Good Schools Guide Review - Rossall Senior School

E X P A N D I N G H O R I Z O N S

THE

GOOD SCHOOLSGUIDE

S E N I O R R E P O R T

“Rossall is a warm, inclusive and remarkably happy place to be”

T H E G O O D S C H O O L S G U I D E

The Good Schools Guide Rossall School - Senior Report

Since September 2013, Ms Elaine Purves BA PGCE (mid-40s). Brought up and state educated in Scotland and then in Nottinghamshire, Ms Purves studied English and German at Hull University. On graduation she worked briefly for agricultural manufacturer John Deere in Germany before going to Durham to do her PGCE. She nearly returned to East Germany to teach English at Leipzig University, but after the Berlin Wall came down everything became uncertain and she ended up taking her first teaching post in the UK – at Oakham School in Rutland – and she has worked in the independent sector ever since. From Oakham she went to The Royal High School, progressing through the ranks from head of languages eventually to deputy head. After

13 years in Bath, in 2006 Ms Purves became head of Ipswich High School for Girls, where she stayed for seven years before moving her whole family from Suffolk to Lancashire to take the job at Rossall.

One aspect of Rossall that attracted her was its international intake (50 per cent of pupils come from abroad, and that figure rises to 60-65 per cent by the sixth form). Ms Purves says: ‘Another reason why I wanted to come and work in a school like this was for my children. I wanted them to have that global perspective’. She and her husband have a son and a daughter who are both now pupils at Rossall. She says ‘they’ve really thrown themselves into it’ here. Her husband was born in Preston, so the family did already

have some ties to the North West. The excellent local golf facilities seem to have been a draw for him. And now they live in the head’s house on site. She says it’s a ‘nice thing’ to live on site and, although she acknowledges that she pretty much is on call 24-hours a day, she doesn’t seem to mind in the slightest. The first female head at Rossall, Ms Purves still likes to get into the classroom teaching languages and, although she comes across as approachable and softly spoken, we had no doubts that she could command both a class and a workforce. Parents say she’s ‘fantastic’, ‘hands-on’ and ‘approachable’. Several parents said how impressed they were with the way she listens both to parents and to pupils, and they also note approvingly that she turns up to every rugby match.

H E A D

“We had no doubts that she could command both a class and a workforce”


A C A D E M I C M A T T E R S

Rossall provides an all-round education – aiming to meet the needs of every pupil within its broad intake. Classes are small – usually 18-20 in years 7-11 (an absolute maximum of 22) and a maximum of 18 in the sixth form. The head identifies maths, the sciences, English, technology and art as departments that are doing particularly well. Parents we met were very happy with their children’s attainment at Rossall. One mother told us how impressed she’d been that the school offered to take her bilingual children, raised until recently in France, out of mainstream French lessons to teach them separately so that they could continue to study French as a first language. But there’s a comprehensive and inclusive ethos here. Parents felt that the school was about much more than academia and that it doesn’t focus resources and attention on high flyers at the expense of those in the middle or who are struggling. ‘They don’t single out the star pupils,’ said one parent. ‘They give

praise subtly and they don’t make a big song and dance of it.’ ‘Mine are never made to feel inferior,’ said another mum. ‘They do their best and they get praise for that.’ There’s no streaming but there is setting in some subjects. Parents said that sets were constantly under review and so ‘you’re not stuck in your set’.

Results reflect the broad intake. In 2014, nearly 34 per cent of GCSEs entered were awarded A-A* and at A level that figure was 25 per cent. Roughly a third of sixth formers choose to do the International Baccalaureate rather than A levels and in 2014 they achieved an average of 30 IB points per pupil. The school languishes in the bottom quartile of the independent schools league tables (in 2014 the Telegraph ranked Rossall 306 out of 320 for A Levels and 317 out of 366 for GCSEs) but, unlike the high-flyers in the league tables, Rossall is not a selective school. It’s also one of the most international schools in the UK, meaning that a large proportion of the children

sitting those GCSE, A level and IB exams (about 60 per cent of them) don’t have English as a first language.

International students can enter the main school if their English is already close to fluent. Those whose level of English would hold them back from achieving their potential academically are placed in the International Study Centre. This isn’t as separate as it sounds; it’s really a stream within the main school where pupils receive intensive English language support. Some pupils only stay in the ISC for a term or two, others stay for a year or more and some complete an intensive one-year iGCSE course there to prepare them for entering the sixth form in the main school. The school supports pupils with a range of special educational needs. A new full-time SEN support teacher has just joined the school. There may be an additional charge to parents of children with SEN if a very high level of support is required.


