Northcote Lodge School

[EduCativ]

Northcote Lodge is, we believe, unique. Although our ethos is the same as that found in the best country prep schools, our location, in the heart of London, means that we are very different. For parents who are looking for this kind of traditional education for their boys, but who are understandably reluctant to send them off to boarding school at a young age, we believe that Northcote Lodge provides all the benefits of a country prep school whilst allowing boys to remain at home as part of their families.
The main function of a prep school is to prepare children for their next school – something that Northcote Lodge does outstandingly well. An important part of my role is to get around the senior schools, and I am struck by how often housemasters tell me how pleased they are to have Northcote boys in their houses, and how well prepared they are.
We are unashamedly traditional: manners and respect for others are at the core of everything we do. Academic rigor is important too, but we must not lose sight of the fact that the best public schools are looking for boys who have something to offer outside the classroom. That applies to employers as well nowadays, they are looking at much more than just examination grades.
So, we’re equally proud of what the boys achieve outside the classroom as within it. “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy” – and we don’t want dull boys around here! Our boys play lots of sport (we are lucky to have access to the playing fields just across the road on Wandsworth Common) and we do rather well in matches, often against much bigger schools. Music, Art, and Drama are embedded in the curriculum, and for those boys who are so inclined, there are also plenty of extra-curricular opportunities in these areas.
We are a small school, of around 230 boys, with no plans to be any bigger. That’s important. Because it means that all the staff knows every boy by name. Our Common Entrance results speak for themselves: every year our boys get into the best public schools across the country.
Being at school should be fun! At Northcote Lodge, it is our firm belief that when a boy is happy he is much more likely to learn than when he is not. Our school day is an extended one – 8.00 am until 6.00 pm for the older boys – which means that, until the very final stages, all homework is done at school. So, when he gets home, a boy’s work is done and he can relax and be part of his family.
At Northcote, Lodge teaching is very much immersive and inquiry-led. Critical thinking and the development of life skills are highly valued. Rigorous academic standards ensure consistent success in the public school entrance and scholarship examinations. Internal assessment is an ongoing process with all the boys from the moment they start with us, with progress and achievement being continually monitored.
We hold formal exam weeks for all year groups twice each year, with Form 5 taking further exams to help the teachers gain a full understanding of how best to help them for their upcoming Common Entrance and to guide them on areas that need improving.
Parents receive a detailed end-of-term report each term. In Michaelmas and Trinity terms these are subject reports, focusing primarily on attitude, application, and achievement. In Hilary term reports are written by the tutors (Shell-Form teacher) in the form of a letter that focuses on other important aspects of school life, including personal development, friendships, and progress generally. Each half term we also send home assessment grades to help inform parents of the boys' attainment and effort in each subject. These enable the staff and parents to monitor the boys' classwork.
We also run curriculum evenings at the start of each year where we provide parents with information about what the children will be learning each term and how we intend to teach it. There are also parents' evenings for each year group for parents to meet their son's subject teachers as well as tutor evenings (twice a year) when parents meet their son's tutor and discuss pastoral issues.
The boys are encouraged to set themselves a specific task, either physical or mental which should contain a strong element of self-improvement, as well as perhaps serving a purpose in the wider community. Past challenges have been as diverse as a structured recycling program to publishing the Northcote Lodge Cricket Guide for mums.
A wide variety of after-school clubs is available, run by both the school's staff and outside instructors, and boys sign up for them at the start of each term. Clubs vary from term to term and have included such diverse activities as golf, woodwork, cookery, chess, debating, drama, computing, basketball, pottery, and model-making.

View full school