Windlesham School

A small, city-based prep with nursery provision, designed for families who want continuity from age 2 through to Year 6, without the pressure and churn that can come with larger settings. Founded in 1948 as a charitable trust, the school sits on an extensive site and positions itself as a genuinely independent option for local families, rather than a feeder tied to one senior school.

Leadership has recently changed hands. Nick Matthews is the current headteacher. Expectations around safeguarding and compliance are clearly front and centre, with a recent regulatory check confirming the inspected standards were met.

This is a school that leans into “small enough to know every child” as a practical operating model, not just a slogan. The governing structure is unusual in a good way for Brighton, it is overseen by a charitable trust with trustees providing governance, which tends to create a steadier, less short term decision cycle than owner run independents.

The age range shapes the feel. Nursery and Reception sit alongside older year groups, and that creates a calmer tone at the start of the day, with routines that suit very young children but still feel purposeful for Year 6. The school’s own documentation describes a broad intake, with pupils coming mainly from Brighton and Hove, and with additional support in place for identified special educational needs and disabilities.

Recent policies also point to a deliberate focus on emotional literacy and regulation. The school introduced the Zones of Regulation as a whole-school initiative in September 2025, and framed it as consistent practice across phases, not a bolt-on intervention. For parents, that usually shows up as a shared language about feelings and behaviour that travels with children as they move up the school.

There is no published Key Stage 2 outcomes data presented here that can be used for direct performance benchmarking, and the usual league-table style comparisons do not apply in the same way for an independent prep of this size.

Instead, a more realistic way to judge academic strength is to look at how learning is structured, and what happens at the point of senior school transfer. Formal external reviews describe pupils who make good progress relative to their starting points and show strong engagement with learning, including confident communication and subject curiosity.

If you are comparing several Brighton-area preps, the FindMySchool Local Hub comparison tool is still useful, but here the differentiator is less about raw published outcomes and more about the school’s approach to teaching, support, and senior-school readiness.

The curriculum is organised in a recognisable prep-school way: class teaching in the early years and lower school, then increasing specialist input as pupils move up. Specialist teaching is explicitly referenced in areas including French, music, drama, physical education and swimming, with those subjects continuing into the prep years.

The school’s approach to assessment and entry also hints at how teaching is pitched. For children joining Years 3 to 6, the admissions process includes a short assessment with no preparation required, which usually indicates the school is looking for learning readiness and fit, rather than coached performance.

Music and performance appear to be embedded as normal life rather than an elite track. Pupils in Year 3 can join the Lark Choir, and the wider club programme includes choirs and orchestra alongside sport squads. For many children, that kind of steady, expected participation is what builds confidence before senior school interviews and scholarship assessments.

For a prep, destinations are the most concrete outcome signal, and here the school publishes unusually specific information.

For the Year 6 cohort in 2025 (22 pupils), destinations included:

• Brighton College, 4 places including awards listed as art, academic, music and a Headmaster’s award

• Brighton Girls, 2 places

• Cardinal Newman Catholic School, 4 places

• Roedean School, 1 place including an academic scholarship

• Windlesham House School, 1 place including an academic scholarship

• plus individual places at Blatchington Mill School, Lewes Old Grammar School, Shoreham College, Sompting Abbotts Preparatory School and St Paul's Catholic College.

The 2024 and 2023 tables show similarly varied outcomes, mixing maintained secondaries with well-known independents and a steady flow of awards and scholarships. That breadth matters: it suggests the school is actively matching children to different senior-school cultures, rather than pushing a single “best fit” destination.

The preparation process is also described in practical terms: information evenings, individual parent meetings in Years 4 to 6, mock interviews, and support with assessment readiness.

Admissions are handled directly and are built around fit and readiness rather than a one-size calendar deadline.

