WHAT? WHERE?

You’ll find The Oratory, an independent day and boarding co-ed Catholic school (11 – 18 years), located in South Oxfordshire, set in 100 pristine acres of Chilterns countryside, with a red brick Queen Anne mansion its elegant centrepiece. The school dates back to 1859, with girls admitted from 2020, making it one of the few schools in Oxfordshire/Berkshire to offer co-ed day secondary education. Gently selective on entry at 11+, 13+ and 16+, with a family vibe and a strong reputation for its pastoral and co-curricular offering, The Oratory offers care and attention in droves, no doubt helped by the relatively small pupil numbers – just 374 all up, with 267 boys and 107 girls and 116 kids in the Sixth Form (84 boys to 32 girls). You can expect class sizes here around 15 for 11 – 16, moving to smaller tutor groups of 10 for Sixth Form.

FACILITIES

SPORT

There’s oodles of space here, and no lack of ambition to keep up with the other leading independent schools of the world in terms of facilities. Whatever you think of the independent school ‘arms race’, if your child is at The Oratory you’ll be pleased to see that your money is contributing to 11 rugby/football pitches, 6 cricket squares, a boat house on the private Hardwick Estate on the River Thames (the kids row in Lent, Trinity and Michaelmas terms), indoor rifle range, 3 squash courts and 11 tennis courts including a rare six on grass.

A modern sports centre complex, including a Real Tennis court (The Oratory is one of only four UK schools to have one), a 25m swimming pool, a large, attractive weight training facility, ergo room and spinning studio, along with 9 hole golf course, also available for public use.

Though The Oratory has other significant strings to its bow, there’s no doubt that sport is still its prime co-curricular offering and the children are involved in games six days a week – there’s no getting out of it! Rugby and cricket are particularly strong for the boys – the U15s Rugby Team were Schools Cup Plate Runners-up in 2022 which, given the pupil numbers, is an immense achievement.

However, the arrival of girls in 2020 has allowed the school to diversify its sports curriculum – though it’s the girls who blow the barn doors off this one – 1st XI Hockey Team won the Berkshire Hockey League title for 2023, having also won it in 2022 and 2021 during their first ever season. There are also plans to introduce hockey as a club for boys (and mixed teams). There are mixed teams in football (up to 16), the girls play cricket and rugby 7s, and there’s also touch rugby on offer for those uncomfortable with full contact. Horse-riding at nearby Checkendon Equestrian Centre has been added as a sport, and handball, fencing and mixed martial arts are all possible here.

CREATIVE ARTS

The Oratory deserves serious credit for its highly impressive arts offering. There are 12 studios and two galleries, a dark room, a camera obscura, a make-up workshop, and two kilns. Photography, mixed media, sculpture, 3D design, digital and film are all offered on an equal footing with fine art, and there’s also an energetic 3D Design department with a real focus on architecture, product design and entrepreneurialism.

The charismatic head of department Phil Chaundy is at pains to get across that creativity trumps draughtsmanship here, that art doesn’t just come in neat brushstrokes but encompasses all mediums. No surprise that the subject has stupendously high take up for GSCE – 45%, nor that the Art & Design teaching has won a clutch of national awards – ‘Outstanding A-Level performance in Art and Design’ (Oxford Analytics). Art A Level 2024 Exam Results were 100% A*-B in 3D Design and Photography and 78% in Art for 25 pupils, which kind of says it all.

I didn’t hear any music going on when I visited, though the school promises a jazz Big Band, Concert Band and Corps of Drums along with the usual wind ensembles and orchestras. There’s a Music Tech Suite and live room with two digital 8-track recorders, a PC with sequencing and notation software, microphones, processors, effects units and mastering units.

The Schola Cantorum (school choir) is open to all, strong, much in demand in chapel as you can imagine and beyond – three of the boys have recently been accepted into the National Youth Training Choir. There’s also a second Choir, the Consort which is selective. The Oratory offers a real range of styles of music, mixing contemporary and traditional – the Sixth Former that showed me around was taking A Level Music and said he produced lots of electronic music and was full of enthusiasm for the subject.

There are three major senior school productions each year (1 Junior, 1 Senior for year 3 onwards and 1 Sixth Form) at the purpose built Performing Arts Centre with its retractable tiered seating and high-tech lighting and sound production. There’s a desire to increase the number of productions, but in the meantime, a successful LAMDA programme fills the gap, with two dedicated LAMDA teachers and some storming results.

SIXTH FORM

Sixth form pupls hanging out AT The Oratory School Sixth Form Centre

The big splashy headline news is that The Oratory has invested in a new Sixth Form Centre, and, as you can imagine, it’s very popular with the pupils. There’s a large communal area, with tasteful modular sofas, plus side booths, a ‘wellness’ room with quiet space, and a Sixth Form kitchen. It’s a slick and stylish (unassuming from the outside) that gives Sixth Formers a spot to socialise and/or study in between lessons.

