Cleve House School

For families who want an independent school feel on a genuinely small scale, this is an option worth understanding properly. The school serves ages 2 to 16 and describes its approach as “Teaching To Reach … Since 1937”, with an emphasis on confidence, manners and mutual respect alongside day to day learning.

The site itself is distinctive. The main building is a Victorian house built in 1887, originally called Arcadia and known locally as the “Lemonade Palace”, with later additions including an assembly hall (2002) plus a music room and conservatory playroom (2003).

Leadership is closely identified with the school’s current phase. Mrs Clare Fraser is the headteacher and also the designated safeguarding lead, with governance support through an advisory board.

The school’s public-facing story is consistent across its inspection evidence and its own messaging. Leaders place pupil wellbeing at the centre of school improvement and staff are expected to know pupils as individuals, including those who have found larger settings difficult.

That small setting shapes daily experience in practical ways. Multi-age socialising is actively encouraged, and the headteacher describes a “family school” feel where pupils play across year groups and staff aim to ensure no child is overlooked. The same theme comes through in parent testimony describing a flexible approach for a child experiencing anxiety and autism, including timetable adjustments around individual interests.

The secondary provision matters for atmosphere too, because it is still relatively new and growing year by year. In February 2024, a material change inspection described a small Year 7 cohort following a bespoke International Baccalaureate Middle Years Programme curriculum, supported through shared expertise with Wotton House International School. That inevitably means a slightly start-up feel in the older years, with advantages for individual attention, and trade-offs in scale.

For many independent all through schools of this size, parents tend to rely less on broad league-table narratives and more on the day to day learning culture, assessment and transition outcomes. Here, external evidence points to pupils making good progress because teaching is adapted closely to individual needs, with particular strength in the way pupils with special educational needs and or disabilities are supported.

Reading and numeracy are presented by the school as central to the timetable, with a wide curriculum around them including science, humanities, languages, art, design and technology, sport, swimming, music and computing. The important practical implication is that families should ask detailed questions about how breadth is delivered as the secondary years grow, and how subject specialist teaching is organised across a small cohort.

The June 2024 inspection describes a curriculum planned to be balanced and age-appropriate, with lessons routinely adapted to pupils’ needs and interests. That approach is easiest to deliver when staff know pupils well, and the school’s own admissions and safeguarding documentation reinforces the same intent, with explicit emphasis on inclusion and reasonable adjustments where possible.

The staffing model is also unusually transparent on the website, which helps parents understand what “small school” means in practice. Alongside class teachers, there is a named special educational needs coordinator, a computing teacher working across Reception to Form 6, plus learning support roles attached to the Middle Years Programme forms. For families with a child who benefits from learning support embedded into routine lessons, that staffing picture is encouraging, provided it remains stable as older year groups expand.

For early years and primary, curriculum examples include structured phonics, regular reading, and deliberate development of digital skills across subjects. In the upper primary years, published classroom work also suggests cross-curricular projects that combine design and history, alongside literature-led English units.

A key strength for a small independent school is clarity on transition. The school publishes a list of recent destination schools for Form 6 leavers, spanning both independent and state secondaries. The named list includes Badminton School, Bristol Cathedral Choir School, Bristol Grammar School, Clifton College, Redmaids High School, Redland Green School, Sidcot School, St Mary Redcliffe and Temple School, St Bernadette’s School and others.

Where scholarships are mentioned, they are also specific. The site lists, for example, an all-rounder scholarship to Badminton School in 2023, and multiple scholarships to Badminton School in 2022, plus a drama scholarship to Sidcot School in 2022. The implication for parents is that the school appears experienced in supporting a range of senior school application routes, but you should still confirm what that support looks like for your child, such as interview preparation, reference writing, and the balance between class time and exam practice.

For students in the newer secondary years, the pathway is different. The school positions its International Baccalaureate Middle Years Programme as an alternative emphasis on skills and lifelong learning, and notes that only a small number of UK schools offer the MYP at this stage. Families considering entry into Year 7 or beyond should ask how subject choices, assessment and transitions are handled, especially if a future move to an IB Diploma provider is the plan.

Admissions are direct to the school and are designed to be human-scale rather than calendar-driven. The current admissions policy states that applications can be made at any point in the academic year. Typically, a meeting with the headteacher happens before application, followed by a taster day or session for the pupil.

The school is explicitly non-selective, but it does reserve the right to decide admission based on available places and the school’s ability to meet a child’s needs. Oversubscription is handled by holding an application on file until a place becomes available. The practical takeaway is simple, if you are targeting a specific September start, begin conversations early and do not assume that a small cohort automatically means spare places.