An aerial photo in the school’s prospectus shows the campus green, soft red and light blue. It is expansive and grassy; the buildings red brick, grand and turreted; and beyond them stretches a thin strip of pale yellow beach before the misty sea. Even on a grey, murky day the space is picturesque and peaceful. ‘Yes, it’s a bubble,’ one mum said to us, ‘but it’s a lovely bubble to be in.’ This is one of the happiest schools that this reviewer has visited: pupils raved – with no hint of cynicism – about their friends and teachers, the school’s traditions and jolly japes in the boarding houses. The fact that it’s a boarding school – and a very international one – is integral to Rossall life. The house system connects boarders with day pupils: all day pupils are assigned to a boarding house and from year 9 onwards they meet there, in cosy common rooms, each morning for registration. Even if they’re not staying for a sleepover, this is a school where older pupils

in particular just don’t want to go home. They can stay late for prep (with teachers on-hand to help) and have their tea at school. There’s even a licensed bar and café on site, open to sixth formers three nights a week. One dad told us how pleased he was that when his nearly 17-year-old son stays out late, he doesn’t need to wonder

where he is or what he’s up to because he knows he’s safe and happy with his friends at school. Tradition is very big here. Every year during Christmas dinner in the imposing, oak-panelled dining hall, the pupils sing The Twelve Days of Christmas – each house taking a different verse. No-one tells them to do it, the

pupils explain, ‘it just sort of

happens, spontaneously’. It gets

quite competitive – each house

singing more boisterously than

the last. One pupil told me this

tradition summed up what’s

special about Rossall. Might

some prospective parents baulk at

the hearty traditions, the special

public-schooly Rossall sports, the

sense that this could be the setting

for an undiscovered Enid Blyton

saga? Certainly we found no hint

of social snobbery – we simply saw

young people having a deliciously

happy time at school. If grand old

traditions make you cringe then

Rossall may not be the perfect fit

for you as a parent – when it comes

to the pupils, though, the school

is so warm and good-humoured,

and there is such opportunity and

encouragement to become the

person you want to be, that we felt

even if your teenager is something

of a non-conformist he or she

would still stand a good chance of

finding a niche here.

B A C K G R O U N D & A T M O S P H E R E

“There is such opportunity and encouragement to become the person you want to be.”


G A M E S , O P T I O N S & T H E A R T S

This is a very sporty school. Ian Botham sent his son, Liam, there and many alumni have gone on to play rugby, hockey or cricket professionally. More than a dozen pupils – male and female – currently play hockey for Lancashire. And there are countless sports options beyond the more obvious team games: pupils can also play basketball, squash or badminton, or lift weights, climb, dance or shoot. As you’d expect, there is an extensive range of top quality pitches, playing fields, squash courts and the like on campus; almost all sports offered have on-site facilities apart from horse-riding, ice-skating and golf. The 25-metre indoor swimming pool

looked particularly inviting –

although we didn’t jump in – and

we weren’t surprised to see a large

bank of seats on the poolside for

crowds of supportive pupils to

cheer on their peers. Sport is a

unifying force at Rossall: one day

the children might be competing

fiercely in one of the many

inter-house tournaments and the

next day they’d be whooping with

pride when another pupil scores a

winning goal or try against a rival

school. Rossall sport is steeped

in tradition; ‘Ross-Hockey’ is a

unique game – a hockey-rugby

hybrid played only on the beach

next to the school; and the school

regularly competes in rugby

fives tournaments at prestigious

public schools as well as hosting

its own national ‘Rossall Fives’

tournament each October.

One pupil we spoke to hinted,

diplomatically, that the school

could maybe invest a little more

in girls’ sport – particularly

hockey. A couple of mums

agreed. One said that the school

“As you’d expect, there is an extensive range of top quality

pitches, playing fields, squash courts

and the like on campus”


hadn’t traditionally pushed girls’ hockey as much as the boys’ game, but that she felt things are now improving and that the school has been responsive to criticism. But another mum said there was still some underinvestment in the girls’ game. She said that her daughter recently went to training, only four girls turned up and there was no coach. ‘It’s demoralising,’ she said, ‘because the ones that do want to play are a bit ignored… and I can see my daughter’s face – you know:

“Why am I here marking four players on my own?”

