boarding houses and departments dotted around, and it’s quite normal to see Repton pupils moving from one activity to another around the lanes. Unusually, all teaching staff are housed within Repton too, creating what feels like almost a whole village campus.

The split between boys and girls here is almost 50/50, with 70% of the pupils boarding full time. All pupils, whether boarder or day pupil, are members of one of 10 single-sex Houses.

FACILITIES

In a word, immense. Repton’s successful overseas schools have helped to fund a swathe of new state-of-the-art buildings, facilities and specialist staff that leaves most other independent schools open-mouthed.

SPORT

Repton’s biggest calling card is its sporting provision. Repton loves sport and it does it extremely well, at both an elite and inclusive ‘sport for all’ level. All pupils are required to play sport at least three times a week, and over 80% of pupils represent the school in at least one sport. Hockey is a particular strength – Repton has produced athletes for the past five Olympic Games, and has won 49 National Hockey Titles: more than any other school in the history of the National School Championships.

That said, elite programmes at Repton extend well beyond hockey, notably to swimming and tennis which have become recognised affiliated sports clubs in their own right, inviting talented individuals from outside the school to join in, to better stretch the pupils’ ability. In swimming, for example, this means that pupils can compete not just with other schools, but as a club against other Swim England affiliated clubs for more varied, and tougher competition.

Also, huge news for footballers. As part of a wide-ranging new strategic plan, Repton is developing two 3G football pitches with a view to supporting /producing more elite footballers, and ex Coventry City pro Luke Webb started in Sept 23 as Technical Director of Football after a successful 14 years creating an elite football programme at Bradfield College.

There’s a multi-million pound Sports Centre that includes a 25m indoor swimming pool (some bloke called Adam Peaty used it as his main training pool leading to 2016s Olympics) two floodlit water-based astro turf hockey pitches, full size indoor hockey facility, multi-use sports hall, two indoor and 12 outdoor tennis courts, 4 squash courts, 6 netball courts and a professional strength and conditioning suite with full time coaches who work with individual top athletes, teams and even squads within the Repton High Performance Programme.

There’s even a physio and rehab programme here. With professional coaches such as former England and Great Britain Men’s Hockey Captain, Adam Dixon and Harry Brook’s mentor, cricket coach Martin Speight, it’s as near to a professional sports operation as a school can get.

Surprisingly, rugby doesn’t feature on the sports priority list here – instead Repton pupils focus on six core sports with girls-only netball, plus both boys and girls playing football, hockey, cricket, swimming and tennis – a sport in which Repton’s recently been recognised in Which? as one of the UK’s top six tennis schools (and to that end, expect an extra two indoor tennis courts to be built in the next few years).

It’s worth noting that girls’ sport is taken seriously at Repton – it’s absolutely not the bolt-on that I’ve seen at some other schools. In fact, it’s girls’ hockey that’s the standard bearer at Repton – the mighty girls 1st XI have won more national titles than the boys, and two female Old Reptonians medalled gold in the 2016 Rio Olympics, bronze in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and gold at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.

I could go on and on, but to put it mildly – if you want your child to be active and find a sport he or she wants to play you’re in the right place. And though the school supports and motivates a high proportion of performance athletes, its ‘sports for all’ ethos is clearly more than a cute tag – the school regularly puts out A-D teams across the main sports, and is on the front foot with new sports trends such as padel, where there’s a plan to build four new courts. According to the Steer (c) Tracking surveys run by the school, the pupils themselves see joining in at sport here as a positive for their mental health and wellbeing.

CREATIVE ARTS

Is your child interested in performing or becoming a technical director? There’s a 315-seat theatre space for that, with auditorium, studio theatre, dressing rooms and foyer, its modern, sharp-lined glass frontage gaining it a British Architects East Midlands Building of the Year Award, the top prize for the region. The auditorium bells and whistles include the capability to change layout – so the annual fashion show gets its own catwalk, the technical lighting and sound deck has been lowered so that pupils from Year 9 can operate it comfortably and there are trapdoors in the stage.

Alumni from Repton include Tom Chambers (Holby City, Strictly), George Rainsford (BAFTA winner)and Nicholas Burns (Nathan Barley, Benidorm), and the recent appointment of the exuberant Jon-Paul Cooper-Richards to Director of Drama seems to have had quite the effect on the kids – numbers for Drama GSCE and A level have doubled since his arrival.

