WHAT? WHERE?

Without doubt the most visually stunning of all English private schools, Stowe School sits in 750 acres of splendour in rural North Buckinghamshire – an 18^th century neo-classical palace as its centrepiece, surrounded by some of the most beautiful grounds in the country, with Vanbrugh, Soane, Kent and Capability Brown having all had a hand in design.

With 920 pupils 13-18 years (a healthy 45% girls to 55% boys, despite girls only being accepted into Year 9 in 2007) Stowe offers nearly an acre per child – not bad going. No doubt the children who come here end up taking stuccoed ceilings and temples and follies for granted – youth being wasted on the young and all that – but I think any parent eyeing this ducal palace for the first time, with its perfectly-appointed cricket pitch and vistas, will feel a vicarious thrill that at Stowe they’ve delivered a unique experience to their children.

Boarding is the norm here. Around 650, or 80%, of pupils stay termly in the 8 boys and 4 girls houses. However, flexi-boarding is now being seriously considered as day pupil numbers increase (a fourth Day House is opening later this year) due to more affordable fees for local families, and the creation in 2021 of The Stowe Group, which incorporates the two local co-ed Preps Swanbourne House School and Winchester House School.

FACILITIES

SPORT

Seriously, where to start? An extraordinary array of sports facilities, many of which underpin the School’s elite pricing and lucky young guests. Amidst the expected rugby fields and sports halls, there’s a new golf course, an equestrian centre with a cross country course designed by Mark Phillips, an assault course, a livery centre, athletics track, a scrambling track, fencing salle, Fives courts, 6-lane 25m competition pool and a Clay Pigeon Shooting Range. Lacrosse, polo and beagling are some of the more specialist sports offered here. Though Buckinghamshire is landlocked, sailing is offered on Stowe’s Eleven Acre Lake as well as at a local sailing club where the school has its own fleet. For the super talented, there’s a Golf Academy and a Sports Performance Programme for sports scholars, club players and internationals

THE ARTS

Deep pockets have created some inspiring set pieces in terms of arts provision. The Chung Music School, completed in 2013 under the banner Music For Everyone, offers practise rooms, a 200-seat auditorium, recording studio (yes there’s even a Stowe music label) and music library.

Fancy playing chopsticks on a Steinway? Here, choose from 24 of them! All the pianos in the Music School are Steinways: from the uprights in the practice and teaching rooms to the ‘Model D’ concert grand piano in the Recital Hall. Budding musicians will find orchestra, wind, brass and jazz bands, chamber ensembles and string quartets, a choral society, chapel choir and rock groups, and all children in Year 9 try a musical instrument.

Music is having a ‘moment’ at Stowe with an energetic Director of Music, Emma Bryden. Determined to make music inclusive at Stowe, she’s already had the staff well out of their comfort zones, encouraging them to take up a brand new musical instrument from scratch for two terms, and then perform together in a concert, to inspire the students to give it a go too.

Since she joined in April 2020, originally as Head of Academic Music, Bryden has attracted a 300% increase in scholarship applications, with more outreach from the music professionals at Stowe and partnerships with the likes of Birmingham Conservatoire and Welsh College of Music (of which she’s an alumni). Bringing a fresh perspective to the subject, she’s even planning to develop a Stowe Music Tech GSCE and A level syllabus.

Drama-wise, the kids can walk the boards at the 400 seat Roxburgh Hall, recently refurbed with light and sound set up and a slick enough offering that it’s also rented out to professional companies. The Roxburgh Hall also boasts a studio theatre for smaller productions. Music and drama come together regularly under the auspices of Stowe Presents, an ongoing performing arts programme which offers a mix of school and professional performances across the school’s glorious public spaces.

OTHER FACILITIES

There’s a regular roll call of new or upgraded facilities at Stowe. All boarding houses are having a makeover (more of that later) but in terms of set pieces there’s a fabulous Sixth Form Centre, opened in 2022, that acts as a purely social space for the students with a mezzanine and slick café/meet up area – the pupils can have hang out here for Saturday ‘pub’ nights for two drinks max with their friends under the discreet, watchful eye of staff.

The Worsley Science Centre completed in 2017, includes 18 labs (18!!!) for up to 24 pupils, plus six lecture theatres, and a Sixth Form Science Centre.

The next big project is a brand new DT building. Possibly the only bit of Stowe that’s drab and outdated, the existing DT workshops and portacabin classrooms will become a Centre of Design, Technology and Engineering incorporating separate ‘designing’ and ‘making’ spaces and including an exhibition space. A cool £8m is being invested in a partnership with Silverstone so all signs point to it being jaw-dropping when it opens in Sept 24.

Finally, Stowe has its own rocket launch pad on the back lawn. OK not really but seriously, it can’t be long.

ACADEMICS

In the early 2000s, before head Anthony Wallersteiner took up the reins, Stowe had a reputation as a ‘second choice’ school, that sat a good tier or two below the likes of Eton, Harrow, Radley and Rugby. Wallersteiner arrived from the academic powerhouse of St Paul’s in London and clearly set his sights on overhauling of the very middling academic results. Though Stowe sits beneath the super-academic powerhouses and local grammar schools in terms of overall results, Stowe now gets it fair haul of A and A*s, even as he still applauds the broad church of children at Stowe, claiming that “no-one ever goes into teaching hoping to teach only the elite”. He recognises that Stowe is an all-rounder option rather than an Oxbridge sausage machine (though in fairness, it does churn out some of these sausages too).