The published process is clear and parent-friendly:

1. Visit, typically via an individual tour during term time (Monday to Friday).

2. Taster: a shorter session for nursery or Reception, and a full day for Years 1 to 6.

3. Decision: feedback is usually given the next working day after the taster.

4. Registration: a place is confirmed once forms are returned with the registration fee and deposit.

Entry is flexible if places exist. The school states that children may be able to join at any time in the academic year, which can be important for families relocating into Brighton.

Pastoral positioning is explicit: knowing pupils well, and using that knowledge to support confidence and day-to-day wellbeing. What makes that more than generic marketing is the supporting infrastructure visible in staffing and policy.

The school’s SENCO, safeguarding lead and school mental health coordinator role is clearly identified (Sinead Kiernan), and admissions notes that the SENDCO can spend dedicated time with a child during the taster process if requested. That is often a practical indicator that support is integrated rather than reactive.

On compliance and safeguarding, the most recent ISI progress monitoring inspection (10 January 2024) confirmed that the inspected standards, including safeguarding, were met.

The co-curricular offer is unusually specific for a school of this size, with lunchtime clubs and after-school options spanning creative, technical and sporty interests.

Examples of named lunchtime clubs include Multi-lingual Club, Coding, Electronics, Newspaper Club, Debating and Taskmaster. After school, the menu broadens further, with Forest School, Young Engineers, Robotics, Escape Room Puzzle Club, Warhammer, British Sign Language, Children’s Parade Art Club, Street Dance and Cosmic Yoga among the listed options.

The implication for families is straightforward: this is a setting where an academically able child can still spend a week building and making, not just writing and practising. It also gives quieter children structured “ways in” to friendships, especially through clubs that run in small groups.

For 2025 to 2026, tuition fees are published per term:

• Reception: £3,750

• Years 1 and 2: £4,230

• Year 3: £4,512

• Years 4 to 6: £4,926

Nursery fees are published separately and vary by attendance pattern and funded-hours entitlement, so families should check the school’s fee page for the current nursery options.

One-off and recurring extras are also stated:

• Registration fee: £72 (non-refundable, inclusive of VAT)

• School deposit: £300 (held on account until the pupil leaves, non-refundable if the child does not start)

• Lunch: £5 per day

Means-tested bursaries are available. The admissions policy states that bursaries are allocated primarily on income and are available from the term following a child’s fifth birthday.

Wraparound is clearly described through the after-school offering. Windlefun runs five days a week until 16:55, with an extra session (Windlefun Late) running until 17:45. Pricing is also stated: £8.00 for Windlefun and £5.50 for Windlefun Late, per session.

For extracurricular pricing, the school lists lunchtime clubs at £4.00 per session and repeats the after-school pricing for many clubs.

Specific start and finish times for the main school day are not clearly published in the pages reviewed, so families who need precise drop-off and pick-up timings should confirm directly with the school.

For location planning, the school is in the Preston Park area of Brighton; families typically shortlist based on commute practicality as much as ethos. The FindMySchool Map Search is helpful here for testing realistic travel times at drop-off and pick-up.

• Recent compliance history. Formal checks in 2023 identified a weakness in a small subset of recruitment checks; follow-up monitoring in January 2024 confirmed the inspected standards were met. If you want maximum reassurance, ask how safeguarding oversight is structured day to day and what has changed since those checks.

• Fees rise by year group. Termly fees increase from Reception through to Years 4 to 6. Families should model the full run to Year 6, not just the entry year.

• Senior school pathway is broad. That suits families who want choice, but it can feel less straightforward if you want a single, “set” destination route from day one.

• Wraparound ends at 17:45. For parents regularly working later, that is workable for many, but not all, schedules.

A small independent prep with nursery provision that puts real weight on senior-school readiness without narrowing children too early. The published destinations picture is a genuine strength, showing pupils moving on to a wide spread of local maintained and independent secondaries, often with awards attached.

Who it suits: families in Brighton who want a stable, community-scale school from age 2 to 11, value personal attention, and want senior-school options kept open. The main challenge is ensuring the model, including fees and wraparound hours, fits your family’s practical needs over the full journey to Year 6.