Oakhyrst Grange School Joins the Award-Winning Caterham Family of Schools
Thriving and much-loved Surrey preparatory school, Oakhyrst Grange School, has announced that it will be joining the multi award-winning Caterham Family of Schools, marking an exciting new chapter in the school’s 75-year history.
Set within five and a half acres of beautiful Surrey Hills lawns and woodland, Oakhyrst Grange School is renowned for its nurturing ethos, strong academic foundations and exceptional pastoral care. Combining traditional values with innovative learning opportunities, the school provides an inspiring environment where children are encouraged to grow in confidence, develop a love of learning and achieve their full potential.
The partnership brings together two schools that have enjoyed a close relationship for decades and share a commitment to educational excellence, pupil wellbeing and innovation. Oakhyrst and Caterham already share many families and alumni, and both schools are united by a belief in providing outstanding opportunities for every child.
Oakhyrst Grange is proud of its exceptional facilities, including a heated indoor swimming pool, sports hall, Multi-Use Games Area and dedicated Forest School provision, all of which support a broad and ambitious curriculum. The school was also recently recognised nationally with a Pearson National Teaching Award Bronze Award for Early Years Team of the Year, celebrating the outstanding quality of its Early Years provision.
Gemma Mitchell, Headteacher of Oakhyrst Grange School, said:
“Joining the Caterham Family of Schools is a hugely exciting opportunity for Oakhyrst Grange and comes from a position of strength. This partnership builds upon a long-standing and successful relationship between our schools and reflects our shared commitment to educational excellence, innovation and pupil wellbeing.”
“Oakhyrst will retain its unique identity, values and close-knit community, which are so important to our families. We are incredibly proud of the warm, supportive environment we provide and remain ambitious for every child in our care. This partnership will enable us to build on our many strengths whilst creating even greater opportunities for our pupils, staff and wider school community.”
“Most importantly, families can be confident that their children will continue to enjoy the exceptional education, pastoral care and breadth of opportunity that define an Oakhyrst education. We will continue to prepare and support pupils for a wide range of senior school destinations, whilst also providing a smoother pathway to Caterham School for those families who choose that route.”
Ceri Jones, Headmaster of Caterham School, commented:
“Both schools have given their wholehearted support to this partnership, which reflects a shared educational vision, common values and a commitment to excellence. We are delighted to welcome Oakhyrst Grange into the Caterham Family of Schools and look forward to working together to enhance opportunities for pupils, families and staff alike.”
The Caterham Family of Schools includes Caterham School, Caterham Prep School, Copthorne Prep School and The Hawthorns School. The family is recognised for academic excellence, exceptional pastoral care, innovation and sector-leading approaches to digital learning and wellbeing.
Caterham School was named the Times Educational Supplement’s Independent Senior School of the Year and is widely recognised as one of the UK’s leading co-educational schools. It is also the founding school of the East Surrey Learning Partnership, which brings together independent and state schools to enhance educational opportunity for young people across the region.
This partnership marks an exciting future for Oakhyrst Grange School, ensuring that its distinctive ethos, strong sense of community and commitment to educational excellence continue to flourish for generations to come.
On Friday 22nd March, six Year 4 and six Year 5 children went to Caterham School for a Geography Quiz. On the way in the minibus, some Year 4s tested each other. When we got there we went into the hall and had some very tasty large cookies and some juice while we waited for some other teams. Yum!
Our first round was to name up to two countries on the border of the country named. We did round 1 when we were waiting for the remaining teams. When we started round 2 we were really nervous as we thought we didn’t do very well in the first round, but miraculously in this round we got the questions all correct. This round was super scary as it was about countries shapes. There were countries like Japan, Chile and Italy. Moving on to the 3rd round we had to guess the landmark that Barry (the mascot) was next to. In this round we got one wrong. Next round was the playdough round!!! Yes!!! We had to make a model of the Earth! We made all the different layers on top of each other and cut it open. Round 5 was next which was biggest/smallest which was so hard. We had to guess populations and biggest/smallest countries/islands. One we had to do was what is the biggest continent in the world. The penultimate round was How many …? In this round one question was how many Olympic rings are there and how many continents are there? Round 7 was General Geography Knowledge. This round was also quite hard as we had to think right back to our first Year 3 topic. Most of these we got right.
Year 4 came third and Year 5 came second. Caterham Prep came first. After we did so well in the quiz, one of the Year 4s said “I was shocked with surprise and was very happy”. I wonder if we will go again next year?
Thank you to Mrs Leyshon and Mr Burke for taking us to the quiz.
By Lizzie K and Leela P, Year 4
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