WINCHESTER MAGAZINE ARTICLE 02.11.2022
“Evolution, not revolution” is Andrew Harvey’s continuing vision for Twyford Prep. Andrew arrived as headmaster two years ago to lead what was already a thriving co-ed prep school to the next phase in its long history. Naturally, he came with an ambition of what he wanted to achieve – but shortly after he took up post the pandemic forced all schools to close.
Turning what could have been a setback to a positive advantage, Andrew used the time to consider every aspect of the school’s offering, identifying revisions which would embrace the best educational provision for today’s modern family, while ensuring teaching took uppermost priority. A new boarding house opened last term, much to the delight regular flexi-boarders and their families. The structure of the school week and timings of the day were changed to provide a better balance between the demands of home and school, and to give more flexibility to time-pressed parents. At the start of the Autumn term, after extensive consultation and collaboration with parents, pupils, staff, and governors, Andrew was proud to launch the crystallised vision for Twyford, encapsulated in the concise strapline: “It’s all here. Twyford. The complete education.”
“The requirements of independent schools have changed dramatically in recent years,” explained the school registrar, Rebecca Andreae. “With a shift in emphasis from Common Entrance in Year 8 to taking the pre-test in Year 6, we have gained a real opportunity to use the two years in between to broaden each child’s repertoire of experiences and to develop their talents”.
“Our role here at Twyford is to give each child the most complete education – academic, cultural, emotional, physical – so that they, each and every one, can have the best start at living their best life, for themselves and for others. It’s as simple as that.”
Samantha White, Twyford’s head of marketing believes the new strapline perfectly encapsulates the school’s ethos: “It’s a strong public statement of our personality and a confidence in what we stand for; a reflection of who we are now and our direction of travel, which is exactly what we had intended. She continues, “We try to give parents honest, authentic insight into the kind of school we are. When they come for a visit, they recognise the school that they have already engaged with through our online film or read about in our prospectus. In both, we show the myriad of ways in which a Twyford pupil can thrive here, in and beyond the classroom, by visually portraying the Twyford experience. Parents and children see that it really is “all here.” What we say we offer for each child, does happen. To coin a phrase, it’s as simple as that!”