Westbourne House School A GSG School

What The Good Schools Guide says

Headmaster

Since 2011, Martin Barker (BEd Exeter), previously taught at Papplewick. Married to Helen (maths teacher) with two adult children. Mr and Mrs Barker are also houseparents of Beeswing, where they live with their black Labrador and resident school play extra, Nancy.

Dedicated cricket fan and ex-county player, the ECB women squad signed bat, in corner of head’s study, was not lost on us – Mr Barker points out signature of Westbourne House alumna. Head led fully subscribed cricket tour to South Africa during October half-term, ‘and girls were allowed this time,’ revealed a pupil with knowing eye glint; another tour planned this year. A precious display of his own children’s pottery (from their Westbourne days) sits neatly on the ornate shelving of his splendid study; natural light streams in through glorious sash windows.

Basketball was ‘another passion’ of this contented and relaxed head; he reached national league level ‘back in the day’. Now replaced by golf – his enviable winter tan likely picked up on the Florida courses where he has a holiday home.

More interested in characteristics and ‘getting good life-habits’ from pupils, he is intent on ensuring children are ‘prepared for what comes next’. By his own admission, the school is known locally as being ‘quite alpha’, but ‘it’s not just about exams now,’ he says, and we firmly agree. School and its timetable have evolved in response to parent demand: flexible boarding; CE replaced by regular school exams (bar English, maths and science), and morning PHSE lessons now routine – ‘To help give more guidance to deal with this changing world,’ head explains.

He ‘gets the job done’ and has a ‘good measure of year 8 kids and how to get them into the right senior schools’, say parents, many describing Mr Barker’s leadership as ‘very calm’. ‘When you need his help, he’s brilliant,’ shared one. Pupils told us, ‘You can actually chat to him,’ and (contrary to our last review), ‘He’s not scary.’ Head is around each morning to greet the children, calling them by their nicknames.

After 12 formidable years in post, what next for this ‘fantastic’, ‘fair’ and ‘balanced’ head? ‘There’s always something new you can do… I’m very happy here,’ he tells us. Enhancements to school’s extensive facilities and grounds are on the agenda, starting with more outdoor classrooms and a super-sized monkey trail. Never short on numbers (waiting lists for a few year groups), the school has capacity to take more children, so growth might well be afoot.

Entrance

Non-selective. Prospective pupils attend a taster day.

Exit

Seaford College, Hurstpierpoint, Brighton College, Portsmouth Grammar School and Canford were all popular senior schools in 2024. Other choices over the years include Sherborne Girls, Oundle, Wellington, Charterhouse and Bedales. Tiny number leave at 11 to join local state schools. Twelve scholarships taken up in 2024.

Our view

Every year, on Remembrance Day, from the flat roof above school’s elegant entrance, a lone trumpeter (pupil) performs The Last Post to a congregation on the lawns below. A fitting annual tribute to the school’s military roots – it was a former RAF officers’ mess during the Battle of Britain. Moving photographs of soldiers who were based here during that time hang on the walls of the grand entrance hall, the open fire providing some welcomed warmth on the freezing day we visited. A smartly upholstered window seat, the perfect waiting spot outside head’s study, looks over the grand, circular drive.

Main House, as it’s known, forms the bulk of the school, incorporating newly refurbished classrooms and a junior boarding house, with purpose-built blocks for art, science, music, drama, boarding houses and the pre-prep dotted around the enormous estate. From every window of nearly every room in the school one sees grass – sports pitches and outside space in abundance. Break-time football, outdoor ping-pong, children swinging off monkey bars in ‘playtime favourite’ monkey trail, rugby and netball matches, all in full throttle the day of our visit, despite minus temperatures. A polite apology came from a gaggle of pupils when a stray football nearly hits this reviewer’s mug of coffee; all very jolly and in keeping with parent comments about this ‘outdoorsy’, ‘sporty’ school, where children appear ‘confident but kind’ and ‘those who give everything a go’ will blossom.

