Gloucestershire &amp; Worcestershire

<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-3612" src="https://glos.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/13/2017/10/Front-of-school-house_preview-e1507210529504.jpg" alt="" width="1000" height="673">
WHAT? WHERE?
Wycliffe College is a non-selective, co-ed day and boarding school for kids aged 13 to 19 (there’s a Prep School feeder just down the road, which has also a Nursery). Set in impressive grounds on the edge of Stonehouse, a few miles outside of Stroud and 90 minutes from London. It was founded in 1882 by the scholar G.W. Sibly who named the school after English philosopher John Wycliffe whose pioneering spirit he admired. ‘Bold and Loyal’, Sibly’s motto for the school, still embodies the school’s ethos. Located in 52 acres of grounds of lush greenery, with a variety of buildings from brand-spanking new to period grandees, there are only 410 pupils (190 boarders, eight houses), which makes for a lot of space per child.
<div id="attachment_3580" style="width: 1010px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-3580" decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-3580" src="https://glos.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/13/2017/10/wycliffe-sports-hall-e1507127973475.jpg" alt="" width="1000" height="672" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/glosworcs/wp-content/uploads/sites/13/2017/10/wycliffe-sports-hall-e1507127973475.jpg 930w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/glosworcs/wp-content/uploads/sites/13/2017/10/wycliffe-sports-hall-e1507127973475-150x101.jpg 150w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/glosworcs/wp-content/uploads/sites/13/2017/10/wycliffe-sports-hall-e1507127973475-300x202.jpg 300w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/glosworcs/wp-content/uploads/sites/13/2017/10/wycliffe-sports-hall-e1507127973475-720x484.jpg 720w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" />The sports complex</div>
FACILITIES
Despite being on the small side, Wycliffe has an impressive sporting tradition (England and Gloucester rugby player Charlie Sharples is an alumnus, and previous Year 11s have done GB trials for rowing and the school has a fearsome reputation for squash, with two pupils on GB passes) and, as you’d expect, the facilities are top notch.
There’s an impressive fitness suite overlooking the biggest sports hall I’ve ever seen (34m x 38m), state-of-the-art squash courts, a boathouse just ten minutes away (there&#8217;s a strong rowing club), swimming pool, astroturf, an equestrian centre also a ten-minute drive away (run by Mrs Gallop!) and a lovely cricket pitch overlooked by the sports complex’s rather attractive outside terrace.
<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-3613" src="https://glos.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/13/2017/10/JR20170914_Wycliffe_Sport-158_preview.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="854" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/glosworcs/wp-content/uploads/sites/13/2017/10/JR20170914_Wycliffe_Sport-158_preview.jpg 1280w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/glosworcs/wp-content/uploads/sites/13/2017/10/JR20170914_Wycliffe_Sport-158_preview-150x100.jpg 150w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/glosworcs/wp-content/uploads/sites/13/2017/10/JR20170914_Wycliffe_Sport-158_preview-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/glosworcs/wp-content/uploads/sites/13/2017/10/JR20170914_Wycliffe_Sport-158_preview-720x480.jpg 720w" sizes="(max-width: 1280px) 100vw, 1280px" />
There’s also a shooting range and they offer fencing, so if your child is a budding modern pentathlete, he or she will be well served here (the school currently has a GB contender in its ranks). And it’s not only high-flying sporting types who are catered for. Triers are equally embraced with several teams in all disciplines playing competitive fixtures each week, so everyone gets to have a go. In recent times pupils have excelled so much at squash here they have gone on to take up squash scholarships at US Universities so the coaching is evidently world-standard.
MUSIC, DRAMA &amp; ART
The art block is impressive with high ceilings and a quirky feel and it seems to deliver results – art has been the top-performing department when it comes to A Levels in recent years, with 40% of pupils achieving an A*. Impressive stuff.
<div id="attachment_3581" style="width: 1010px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-3581" decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-3581 size-full" src="https://glos.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/13/2017/10/wycliffe-art-collage-e1507128075546.jpg" alt="" width="1000" height="1000">Creative expression in the art block</div>
The music block was a bit more of a rabbit warren, but everything was there, from practice rooms to a technology suite complete with 10 Mac computers, and one Mac in the recording studio running Sibelius 7 for composition and Logic Pro for music technology projects.
