Redroofs is a five-minute walk from Maidenhead station with easy access from Paddington, Ealing Broadway, Slough and Reading.

We offer a unique co-educational Independent Day School
(Year 5 to GCSE) providing an outstanding performing arts curriculum combined with a sound academic education.

Current fees
for academic year 2008 - 2009

Summer term lower school: £2737.85
Summer term upper school: £2970.00

There are three terms per year

Fees rise in January by 7.5% More information

For all enquiries, telephone 01628 674092

Click here to download an application formAN INTRODUCTION TO THE DAY SCHOOL

We offer a unique co-educational independent day school (ages 9-16) providing an outstanding performing arts curriculum combined with a sound academic education to GCSE.

Many boys and girls join our school after attending once-a-week classes either at Redroofs or elsewhere, and often have displayed a clear commitment to an arts-oriented education.

How do you know if this is the right school for your child?

We do not set up open days to advertise what we can offer for your son or daughter,  Instead, we welcome parents and prospective pupils to visit us “in action” on a working day, to meet with the Headteacher and to sense a little of what we are about.  A performance in progress!

All prospective pupils will be invited to participate in the life of the school for a full day, meeting his/her potential friends, participating in the classes of the day and taking in a little of what we are about.  Only then will he/she truly know if this is the right school.

Whilst sports and gym are not a part of our curriculum, the extensive range of dance and drama classes and regular productions offer a challenging physical curriculum developing coordination, strong team spirit and camaraderie.

We do of course have an anti-bullying policy but rarely have cause to refer pupils to it. Our pupils are by nature tolerant of individuality; encouraging of each others talents, and spur each other on through “audition” disappointments or personal difficulties.

Whilst we operate in a competitive world, our  pupils are not encouraged to compare themselves against each other and we expect each pupil to achieve his/her best both in the arts and in academic lessons, whatever that best may be.  The majority of our pupils are academically able.  However, we also encourage less academic children with a strong arts leaning, and have seen an extraordinary academic “turnaround” in children who have not thrived elsewhere, endorsing that “if a child is happy he will learn”.  (If your child has particular needs, please advise us on application).

We do not offer a sixth form. For those looking to continue to train as actors we offer a 2 year Screen-Acting school with Musical Theatre option; many of our dancers are accepted into first-choice dance colleges, and those looking to continue their academic studies opt for sixth forms at either state colleges or independent schools. We know our pupils well and can guide this on an individual basis.

We believe that our pupils are our own best advertisement.

Please come and visit us soon!

Click here to download the Redroofs Ofsted Inspection Report
THE DAY SCHOOL CURRICULUM

The majority of our pupils sit 8-9 GCSE’s.

Theatre School is not a “soft option”.  Our pupils are expected to apply the same commitment to their academic studies as they do to their creative curriculum and an all-round professional attitude is expected throughout the school.  All pupils, whatever their ability, are expected to work hard in all subjects, and as the curriculum already leans heavily towards the arts we do not offer options at GCSE.

Our school day begins with Lesson 1 at 8.15am and comprises eight 45 minute lessons.  The Lower School (Juniors, Years 7 & 8) study academic subjects during lessons 1 - 4 and vocational lessons during lessons 5 - 8.  The Upper School (Years 9 – 11) study vocational subjects during lessons 1 – 4 and academic subjects during lessons 5 – 8.

Vocational studies

At set times during the school year we hold specialist vocational weeks when the normal timetable is suspended to allow a focus on vocational training.  Recent vocational weeks have included a 3-day stage combat workshop, master classes with West End performers, choreography competitions, costume design and inter-house productions.

From time to time the school holds internal competitions to encourage new talents to come forward.  The competition results in a Cup and in cases of outstanding achievement an outlet will be found for work produced.  We are delighted that pupils have found these talents and as a result of our competitions have gone on to work professionally in these fields.  This is also an opportunity for organisational and leadership skills to develop.

 Many of our pupils write, compose and produce plays outside of school hours.  As a small school and a lively artistic community we actively encourage this development and the pupils have on numerous occasions staged their own full-scale musicals for charities and fund-raising at the Novello Theatre.

Pupils follow a curriculum which may comprise ballet, jazz, tap, modern, dance, musical theatre, singing (choir and individual repertoire), improvisation, text study, rehearsals, master classes and examination coaching.

Academic Studies

Academic subjects are taught in small, mixed-ability groups according to age.  Junior pupils are taught primarily by their class teacher whilst Years 7 to 11 are taught by subject specialists.  The curriculum comprises English, Maths, Science, Geography, History, French, Art, Drama and PHSE.  The majority of Year 11 pupils sit 8-9 GCSE’s. From time to time we welcome outside speakers into the school and our weekly assembly offers an opportunity to reflect upon current affairs and moral and ethical issues and to support our PHSE curriculum.

Assessment and Examinations

Pupils are assessed each term in all subjects – vocational and academic.  In the Autumn and Spring Terms, parents receive a Pupil Report Card upon which grades are recorded for effort and attainment.

In the Summer Term pupils sit internal academic examinations and written notification of the results are sent home in a detailed Annual Report.  All pupils also sit externally based National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) tests.  This tests allows us to measure our pupils’ progress against nationally recognised standards and to predict GCSE outcomes for individual pupils.  Parents are invited to attend the Vocational Assessments which also take place in the Summer Term at the Novello Theatre.

