Swanbourne House School, Swanbourne Private School

• Location: North Buckinghamshire, United Kingdom,
• Founded in: 1920,
• Language of instruction: English,
• Type of studying: mixed. 

Swanbourne House School is a co-educational boarding school with the option of full-time education.  The school accepts boys and girls from 3 to 13 years old.

The boarding house is part of the prestigious association The Stowe Group, and according to the results of the last ISI inspection in December 2018, it received an "Excellent" rating in all areas.

• In 2020, Swanbourne House School celebrated its centenary – right during the global Covid-19 pandemic.
• In the entire history of the school, it has had 8 principals. The last manager came to the position in 2023 - it was Nick Holloway. The current principal with his wife Emily and three children live on the school grounds, all the children study here.
• SHS is the only co-educational preparatory boarding school in Buckinghamshire.

Swanbourne House School is located in the main building. Children are accommodated on the first and second floors. Upon check-in, parents of girls and boys choose the format of accommodation for them: full, weekly or flexible boarding.

Children can move to boarding from the third grade of secondary school, although most students move to the school campus only from the fourth or fifth. Independent living helps teens be better prepared for further admission to high school. Usually there are about 35 or 40 people living in the boarding house, who choose a full-time or weekly format, the other 40 students stay in residence only for 2-3 nights a week. The living quarters were overhauled in 2019, so now the foundation consists of comfortable, modern and spacious dormitories, which offer stunning views of the surrounding area: the forest, the park and the hilly terrain of Buckinghamshire. In their free time, children communicate with friends, watch movies, play sports, attend creative workshops, learn to cook and bake delicious dishes, practice playing musical instruments, do homework and repeat the school curriculum. On weekends, students, together with teachers, go on daytime excursions around the city and to neighboring locations.

Chefs prepare food from products that have been grown in local gardens, farms and plantations, using only fresh and safe ingredients.

Music, visual arts and drama are an integral part of the life of students at Swanbourne House School. Girls and boys choose clubs and communities of interest, which they attend in their free time.

Since the school has a large park area, children and teenagers can set up mini-camps there on weekends, explore local flora and fauna, and have picnics.

• The main task of Swanbourne House School is to form a solid academic base for its wards, to develop them in a variety of directions through extracurricular formats and activities, which include sports training, meetings of clubs and circles, field trips and events.
• Teachers and administration adhere to progressive educational methods, so mutual respect reigns between teaching staff and students. Adults take into account the personal needs and desires of children 100%, they teach them to boldly accept the challenges of the modern world, in whatever field they decide to develop in the future.
• Thanks to living in a boarding school, children learn independence and time management, they understand how to organize their academic and free time more competently in order to do everything they want.
• Children leave school more independent, thoughtful, tolerant and attentive. Already in high school, they enter not as young explorers of the world of knowledge, but actually as fully formed personalities who can become role models for younger students.

The campus of Swanbourne House School is located in a picturesque countryside covered with parks and forests. On its territory there is an amphitheater, an open-air classroom, team building areas and the "Battlefield", where students and staff are engaged in a common hobby - recreating epic historical battles.

In addition to its own infrastructure, the school has access to the outside area, where the following are prepared for students:

• Worsley Science Centre,
• Roxburgh Theatre,
• Chang Music School,
• A modern sports hall,
• 8-lane track and field track,
• Equestrian complex,
• Swimming pool for competitions with 6 lanes,
• A shooting range for skeet shooting,
• Golf course.

Additional costs may include:

• Nutrition
• Residence
• Classes with tutors,
• English lessons for foreign students,
• Creative personal rehearsals and master classes.

To enter Swanbourne House School subject to availability, students and their parents need to go through the following steps:

• Fill out the registration form,
• Pay a non-refundable application fee,
• Pass an introductory day,
• Write an entrance test,
• Demonstrate the level of academic performance in subjects such as spelling, reading and mathematics (for primary grades),
• Pass exams in English and mathematics (for middle school).

If the child successfully passes all stages of admission, receives good grades for entrance exams and recommendations from the previous school, then the SHS management sends his parents an offer of admission. After that, they need to confirm the child's admission within two weeks: send a completed consent form and pay a deposit.

The school administration lays a high-quality academic foundation for its wards and provides many opportunities for extracurricular activities, which contributes to the formation of self-confident, versatile personalities. After Swanbourne House School students graduate at the end of Year 8, they are enrolled in leading independent high schools. Due to their high grades and other achievements, they successfully enter the educational institutions of their choice.

The requirements for future students of Swanbourne House School depend on the academic level to which they are enrolled. For example, to enter a preparatory group or an early development class, children must be sociable and show interest in school life, participate in extracurricular activities and informal games.

Foreign students must demonstrate and confirm a sufficient level of English proficiency. Upon request, teachers can organize instruction in English as an Additional Language (EAL), but this still requires a good basic level.

Foreign students who wish to live on boarding must have a relative or legal guardian living in the UK.

Students at Swanbourne House School can receive a 10% discount on boarding fees. In addition, the management annually allocates a number of scholarship quotas: they are provided to Year 6 students if they continue their studies at school and demonstrate academic and other achievements in areas such as music, sports, art, theater, design and technology.

Interviews and assessments of candidates take place annually throughout January. At the stage of selection of scholarship holders, teaching staff check the achievements, the level of dedication of students, their prospects and strength of character.

• Guardianship services during the studies
• Student supervision