Music has its own building that houses the purpose-built Beldam Hall for concerts, a recording studio, a rehearsal hall as well as teaching spaces for instrumental lessons and the obligatory Steinway grand piano, though the new five year plan intends to make Repton a ‘Steinway School’ so expect many more pianos and a heightened musical performance ambition. If your child is so inclined, there’s also a three-manual Harrison & Harrison organ in the Chapel.

There is the usual array of orchestras, ensembles, jazz bands and choirs here, along with eight popular music bands (Richard Fairbrother is the School’s Head of Popular Music who has introduced DJ’ing as an option for all pupils) and every year pupils put on Rockit – an outdoor pupil-led music festival. A third of pupils play at least one musical instrument, which is a bit low compared to most schools I review, but perhaps not surprising given the number of dedicated athletes at the school.

That said, the school does deliver for musicians with four permanent music staff, plus Heads of Strings, Wind & Brass and Singing. The Chapel Choir performs annually on BBC Radio 4’s ‘Daily Service’ Programme and has sung Evensong at St Paul’s Cathedral for the past four years, with several recent pupils (as recently as last academic year), have gone on to win choral and organ scholarships at Oxbridge, Durham and the Royal College of Music. The performance space is put to good use with professional as well as informal school recitals.

In terms of Art, in addition to the five studios, including a life drawing and sculpture studio, there are facilities for ceramics, photography (with its own dark room and light room), kiln room, seminar rooms, art library and even a cinema space for the Studio Film Club. However, there are architect plans ready to roll for a whole new Art Studio – think ceiling windows for natural light, double height eaves and high spec everything.

Currently there are two galleries with which to showcase work of pupils and external artists. The teaching staff are all practising artists, and include current Artist-in-Residence Tom Voyce, who won Sky Arts’ Landscape Artist of the Year in 2017 and whose remit is to engage and inspire the pupils, whether they’re art students or not. There’s also a Design Centre with two huge workshops, a CNC and 3D printing area, alongside lecture and classroom teaching spaces.

GENERAL

The fun continues. An ambitious £7.1m project for a dedicated Science building, known to the pupils as Science Priory, came to fruition in 2013 – a three floor, glass hewn, angular design that includes 14 specialist science teaching classrooms, a 200 seat lecture theatre, a small lecture room, a resource centre/library and outdoor teaching space.

But amidst the never-ending academic roll call of labs, creative spaces and award-winning architecture, Repton still utilises its historic buildings to great effect. The distinctive Old Priory with its leaded windows and huge open fireplaces, is now a wooden-clad atmospheric library and meeting space, dotted with historic portraits. The ancient quad – The Garth – is used for speech days, Admission of Scholars, Remembrance Sunday and summer music concerts.

Significantly for a school that has spread itself around the village in recent years, the new strategic plans sees it pulling the heart of the school back to within the arches with the 19th century Pears School being converted to incorporate a Sixth Form Centre and a more collegiate, ‘co-working’ and social space more akin to university and the real world. There are also firm plans for the development of a Business Centre, with entrepreneuralism at its heart.

ACADEMICS

They’re important, but they’re not everything at Repton. No top independent school with high fees is going to skimp on the academics so don’t worry on that front; Repton delivers to the brief. However, balance is the word that echoes off the walls around here, and you can see that in the vast array of extra-curricular activities on offer (many are pupil-led, such as the Repton Feminist Society, so new ones pop up all the time).

Repton is a Microsoft Showcase School, and there’s been huge investment into tech, so all classrooms have interactive boards, meaning whatever notes the teacher writes on the board automatically uploads to each pupils’ laptop. The subjects taught here are largely traditional – all the usual Englishes, Maths, Sciences and humanities, and a choice of French, Spanish or German languages.

The most ‘out there’ subject is probably Business – useful if not exactly radical. For A Levels, things are shaken up a bit more, with Photography, Psychology and Textiles added to the mix, other modern languages can be studied off-timetable, and the more vocational BTEC in PE and CTEC in Business are also available.

A creative course to help the kids gain a greater understanding of the world beyond the confines of their academic studies is the school’s ‘Future Leaders’, compulsory for all pupils in the Lower Sixth, and covering everything from public speaking and personal finance to politics.

In 2023, at GSCE, 61% of students received grades in 9-7 (A*-A)and 97% received 9-4 grades (A*-C) – a slight upward edge on 2022’s figures.

