WHAT? WHERE?

The Abbey School is an all-through girls’ day school in central Reading, with a Nursery, Junior and Senior school. The Nursery and Junior school (ages 3-11) is spread across three Victorian villas while the Senior School (11-18) is a five minute walk downhill on Kendrick Road.

Dating back to 1887 (check out the school museum for a Hogwarts-style experience of capes) The Abbey has had just nine heads in its history. The current heads both joined in 2020 – Executive Head William le Fleming and Nisha Kaura as Head of the Junior School, both trailblazers, marking the start of an exciting new period at The Abbey School.

Space is always of a premium in town centre schools, but each age group has plenty of outdoor space to have free range fun. Split across three sites; Knell House Early Years Centre is home to the Nursery and Reception; Key Stage 1 girls (Y1 and Y2) move on to Abbey Gardens,; the physical move in Key Stage 2 to Kensington and Somerleaze Houses gives a sense of ‘moving up’.

The biggest change? The fee structure at Knell House where you’ll find The Abbey’s nursery pupils (Little Knellies, aged 3-4). If you qualify for the 30-hour universal free childcare, you can enjoy this exceptional setting for free during term time. If you don’t qualify, the fees are aligned and will be lower – whether you tap into your tax free childcare or apply the government funded 15 hours. Parents can then choose to top up and add 12 weeks holiday provision for £2,100. In a cost of living crisis this is a bold, brave and brilliant initiative that Reading parents would be crazy to pass up.

FACILITIES

The Junior School recently had an almighty facelift and is looking super-smart. We loved the Fab Lab (a flexible learning space with a bit of STEAM slant, named by the pupils). There’s also a smart new science lab; The Space is a light, bright area for music and drama and the main junior school library, is jam-packed with an inspiring range of books celebrating the school’s diversity. Don’t expect playing fields as far as the eye can see. Outside space is well utilised and pretty good for its urban location.

SPORT

The Abbey School Juniors Reading swimming

The Junior school provision is particularly impressive with astroturf and play equipment and every student uses the Senior school’s 25m swimming pool once a week. The ethos here is to scoop up everyone up; community comes before competition. That’s not to say they don’t love to see a bauble in the trophy cabinet, but the winning is sweeter when everyone has contributed. There’s lots of opportunity to find a sport you love, with football, hockey, netball, biathlon, running, tennis, athletics, tag rugby, dance, outdoor adventures and gymnastics all on offer. Many more are offered as clubs.

There’s lots of opportunity to find a sport you love, with hockey, netball, biathlon, running, tennis, athletics, football, skiing, tag rugby, dance, outdoor adventurous activities and gymnastics all on offer. Many more are offered as clubs.

MUSIC AND DRAMA

Music is the beating heart of The Abbey Juniors and many of the girls look forward to these lessons the most – two music and one singing lesson are timetabled each week. Who can blame them, the four specialist classrooms are a playground of sound – kitted out with drums, belle plates, pianos, percussion instruments and more. There are six sound-proofed teaching rooms for individual lessons which take place at varying times throughout the day.

From Y1, every child is taught to play an instrument from ocarinas to ukeleles. Most girls learn at least one instrument in individual lessons with experienced musicians and nothing’s off limits – harp. percussion, piano, voice, plus traditional brass, string and wind. You name it, they’ll teach it.

The Abbey School Juniors Reading orchestra

In addition to performing, listening and appraising music in class, the girls compose their own pieces on iPads using the latest composition tech. They also appoint music captains as well as sports captains, which is something I’ve not seen elsewhere.

There are four choirs, music clubs, individual instrumental and singing lessons. Unusually, the school has a large orchestra and numerous ensemble groups who regularly perform for parents and in front of the peers in a weekly ‘Musical Moments’ event. In recent years, the choirs have performed at world class venues like London’s Royal Albert Hall and Birmingham’s Symphony Hall.

The drama facilities are good, and the speech and drama lessons work towards LAMDA exams. All year groups get the opportunity to dress up and wave their jazz hands in a show. Dance is very popular, and taught as part of the PE curriculum and via lunchtime and after-school clubs. One of the school year highlights is the opportunity for all girls to perform in an annual musical production showcasing drama and dance. Older girls also get to perform with a live band in their final production.