Drama is well served with a spacious theatre space, and the school has its own Youth Theatre and drama club., in 2021 all pupils taking LAMDA qualifications received distinctions. On-site, chickens and bees are kept (there&#8217;s a bee-keeping club, how cool!) and add to the homely, nurturing feel of the place and, on that note, there is a medical centre that is open all hours, not something many schools offer.
ACADEMICS
Wycliffe is non-selective and proudly so, with the focus on helping an eclectic mix of pupils succeed in a broad range of activities. Having said that, there’s no slouching when it comes to academic progress and the school competes favourably with the several grammars in the area, places in the top 2% of the country and achieves enviable added value results with most pupils doubling their expected scores based on entry standards. In recent years the school achieved excellent results, with more than 93% of results grade 4 or above and 80% a &#8216;strong pass&#8217; (grade 9-5). To show just how outstanding this performance was, at the outset of their studies only just over half were predicted to achieve that standard in a cohort of truly mixed ability.
In A-Levels, Wycliffe’s overall A*-B grade proportion was among its best ever. In recent times subjects having been reformed with more content and harder assessments, and yet one in every eight of Wycliffe’s pupils achieved three or more A / A* grades, one in six achieved at least two A grades and 60% achieved 2 Bs or better. In 14 of the 28 subjects offered at Wycliffe, more than two thirds of grades were above B.
The average class size here is 16 but they dip lower than this to (sometimes six to 12 in the Sixth Form), this mean pupils get one-to-one attention and so follow a steep gradient of academic improvement during their time at the school. This year, the dazzling array of destinations for its leavers includes Oxford to read PPE, Imperial to study Medicine, UCL for Mechanical Engineering and Loughborough for Architecture.
<div id="attachment_3582" style="width: 1010px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-3582" decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-3582 size-full" src="https://glos.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/13/2017/10/wycliffelibraryr-e1507128165788.jpg" alt="" width="1000" height="583">A panorama of the library</div>
My impression of Wycliffe is that while it’s not a hothouse for Oxbridge, it has the capacity to stretch brighter pupils, as well as support all the extra-curricular activities that makes for happy, well-rounded confident adults. One parent of triplets says it was the only school she found that could cater equally well for each of her children’s differing needs.
<div id="attachment_3583" style="width: 1010px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-3583" decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-3583 size-full" src="https://glos.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/13/2017/10/wycliffe-science-e1507128318866.jpg" alt="" width="1000" height="563">The biology room with its impressive aquarium</div>
HEADMASTER
A former banker (he switched careers in 2000), Nick Gregory took over the headship in 2015 after seven years as deputy head at Mill Hill comprehensive school in north London. He’s got big ambitions for Wycliffe and has swept in with fresh ideas, including a new bright purple uniform that has divided opinion. The previous head, Margie Burnet Ward, was quite a motherly presence during her ten-year tenure, while Mr Gregory leans more towards the business side of things. He was at a heads&#8217; conference on the day I visited so I wasn’t able to meet him, but it sounds like he’s quite the mover and the shaker while keeping the school values of nurturing individuals close to his heart (he has lunch with every Year 9 when they join).
<div id="attachment_3584" style="width: 1010px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-3584" decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-3584 size-full" src="https://glos.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/13/2017/10/wycliffe-head-e1507128449914.jpg" alt="" width="1000" height="548">Nick Gregory, who joined as head in September 2015</div>
PASTORAL CARE
Pastoral care is taken very seriously at Wycliffe. There is a dedicated Health Centre is onsite, which has three fully qualified and experienced Nurses and medical assistance available 24/7 during term time. It is also registered with a GP Surgery which is less than one-minute walk from campus. In addition, every House has a Matron who is available all day to support and look after pupils. She is on hand to welcome pupils into the House at break times, lunchtime and the start and end of the day, with pupils able to go to their Matron with any worry, issue or ailment. There is also a dedicated Deputy Head of Pastoral who oversees the care and is a point of contact for any child&nbsp; needing support.
QUIRKS
There are lots of kids from Forces families (the school is within easy reach of the major Army and RAF bases across the south west and has excellent transport links, plus parents get a hefty 90% reduction in fees thanks to MOD education allowances), and the school has quite an international feel about it. Of the 410 pupils, 145 are from 30 different countries, including Spain, Hong Kong, Russia and Ghana. A recent head boy was from Russia and came for a two-week summer course a few years ago and liked it so much, he came back full-time. Japanese is a popular language option and recently a Wycliffe pupil won a prestigious Haiku (poetry) competition in Japan. The school offers preparation for the SAT entrance exam to American universities and has had alumni accepted into Harvard.