A Level results for 2023 with 16% of A level students gain A*, 39% of students gain A*-A and 68% of results were A*-B. 83% of pupils in at their first-choice destination, and 57% making it into Russell Group Universities. Three kids have gone on to US Ivy League Universities – a trend I’m seeing more in the UK, but obviously the sporty kids at Repton have an advantage here.

PASTORAL CARE

Strong pastoral care is the non-negotiable for schools now, particularly those with boarding provision, and Repton has invested heavily, expanding the Health and Wellbeing team and giving more staff Mental Health First Aid Training. It’s an accredited Steer Tracking school – in fact, Steer’s School of the Year 2023 – and regularly monitors the mental health of the pupils. All teachers are connected via iSAMS Wellbeing Manager – a shared network which allows teachers to report any issues quickly – and there are weekly meetings between the Deputy Head Pastoral, Deputy Head Safeguarding and the Pastoral Support Team (including the school Chaplain, House Masters, matrons, SEND team and the school counsellors). There’s also a full time medical team on site.

Bolstering its safeguarding provision in the wake of a 2022 inspection, with all safeguarding issues since met, the school now has a dedicated Deputy Head Safeguarding in addition to the Deputy Head Pastoral role. A new post has also been created – Director of Safeguarding Compliance. Neil Lowther worked both as a former adult and child protection police officer and also with Derbyshire Children’s Services.

In 2019 two student led pastoral ideas resulted in the introduction of a therapy dog to school (her name’s Pippa, a gorgeous whippet) and the setting up of the Wellbeing Room in one of the boarding houses, a quiet space where pupils can relax, play board games and pick up mental health resources if necessary. A sweet touch is Upper Sixth involvement in helping with lights out, many have opted into mental health training so can talk to the younger kids and peer support them where necessary.

A Wellbeing Garden will be the next addition to the school, designed as a space for the pupils and staff to step away from the busy Repton schedule and breathe deep.

BOARDING

Boarders are in the majority here – around 70% of pupils rest their heads at Repton, but day pupils are well integrated into the ten Houses (six for boys, four for girls), which each number around 60 children.

Current boarding houses are smartish, with plenty of space and light, a maximum of four beds a room (by Sixth Form it’s single rooms) and the usual slouchy sofas, table tennis tables and giant TV screens in common room areas.

However, there’s a radical overhaul of all ten boarding houses signed off, which starts the building of a flash ‘Decanting House’, where pupils from each house will stay while their existing accommodation is given the Grand Designs treatment.

One marked difference at Repton is the fact that all Houses dine every day together for breakfast, lunch and dinner in their own respective spaces with teachers (who rotate around the houses), House staff as well as guests – all the better for the pupils to practice polite small talk. I sat at the head of a table of six sweet lads over lunch, who poured my water and cleared up their plates and chatted away happily for half an hour about how much they loved the school.

This unusual lunch set up is sold as a ‘treasured’ aspect of Repton life, but whether you agree with that or not, I think what it must do is create very strong bonds between the pupils as well as with the teachers. Supported kids tend to be nice kids, and one thing I really noticed at Repton was how polite and unpretentious the children were. For such an expensive school (prepare to look through your fingers in the Fees section), the pupils are remarkably down-to-earth, and house dining play its part in that.

Saturday school is still at large here, so expect lessons in the morning and fixtures in the afternoon. In the evenings, the children mingle in regular ‘Socials’ – anything from parties and balls to smaller events in the Houses. Black tie house dinner parties, Come Dine With Me (a dinner party hosted by pupils where they invite teachers and tutors), cabaret, international suppers as well as invitational dinners where other houses can join them. Sundays are a bit more relaxed, with a roast dinner and an activities programme – all optional, kids can just chill out at school with a Sunday roast, go shopping, or choose from a raft of more energetic activities like white water rafting or paint balling.

THE HEAD

Mark Semmence joined Repton in 2019 following five years as Headmaster at Mount Kelly and seven years at Rugby School as Assistant Headmaster. He’s a smart, purposeful Headmaster with his head in the real world – a successful career in sports marketing prior to retraining in teaching has delivered business acumen that’s reflected in several of his key recent appointments.

The 36th Headmaster in Repton School’s 464 year history, he’s presided over the expansion of The Repton Family of Schools nationally and internationally (there are now four schools in the UK – Repton Senior, Repton Prep, a second local prep school St Wystan’s and Vinehall in East Sussex) and seven internationally, with another three due to open in the next few years. Never mind a five-year plan, Semmence is working to a 20-year version, which includes a complete gutting and recreation of all the boarding houses, and expanding the Repton Family of Schools.