Beyond sport the extracurricular opportunities are seemingly endless – with a particularly wide range of opportunities for arty and musical children and for outdoorsy types. Some more unusual examples include stage set design, costume making,

film making, cryptography, psychology, jazz band, knitting, Warhammer, Mandarin and astrophysics (the school boasts a

space science centre – complete with a planetarium, Victorian observatory and a telescope – and a resident astronomer). And this is just the tip of the iceberg. Many students are working towards their Duke of Edinburgh Award and pupils from year 8 and above can join the CCF.

Rossall has a diverse tradition in the arts. Choral music is strong here – closely bound in with the life of the historic chapel – but students play different types of

music in various performances and concerts throughout the year; and they can learn instruments at school with visiting tutors – for an extra fee. There is also a literary society, which meets regularly to discuss poetry, books and culture. The school puts on two plays a year in one of two well-equipped performance spaces. The drama department also has links with a local theatre school and casting agency, which has enabled some pupils to appear in national radio and television productions. Keen artists are allowed to use the well-stocked workshops and studios every day after school. Each year in the Lent term Rossall devotes a week solely to art, music and drama and parents told us that even the highest performing sports players would never be discouraged to getting involved in the school play or any other creative endeavour.

“Beyond sport the extracurricular opportunities are

seemingly endless”


Pupils can board just five days a week or at weekends too. If day pupils want to flexi-board – which they often do – then they always stay in spare beds within their own house. Flexi-boarding allows day pupils to stay at the school for a night or longer – for pretty much any reason. Parents love it because it gives them a night off (or a weekend in Paris…) but, more importantly, the kids can’t get enough of it. They typically flexi-board on a Friday night if they have to be at school early the next morning for a match or on a Saturday night if they want to tag along on the boarding house’s Sunday outing.

Although there are no classes on a Saturday, it tends to be a busy day with sports practices and fixtures. Every Sunday boarders can, at no extra cost, go on an outing – examples include bowling or crazy golf activities or trips to Alton Towers or the

Manchester Christmas markets. Just over 42 per cent of boarders are international and these will be met at and delivered back to Manchester Airport by a representative of the school at the start and end of term. They don’t

have an option to stay in school during the holidays, though. If they can’t fly home then they’ll need to have a UK guardian to look after them.

The boarding houses are very homely – softer and more cosy than a typical university hall of

residence. The boarding houses

are a home from home where

any pupil can come to relax and

socialise during lunchtimes – and

consequently there’s lots of scope

for different age-groups and both

local and international pupils to

mix. IThere are some single rooms

available and a few are en-suite,

but the majority of boarders share

with one or two other pupils and

share a bathroom on the corridor.

Each pupil has a desk in their room

and the freedom to put up pictures

and customise their living space.

Each house has a pair of live-in

houseparents – who are either

teachers or support staff. The

houseparents we met were warm

and affectionate – they seemed to

love the job and that was reflected

in the way the children spoke

about them: ‘yeah, they’re very

supportive,’ said one sixth former

and another added ‘they look out

for you and you can talk to them

about anything’.

B O A R D E R S

“The boarding houses are a home from home where

any pupil can come to relax and socialise during lunchtimes”


Several parents identified the

quality of pastoral care as the single

thing they most appreciated about

Rossall. They raved about how

well their children are known

by staff. One dad was full of

praise for a teacher who stayed

in regular contact with him, by

text, to keep him updated on a

particularly protracted UCAS

application process. ‘Teachers

always remember what’s going

on with your child,’ said another

parent. ‘It’s just great that there’s

always that concern… and so I

don’t worry about my children

here at all because I know the staff

are really looking out for them.’

All children in the seniors eat in

the dining hall. We didn’t find

a child who complained about

the food. Most parents said their

children enjoyed the food and the one mum who said hers didn’t conceded they were very fussy! We thought the food was very good with plenty of choice.

Religion is significant in school life: there’s a full-time Church of England school chaplain and the whole school attends chapel every Friday. But, particularly with the diverse, international intake, the school takes care to ensure that worship is inclusive and that other faiths get a look in too.