A big thumbs up must go to their recent&nbsp;‘STEM Day’ when they hosted 400 pupils from local primary schools across Gloucestershire&nbsp;to take&nbsp;part in a whole range of activities to get them excited about Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths. Sixth Formers from Wycliffe led many of the sessions alongside others taken by leading Gloucestershire businesses.
<div id="attachment_3585" style="width: 1010px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-3585" decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-3585" src="https://glos.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/13/2017/10/Wycliffe-new-uniform.jpg" alt="" width="1000" height="746" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/glosworcs/wp-content/uploads/sites/13/2017/10/Wycliffe-new-uniform.jpg 740w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/glosworcs/wp-content/uploads/sites/13/2017/10/Wycliffe-new-uniform-150x112.jpg 150w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/glosworcs/wp-content/uploads/sites/13/2017/10/Wycliffe-new-uniform-300x224.jpg 300w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/glosworcs/wp-content/uploads/sites/13/2017/10/Wycliffe-new-uniform-670x500.jpg 670w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" />The new purple uniforms</div>
FEES
Senior school day, £6,645 per term (Y9), £6,995 (Y10-13); senior school boarding, £11,740 (Y9-11 and current Sixth Form), £12,190 (new Sixth Form entrants). There is an option to flexi-board pre-selected specific nights each week: one night, £575; two nights, £1,150; three nights, £1,725; four nights, £2,300. Day pupils can opt for occasional boarding at £57.50 per night.
<div id="attachment_3586" style="width: 1010px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-3586" decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-3586" src="https://glos.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/13/2017/10/Wycliffe-College-Chapel.jpg" alt="" width="1000" height="643" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/glosworcs/wp-content/uploads/sites/13/2017/10/Wycliffe-College-Chapel.jpg 700w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/glosworcs/wp-content/uploads/sites/13/2017/10/Wycliffe-College-Chapel-150x96.jpg 150w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/glosworcs/wp-content/uploads/sites/13/2017/10/Wycliffe-College-Chapel-300x193.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" />The chapel, where assembly is held twice a week and a Christian service twice a week</div>
WRAPAROUND CARE
The boarding facilities are very comfortable (I noticed properly thick mattresses, tonnes of storage space and loads of plugs) and range from the sleek, brand new Ward’s Ivy House (for boys and girls, with clever biometric entry to prevent gender mixing in the sleeping quarters and a resident dog) to the Georgian splendour of the girls-only Haywardsend that back in the day was a family home and still feels very much like one. Lovely matrons ply pupils with toast at break and TLC any time of the day. I quite wanted to be mothered by them myself! Day pupils have their own desk, wardrobe, storage space, which means they can hang out for prep, supper or even stay overnight (they’re almost always given the same bed) and so there is little demarcation between day pupils and boarders,&nbsp;helped by the fact that every house is mixed.
<div id="attachment_3587" style="width: 1010px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-3587" decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-3587 size-full" src="https://glos.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/13/2017/10/Wycliffe-boarding-house-collage-e1507128719685.jpg" alt="" width="1000" height="1000">Inside Wards Ivy boarding house, which opened this September</div>
WORD ON THE GROUND
The mums and dads I’ve talked to really love it for the way it bolsters self-confidence and nurtures pupils’ passions as well as covering off academic expectations.
THE MUDDY VERDICT:
Good for: Kids who thrive in a small, family-style environment. Everything is very accessible on site – there are no roads to cross and you can get wherever you need to be in less than five minutes. Kids won’t get lost physically or metaphorically – it’s a place that really values individualism. I got the feeling that creativity and pursuing your talents are highly valued, so pupils are free to be themselves and learn how to be comfortable in their own skin. The Sixth Formers and Year 9s that I met certainly seemed to bear this out.
Not for: While pupils do go to Oxbridge and Harvard from Wycliffe, if you’ve got a super brain on your hands who needs a focused, narrow environment, you might want to consider more academic institutions. Interestingly, while the school keeps an eye on the results of the Gloucestershire grammars to ensure it’s keeping up, it doesn’t benchmark against Cheltenham’s über grammar Pate&#8217;s, which creams off the brightest kids from as far away as Swindon, Malvern and Bristol.
Dare to disagree? Have a look for yourself. Head to
Wycliffe College, Bath Road, Stonehouse GL10 2JQ, tel: 01453 822432, <a href="https://www.wycliffe.co.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">www.wycliffe.co.uk</a>

Wycliffe College

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