Sitting flush in the dreamily picturesque town of Stamford in Lincolnshire – all Georgian buildings, cobbled streets and indie spirit – you’ll find Stamford Schools, where they’ve recently made the move to fully co-educational learning.

WHAT. WHERE?

The 500 year old school is woven into the tapestry of the town and sits bang centre, with a whopping 54 buildings, old, new and somewhere in between, dotted across various sites with an additional 60 acres of sports fields, gardens and grounds.

In September 2023, Stamford moved from its former ‘diamond ’model (mixed sex Nursery, Junior and Sixth Form, with Senior boys and girls taught separately) to fully co-ed school at all stages, merging the two senior schools and restructuring the use of facilities. It is a vast undertaking, which has seen eighteen months of meticulous planning but, so far, the transition has been impressively smooth and one that has been wholeheartedly and naturally embraced by the student cohort. Stamford is now fully co-ed, with the exception of students who are in Year 11 for the 2023/24 academic year and completing the second year of their GCSEs, who will stay in the same single sex classes. From September 2024 Year 11 is also set to become fully co-educational.

The underlying reasons for the merger are simple and logical, students and parents expect and demand equality of education and provision for both sexes and this allows those expectations to be met far more satisfactorily than they can be with separate and distinct facilities, with all the the students being able to experience an equality of experience and outcome. One of the tangible benefits of the merger is that everything has been given a bit of a glow-up, classrooms and communal spaces are freshly painted and everything feels crisp and clean with a clear feeling of optimism within both the pupil and staff cohort.

A dedicated website which details all the finer details of the transition to co-ed, including FAQs, can be found here.

The total number of pupils, including the 336 at the Junior and Nursery School, currently stands at 1,565, which makes it one of the bigger private schools I’ve visited.

FACILITIES

SPORTS

Extensive is the word. Schools with boarding provision often lead the charge in great facilities and it’s case closed here. In September 2022, a new and very slick sports centre opened on Kettering Road in Stamford (opposite the Junior School), with two full-size astro turf hockey pitches, and a pavilion housing two fitness studios for activities such as dance, pilates, yoga and indoor cycling, as well as a gym and changing rooms. Friday Night Lights is a popular event here, with floodlights on and music playing to accompany hockey fixtures and other sports events.

This development is in addition to the newish sports centre (2012), which also includes a fitness suite, 25m swimming pool, sports hall, squash courts and a lengthy list of further indoor courts and outdoor pitches and astros, plus a further fitness suite, sports hall, Olympic-sized water-based astro (apparently the water makes it quicker and smoother to play on) with a pavilion and five outdoor netball courts. Phew.

Meanwhile, across at the Junior School the kids get their own 25m swimming pool, three sports fields incorporating rugby, hockey, netball and cricket pitches, as well as a sports hall and cricket nets. The sporting leads work across the schools, so pupils will be coached by top professionals throughout their time at Stamford. Frankly, your child is not going to miss out on international sporting glory for lack of early opportunity!

With sports including the usuals of rugby, football, hockey, netball and cricket through to more unusual offerings of fencing, golf, sailing, fives, horse riding and shooting all offered as co-curricular activities, something is going to tempt your child.

MUSIC AND PERFORMING ARTS

Standalone music buildings with specialist equipment and state of the art tech, including Apple Macs for editing, production etc., recital rooms for individual and group practice and hall equipped with professional lighting and sound. The Junior School also has its own music classrooms, as well as practice and recital rooms. The chapel (mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086) also has a traditional chapel organ to accompany the choir.

Music is taken seriously here, reflected in the large number of extra-curricular music groups and clubs – over 40 to choose from, including seven choirs, five orchestras, four bands, a variety of chamber groups and the obligatory rock bands, though the take up for musical tuition here is slightly below average.

There’s a Performing Arts Centre and with one full-time and one part-time theatre technician (I’ve never come across that before at a school, so high five Stamford for a Muddy first!). Famous alumnI include Ben Willbond of BBC Horrible Histories and Ghosts, and George Robinson of Netflix’s Sex Education, (who continues to be engaged with the schools). Generally there are 2 major dramatic productions, Junior School Spotlight and a dance showcase across every year and LAMDA exams can be taken from Y3 onwards. For those who love the dramatic arts but don’t want to be the centre of attention, there’s the opportunity to get involved in the behind the scenes technical elements of editing and production.

TECH PROVISION

Each child from Year 3 upwards is provided with their own Microsoft Surface Pro 7+, which they use for much of their school work as well as for communicating with teachers and each other. This removes the need for them to have access to their mobile phones during the school day (they’re turned off and have to remain in their bags), but it also equips them with the technology to get the best out of their learning and there’s certainly a sense that Stamford is working hard to embrace new technologies in education.

ACADEMIC RESULTS

Stamford has a strong reputation as a progressive and welcoming school, with an all-rounder ethos. A level grades for 2024 were at 38% for A*/A; 66% at A* – B; and 87% for A*-C, so the academically able can definitely thrive here, but there’s also an eye on the real world, with 3 BTECS on offer in sports science, applied science and business.

PASTORAL CARE

No school worth its fees will be anything other than red hot on pastoral care. Add boarding into that mix and it’s the number one priority. At Stamford, the support comes through Pastoral Leads, boarding staff, school Chaplain, Doctor and counselling team. There’s a Health and Wellbeing Centre that offers calm and safe space for pupils where they can access a variety of support from first aid and physio to counselling.