Discipline is firm here. Serious breaches of the rules would be dealt with case-by-case but expulsion is a possibility. If you’re caught smoking three times, you’re out. (Although pupils told us that some of the German boarders are stalwart smokers so,

presumably, they’re good at not getting caught.) Pupils couldn’t think of any instances of bullying in their experience and they spoke with real conviction about how caring an environment this is. They said that pupils wouldn’t tolerate bullying – that they would tell a teacher and offer support to the victim. Parents knew of no bullying either. Like most schools, Rossall has a stringent anti-bullying policy. We were impressed that parents told us that they knew of several pupils at the school who had come out as gay – with minimal fuss or drama and complete acceptance from their peers. Parents felt the school was very accepting of difference – perhaps also because of the diversity that the international students bring to the community.

P A S T O R A L C A R E & D I S C I P L I N E

“Pupils couldn’t think of any instances of bullying in their experience and they spoke with real conviction about how

caring an environment this is.”


The school takes pupils with a broad range of abilities, including some with special educational needs. There are entrance tests in English, maths and non-verbal reasoning but it is rare to say no to a prospective pupil: this would normally only be done if the school couldn’t meet his/her needs. Pupils in the junior school have an automatic passport to entry to the seniors – although they still sit the tests which are used as a baseline.

For international students, the admissions procedure is largely a question of assessing their English. The school has a Skype conversation with every student before a place is offered.

They must have at least some

English: if they can’t hold a Skype

conversation they can’t come here.

If their English is already good

enough that it won’t hold them

back academically then they can

go straight into the main school.

If not, then they may need to first

of all come to the International

Study Centre (see above in

Academic for more information.)

All pupils need to achieve five

GCSEs at grade A* to C to enter

the sixth form. If they don’t they

can either repeat the year or leave.

Most pupils go on to UK

universities with about 10 per

cent going to university abroad.

Economics and business studies

are particularly popular courses

but there’s a real spread across arts,

sciences and humanities. Popular

universities are Edinburgh,

Manchester, Lancaster, Leeds

and York. Rossall also sends a

few students to colleges at the

University of London, Durham

and Oxbridge most years.

E N T R A N C E & E X I T

“Most pupils go on to UK universities

with about 10 per cent going to

university abroad.”

The parents are a mixed bunch.

A good few are alumni of Rossall

but many others were state

educated. Some get help with

fees from grandparents or from

the school’s own means-tested

bursary scheme. The kids are also

diverse. Across the school, 50 per

cent are international – coming

from a very wide spread of

countries and cultures. Further up

the school, more than 60 per cent are international. But there are far more British children than those of any other single nationality. The pupils seem inclusive and grounded. And they were positive and polite.

Alumni include Booker-Prize-winning novelist JG Farrell; Father Thomas RD Byles, the Catholic priest who refused to

leave the Titanic so that he could

help other passengers; eminent

figures in the world of sport,

music and industry; and a few

bastions of the Establishment: a

governor of a couple of colonies;

a private secretary to Queen

Victoria; and the magnificently-

named Sir Walton Clopton

Wingfield, who patented the

game of lawn tennis.

The school has been in very good financial health for a number of years – the influx of international students

has really turned its fortunes around. About six per cent of pupils in the senior school receive significant means-

tested bursaries (a 50 per cent reduction of fees or more). There are also some scholarships available for high

performers in sport, music, drama or academia.

M O N E Y M A T T E R S

P U P I L S & P A R E N T S

“The pupils seem inclusive and grounded. And they were positive and polite.”

Rossall School, Fleetwood, Lancashire, FY7 8JW

Telephone 01253 774201 Fax 01253 772052 Email [email protected]

www.rossall.org.uk

E X P A N D I N G H O R I Z O N S

O U R V I E W This is a very happy school. Its population is so diverse, there’s

no one type of child who would fit in better than another.

But we did feel the school would particularly appeal to busy parents who perhaps don’t have a lot of support locally or who find domestic life to be somewhat relentless – because the school offers a round-the-clock

home-from-home programme of activities which could ease the pressure on families at times of stress. It’s no academic pressure-cooker and less able

pupils will be praised for their efforts just as much as the high flyers but there are excellent teachers, facilities and opportunities that should give the brightest pupils every chance to excel. Overall, Rossall is a warm, inclusive and remarkably happy place to be. Staff and pupils seem to genuinely love it

here – and there’s not much higher praise you can offer than that.

Documents

Good Schools Guide Review - Rossall Senior School