Head’s Welcome

The warm, family-feel to the school is regularly commented upon and it is something that my wife and I experienced in our very first interactions with the pupils, staff and fellow parents when we arrived at Rupert House.

Pass through the big blue front door and you enter into an Aladdin’s cave of classrooms, music rooms, a well-resourced Science, ICT and DT suites, a fabulous Art room, the Hall and lovely outdoor spaces including an Astro turf pitch and adventure playground for the children to burn off some of their energy. Walk a few hundred yards down the Fairmile and you will find our sports pitches and pavilion stretching into open countryside and woodland for our Forest school. Our location in the heart of Henley means that we are just a stone's throw away from the facilities and communities that make Henley-on-Thames such a vibrant town. We have close links with Henley Hawks Rugby club with whom we share facilities and have a joint development programme with Henley cricket club. The children love being on the river and they paddleboard, kayak and bell-boat and learn how to row in Year 6. Our children enjoy putting on school productions in the Kenton Theatre - a community asset steeped in tradition whose boards have been trodden by many well-known actors and performers.  We make good use of Henley's town hall for our musical productions and the Parish Church for services on occasions such as Harvest Festival and at Christmas. All these facilities are in close walking distance of the school.

This connection with the Henley community means that our children enthusiastically choose to support many local charitable causes. They appreciate how fortunate they are to attend the school and are keen to help others where they can. The children are given the skills and attitudes to learn who they are and know what they stand for, each day living out our values of Courage, Creativity, Respect and Resilience underpinned by kindness. Courage to be brave in their learning and a willingness to step out of their ‘comfort zone’. Creativity not just in the creative arts, but in terms of finding a solution to problems and issues. A respect for and understanding of other people’s perspectives, beliefs and values. Last, but arguably most important of all, resilience: the determination not to give up when faced with a challenge. This growth mindset, the capacity for thinking ‘I can’t do this…yet’, is the most important trait our pupils can leave us with and enables them to stand tall at their senior schools and beyond. The school has a Christian ethos and we celebrate other faiths as well as being respectful of those with none.

Rupert House children are offered places at a wide range of Independent, State and Grammar Schools and we believe in guiding parents towards the right school for the right child. In the past few years, our pupils have been offered places at the following schools: Abingdon, The Abbey, Bradfield College, Claires Court, Cranford School, Downe House, Headington, St Helen and St Katharine, Kendrick, Lambrook, Leighton Park, Luckley House, Pangbourne, The Oratory, Queen Anne’s Caversham, Reading Blue Coat, Shiplake College, St Edward's Oxford, The Dragon, Radley College, Tudor Hall, Wellington College, Wycombe Abbey and Sir William Borlase’s. They are often successful in attaining scholarships and awards, with 23 of these received in the last two years alone - a reflection of the school's strong academic and co-curricular offering.

I look forward to welcoming you for a tour of the school, where you will meet a number of our passionate staff and learn more about our happy, vibrant, purposeful community which exists behind the Big Blue Door.