For early years, the admissions policy also references government-funded hours for eligible families. As always, eligibility and rules change over time, so confirm your entitlements via the official childcare funding routes as well as the school’s admin team.

Parents comparing options can use FindMySchool’s Map Search to sense-check travel time and day-to-day practicality before committing to a taster session.

Pastoral work is central to how the school differentiates itself. Safeguarding leadership is clearly named, including the designated safeguarding lead and deputy roles, and the school describes structured e-safety education plus monitoring software to flag inappropriate content.

The latest ISI inspection (25 to 27 June 2024) confirmed that all required standards were met, including safeguarding

Beyond compliance, the report’s narrative focuses on pupils feeling safe, respectful peer relationships, and staff empathy that helps pupils who arrive with anxiety to build resilience and participate in learning.

If your child has additional needs, it is also worth noting that both inspection evidence and parent testimony emphasise skilful interventions and flexible responses, including targeted support for pupils with SEND and individualised adaptations to lessons.

Extracurricular life is presented less as a long menu and more as a set of regular, specific routines plus a handful of distinctive events.

Sport and swimming are a clear pillar. Pupils have games and physical education taught by specialist teachers across the year, and the school references participation in local swimming galas, tournaments and cross-country competitions. Swimming lessons are described as continuing through the year for pupils from Reception upwards, delivered at the local Jubilee Pool, with nationally recognised badges.

Music and performance also show up repeatedly in the school’s published examples. There is a Choir Club, plus practical classroom music that includes keyboard and recorder work, and creative use of editing software such as Audacity for composition and sound effects. The headteacher’s welcome also references specialist lessons including piano and drumming, and names drama and speech and language teaching as part of the offer.

Trips and enrichment include residential experiences and participation in events such as the Bristol Festival of Speech and Language, plus local themed projects. For older pupils, classroom pages also show cross-curricular project work, for example design and history activities and literature-themed English work.

Fees & Financial Aid

For September 2025 onwards, published tuition fees are shown as per term, with different rates by stage. The school publishes a per-term fee of £2,950 plus VAT and a higher per-term fee of £3,850 plus VAT for the International Secondary (MYP years). There are three terms per year, so families should budget on that basis rather than expecting monthly pricing to reduce overall cost.

The same fees page also notes a 15% reduction per term for a second child. It also clarifies what is included and what is not. Weekly swimming lessons from Reception to Year 6 and early morning drop-off from 08:30 are included; after-school clubs run daily 15:30 to 16:30 for £5 per club, and late stay is available for £5 per day on Monday to Thursday.

On financial assistance, the admissions policy confirms that bursaries are available on a means-tested basis, with the level reassessed annually. The website does not publish a headline percentage of pupils receiving support, so families who need clarity should ask early in the admissions conversation.

Nursery and preschool pricing is published separately by session; because early years charges can change and depend on funding eligibility, families should check the school’s official fees information directly for the most current nursery figures.

School routines appear designed for working families, with early morning drop-off from 08:30 and structured after-school options on school days. If you need wraparound beyond 17:00 or Friday provision, you will need to confirm what is currently possible, as the published detail focuses on Monday to Thursday late stay.

Travel-wise, the setting is in Knowle in Bristol, a practical choice for families living in south Bristol who want short commuting distances and a local community feel.

• Growing secondary, still small. The secondary years are developing gradually, and inspection evidence describes a small Year 7 cohort. This can be excellent for individual attention; it can also limit peer-group breadth and subject-set scale until the older years mature.

• Processes are relationship-led, not deadline-led. Applications are accepted year-round, which suits families moving mid-year or seeking a flexible pathway, but it also means you should not assume places are available for a particular start point without early discussion.

• Health and safety record-keeping was a development point. The 2024 inspection recommended a more systematic approach to recording regular health and safety checks, a sensible question to raise when you visit.

• Costs beyond tuition. Clubs and late stay carry extra charges, and VAT applies to the published termly fees, so compare like-for-like when benchmarking against other independents.

This is a small independent school built around personal knowledge of pupils, a calm, inclusive ethos and a growing all-through offer that now includes an International Baccalaureate Middle Years Programme pathway in the secondary years. It is best suited to families who value close relationships, flexibility and a confidence-building approach, and who are comfortable with a secondary section that is still scaling up year by year. The limiting factor is fit rather than prestige: the school can be a strong match for the right child, especially those who thrive with individual attention.