Building for the future

Brentwood Preparatory School in Essex outlines an exciting development project...

Founded in 1892, Brentwood Preparatory School has a long and illustrious history and it was with great pride that in 2017 we marked our 125th Anniversary with a year of celebrations.

We have stood the test of time but we do not rest on our laurels. Although that rich history started back in the Victorian age, we are not slaves to tradition. We have certainly moved with the times and fully embrace the constant need to look forward in the pursuit of excellence.

As well as Sport, Music & Drama, we offer Latin, Chinese, French and Spanish, and over 80 co-curricular clubs are on offer each week. First-class teaching and learning, digital innovation, and superb facilities mark us out as one of the highest achieving prep schools in the area.

It is for that reason that we are embarking on a major programme of improvement works, which will enable us to keep Brentwood Preparatory School at the forefront of cutting-edge educational provision.

Work is well underway on this multi-million pound investment, which will include new buildings, refurbishment and upgrading of existing buildings and improvements to external areas and landscaping.

The new and refurbished buildings will also result in an increase in the School roll; expanded and re-organised Early Years facilities; new Assembly and Dining amenities; and a suite of state-of-the-art specialist teaching areas.

The expansion will mean that from September 2019, the Prep School will be able to offer a full day’s Nursery provision from 7.30am to 6pm and, in response to the overwhelming demand for places, the School will also be able to offer additional places in the Nursery and Reception years.

The project proposes two new buildings; a Dining and Assembly Hall, which will provide multi-purpose space for a variety of school activities, and support facilities including a new on-site kitchen and changing facilities.

A North Classroom Block will provide ‘front of house’ facilities for visitors and the School administration team and will streamline security. The top two floors of this block will house a suite of specialist teaching classrooms, including Science, Art. DT, ICT and a new ‘Futures’ Room to provide a space of experimentation.

This exciting new development will also provide an opportunity to consolidate and re-structure the whole site strengthening current connections within the School campus and increasing external social and play space. It will also bring a greener quality to the place through new soft landscaping and trees and re-organise parking and drop-off strategies.

The new buildings will be constructed to high quality, low energy designs, and the architecture will respond to the historical context of Brentwood School and the listed structure of Middleton Hall, whilst providing innovative educational facilities, which reflect the forward-looking attitude of the School.

Architects, Cottrell & Vermeulen Architecture, are no strangers to Brentwood School having worked on both the award-winning Sixth Form and Bean Academic Centres. In 2012, they were the winners of the 2012 RIBA Award for the Sixth Form Centre and in 2016 they secured a Brick Award for Best Education Building with the Bean Academic Centre.

All the groundwork for this exciting project was completed before Christmas and building work started in January 2019. In the interim, a smart temporary classroom block has been built to house and educate pupils for the duration of the works.

As Prep Headmaster Jason Whiskerd said: “This is a very exciting time for Brentwood Preparatory School. We pride ourselves on our innovation both in the curriculum and through our extensive enrichment and co-curricular programmes.”

The benefits of this forward-thinking project will include:

• Improved facilities for current and prospective pupils
• New outdoor spaces designed to stimulate pupils including areas for reflection, personal well-being and social interaction
• Enhancement of the School curriculum, with greater emphasis on STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths)
• Performing Arts to benefit from a brand-new hall space, featuring modern seating for up to 600 guests
• A new acoustically enhanced and soundproof Music room allowing regular full orchestral practice
• Cutting-edge Modern Foreign Language Laboratory to enrich and augment the learning of languages
• The provision of a full day in an academic nursery with flexibility for sessional pupils
• Flexible pre and post school care option for working parents
• Continued commitment to keep class sizes low without exceeding current numbers
• New kitchen and dining hall
• Improved modern changing and toilet facilities
• More teachers and greater scope for subject specialism
• Greater cohesion and synchronicity between Key Stages 1 and 2

Once complete, this state-of-the-art development will secure Brentwood Preparatory School’s position as an educational leader and secure the School’s enviable reputation for the next 125 years and beyond.

This article first appeared in John Catt's Preparatory Schools 2019. You can view this guidebook here: