Pennthorpe School

We offer you a warm welcome to Pennthorpe, a school where families grow together. As a community, it is our desire to provide your children with the very best start in life. Exhilarating sporting triumphs, light bulb moments in maths, whizz-bang Skylab sessions, legendary musical productions and exceedingly muddy waterproofs are all part of the Pennthorpe experience; but this is just the beginning. At Pennthorpe, you will also find that elusive yet vital component of a happy childhood: a sense of belonging.

To join Pennthorpe is to join a warm and vibrant community, full of friendly and supportive families happily raising their children together and forging friendships that last a lifetime. The Pennthorpe experience is like no other: truly independent, joyful and exciting. We invite you to visit us and discover it for yourself. We look forward to seeing you here soon.

Pennthorpe has an outstanding record of 13+ Common Entrance success. Over the last ten years more than a third of Pennthorpe's 13 year old leavers have won academic scholarships or awards for music, art, drama, sport or all-round ability. Pennthorpe sets out to develop its pupils into well balanced all rounders and it is this outlook, along with the principle of putting the fun into the fundamentals, that drives the school forward. The majority of pupils leave at 13+ via Common Entrance (CE) or scholarship transfer exams to senior independent schools.  Although Pennthorpe is largely non-selective, over 60 scholarships have been won in just the last five years, with around a third of all 13+ leavers gaining an award.

In addition to academic successes, Pennthorpe’s art & design, music and sports departments all contribute greatly to the school’s strengths, as does ICT:  there are two networked computer suites as well as a mobile laptop trolley, and all classrooms are equipped with interactive SmartBoards. In recent years many outstanding dramatic productions and performing arts events have also established the Pennthorpe as a leader in these fields. The Performing Arts are part of the curriculum for all, under the direction of a specialist head of department.

Pennthorpe aims to achieve excellence in the broadest possible range of activity and to produce well-balanced, confident all-rounders. This aim is supported by an exceptionally friendly, hardworking and capable team of staff, sound financial management under the guidance of extremely supportive governors, and very good facilities including: a brand-new pre-prep school, a superb senior school classroom building (completed in 2002), a sports & drama hall, two ICT suites, a fine art & design centre, an excellent library, a dance & drama studio, a music centre, three netball & tennis courts and a spacious games field. T

he school is also fortunate in having its own chapel, and a strong Christian tradition underpins the life of the school community.