Packwood School Prospectus 2024

Part of the Shrewsbury
Family of Schools
An incredible, happy
environment that
offers children so
much opportunity.
Packwood Parent
Boarding and Day
Girls and Boys aged 4-13

We There love must the ethos, be no such thing as an ordinary education. A
facilities child’s memory and the of school should transport them to a world
happy of imagination, environment. enchantment, joy, ambition and pride.
Cat and I extend a warm welcome to Packwood.
Scan here
to view
the Head’s
welcome
video:

Head’s Welcome
Childhood should be nurtured and cherished, and I truly believe Packwood to be one of
the most wonderful places for our girls and boys to grow. The beauty and ruggedness
of the Shropshire countryside and our world class facilities certainly provide the right
environment, but it is the focus on relationships, the community and our sense of
purpose that underpins life at Packwood.
A strong set of values and attributes guide
everything we do. The ‘Packwood Way’ provides
a foundation for our children to develop their
individual sense of worth and pride whilst
understanding the role kindness, empathy and
courage plays in society. These values permeate
through our sector-leading approach to robust
learning and teaching, an exceptional cocurricular
programme and a focus on character
education and outdoor learning.
Children will leave Packwood to progress to a
range of senior schools, including Shrewsbury,
our partner school. We consistently achieve
success in scholarships, but most importantly our
girls and boys leave us with a developed sense of
who they are and what they can achieve.
Prep Schools also play a crucial role in preparing
children for life. It is our mission to instill a
passion for life-long learning in all our children,
whilst giving them the chance to explore
and experience a feast of opportunities. As
an integral part of the Shrewsbury family of
schools, we have a network of global schools
that our children can collaborate with. A sense
of global belonging is an important part of the
children’s journey here.
Most important to us, however, is the happiness
of each child. Happy children succeed, and I
place the relationships between staff, children
and parents at the forefront of my ethos for
education. I couldn’t be prouder to lead a
team who care deeply about children and have
a commitment to find each individual child’s
strengths and develop their self-esteem.
Will Goldsmith
Head

Packwood’s greatest assets are its teachers
and support staff, and their unending
enthusiasm to see our children develop,
grow and achieve to their full potential.
Packwood Parent

Acorns (4-7 years)
Packwood Acorns, our pre-prep faculty, is set on its own accommodation
nestled in the beautiful and safe country site, including a designated
playground and forest school, providing children with the best of both worlds.
The children benefit from access to all
of Packwood’s outstanding facilities,
including an indoor heated swimming
pool, sports hall, astro-turf, first-class
theatre and extensive grounds.
Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 each have
their own classrooms, where small class
sizes allow for personalised learning and
ensure that all children make the very
best progress.
There is a shared area, including role
play and reading zones, to allow for
group learning and to provide individual
choice for the children to learn through
play. It is particularly important that
children have the opportunity to read to
an adult every day.
Packwood teachers instill a love of
learning and independent thinking from
an early age. In addition to their class
teacher, the children also have access
to specialist Prep School teachers, with
lessons in music, singing, drama, ICT,
language, swimming and PE every week.

Acorns Clubs and Forest School
After the end of the school day, children have the option to stay on to
take part in a wide range of clubs, including dance, ballet, football, ball
skills, tennis, outdoor club and art. Afterwards, children are welcome to
stay for supervised play and can be collected from Acorns or with older
siblings from the Prep School.
Packwood Acorns is very fortunate to
have its own designated Forest School
site which children enjoy on a weekly
basis. Come rain or shine, they can
be found pond-dipping, marshmallow
toasting, creating sculptures from
woodland objects or fairy-house
building.
In addition to their own dedicated
outdoor space, Acorns children
can often be found exploring all of
Packwood’s grounds, whether climbing
trees and making camps in “The
Spinney”, or taking a nature walk along
our mountain bike trail.
Always a highlight of their week, the
children enjoy being outside and getting
muddy, all whilst building key skills, such
as confidence and resilience, as well as
developing a love and respect for the
great outdoors.