The drama facilities are good, and the speech and drama lessons work towards LAMDA exams. All year groups get the opportunity to dress up and wave their jazz hands in a show. Dance is very popular, and taught as part of the PE curriculum and via clubs.

GENERAL

The extended lunch break allows pupils to eat (without wolfing their food down) and sign up for activities. There’s an exhaustive list of things to do. Clay Club, Belle Plates, Nature Detectives, Philosophy Club, Coding, Construction, Crest Science, Netball, Club Latina, Bells & Boomwhackers (no clue), and more more more. Whether you need to burn off some energy, enjoy quieter time or engage your brain, there is something for everyone. Clubs change and are chosen termly. It’s a great opportunity to try new things and work on projects with friends. After school clubs are also available, run by outside organisations.

At a modern and progressive school, you’d expect digital literacy is taken seriously. iPads are used from Nursery to Y6) with all students in Y5 and Y6 being given their own iPad for home and school use. How incredible is that? Computing is taught by specialists – as is science, languages, PE, music, drama and wellbeing.

EARLY YEARS

Don’t worry, the littlies haven’t been forgotten. Knell House is the entry point for the young Abbey pupils – and it’s absolutely beautiful. The creativity injected into this space is next level good. They’ve brought the outside in and created a space that is not an extended crafting project, but a stylish, custom made inspiring space. Nursery girls enjoy lots of time outside, bug hunting, playing and growing their own fruit and veg.

The Y6 girls also regularly spend time with the youngest children which is the highlight of their week. It’s very sweet. The Abbey Gardens is home to Key Stage 1 girls (Y1 and Y2). They have an astroturf area, large drama studio that converts into dining facilities and an indoor play area. Having three different buildings for each academic stage could feel disjointed. But having an uninhibited safe space for the littlies to explore, learn and grow in confidence, really works.

ACADEMICS

Unapologetically ambitious. It’s not hot housey, but expectations are high and it will be too much for some. Inquiry-based learning is the name of the game here. The new ‘Human Intelligence’ initiative is a bold, progressive way of learning that applies from Nursery to Y6, combining the International Baccalaureate Primary Years Programme (PYP) and The Abbey IP programme which promotes ideas and passion.

The goal is to meet and exceed National Curriculum targets, with bells on. The students are in charge of their own learning and they have taken that ball and run with it. The girls I met were confident, inquisitive, creative, have a global outlook, and there is seemingly no end to their inquiries and desire to change the world for the greater good. It’s inspiring stuff and dovetails nicely with The Abbey Senior School which is one of the best IB schools in the world.

It’s a testament to the quality of teaching and education that practically all girls are awarded places at The Abbey Senior School. It’s a selective entry for external candidates, but Junior School pupils do not sit entrance exams. In recent years, Junior girls have been awarded the lion’s share of Senior scholarships – academic, sports, music, drama and art. A small number move to the local grammar schools and some girls move on to boarding schools.

SEND and extra maths and English are, within reason, on tap and included in fees.

THE HEAD

Head Of Junior School – Nisha Kaura

Nisha is a familiar face at The Abbey School, softly spoken, professional but with a playful twinkle in her eye. She has been a teacher here 18 years, her daughters are former pupils. She has a grounded approach to education (having experienced the world of work outside of education) but is a trailblazing, forward-thinker and ambitious for the school. The girls are encouraged to own their learning experiences, so they’re more invested in the outcomes – Voice, Choice and Ownership are the buzzwords round these parts. Start them looking beyond the Berkshire bubble from a young age, and they’ll learn to see the part they can play in the world as global citizens. What’s not to love about that? Even I want to join a class.

Nisha’s a strong role model, passionate that education is seen as a right and not a privilege with each child knowing that they author their own identity. That sense of curiosity, confidence and creativity is bubbling from the bottom to the top and vice versa. I also liked her emphasis on letting the children stay young as long as possible and not putting too much academic pressure on them. Wellness continues to be a hot topic and is fundamental to the girls’ education here – wellbeing lessons and yoga form part of the curriculum and mindful colouring and chill club are all up for grabs.

