Head of Performing Arts

Gosfield School was established at Cut Hedge Park in 1929 when the daughter of the textile manufacturer, George Courtauld purchased the land and buildings from the executors of her late father’s estate. Constance Cicely Courtauld started a senior boy’s boarding school the same year with pupils relocating from Leigh Hall School in Southend. In 1944, Cicely gifted the school and estate to headmaster John Turner who continued the work started by Cicely. In 1967, the school became a charitable trust and in 1986, the school became co-educational. A Prep School was opened in 1989 and we welcomed our first 6th Form students in 1994. In 2006, Gosfield School Ltd purchased the freehold of the estate and building from the Turner family and 2016 saw the opening of the school’s nursery. Cicely’s founding principles for the school were to create a family environment in which young people would flourish and we remain faithful to those principles today.

In 2015, we opened Meadow Court, a purpose built Prep School, which is home to Reception Class to Year 5, within the grounds of our 100 acre estate. Meadow Court also houses our thriving Nursery School. This building complements the Victorian Manor House that is the heartbeat of the school and which offers excellent facilities for our transition Year 6, Senior School and 6th Form. Forest School is central to our curriculum throughout Prep School and Key Stage 3. We were thrilled that the outstanding start we give to the educational journey of our pupils received the recognition of receiving The Independent Schools Association National Award for Excellence and Innovation in the Early Years Foundation Stage [EYFS].

In May 2023, Denise van Outen opened our new Performing Arts Centre which includes a professional standard auditorium, a dance studio and teaching spaces. Our Performing Arts Academy now stands proudly alongside our cricket academy in providing excellent opportunities for our children to achieve more than they believed possible outside the classroom as well as in their academic studies. In the 2023 one of our dancers won the ISA National award and in the 2023 cricket season our U15 team were ISA National Champions.

Class sizes are small by design. A maximum of 20 children per class in our Prep School [Reception to Year 5, with Year 6 having a maximum of 22], rising to three forms in the Senior School. Our class sizes enable every member of staff to understand each pupil individually and maintain the founding principles of the school. We remain a small school of some 335 pupils plus nursery children.

Children learn best when they are happy, so making sure that each child that joins us feels safe, settled and supported is our primary concern. We believe that children will flourish if they are allowed to grow at their own pace, which is why our pupils mix often and readily across year groups. This builds the confidence of our youngest children and helps our older pupils remain kind and caring through their teenage years. We get to know our pupils very well and appreciate their unique personalities and approaches to learning.

We are proud to maintain the principles our school was founded on some 95 years ago. We are committed to the development of our young people in an environment where all pupils feel valued and are able to achieve excellence in all aspects of life. Our entry criteria reflect the holistic nature of a Gosfield education and are aimed at knowing and understanding every applicant as an individual. Gosfield students consistently achieve outstanding outcomes when compared to schools with academic entry criteria.