Friends for life: Cothill pupils get ready for kick-off. Fresh air and plenty of exercise are at the heart of the school’s philosophy
for its high academic standards: a majority of pupils go on to Eton, Harrow, Radley or Winchester. Twenty-nine-year-old house- master Anthony Rendall sees the advantages of this environment very clearly. ‘Horris Hill is a traditional school and a Horris Hill boy is a boy’s boy, who likes to build dens, take a ball off to the top field and fight with sticks. When it comes to sport, we focus on rugby, football and cricket, but there are also plenty of opportunities to take part in activities such as swimming, squash, cross country and orienteering.’
In his opinion, the school’s size helps
enormously. ‘The normal class size is 14, so we get to know the boys really well. The result is that almost every boy will find an area of strength here and they will flourish.’ Weekend activities include go-karting,
trial driving at Mercedes-Benz World, camping in the woods overnight and toasting marshmallows on the fire. ‘The majority choose to stay in. ‘Parents can’t compete,’ adds Mr Rendall. As for the advantages of educating boys separately, he says: ‘It’s one less distraction, particu-
larly at an age where girls can whizz on and intimidate the boys.’ Living in Surrey, Saskia Yeldam was
spoilt for choice when it came to choosing a prep school for her three boys—one aged 10 and twins aged nine—but it was rela- tively easy to make a decision. ‘I think boys at this age just need to be boys with none of the additional pressure of being com- pared to the girls.’ Mrs Yeldam was drawn to Aldro, which has about 220 pupils (day and boarding): ‘It’s a very unassuming school with a good Christian ethic.’
School Life, Spring 2013 31
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