On visiting Cheam for the first time, one parent recalls being drawn to ‘the energy of the school and the buzz around the children’. Perhaps this palpable dynamism has something to do with its setting in 100 acres of rolling Berkshire countryside. With fresh air aplenty, pupils play at least an hour of sport a day, and the school has upped its outdoor activity provision with climbing walls and assault courses. Or maybe it’s the prep’s ‘first-class’ pastoral care and the commitment to outreach (Cheam awards life-changing bursaries). The winning combination of these factors results in waiting lists for many year-groups. ‘Polite, fun, interesting and interested’ leavers head to Eton, Marlborough and Downe House.
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Location: Headley, Newbury, Berkshire RG19 8LD
Website: cheamschool.com
Head: William Phelps
Pupils: 396 day and boarding: 220 boys, 176 girls
Ages: 3–13
Term fees: Day £7,645; weekly boarding: £10,345
