It is not the size of a school that matters – it’s what you do with it.
At Pitsford we have an environment where teachers have more time to spend with individuals in the classroom and outside of the formal curriculum. It is much easier to tailor teaching to the needs of the individual, when we spend so much time together.
The community feel that comes from being known and accepted is a priceless commodity: a sense of belonging in a world that can seem lonely and increasingly disconnected.
We are often told that our families choose us for our small class-sizes and community feel. Every year, when our Sixth Form stand up to speak at our Leavers’ Service, they tell us of the strong relational bonds that they make with their teachers and peers, how sad they feel to leave their
‘Pitsford Family, but how excited they are that they have the foundations to start their new, and big futures.
Parents often love the idea of a small school where their child can be seen, heard and nurtured, yet they can worry that the breadth and depth of curriculum and opportunities may not be as large as a school where their child is a number. At Pitsford we pride ourselves on ‘punching above our weight, despite our size of 300 pupils we offer an outstanding extracurricular programme.
From Forest School to paddle boarding club to Duke of Edinburgh, the opportunities are wide. Moreover, given our size we are able to encourage and support each and every child to partake.
We know that our children are fortunate to benefit from our nurturing staff and beautiful grounds – and are conscious that they need to look beyond this. As a result, we organise school trips around the world, enabling them to experience new cultures and go beyond their comfort zone. In recent years children have gone to the Sahara, Berlin, New York and Morzine – from charity work to skiing to deserts!
We want our children to learn that everything is possible, to be open to the new, and to be self-efficacious: from small actions, big, beautiful things can happen. Optimism with action is powerful. At Pitsford our size enables us to do this. For parents, my advice would be to visit as many schools as possible – don’t discount (or indeed choose) a school based on size alone.
Pitsford School in an independent school in Northamptonshire for children from 3 to 18 years.
For more information contact registrar@pitsfordschool.com or visit the website.
Senior Deputy Head
Pitsford School