There are pastoral hubs too, with pupils from older year groups (known as Phoenix Prefects) given training in how to talk to, understand and support the younger children and they’re carefully matched up to offer guidance where needed, especially in situations where peer to peer counselling may prove the most helpful option. There are comfy hang out spaces where the children can spend time relaxing and chatting between classes, adding to a welcoming, home from home vibe. Worth mentioning too, is the new Spires Café (named by one of the students in a competition, both for the many spires of Stamford but also to reflect the idea of being in-spired). It offers a space for Sixth Formers to relax together with coffee and lite bites or meet their tutors, helping to provide a sense of independence to help the pupils on their onward journey after school.

In terms of SEN provision, the Learning Development team includes a lead SENCO and Deputy SENCO, as well as Learning Development Assistants who work with students throughout the school to offer tailored support for students and there’s a strong emphasis on the known links between learning challenges and mental health challenges and on embracing different and divergent ways of learning.

BOARDING

The majority of pupils attending come to Stamford from within a one hour radius (there are currently nine bus routes in operation) with 10% (137 pupils) of the student cohort currently boarding. Boarding starts at age 8 – there’s a co-ed Junior boarding house, and a further six houses that are single sex. The big sell for boarding here is that it’s flexible, starting at a per-night basis a few nights a week, going up to 7 nights a week depending on need. There’s also a Fri/Sat package for when there are weekend events happening in school, making Stamford a real draw card for parents who travel extensively, such those in the Forces, though Breakfast Club in the Junior Boarding House is from 7am and day pupils can stay after school until 8pm, which makes life much easier for busy working parents.

THE HEAD

From September 2024, Mark Steed steps in as interim Principal of Stamford School for the academic year 2024-2025. Mark joins Stamford from Kellet School, the British International School Hong Kong. He has tremendous experience as a teacher and leader in education, having been Principal of Berkhamsted School and of JESS, Dubai.

In June 2024, Governors of Stamford School appointed Mr Chris Seal as Head of Stamford School from September 2025. Chris will take over from interim Principal Mark Steed, whose extensive experience and leadership aim to provide a seamless transition and continued excellence at Stamford.

Chris Seal will join Stamford School in September 2025 as Head, coming in from Tanglin Trust School in Singapore, where he has been the Head of Senior School since August 2022, leading one of the foremost international schools for students aged 11 to 18. The school has recently gone through a period of major strategic change and Chris Seal will be integral in designing and implementing the longer-term strategic direction for Stamford.

ISI Report

You can read the latest school reports from the Independent Schools Inspectorate here.

QUIRKS

Quite a few, as you’d probably anticipate from a school with half a millennium of history. The Head Boy has historically been allowed to grow a beard (wow, the pressure!), smoke a pipe and graze his sheep on the Chapel lawn, a privilege that has actually been exercised in recent years.

Unusual subjects taught include Russian, Nutrition and Creative i-Media, as well as an eminently sensible subject that teaches the kids how to use software including Photoshop and Powerpoint. And one of my personal favourite quirks at Stamford is possibly the observatory, which means that children can also join the Astronomy Club – not your bog standard extracurricular fare.

There’s one of the UK’s biggest Combined Cadet Forces at Stamford School – a whopping 350 kids. In fact, the first ever female Red Arrows pilot, Kirsty Murphy, who went on to study Aeronautical Engineering at Imperial, is a Stamfordian. Not to be sniffed at. During my visit, which was on a Friday, there were dozens of students in uniform ready for their cadet training in the afternoon and they were consistently polite and well-mannered. Service is a big thing here, with a number of local initiatives and community outreach projects, including The Stamford Card which costs £10 a month and offers benefits and perks from local businesses, funding transformational bursaries for local children to attend the school.

FEES

The fees vary considerably here depending on whether your child is at nursery, junior or senior, day student or boarding etc, but range from £12,425 per year for day Reception pupils up to £38,475 per year for a full time Senior boarder. Read the full price breakdown here.

WORD ON THE GROUND

There’s a sense that you’re a Stamfordian for life, with a community network that supports Stamford alumni as they move up through the school and into their chosen careers. My moles tell me the local community is as impressed with the children’s manners and behaviour in the town as I was.

The presence of the school within Stamford itself is a huge part of the town’s identity and there’s a real sense that the school works hard to ensure that it maintains strong relationships with the town, from community outreach to using local contractors, so there’s a local sense of pride around the school’s presence here, with good reason. The students here are not cloistered and, as a positive result, are a vibrant part of the community.

Stamford engenders a real creative and expansive thinking in its pupils and enabling a breadth of self-belief that is palpable, so whether your children dream of being pilots or professional cricketers or treading the boards in the West End (Stamfordian Declan Spaine is currently playing the lead in Hamilton), they will be encouraged to find their feet here.

THE MUDDY VERDICT:

Good for: Parents who want a high level education for their kids with zero snobbery. There’s a healthy mix of backgrounds here so the school fosters a spirit of inclusivity. Kids who like to be busy will thrive – there are an astonishing 430 clubs and activities running every week.

Not for: Those seeking traditional conservative values, or a rigid social hierarchy will find that challenged here. There’s a focus on a well-rounded education at Stamford so, whilst academically minded children will certainly thrive, this is not a hot-house.

Dare to disagree?! Don’t take my word for it, book on to one of the forthcoming Discovery Mornings, Experience Days and Open Events here; or you can arrange a one to one chat with the Principal to get the lowdown.

Stamford Schools, Brazenose House, St. Paul’s Street, Stamford, Lincolnshire, PE9 2BE, Email: ses@ses.lincs.sch.uk. Tel: 01780 668000

Stamford Schools, Stamford (Lincs)

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