In Year 11, pupils sit Mock GCSE Examinations in the January prior to the external examinations in May and June.  Parents receive a written report containing the results of the Mock Examinations.  Entry fees for external examinations are in addition to the school fees.

Throughout the school year pupils are entered as appropriate for the Grade and Major Examinations of the Royal Academy of Dance and the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dance.  These are a compulsory part of their training and fees are payable as extras.
DAY SCHOOL - DANCE AND MUSICAL THEATRE DEPARTMENT

We pride ourselves on an exceptional standard of dance and musical theatre. Our theatre dance curriculum includes, classical ballet [RAD syllabus] Modern and Tap[ISTD syllabus],  non syllabus Jazz dance classes , Singing lessons and musical theatre weekly workshops.

Dance classes are  graded according to ability and in doing this each pupil is able to work at his/her own level.

We aim to allow each pupil to fulfil their dance potential. There are opportunities for performances in our own theatres in school shows and for selected suitable pupils in our yearly pantomime at the Novello theatre.
Children are also encouraged to explore and create dance and we hold choreographic competitions.
We hold musical theatre and dance workshops where children work with invited leading West End artistes and guest choreographers, therefore learning dance and musical theatre repertoire from current shows. The pupils are inspired by these artistes many of whom received their early training at Redroofs.

Our RAD and ISTD examination results rank among the highest in the world and our teachers are qualified and highly experienced. We hold regular sessions generally twice yearly.

Our pupils follow the Royal Academy of Dance Syllabus through grade and majors. More advanced pupils study pointe work.

We enter pupils Imperial Society of Teachers of Dance [ISTD ] exams through grades and majors  . Jazz classes are non syllabus based and we endeavour to incorporate current jazz dance styles in these classes thereby keeping up with latest dance styles and trends.

Pupils train in weekly musical theatre workshops where they study excerpts from musical theatre shows   embracing many different styles .These generally culminate in performances in our theatres or as workshop productions in our studio spaces. In these classes, pupils work in groups where they merge all theatre studies dance , song and drama.

Pupils study ensemble singing, including and introducing harmony work.
Selected singers take part in regular performances raising money for charity and gaining valuable experience in a wide variety of venues. Over the past few years , these performances have included TV and radio appearances and concerts in hotels, old peoples homes ,hospitals , clubs, corporate events and theatres.

Every pupil takes part in a yearly stage assessment at our theatre where parents are invited to watch their child onstage as they perform solo’s in each dance genre together with solo songs, musical theatre and drama .
These solos are graded by the school directors giving the principals, staff, parents and children a clear over view of their all round progress.

We realise the importance of a strong all round training turning out well rounded performers who are “triple threat” therefore increasing the chance of employment at the end of training.
 For those pupils wishing to pursue a dance career we are exceedingly proud that most successfully audition and are accepted at the major UK dance colleges. Our early training enables talented pupils to gain these highly sought after places where they can continue to train to professional level. Knowing each and every Redroofs pupil and his/her capabilities we are always happy to discuss and recommend suitable colleges.

Drama Curriculum

Drama is a popular subject and of course our pupils work for and achieve excellent results at GCSE.
Drama standards are high throughout the school and drama is taught by several subject specialists. Our expectations are that all pupils will develop both knowledge of stagecraft and spontaneity through classes in text study, play readings, performance, improvisation skills, audition workshops and screen skills.

We also offer competitions to develop talents in Directing.

Pupils write, compose and produce plays outside of school hours.  As a small school and a lively artistic community we actively encourage this development and the pupils have on numerous occasions staged their own full-scale musicals for charities and fund-raising at our own theatre.

Throughout their school careers pupils are taken on regular visits to theatres, museums and places of interest to support their school-based studies. We have pupils and ex-graduates in many West End and touring shows and we often take groups to see them in performance. Where these are Redroofs grads we try to arrange for the school to meet them after the show or for them to come to school to talk more about their work and achievements. THE REDROOFS AGENCY

All pupils in the Day School are members of our agency which exists to secure professional opportuunities for our pupils in film, theatre, television and recorded media. Pupils are frequently sent to auditions and whenever possible, we try to arrange auditions to take place after school to disrupt the school day as little as possible. Upon any offer of contract the school will liaise with parents and the Local Education Authority to secure a licence for the school age pupil to work.

While we do invite Casting Directors to the school, most auditions take place in Central London . We have a team of chaperones who take pupils to castings during the school day and where parents are unable to do so after school. These chaperones are paid by the parent but the Agency can often reclaim a casting fee on your behalf. Once a job is secured the Production Company will pay for a licensed Chaperone.

The professional attitude starts in the classroom. Opportunities are seen as a privilege. A pupil who is not cooperating with academic or vocational staff will be blocked from attending auditions.

Please see Agency page for further information.
ART AT REDROOFS

Here are some examples from recent work to give a flavour of the sheer variety and quality of our pupils art work. This is by no means an exhaustive display of the current work that you can see in school, and of course there is always new work being created.

Some examples of recent work March 2009.