QUIRKS

In many ways Repton feels very modern –culturally, for example, it feels genuinely co-ed and the emphasis on balance seems authentic. Rubbing up against this is a school lingo that comes straight out of the 1950s. The tuck shop is called Grubber. Sunday afternoon activities are known as SLOPS (Sunday Leisure Options to you and me) and a whole Repton Dictionary is being compiled including now obsolete classics such as ‘Bone off’ (a noun or verb describing an occurrence 15 minutes after the beginning of a class if the master doesn’t turn up), Magger (matron), Chagger (changing room), Wagger (waste paper basket) and Rears (toilets).

In other news, intriguingly, once every four years the staff perform in what they call The Pedants review – a show over three nights that is only for pupils. No parents, no marketing teams, no publicity. Never mind Fight Club, the first rule of The Pedants is – no-one talks about Pedants.

WRAP AROUND CARE

Day pupils can join the boarders for breakfast (swimmers start training at 5am so have a special breakfast laid on to power them up after training) and can stay until 9pm for prep, supper and activities although pick up options start from 6pm.

SEND PROVISION

Repton Senior is selective, but based more on what children can offer the school rather than purely on academics. There’s full time SENCO in the Personalised Learning department, near the entrance Arch to the school. SEND at Repton cover students with cognition and learning difficulties, communication and interaction difficulties, social, emotional and mental health difficulties, and those with physical disabilities.

ISI REPORTS

The most recent full compliance report is from 2020 and makes happy reading for Repton. In 2022 an historic complaint about safeguarding issues in the early 2000s triggered a visit and report that highlighted some safeguarding gaps – however, an Oct 23 follow up ISI visit has found all safeguarding steps met. You can view all reports here.

MOBILE PHONE POLICY

Pupils are allowed to use mobile phones in School, but only at specified times and following strict protocol, including registering the serial number of any mobile phone in their possession with their House Master and not using their phone during prep or whilst walking around the village.

TRANSPORT

There are four routes run by the school from Monday to Saturday from four routes from Ashbourne, Blythe Bridge, Belper, and Shenstone. The school buses can be used by pupils from Year 1 upwards, though Reception children would be considered with an older sibling on the bus.

The train is surprisingly accessible – 1 hour 15 from London Euston to Lichfield Trent Valley, and 1 hours 30 from London St Pancras to East Midlands Parkway. East Midlands Airport is 20 minutes, Birmingham International is 45 minutes, Manchester Airport 1 hour 30 and London Heathrow 2 hours.

FEES

Expensive, but you can’t argue with the facilities and care here. Day pupils £10,800 per term, Boarding pupils £14,560 per term. If you’re lucky your child might win a Scholarship – up to a maximum of 20% off the fees. Otherwise, start saving.

WORD ON THE GROUND

There’s a strong sense of family at Repton – of the dozen or so children I chatted to (all without teachers around), they all talked about being part of a community and enjoying strong friendships. Though the school is unabashedly competitive at sport and has the silverware cupboards to prove it, I’ve heard from several sources that those pupils that play sport for fun or have interests elsewhere altogether are also well supported. Some murmurings from the kids of being tired after a long day of study and activities, not to mention prep time until 9pm, but there are worse ways to tire kids out. Student led groups like Pride society (for LGBTQ+ issues) are given space to make themselves heard in a progressive environment.

THE MUDDY VERDICT

Good for: Clearly sporty kids are going to be in heaven here – the opportunities way surpass those you’d find in most other schools. There are grand buildings aplenty for those who love posh school optics, but the children here seem unusually grounded and ‘normal’ which may appeal to independent school fence-sitters. The village location allows the children freedom to move around and be part of the real world rather than a complete rural bubble and the zippy transport links to London make it a workable option for southern pupils. The multi-million pound investment due to cascade around the school in the next few years will only bolster what are already exceptional facilities across the board.

Not for: If your child is resolutely not a joiner in, it will be a fairly miserable five years – there’s so much going on all the time, and the ethos at Repton is very about giving things a go. It’s a Christian school, with chapel twice a week, and though it welcomes all faiths, if you feel a strong religious conviction (or perhaps none at all) that may be a consideration.

Dare to Disagree? Be my guest! Take a virtual tour or book an in-person visit with James Wilton, the Deputy Head (Admissions).

Repton School, The Hall, Repton, Derbyshire, DE65 6FH. Tel: 01283 559221.

Repton School, Repton

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