Troop leaders (the school was born alongside the Scout movement) together with year 8s, and eco-council, were our tour guides at various stages of the day. Seemingly unrehearsed, confident, fun, and incredibly polite were our first and last impressions. Our bubbly young hosts revealed that ‘clinics to help in subjects they found hard were super useful’ and that ‘there’s nothing you couldn’t ask a teacher about’. ‘We’ll miss our friends the most,’ shared a year 8 when asked about leaving the school. ‘Everyone knows each other,’ commented a younger pupil. School food and crusts (snack at first-break) were repeatedly mentioned as being top-notch and something year 8 leavers would miss. Lively commentary and anecdotes from our guides, who seemed quite at ease, embodying the ‘Westbourne way’ (displayed on posters in classrooms): kind, gentle, good listeners etc.

Head says the school has ‘been well looked after over decades’, and you can tell – although there are a few exceptions. Millennium Hall fully complete, joins once separate music and drama buildings and is home to a super orchestra/choir space encircled by computers used for music composition, with private practice rooms off. School’s theatre also houses weekly assemblies, a recent guest speaker had just climbed Everest. Main block classrooms have all been refurbished recently, with new desks and chairs, windows, lighting, new whiteboards and smart boards.

Each year group performs an annual play and the bar is high: Matilda and Hairspray most recent shows; ‘quite unbelievable,’ said one parent; ‘out of this world’, ‘brilliant’, ‘something very special’, we heard. Head of drama ‘amazing’ and ‘gets the best out of the kids’. ‘One of Westbourne’s strengths is their amazing productions,’ opines established parent. Very excited to hear about the annual year 7 production of Fawlty Towers with its audience participation, parents seated within the set! We’d love an invitation.

‘Always really impressed by the music department,’ commented parent of ‘non-musical child’. ‘High profile’ and ‘cool’ music concerts and lots of them. Inter-house music competition for every child, whether you play drums, recorder, or triangle, parents always invited. Chapel choir on tour to Rome this year.

Parents find the teaching is ‘of a high quality’, where ‘scholars are pushed’. ‘Really impressed,’ said a parent, of staff; although another admitted to there being ‘a few teachers with an old-school vibe to academics’. ‘They really get my kids,’ praised one parent. Praise too for the good communications between staff and parents, with ‘issues being resolved fast’ compared to the London schools many had come from. Children remarked: ‘Teachers are not mean or horrible here;’ ‘You can ask them lots of questions.’ ‘They let us have hot chocolate in winter now,’ mentioned one school council member, informing us of a few successful campaigns.

Parent praise, too, for high performance learning (HPL) curriculum now embedded across entire school which gives credence to other skills (resilience, self-reflection, critical thinking) and supports head’s view that exams should no longer be the only marker.

Mixed opinions on IN (individual needs) provision: one parent glowing that ‘it’s been brilliant’ and another praising the ‘lovely engaging teachers’. ‘They lobby on behalf of my child within school and have kept their self-esteem up,’ we heard. Another thrilled with the use of in-class laptops for their child. Many talked about the policy of IN lessons being flexible and not missing regular lessons in lieu. Already a bronze Dyslexic Association member, school plans on becoming a dyslexic kite mark school. Different experiences from a few others saying department ‘hadn’t been great’ and needs ‘a bit of love’. One or two candid comments suggesting the school environment could be ‘quite challenging if you were a bit different’. Staff turnover cited by a few as a problem.

Solid local reputation for being a powerhouse on the sports field and most children we chatted to were in some form of team. Niche pursuits, such as fencing, karate, and kayaking on school’s on-site lake, offer more to those who aren’t into trad sports. Parents tell us senior sports coaches are now teaching lower teams, who had historically been given gappies. ‘There’s a healthy balance between the competitive and the inclusive,’ said a parent, another sharing, ‘If you’re punching above your weight, you’d get moved to be with the year above.’ A concerned parent felt that, ‘If you fall out of the firsts or seconds, you’re never going to catch up.’ Large indoor swimming pool, built in the very spot where the Luftwaffe bombed the ground and in full use the day of our visit, seemed to belie the sentiment from a few parents that swimming is deemed ‘a beta sport’ and, alas, ‘uncool’.