Packwood retains its long-established
focus on boarding and balance between
academic and the outdoors.
Good Schools Guide

Prep School Learning
and Teaching (7-13 years)
Packwood is renowned for
academic excellence with an
educational programme which is
stimulating and engaging for all.
Our pupils are encouraged to approach
lessons with enquiring minds and
develop key skills that will help them
meet future challenges and become
independent lifelong learners.
Specialist teachers who are passionate
about their subject areas help to
inspire the pupils whilst our small class
sizes ensure that all pupils make the
very best progress. Our success rate
at Scholarship and Common Entrance
is testament to the dedication of our
staff and the self-motivation and strong
work ethic that children develop during
their time with us.

Our son has forged meaningful
friendships, been fortunate to have
outstanding teachers and embraced
new and enriching customs.
Packwood Parent

The
Boarding
Community (7-13 years)
Packwood has a thriving boarding
community. Boarding is a popular
option offering children a home
from home as well as flexibility
for parents.
A third of our pupils are full boarders
with many day pupils making use of
our flexible boarding options, either
booking in for regular nights or on an
ad hoc basis.
Boarders enjoy a happy, friendly and
supportive environment in which
they thrive. They benefit from firstclass
pastoral care, support and
stability provided by a dedicated team
of houseparents, boarding tutors,
matrons and graduate assistants.

The pastoral care is so wonderful that my
daughter asked to full time board. She is
happy and relaxed, every parent’s dream.
Packwood Parent

Co-Curricular (7-13 years)
Our co-curricular programme
plays a central role in school life.
All pupils enjoy the creative and
performing arts, with weekly lessons
in Art, Design Technology, Music and
Drama, making use of our first-class
theatre, dance, art and design studios.
We encourage all of our pupils to
discover new passions and talents as
well as further develop their existing
strengths.
There is a huge range of activities
on offer to pupils at Packwood with
opportunities to be active, creative
or take part in academic enrichment
and extension as part of our evening
activities programme.
Our longer lunchtimes are used
both for enrichment as well as for
pupils to prepare for scholarships to
senior schools, whether practising in
the Orchestra, working on their art
portfolio or taking part in a drama
rehearsal.

Sport (7-13 years)
With a sports session every
afternoon and fantastic grounds
and facilities, sport plays
an important role in life at
Packwood.
Our ethos centres on participation
for all pupils as well as a focus on
excellence at the elite level.
Pupils take part in our core sports
programme which includes football,
rugby, hockey, netball, lacrosse and
cricket as well as cross country,
tennis and athletics. All pupils are fully
involved in our regular programme of
school fixtures as well as internal Sixes
(house competitions).
A wide range of additional sports
are available through our activities
programme, including swimming,
fencing, shooting, horse riding, golf,
basketball and badminton.
Whether taking part in their first
school fixture or challenging in the final
of a national competition, our pupils
develop the skills needed to work
together and learn from both failure
and success.

Packwood Award
The Packwood Award is our
bespoke Outdoor Skills and
Leadership Programme.
Our wonderful grounds come to
life on Thursday afternoons when
all pupils participate in a range of
activities and challenges. Our pupils
might learn about nature by taking
part in Packwood Spring Watch or
get creative with Wild Art. They
will also prepare for an adventure in
Snowdonia by learning camp craft.
Bridging the gap between Forest
School in Acorns and the Duke of
Edinburgh Award in senior schools,
the Packwood Award sees pupils
complete Bronze, Silver and Gold
levels, building key skills such as
confidence and resilience as well as
developing a love and respect for the
great outdoors.
Scan here to view
our grounds and
360 tour:

With the freedom the children have to roam,
the amazing facilities and core of brilliant
staff, I genuinely believe that we couldn’t
have found a better prep school. Packwood Parent

We run four daily minibus routes to the
school from Oswestry, Shrewsbury, Welshpool and
Whitchurch, with return journeys also available.
Part of the Shrewsbury
Family of Schools
To visit Packwood, please contact:
Tel: 01939 260217 Email: admissions@packwood.school
Ruyton XI Towns, Shrewsbury, Shropshire SY4 1HX
www.packwood.school