QUIRKS

The Abbey School Juniors outdoor adventures

The girls are encouraged to have a voice and use it. The Abbey School takes its job of producing fearless females very seriously. The aim is to break the mould and give them the confidence to question everything. Curiosity, enthusiasm and boldness are in The Abbey DNA. If you’ve moved from London for space and fresh air, a town centre school may not be your first thought. But the can-do-anything attitude and results that permeate from top to bottom, are certainly attention-grabbing. If you can’t offer grand vistas and roaming, you have to work doubly hard to offer the other stuff. And the other stuff is important.

Can you call Bodhi the miniature poodle a quirk? Absolutely. While school dogs in Berkshire prep schools are not new, Bodhi is very special as he is a trained superhero, offering canine assisted learning and emotional support. He lends his furry ears to listen to the girls’ concerns – and their secrets are safe with him. Woof.

Finally, The Abbey is the only independent girls’ school in central Reading – not so much a quirk as a fact! So no boys shouting down girls in lessons and a whole lot of smart ambitious children. Anyone who wants to be head girl, prefect, even the person who shows around prospective parents has to apply and be interviewed for the ‘job’. That by nature makes The Abbey exciting and aspirational. Your judgement call will be whether that suits your daughter’s personality and what you want for her.

WRAP AROUND CARE

Busy working parents rejoice. The Abbey is acutely aware it needs to support parents who need to do the school run and be at their desks on time. All children are offered a full wrap-around day from 7.30am to 6pm with a dedicated in-house before and after-school care team. The core school day starts at 8.45am and ends at 3.30pm (Reception to Y2) or 3.45pm (Y3-Y6), so the days are relatively short. There’s actually an ethos to this, which is that The Abbey encourages a life outside of the school gate. So where some private schools will keep kids until 6pm and do everything within the grounds, The Abbey sees a benefit in experiences away from school, if that suits the family.

Before School morning sessions (from 7.30am to 8.30am) include breakfast. There’s also an after-school session from 3.30pm to 6pm which includes a warm meal and supervised homework. In addition, all students have access to a wide range of activities offering sport, music, drama and dance. Holiday camps are also run here, so those guilt-ridden, painfully long school holidays are covered.

There’s also a network of buses bringing pupils in from Berkshire, Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Hampshire.

ISI REPORT

Inspectors visited The Abbey in 2023. The feedback on the education is glowing with plenty of words used like excellent, exceptional and high expectations. Some procedural changes were flagged but have since been resolved. Read the reports here.

FEES

Average and on an increasing scale as you go up the school. Nursery (30hrs) is FREE if you qualify for 30hr Universal Free Childcare, or from £1,680 per term is you use your tax free childcare (Government contribute 20% of the cost), and £2,799 after the 15hr childcare funding. An additional £2,100 cover 12 weeks holiday provision.

Junior School prices are: Reception, £4,500; Y1 £5,150, Y2 £5,500, Y3-Y6 £5,900 per term. Girls can apply for Senior school scholarships – academic, art, drama, music and sport – in Y6 for Y7 entry. The closing dates are usually November/ December.

WORD ON THE GROUND

Lots of positive whisperings from parents: The Abbey excels academically and pastorally. They were particularly impressed with the transition through each key stage Lots of the old criticism levelled at The Abbey for being pushy and hot-housey seems to have dissipated. Also, the mums I spoke to didn’t care about the lack of space, which kind of surprised me, but I guess they see the benefits elsewhere.

THE MUDDY VERDICT

GOOD FOR: Freethinkers. The Abbey puts a massive emphasis on getting girls ready for the world, creating independent, well-rounded, fearless young women. Those who like progress and question the status quo will love it.

NOT FOR: The Abbey is oversubscribed and so has the ability to take in academically curious, adventurous and globally-minded girls. Mind you, who wouldn’t want to make sure their daughter was up to this highly ambitious personal challenge?

DARE TO DISAGREE: Be my guest. Keep an eye out for upcoming Open Days here.

Read the The Abbey Senior School review, here.

The Abbey School, 30 Christchurch Rd, Reading RG2 7AR. Tel 0118 931 3111

The Abbey Junior School, Reading

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