The Elms School, Colwall
It is a non-selective mainstream school, totally independent of any senior school, and therefore sends children on to a wide range of top senior schools.
History
The Elms was founded in 1614 by Humphrey Walwyn of the Worshipful Company of Grocers, and is the oldest prep school still on its original site. The original school house was based on a farmhouse, built in the 1550s, on the edge of the village of Colwall in the lee of the Malvern Hills.
According to The Rise of the English Prep School, the official inception date of The Elms as a prep school dates back to 1867.
In 2014 The Elms School celebrated its 400-year anniversary, and named a new dormitory after the late former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. It maintains close links with the Grocers' Company, and receives financial assistance from the company's charitable arm.
Facilities
The school has 40 acres of land, including a farm and a large outdoor arena for riding. As of 2013, The Elms was one of 98 schools in the UK with its own farm. The Elms has herds of Hereford cattle and Gloucester Old Spot pigs, and Shropshire Sheep, which pupils help to tend, and show at county agricultural shows. Meat from the farm is served in the school dining hall and sold to parents. Each class is responsible for tending a garden, and fruits and vegetables they grow are also used in the school kitchens.
The school also has a sports hall, theatre, swimming pool, astroturf, and science laboratories, as well as sports fields.
Curriculum
Pupils study a standard curriculum, with the addition of Greek (for some pupils), Latin and Rural Studies. Pupils are largely taught by a form teacher in the early years, but there is more specialist subject teaching as they move up the school.
Sport
Pupils play association football, rugby football, cricket, hockey, netball, rounders, athletics, triathlon and heptathlon.
Notable alumni
- Stephen Davies, ornithologist
- Sir Peter Gadsden (1929–2006), 652nd Lord Mayor of London
- Quentin Letts (born 1963), journalist and theatre critic
- John Moore (1907–1967), author
References
- ^ "EduBase - the Elms School". Archived from the original on 24 September 2016. Retrieved 23 September 2016.
- ^ "The Elms staff list | the Elms School, Malvern". Archived from the original on 24 September 2016. Retrieved 23 September 2016.
- ^ Ferguson, Paul (24 July 2008). "School unveils theatre plan". Hereford Times. Retrieved 17 June 2022.
- ^ "Choosing the right British boarding school". Country Life. 25 February 2011. Retrieved 17 June 2022.
- ^ Leinster-Mackay, Donald (2021). The Rise of the English Prep School. Routledge. ISBN 9781000357547 – via Google Books.
- ^ Walker, Tim (17 June 2014). "The Elms School celebrates Margaret Thatcher". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 17 June 2022 – via Gale.
- ^ "School Catering: Home-Grown Mouth-Watering Menus". Independent School Parent. 21 February 2013. Retrieved 17 June 2022.
- ^ Terry, Martha (15 September 2016). "6 dream schools for horsey children". Retrieved 17 June 2022.
- ^ Paton, Graeme (5 February 2013). "Jamie Oliver philosophy is breeding more school farms". The Daily Telegraph. p. 3. Retrieved 17 June 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Independent Schools Inspectorate (2021). Integrated Inspection: The Elms School. Retrieved 2022-06-17.
- ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 June 2016. Retrieved 23 September 2016.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ Suzannah Pearce, ed. (2007). "DAVIES Stephen John James Frank". Who's Who in Australia Live!. North Melbourne, Vic: Crown Content Pty Ltd.
- ^ Stephen Davies's CV Archived 2007-08-30 at the Wayback Machine