School Fees

These are correct for academic year 2007/08, but are reviewed on an annual basis.

Badgers

Badgers (nursery): on a sliding scale from £435 to £1870 per term, depending on the number of sessions attended and if lunch is included.

Pre-Prep

£2285 per term

Juniors and Seniors

£4150 per term

Frequently Asked Questions

How many pupils are there in the school?
336, at the beginning of September 2007
Isn't that rather a lot?
It is a good number of pupils but you are not aware of the numbers as you walk round the spacious campus. And we sub-divide them into four smaller units: Nursery and Reception; Years One and Two (pre-Prep); Years Three and Four (Juniors); Years Five to Eight (Seniors)
What is the staff:pupil ratio?
The overall ratio is one to ten. At nursery level it is one to six.
What is the boy:girl ratio?
Currently the ratio is about 1.5 to 1; there are 208 boys and 128 girls in the school.
What are the class sizes?
The average class size is 16.
What is the IT provision in the school?
The whole school campus is networked with over 120 PCs, a class set of laptops.

These PCs can be found in each classroom – from the Badgers to the senior school as well as in specialist centres such as the Art room and Design Technology. Every teaching area has an interactive whiteboard and projection facility. The school also has two purpose-built ICT centres, each accommodating 21 pupils plus a teacher ie. 22 computers.

Internet access is available across the whole school, this is primarily filtered by our educational internet provider, but can also be tailored for specific users in terms of location and time. All use is monitored.

There is a strong link in IT terms, between home and school in the senior school, with each child having their own community email account, and access to ‘Learning Resources’; this enables the children to access their school “my documents” folder from home in addition to various subject resources. This facility is being rolled out throughout the school, so that soon all ages will have similar access to their work from home.

When do you begin French?
At the age of five (Year One).
And computing?
From the age of three.
Do you ‘stream’ the children?
We set the children for Maths from Year Three, for English from Year five, and also for French, Science and Latin from Year Six.
Does the school have a Bullying Policy?
Yes, the school has a bullying (or anti-bullying!) policy, and the pupils prepare their own anti-bullying charters.
Where do the pupils come from?
Although it is a day school pupils come from as far afield as Ringwood, Bournemouth, Wimborne, Dorchester and Swanage. But many live in the villages around Corfe Mullen.

There are a number of school bus routes bringing in children from the surrounding areas to school each day. The majority of these routes also have a return bus in the evening, leaving the school at either 4.30pm or 6.00pm. The current routes are:

Bournemouth
Glenferness Avenue/Roslin Road
Glenferness Avenue/East Avenue
Glenferness Avenue/Branksome Wood Rd
Clarendon Road (former eye hospital)
Tower Road West/Ettrick Road
Penn Hill Avenue (in Canford Cliffs Road)
Blue Lagoon, Sandbanks Road
Isle of Purbeck: Swanage, Harmans Cross, Corfe Castle, Wareham
East of School : Ringwood, Ferndown
Blandford Area: Durweston, Blandford, Spetisbury
Dorchester Area : Dorchester, Bere Regis

If you would be interested in finding out more about any of these routes then please do email the headmaster’s secretary on hmsec@castlecourt.com or call Pauline Vickery on 01202 694438

Does the school have particular strengths?
The school has demonstrated its strength across the board: academically, in grammar school and scholarship exams; musically in widely acclaimed concerts and individual grade results; in sport by achieving county and indeed national representation; as well as in Art, Drama and many other areas. Come and see!
When can I visit the school?
Just phone or email the school to make an appointment. We look forward to meeting you.