In 2023, a new library opened – complete redesign of the historic billiards room and a magnet for the children, with the inviting reading nooks, the raised reading level by the large Georgian windows (best view at school), the large funky halo lights and, most important of all, the influx of 1,000 new books. A few parents and children wished for more ICT lessons, although school has a large ICT suite with plenty of Apple computers, roaming laptops for classroom use. Robotics classes are proving very popular with the children.

New parents praise the communications, with half-termly newsletter and parent reps contacting them before term start. ‘Everyone very welcoming in the main,’ shared a recent arrival.

Children join from aged 2½ (nursery) and move at 4 into the pre-prep, a separate building modelled on Main House, complete with its own white entrance pillars. Quite simply some of the most enchanting wall and ceiling displays we’ve encountered, and we tell long-standing pre-prep head so: ‘It's just how we do it here,’ was the modest response. High performance learning super heroes, promoting self-reflection and empathy, are displayed in each classroom, and children are well versed on them. Large free-flow outdoor spaces between classrooms, including a secret garden, children wrapped up in waterproof onesies going about their plastic-free activities. One nipper points out a washing line of underpants hanging outside his classroom, all part of linking to the book they’re reading! Refreshing to see a male teacher in this part of a school – we hear he’s quite the musician too, his band plays the local circuit. Year 2s spend increased amounts of time with year 3s up at Main House, enabling a smoother transition into the prep.

Boarders

‘Fundamentally a local day school with children that board,’ says head. Modern, comfortable and well-arranged ‘outhouses’ for years 7 and 8. Girls’ house, Beeswing, most popular, largely due to Nancy, pom-pom fairy lights and chalet-style, wooden-clad, cosy interior. ‘Everyone gets their time in Beeswing,’ we’re told. Each outhouse has open-plan kitchen/common room area, some with PlayStations and all with little private gardens. Children move around houses each term - a minimum of two nights a week are expected from year 7. Small number of full boarders move into Main House at weekends to ensure a ‘feeling of togetherness’. Walks and picnics on West Wittering beach, Go Ape and crazy golf are popular activities

Years 3-6 stay in Main House, split into a boys’ and girls’ landing, dorms of four or five, named after famous authors. Deputy head doubles as head of boarding and his wife, chief matron, ‘keeps on top of ever-growing boarding waiting list’. Priority given to children who’ve boarded in past; first-come, first-served thereafter. BBQ Wednesdays in summer term most popular night.

School asks flexi boarders (known here as part-time boarders) to commit to the same days each week ‘to create stability for the children and their peers’.

Money matters

Sibling discount of five per cent of fees per term is given for younger brothers and sisters across the school. The Sharman Academic Scholarship is open to all children entering year 3 (awards initially offered for years 3 to 6 but may be continued on merit to year 8). Up to three scholarships (up to 15 per cent of the fees). Some music scholarships for children starting in years 3 and 4 (20 per cent of the fees plus free musical tuition). Subject to availability, means-tested bursaries of up to 100 per cent for children going into years 3 to 7.

The last word

Increasingly an all-rounder school where, we were told, ‘It’s cool to be clever, cool to be into music, cool to be into drama.’ Sparky and impressive children with the hard-to-achieve balance of confidence and kindness. There is prowess on the pitches, but less sporty types will still find their niche. Part-time boarding is well-planned, ‘fun’ and extremely popular. If you’re moving to the Chichester area, pop Westbourne on your must-visit list.

Special Education Needs

At Westbourne House we aim to meet the needs of all our pupils in the classroom, through setting, differentiation and excellent staff to pupil ratios. However, for approximately 20% of our pupils, this is not sufficient to meet their learning or emotional needs. To provide additional support or tuition, be it short or long-term, we have an Individual Needs department (IN). The IN department consists of four specialist teachers (two with EAL qualifications), assistants and academic mentors, and is led by the Individual Educational Needs Co-ordinator (IENCo). We also offer emotional and/or behavioural coaching and a listening ear, either through our peer counselling, buddies or with one of our IN team.

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