WHAT? WHERE?

Set in 40 glorious acres on the outskirts of Reading, Crosfields School has been transformed in recent years from co-ed prep to a modern, diverse and exciting all-through school for pupils ages 3-16.

The award-winning buildings are big, bold and pack an architectural punch. Behind the fancy new facade, you’ll find the Juniors (Nursery to Y6) and Seniors (Y7-11), with an abundance of green space and impressive facilities.

Founded in 1957 it was originally a boys’ Quaker school of just 100 pupils. It eventually went co-ed in 2007, and Crosfields Seniors opened in September 2021. Pupil numbers have risen to 755 as of 2025, but class sizes remain small, with four forms of 15/20 pupils per year.

FACILITIES

Crosfields School Reading Senior Library

Lots of investment across the school and many big ticket projects completed in the last few years. To name a few, the new Senior building, called the Aspire building, opened in ’21, pickleball courts, table tennis and cricket nets. There are also huge all-weather pitches and refurbed theatre and music rooms, plus a 25-metre swimming pool, which has a variable depth floor, brand new science labs and plenty of outdoor space.

The Seniors have been consulted every step of the way, from the paint colours to the canteen menu in the Seniors’ dining room, called The Hatch. It’s not short of the wow factor – and the funky library may even encourage the most reluctant teen readers to sit and read and book.

SPORT

With 15 sports on offer and a packed schedule of competitive fixtures built in to the timetable (fielding co-ed teams where possible), it’s fair to say Crosfields is a sporty school. So, no surprise the facilities are very good. The jewel in the crown is the 25m indoor pool. The floor of the shallow end of the pool can be raised or lowered, allowing all ages and abilities to swim every week.

Unsurprisingly, the competitive swim squads do very very well, winning multiple medals at IAPS Championships – and producing alumni who have qualified for Olympic trials. Tilehurst Swimming Club runs a swimming club at Crosfields too; its keenest swimmers train up to 5/6 times a week. Watersports not your child’s thing? On dry land, there’s all-weather pitches, playing fields, a huge sports hall for badminton, basketball, cricket, netball, hockey, fencing, tennis and volleyball, a dance studio and Ergo rowers.

It’s not all about sharpening your competitive edge and raising your heart rate. Edwina Westacott , Director of Sport at Crosfields, believes in setting expectations that are not aligned with ability. The ethos here is less about ability and a cabinet packed with silverware (although who doesn’t love a win), and more about joining in, creating healthy habits and finding something you enjoy. If that’s football, great, but if it happens to be Ultimate Frisbee or judo, they offer that too. From Y7, pupils can choose to drop one term of matches and do multisports instead. Outdoor Learning is introduced through Forest School for the Juniors, but Seniors get to enjoy it up to Y9 as part of the curriculum, with Duke of Edinburgh popular with older Seniors.

MUSIC, ART AND DRAMA

The arty aspects have been beefed up – and they’ve only just started. The theatre and music rooms have been enhanced to reflect the school’s strength in performing arts, so if you have an enthusiastic jazz hander, opportunities to perform don’t just happen in the end-of-year shows but consistently throughout the year.

There are also four choirs, an orchestra, several instrument ensembles and roughly 10 extracurricular creative and performing arts clubs per year group, per term. Impressive.

DT and art are both strong here, and Crosfields has developed this part of the school to create separate Junior and Senior DT and art studios. It’s particularly useful for the Seniors who can access them to let rip with different media. A CAD Lab, technology workshops and computer suites are all on site to help them explore and develop their creative skills.

ACADEMICS

Very good. It’s not an academic hot house, but is producing superb all-rounder kids, with a rich global outlook. The first cohort of Seniors following the school’s expansion to Y11 sat their GCSEs last summer – and the results were impressive. Of the 48 pupils, 96% notched up all 4-9 grades and 45% achieved a run of 7-9 grades. That’s already massively above the national average – but some pupils had a clean sweep of 8-9 grades across the board. They headed off to 26 different Sixth Form destinations, including Leighton Park, Shiplake College, The Abbey, Bradfield College and Reading Blue Coat, with two scholarships (one academic, one sport) awarded too. Bravo.

Crosfields academic approach is to teach to the top and scaffold up – a framework designed to support pupils throughout year-group abilities and add maximum value for all. In the run-up to exams, there’s a focus on metacognition – the ability of learning to learn. Senior pupils follow a tutoring programme based on vision, effort, systems, practice and attitude. It’s a melting pot of ideas from the worlds of psychology, business and sport to generate marginal gains to reach each individual’s full potential, and it helps with revision too. The focus for GCSE options is quality not quantity, so 9 GCSEs is standard, and all pupils start the HPQ (Higher Project Qualification) in Y9, as a stepping stone to the EPQ (Higher Project Qualification) at Sixth Form level.

The academic innovation runs from Nursery to Y11. Each pupil’s progress is monitored through their individual ASPIRE learner profile, which tracks the skills they should be displaying at each stage. Qualifications aren’t enough though; Crosfields instils its young charges with soft skills like teamwork, leadership and resilience to help them cope when things don’t go to plan in the big wide world. As a carrot, rewards like certificates and a wheel of prizes are handed out each half term.

