September 2022: What's New in UK Schools?

What's new in UK education and the independent schools sector? WhichSchoolAdvisor.com rounds up the latest news from day and boarding prep and senior schools across the country. 

New era for Bryanston Prep

Bryanston Knighton House pre-prep and prep school in Blandford has been renamed Bryanston Prep, sending the clear message to families that Bryanston is now an all-through school for three to 18-year-olds. Set within over 30 acres of Dorset countryside, this Pre-prep and Prep school enrols just 100 boys and girls aged three to 13 years (Nursery to Year 8).

This rural prep school, which merged with Bryanston in 2021, offers a bespoke curriculum that "focuses on the individual" and offers a learning journey that’s filled with plenty of hands-on, outdoor experiences. As part of the Bryanston family, the Prep school has access to some impressive facilities for music, drama, D&T and sport, which it takes full advantage of.

The school has also invested in new facilities for the Prep building which include a new Innovation Room, a redesigned library and a dedicated outdoor classroom. The school has also launched a new contemporary uniform to coincide with the name change.

Head of Bryanston Prep Will Lockett said:

“Our new name and uniform for Bryanston Prep has followed consultation with staff, parents and former pupils and unites the ethos and values of Bryanston across the whole school.

“Last year’s merger of the two schools has enabled us to proceed with investment in fabulous new facilities and resources for our pupils, while still benefitting from access to the state-of-the-art facilities for sport, art and D&T at the Bryanston senior school. 

“This is an exciting time for everyone involved with Bryanston Prep – our staff, our parents, and, not least, our pupils. We are entering the new school year by embodying the core principles of Bryanston, building on our strengths from the past, while also embracing new ideas and opportunities. Within this culture of creative and unbounded thinking, our pupils will learn to love their mind, find their individual spirit, and foster their passions.”

New Year 9 at DLD College

DLD College will launch an innovative new Year 9 curriculum from 2023. The London day and boarding school has a reputation for its flexible approach to teaching GCSEs and A Levels to both international and local students, as well as its innovative approach to urban boarding. 

From September 2023, the College will offer students aged 13 a secondary curriculum that combines the core subjects with topics such as NFTs and cryptocurrency. The College says it will deliver a hybrid of the traditional, including grammar and algebra, with the unconventional.

Taking full advantage of its central London position on the South Bank, the College also includes a weekly Urban School Project in the Year curriculum, where London becomes the classroom. Students will work on cross-curricular projects, getting involved in the community and “actively using everything the capital has to offer, thereby instilling an awareness and interest beyond the conventional.”

Students will then progress through to the existing Year 10 & 11 Key Stage 4 programmes and onto Sixth Form.

The school says:

“The world we live in is becoming increasingly connected, in technology, in business, and in culture. Our Year 9 programme at DLD College London both reflects and prepares students to succeed in the world as it is today, and as it will be tomorrow.

“The curriculum is designed to be a hybrid of the best of traditional and modern learning. Students will develop a solid foundation in language and numeracy skills, whilst the teaching of other subjects blends together and overlaps to reflect the connectivity between academic disciplines and how this is applied in the real world.

"Students will learn the core knowledge and subject skills needed to successfully progress on to the next stage of their learning, but at DLD they will also extend their learning beyond the normal syllabus.”

New Boarding School to Open in Brighton

Oxford International College Brighton (OIC Brighton) will open in September 2023. Located in the East Sussex coastal town, the school will be offering Pre-GCSE, GCSE and A Level courses for both British and overseas students in Years 9 to 13.

OIC Brighton is the fourth Nord Anglia school to open in the UK. In March 2021, Oxford Sixth Form College, Oxford International College and d’Overbroeck’s all joined the global education group, which now has 77 schools worldwide. 

As the second branch of Oxford International College, OIC Brighton will offer an intensive one-year pre-GCSE (Year 9), two-year GCSE (Years 10-11), intensive one-year GCSE (Year 11), and two-year A Level programme (Years 12-13).

It will be located at Ovingdean Hall in Brighton, with capacity for 500 students. Facilities opening next September will include a common room and student cafe, dining hall, medical centre, gym, prayer room and a learning resource centre; there will be boarding facilities for 450 students with dedicated study spaces and a communal hall. Phase 2, due to be completed in Summer 2024, will add additional boarding, a communal hall, a sports hall and a full fitness centre.

World's Best Schools: Two UK schools announced as finalists

Two selective schools in the UK have been announced as finalists in the World’s Best School Prizes, run by T4 Education. Dunoon Grammar School in Argyll and Bute, and the London Academy of Excellence in Newham.

The awards are presented to schools who have excelled in five different categories, including Environmental Action, Innovation and Overcoming Adversity. The winners will be announced on October 9, with each school winning $50,000 (around £40,000).

Dunoon Grammar School in Scotland, which runs special courses to help students in the rural area, has been named a top three finalist for Community Collaboration. The London Academy of Excellence, a London sixth form college, is a finalist in the Supporting Healthy Lives category.

Behind the scenes at Badminton School

There’s a chance to see what goes on behind the scenes at Badminton School, which stars in the new CBBC TV series called Our Boarding School. The all-girls’ day and boarding school let the cameras in for all 20 episodes of the documentary series which can be watched on CBBC and BBC iPlayer.

Announcing the news on its Facebook page, the school said the TV show would reveal “behind the scenes of life at Badminton revealing the fun, friendships and challenges the girls face while living away from home.”