The subjects on offer for A level at The Oratory are largely traditional if you discount the arts offering, although Sociology, Politics, Psychology and English Language A level, which incorporates language and race, gender and children’s language development (very now) are all now available to study.

The ORatory School Woodcote Oxfordshie interoir of new sixth form centre

A plan to extend the language offering from French and Spanish to include Mandarin for GSCE may see that filter through to A level in time. Everyone in the Sixth Form takes part in Loquitur, a programme of enrichment, volunteering, careers talks and PSHE that teaches life skills for the children from healthy relationships to managing finances and learning to cook.

The Sixth Form team are incredibly supportive, offering advice on UCAS applications, personal statements, what unis are really looking for, study worries, wellbeing and more. It’s refreshing to hear The Oratory is open to all destinations, too. A handful of students apply to Oxbridge and Russell Group unis, but modern unis, specialist art and drama schools, as well higher and degree apprenticeships are an option. The Oratory recognises that choice is essential to ensure every individual can reach their potential. There’s a lot to be said for that.

ACADEMICS

Helping the ‘middle-tier’ of pupils academically is the bread and butter for The Oratory. The Oratory is selective on entry but they are resolutely not selling themselves as an alternative to the Abingdons and Radleys of the world. The Oratory has seen its academic reputation rise substantially and the results are strong for 2024. For GSCE, 19% of grades were 8-9 and 35% were 7-9. For A level, 27% of grades were A*-A, 57% A*-B and 79% A*-C. There was 100% A*-A in 3D Design and 100% A*-B History, Photography and Further Maths.

Half of the Y13s head off to Russell Group universities, so it’s fair to say that the most able students are stretched, and those who need more help are supported too. An internal academic tracking system has been pivotal to this success, along with bi-weekly meetings on academic strategy and the ‘quarterlies’, four grades per term given to each child to track their progress and intervene quickly where necessary.

Co-curricular interests are strongly encouraged at The Oratory with over 50 choices timetabled three times each week, from bee-keeping and gothic literature club to a well-supported CCF.

PASTORAL CARE

An area that The Oratory is well known for and takes considerable pride in. Individual Housemasters oversee the pastoral care of the children in each house, alongside a ‘day’ Housemother, both of whom feed into the Deputy Head Pastoral with any issues. Each pupil also has a tutor who is also another ear, the Chaplain is there for all pupils regardless of religion (only 32% of pupils are actually Catholic here) and there’s also a School Counsellor. More recently, The Oratory has invested in membership of The Wellbeing Hub and Govox, external mental health companies that provide expert support to pupils, parents and also teachers 24/7.

The small size of the school numbers is no doubt a friend in its pastoral care success, with feedback from the two boys showing me around being that pupils get along really well and bullying just isn’t an issue here. Neither child was sporty and one had long term SEND support, and they were both well-adjusted, charming, happy kids. In a school that still has a strong rugby reputation that’s a very good sign.

SEND

The SEND register shows a relatively high 20%, with school supporting mild to moderate learning difficulties, most commonly dyslexia and dyscalculia and interestingly all teachers at The Oratory can teach SEND. All children take the Lucid Exact screening test on entering the school. There’s a full time SENCo and a support team of four offering support across English, Maths and Science curriculums, sessions are timetabled so there’s zero stigma here about going for one-to-one lessons (note to parents – these are chargeable!).

BOARDING

Boarding is an important element (and revenue stream) for the school, with 35% of the children choosing to board in some capacity (flexi, weekly or full time) and 17% of the total pupil numbers international boarders. There are five boarding houses, including Wootten House for the girls, located in the heart of the school and recently refurbished, though there’s a recognition that this House is bursting at the seams and a second girls’ house needs developing.

The remaining boys’ boarding houses are practical rather than pretty. Expect bright, basic rooms, leather-sofa-ed common room areas, pine effect beds and a mix of single rooms and sharing dorms. Flexi means flexi here, with pupils able to decide on the day if they want to sleep over – ‘flexi Friday’ is a popular take up with pupils and no doubt parents too. From Y9 the kids are expected to do their own laundry if they’re boarding (apart from the sheets) which can only be a good thing. Lower down the school it’s generally four to a room – two full time and two flexi-boarders – but by Sixth Form the pupils have solo rooms. Day pupils are assigned a room within each boarding house and have access to the communal area too.

THE HEAD

Dr Julian Murphy Head of The Oratory School Woodcote

Dr Julian Murphy has been in The Oratory Head’s hot seat since September 2023. He was previously Head at Loughborough Amherst in Leicestershire, and migrated south with his family (his daughter attends The Oratory and his son is currently at The Oratory Prep School) to the rural splendour of South Oxfordshire. He brings with him a wealth of experience having overseen the school’s transition from all girls’ to a co-ed boarding school, increasing pupil numbers by 70% and raising academic standards.