Staff are encouraged to take an interest in educational research to ensure the children are given not just the right tools, but the best tools to learn. Specialist teachers for sport, music and languages are used throughout, and for most subjects from Year 5. Outdoor learning boosts the soft skills needed in life and enrichment activities and trips are fun, informative and give tweens and teens the opportunity to let loose outside the classroom and gain ‘real world’ experience. Test results are important here, but not at the expense of each child’s wellbeing and life experiences. There’s a lot to be said for that.

PASTORAL CARE

I get the impression that wellbeing is a top priority. Talking is something we might take for granted, but if you need to get something off your chest, there’s always someone to listen here. Crosfields has appointed a top team of Pastoral Heads, a medical team, and a mental health practitioner to offer appointments and drop-in clinics. The kids are the best eyes and ears and the older children become peer mentors and wellbeing ambassadors. Prioritising wellbeing is not just a ‘nice to have’, it’s become a key part of school and an essential life skill.

With so much pressure on kids to do well academically, having fun can get lost. It’s fundamental to their development and ability to deal with life’s ups and downs that they experience time away from the textbooks to just be, have a laugh and hang out with their friends. Enrichment is an important offering throughout the school. In Pre-Prep, Enrichment occurs within the curriculum. From Y3 to Y11, Enrichment is timetabled for at least 1 hour per week in each year group.

Throughout the school, Outdoor Learning, in the shape of Forest School or the Duke of Edinburgh Award, is included. This allows pupils to connect with nature and experience learning in a different environment. This fosters creativity and leadership skills which may be harder to show in a traditional classroom environment.

SEND

Roughly 12% of pupils across the school require SEND support – and Crosfields goes the extra mile to make sure it delivers on specialist learning. Its Learning Empowerment Team, a group of specialist teachers led by Ianthe King-Taylor, Head of Learning Empowerment & Inclusion, offers three tiers of SEND support: either in the classroom or in The Hub, a bright and airy dedicated space for pupils with dyslexia, ADHD, autism and other specialist needs.

When it comes to GCSEs, there’s the option to study a reduced curriculum (perhaps dropping from 9 to 8 GCSEs or scaling back modern languages), plus up to three hours per week of extra study support. The school recognises that children increasingly need extra emotional support too, and it recently introduced Zones of Regulation in every classroom to provide a ‘time out’ space when pupils’ feelings become overwhelming.

Extra support comes from Crosfields’ therapy dog, a Cavapoo called Woody. He’s a familiar sight round the school every Wed and Fri (but his hours may be extended), and enjoys being taken for walks round the grounds or helping children regulate their emotions with some one-to-one cuddle time. Come on, who doesn’t love a furry cuddle when you’re having a bad day?

HEAD

Not only has this modern, diverse school recently launched its Senior School, it has a new head. Caroline Townshend made the move with her young family to Berkshire from London’s Eaton Square in April 2023 and is fast making her mark. She’s a cool, calm impressive woman – and is the first female head in the school’s history. Caroline has Senior School set-up experience, and wants to develop common strands across the Crosfields community, ensuring there are opportunities at every level throughout the school. The Juniors is in great shape, but Caroline is far from complacent and will review its strengths, challenges and the different stages of development. You can read my interview with Caroline here.

QUIRKS

Its global outlook for starters. There are roughly 40 languages spoken at Crosfields, with connections to almost every country in the world. Those cultural differences have become the school’s superpower – a true representation of diversity, tolerance, and a celebration of culture. It’s fair to say, with 47 activities for Seniors and 82 activities on offer for Pre-Prep & Juniors is a lot. But it does give kids the opportunity to find their passions and try things out of their comfort zone.

FEES

Average for this part of Berkshire I’d say. The Junior School fees (including VAT) are: Nursery £4,580, Reception £5,295, Y1 £5,695, Y2 £5,995, Y3 £6,945, Y4 £7,395, Y5-Y6 £7,745. Senior school fees are: Y7 £8,195, Y8 £8,445, and Y9-Y11 £8,695.

View the latest inspection and compliance reports here .

TRANSPORT

Most the kids live within a 15-mile radius. Pupils can hop on the bus from as far afield as Maidenhead and Henley to Wokingham, Grazeley and Winnersh. Naturally, lots of parents prefer to drop off and pick up themselves (lots work locally), but the bus is an option when you’re happy for your kids to have a bit more independence.

WRAP AROUND CARE

School runs can see stress levels tip into the red, so parents will love the 7.30am breakfast club (available to all year groups), with normal drop off from 8am for an 8.30am start. Seniors; days end at 6pm, with supervised prep and a vast selection of co-curricular activities to sign up for – many included in the fees. I’d say, it’s a pretty standard offering for a Day School, but the breadth of activities on offer is outstanding.

WORD ON THE GROUND

The view from parents is that it’s strong across the board, both academically (as you’d expect) and across the art, music, DT and drama departments, which are considered just as ‘cool’ as sports. They all rave about the seemingly endless amount of opportunities and the marginal gains, growth mindset initiatives have certainly gone down well.

THE MUDDY VERDICT

Good for: Parents looking to turn out modern, independent, outward-looking ‘all rounder’ kids where academic challenge, co-curricular and wellbeing are carefully balanced.

Not for: Head Caroline Townshend is focused on building an outstanding all-through school up to Y11, so look elsewhere for a Sixth Form option.

Dare to disagree? Be my guest! Check out the upcoming Open Mornings here.

Crosfields School, Shinfield Road, Reading, Berkshire RG2 9BL. Tel 0118 987 1810

Crosfields Senior School, Reading

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