Now that mental health and happiness has hit the bullseye in education it’s playing nicely to Stowe’s strengths. There’s not much evidence of a hothouse environment here with class sizes small without being silly – 22 in the Lower School and 14 in the Upper School – and the array of extra-curricular temptations put fully on the table. That said, there are some clever moves like the Academic Clinics held on Tues-Friday at 5.45pm, open to all pupils and a way to ‘drop in’ on a teacher for help when necessary, and bright sparks will clearly do well – the most recent ISI reported academic outcome as excellent.

Results for 2023 for GSCE showed 31% of pupils receiving Grade 8-9 (A*) and 50% achieving Grades 7-9 (A), with 37% of A Level students receiving A and A* grades.

PASTORAL CARE

Modern boarding schools are particularly wise to the need to show outstanding pastoral care, and Stowe is no different. There’s a 24 hour medical centre, onsite counselling team and a partnership with The Priory in Oxford plus, in addition to the expected timetabled PSHE lessons, there’s AS Tracking to monitor pupil happiness and mental wellbeing and regular wellbeing surveys to identify any trends or specific problems. New since my last review therapy dog Otto has also joined the wellbeing team – available for pats and walks, he’s an excellent listener.

BOARDING

Like most schools with a mix of older and more modern buildings, the boarding accommodation is a bit of a mixed bag at Stowe. That’s all changing with a £1million per year rolling programme of renovation and renewal across all boarding houses, starting with the more dated boys provision. A couple of the houses have already been completed (Chatham and Grafton if you want to nose around on an open day) with big improvements to common room areas and bedrooms; where possible bigger dorms have been split from one room of eight into two of four for a calmer, better sleep routine. By the Sixth Form the students are in rooms of one or two.

Stowe retains Saturday school at the moment, but since last March, has been more flexible with its boarding, with exeats – once every three weeks – so children have been able to go home more regularly if they want to. If you’re lucky to live close enough, you can take advantage of the new Day House offering – 75 pupils in each house, with kitchen facilities, common room, study spaces, House system and the same access to all the clubs, societies and activities as Boarders. The Day Houses are open from 7.30am – 9pm and, a boon for parents trembling at the school fees, shave £18,549 off the £44,058 annual bill.

THE HEAD

Anthony Wallersteiner has an easy charm and confidence that clearly works its magic on Stowe’s swirl of old money, entrepreneurs and celebrities. Actually, it worked on me too. I liked him. An art historian, author and super-brain (despite his well-trodden tales of his terrible prep school reports), he is undeniably posh and polished, but also strangely relatable. Never too far from a name drop, which is always fun for a journalist, I imagine he’s rollicking company after a glass or two at a dinner party. He clearly enjoys the more glitzy side of his role, but he’s also driving the preservation of Stowe House itself, and has pushed hard to create Change 100, a £100 million bursary campaign to enable Stowe to give away 100 fully funded places each year to those less advantaged, which is hard for anyone to knock really.

QUIRKS

DJing lessons are hugely popular at Stowe (34 pupils and counting). Amongst the array of scholarships are ones for Original Thinking and Chess which I think is just great. The Drama scholarship, unusually, doesn’t stipulate having to take Drama A Level which seems like a smart move for those who simply love the stage. Combined Cadet Force isn’t unusual in independent schools but seems to be vibrant here. The school has its own Beagling club – make of that what you will!

REPORTS

The latest ISI reports are from 2023, though they are just regulatory. All criteria are met.

FEES

Here, let me pass you a brown paper bag. Now breathe deeply. Fees per term are £14,686 for boarding and £10,558 for Day in Boarding Houses (think day places in boarding houses with the kids able to stay over from time to time). Day House prices are currently discounted to £8503 per term.

WORD ON THE GROUND

Positive. Several children I know who go there were keen to say how happy they were, loving the learning environment and the relaxed atmosphere (and the food – new external providers have vastly improved the grub). One parent described Stowe as “almost Bohemian” in the way it allows the kids to remain individuals. The introduction of Day houses and pupils wasn’t universally popular on launch but those I spoke to feel it’s actually enhanced the school and created a more ‘real world’ balance.

THE MUDDY VERDICT

Good for: Those who put greater emphasis on all-rounder education. The mixed cohort from 13-18 with an unusually strong percentage of girls will appeal to many who have come out of single sex prep schools. Visually, bragging rights are in the bag at Stowe – it’s breathtaking. With its bursary system and funding model, Stowe is trying hard to shake free of its elite image and by all accounts is a welcoming, friendly school.

Not for: Parents counting the pennies – boarding here comes with a hefty price tag, though the day boarding houses will offer reprieve if you’re close enough. With capacity now granted for up to 1000 pupils, numbers are on the large side and may not suit those who prefer to swim in a a smaller, less grandiose pond.

Want to see for yourself? Be my guest! Book onto the Third Form Open Morning Saturday 2 March /Sat 11 May/ 5 Oct 2024, or Sixth Form Open Morning Saturday 20 April 2024.

Stowe School, Stowe, Buckingham MK18 5EH.

Stowe School, Stowe, Buckinghamshire

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