Bedford School for boys only

Bedford School is an HMC independent school for boys located in the county town of Bedford in England. Founded in 1552, it is the oldest of four independent schools in Bedford run by the Harpur Trust.

Bedford School is composed of the Preparatory School (ages 7 to 13) and the Upper School (ages 13 to 18). There are around 1,100 pupils, of whom approximately a third are boarders.

It has produced one Nobel Prize winner, recipients of the Victoria Cross, twenty-four rugby internationals, and the winners of seven Olympic gold medals.

Buildings and grounds

The Main School Building, originally built in 1891, is a Gothic Revival Grade II listed building.

Chapel

Bedford School Chapel was completed in 1908 and is a Grade II listed building.

The chapel is home to Bedford School's chapel choir and houses a fine two-manual Hill, Norman & Beard organ. The specification of this instrument can be found in the National Pipe Organ Register.

Observatory and planetarium

The Charles Piazzi Smyth Observatory and the Wolfson Planetarium were opened in May 2002 by Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. Situated on the Bedford School estate, the facility is operated by the school's astronomer in conjunction with members of the Bedford Astronomical Society.

Music school

Bedford School Music Department is housed in the new purpose-built Music School, designed by Eric Parry, and completed in November 2005. The building houses a large recital hall with recording facilities, a recording studio, individual specialized teaching and practice rooms, and a rock music studio.

Cricket ground

The first recorded match on the Bedford School cricket ground was played in 1876, between Bedfordshire and Huntingdonshire.

Years 3 + 4

For the first two years the class teacher takes the major responsibility for subject teaching and then, as the boys move up the school, greater specialization is introduced. In Year 3 and 4, it is normal for the class teacher to teach the three core subjects to their class along with at least two or three other subjects. The majority of the teaching takes place in the Nash's building and in Tisdall's. Boys will use the specialist facilities for French, art, ICT, music and design technology. These subjects are normally delivered by subject specialists. In addition, all boys will have physical education and swimming lessons alongside two double Games lessons. Boys are also encouraged to take a full part in the wide-ranging extracurricular program.

Lunches are organized by house, with boys and staff eating together each day. A weekly assembly takes place on a house basis, as do regular outings and trips. Inter-house competitions are organized across the age range and in as many fields as possible and all boys are given the opportunity to represent their house.

Years 5 + 6

In Years 5 and 6 the academic and pastoral organizations change.

The curriculum continues to be broad, with expectations increasing in terms of assessment and homework. Setting is introduced in Year 5 for Mathematics.

Boys will be assessed regularly through the year by means of end of unit tests in the majority of subjects and end of year exams will be sat during the latter part of the Summer Term.

Years 7 + 8

Years 7 and 8 are based in the Wells Building and pastorally are organized by house. Each house has three tutor groups composed of Year 7 and Year 8 boys. Each tutor group has a room in the Wells Building as a base. Boys will be taught in one of the five teaching groups for each year, with setting taking place in a range of subjects.

The breadth of the curriculum is maintained with the main development being the introduction of additional languages in Year 7. In addition to French, boys will study a module of German, Latin and Spanish during Year 7 and will be able to express a preference for one of the languages to study alongside French in Year 8.

The system of unit testing continues and in Year 8 boys sit two sets of exams in preparation for the transfer to the Upper School.

As well as the development in academic expectations it is also envisaged that boys will take on positions of responsibility in their house and in the school in general.

Extracurricular activities

The boys may take advantage of many extracurricular opportunities and house competitions offered by the school. They are:

• Chapel Choir
• Combined Cadet Force
• Music
• School magazines
• Sport

Houses

Bedford School has six houses. Each house is composed of a day house and an associated boarding house. The house names, dating from the mid-nineteenth century, refer to areas of Bedford; boys were originally allocated a house based on the area of town in which they lived. Whilst these are the official house names, it is common for boarders to refer to their house by the name of their boarding house. The houses are:

• Ashburnham
• Bromham
• Crescent
• Paulo Pontine
• St Cuthbert's
• St Peter's