It’s safe to say, he’s a man with a plan. Growth is very on the agenda with a view to increasing pupil numbers to 420 and the boy-girl split from 70%/30% to a more balanced 60%/40%. But Murphy’s laser focused on creating a learning culture at The Oratory that will pull its academic socks up. It has a stellar reputation for pastoral care and the goal is to shout about the school’s value added for producing the academic goods, whatever their starting point. It will be based on five pillars, rooted in cognitive science and will be rolled out in stages this year.

It covers everything from being ready to learn (formal starts and ends to lessons, being prompt, having the right equipment) and clarity (simple communication, ownership of study and tip top revision materials) to retention (using cognitive science to get information into long term memory). Split homework will be introduced which involves quick revision, brief revision notes followed by a past paper question. Clever, right?

He also plans to introduce the Tolkien Programme for the younger year groups – an outdoorsy book club that will encourage reading alongside bushcraft. As I said, Dr Murphy is a man with a plan. It’s no wonder he simply wants to kick back with a book and sleep when he has any time off.

QUIRKS

Founded in 1859 by Saint John Henry Newman, The Oratory is the only school to be founded by a saint in the modern era. Not sure what to make of that but it’s worth letting you know! In keeping with its Catholicism, The Oratory has compulsory Vespers on a Friday and Mass on a Sunday for boarders. In other news, I don’t know many schools that can boast a world champ on its staff but Head of Raquets at The Oratory is reigning Women’s Real Tennis World Champion, Claire Fahey. The alumni include John Pius Boland, winner of the first tennis gold medal at the Olympics back in 1896, and more recently, rugby player Danny Cipriani and Bridgerton actor Jonathan Bailey who maintains links with the school – pre-Covid, excited pupils met Bailey backstage when he was starring in the West End.

ISI REPORT

Happy reading in 2021, with The Oratory reaching excellence across the board. Read the report here.

MOBILE PHONE POLICY

A common-sense approach that changes as the years rise. 1st and 2nd Form (Y7 and Y8) hand their phones in first thing and get them back at the end. Boarders are allowed them after activities each evening, after matches on Saturdays and after Mass on Sundays. 3rd and 4th Formers (Y9 and Y10) are able to collect their phone from their house at tea. From 1st – 5th Form (Y7 to Y11), it’s a strict no-phone policy during lessons and activities during the afternoon and boarders hand in phones at bedtime. Sixth Formers have the freedom to manage their own mobile phone use but poor quarterly effort grades will mean they’ll lose their privileges.

WRAP AROUND CARE

There is the option for pupils to come into school early and stay later if needed, this would be at the discretion of their Housemaster or Houseparent.

TRANSPORT

It’s a wide catchment area for The Oratory, helped by good links via the M4 and M40 with buses available as far flung as Aylesbury, Oxford, West London and Newbury. See the full list here. A new bus route to and from London is planned to appeal to parents looking for Weekly Boarding within an hour from the capital.

FEES

Y7 – Y8: Day £7,513 per term, Boarding £10,767. Y9 – Y13: Day £10,150, Boarding £15,800. Weekly boarding (5/6 nights): Y7 – Y8 £9,926, Y9 – Y13 £14,288. Flexi boarding: Y7 – Y8 £8,749 for 2/3 nights per week, £9,534 for 4 nights. Y9 – Y13 £12,500 (2/3 nights), £13,550 (4 nights). Occasional boarding is £75 per night.

WORD ON THE GROUND

Parents have by-and-large chosen the school first and foremost for its pastoral strength and sense of community, but have been delighted by the rise in academic success. Teachers are highly respected here and there’s a lot of talk from the kids about how the teachers will just take time out to help at any point. School lunches have improved massively with a change of caterers – apparently the kids are jostling to get to the front of the queue.

There have been big efforts in creating more options for children in sport beyond the 1st XV though one of the boys thought that perhaps more could be done to make sport more inclusive – to that end he started a Gentleman’s XI football for those who just want to play for fun. So perhaps more to do in this area, though the fact he was encouraged to create the team shows that the staff are also on board. The pupils talk about a family ethos and a really welcoming school. In short, it seems to be a happy ship.

THE MUDDY VERDICT

Good For: Parents in search of an all-rounder option with an emphasis on pastoral care and inclusivity – gentle souls will be well looked after. The beauty of the site and the elegant driveway up to the Queen Anne mansion will please aesthetes, and no-one can argue with 100 acres split amongst 373 kids. Art is a huge trump card for The Oratory, and sporty kids will be in heaven.

Not for: The enviable rural setting creates an inevitable ‘bubble’ that not all parents will see as a plus, though just to put that in context, Reading is an 18 minute drive away. The Oratory is definitely a ‘doers’ school – there’s not much downtime in a busy day for more introverted characters so if your child needs a slower pace, bear that in mind.

DARE TO DISAGREE? Be my guest! The next Open Morning is Saturday 1 March and there is also a Senior School Experience Day on 14 Nov, though this is currently full so you should contact the admissions team to find an alternative.

The Oratory School, Woodcote, South Oxfordshire RG8 0PJ. Tel: 01491 683522.

The Oratory School, Woodcote

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