Meet Mrs Lyndie Gladen

Job title: Reception teacher Where did you work before? I have been a primary teacher for 14 years. Before becoming a teacher, I worked in a hospital supporting medical secretaries in the Ophthalmology department. Why did you decide to become a teacher? Being a teacher has been a lifelong goal from when I was a little girl. I always enjoyed school and had wonderful primary

Introducing Miss Heather

Miss Mairyn Heather joined us for a few days before the festive break and the Nursery children love her already! We're delighted to have as part of the St Margaret's family. Job title: Nursery Practitioner Where did you work before? Before starting at St Margaret’s I had been working part time in a plumbing and heating office, however before that I have worked in education

Introducing Ms Clare Hornabrook

We're delighted to welcome Mrs Hornabrook to the Nursery team. Job title: Nursery Practitioner Where did you work before? I was a Learning Support Assistant at John Ray Junior school, supporting a boy in year 6 who is type 1 diabetic. Why did you decide to become a Nursery Practitioner? Growing up I was an only child, so I looked forward to family gatherings with

Celebrating an Excellent Inspection Outcome

“Pupils show respect and are inclusive of everyone in the school community. Those new to the school commented on how easy it is to settle in quickly due to the very welcoming behaviour that is prevalent.” ISI, 2021 We are very proud and delighted to announce that we have achieved the highest rating of ‘excellent’ following our latest inspection. The Inspectorate of Schools (ISI) report,

Global Well Day 2021

For this year's Global Be Well Day, the whole school enjoyed activities to help them be active, creative and relaxed. After some fun school dances on the playground to get everyone warmed up and ready for the day, we took a nature ramble around our local countryside to find leaves, twigs and other materials for the art project. The pupils were then put into mixed

Fundraising ChariTea Party

At the start of every academic year, one of the first jobs for our newly appointed Heads of School is to arrange a fundraising event for MacMillan Cancer Support. This was the first year since the COVID pandemic that were able to invite parents in to school to attend the event. Isla, Oliver and William (with some help from their parents) organised an Afternoon Tea

ISA Awards 2021

We are delighted to announce that we are finalists and have also been highly commended in the prestigious 2021 ISA Awards. ISA Award for Outstanding Sport (Large School) - Finalist We have been shortlisted for the hard work of the Sports Department for the 2020/21 academic year, which included online learning during the second lockdown and teaching in year group bubbles. Despite the COVID-related restrictions

Introducing our new Nursery Practitioners

We're delighted to have two new team members in the Nursery - Mrs Jennifer Kerby is looking after our Butterflies and Mrs Clare Wood is working with our Caterpillars. Mrs Jennifer Kerby Where did you work before? I haven't been in a nursery for a long time! I have been a private nanny for the past 6 years, all over the UK and the world. My

Introducing Year 1 teacher, Miss Sweeting

We are looking forward to Miss Johanna Sweeting joining the St. Margaret's Family in September as a Year 1 form teacher. Miss Sweeting came into school before the summer holidays to meet everyone and we took the opportunity to quiz her to find out more about her! Where did you work before? I have spent the last 15 years teaching in a rural village school

Lights, Camera, Action! Year 6 Leavers Film

Due to COVID- restrictions, our Year 6 leavers had missed out on so many 'rights of passage' including a traditional Speech Day and the end of year musical theatre production, for which our year 6 pupils would audition for the major roles. Our pupils feed 16 secondary schools and the end of Summer production is an emotionally charged performance and greatly anticipated event before they

Ending the Year on a High

Despite the June 21st 'Freedom Day' being pushed back, we still managed to ensure that our pupils finished the academic year on a high. Mrs Moss and the team worked hard to make sure that end of term activities and rites of passage for our Year 6 leavers could go ahead, albeit adapted to follow COVID safety regulations.  Sports Day - Friday 25th June We

Charity Day Stars

On Wednesday 30th June, we enjoyed a fun-filled Charity Day, with activities including volleyball, boules, frisbee football, design a wand, yoga, Giant Jenga limbo, Lego, bubble disco, sandcastle building, fancy dress photo booth, pebble painting and lots more! Phew! Well done to Mrs Lunn and Knight House Captains, Noa and Sebastian for organising such a fantastic day! The day started with a reminder of what

Meet Mr Gareth Sanders

Where did you work before? I worked at The Gilberd School in Colchester teaching KS3 and 4 PE along with some experience with KS3 Science, I also taught some Dance. Prior to this I lectured on Sport Science courses at West Suffolk College. Why did you decide to become a teacher? I believe that all young people deserve a great education. Originally studying sports coaching,

Introducing Mr Jared Lunn

Where did you work before? I worked at St Thomas More School in Southend-on-Sea, teaching PE, Science, STEM and Duke of Edinburgh. Why did you decide to become a teacher? After a very positive experience at school myself, as well as growing up with brilliant sporting role models, at the age of 16 I began coaching at a local primary school. Whilst working at that

Meet our new Head of Early Years

When did you join St. Margaret’s? I have now been at St Margaret’s for four years. I started in Year 3 where I worked for three years and have spent the last year teaching Year 1. Before joining St Margaret’s I worked at a British international school in Dubai. Why did you decide to become a teacher? I have always loved working with children. During

Healthy Eating Week: Meet our chef

It is Healthy Eating Week, and we thought it a good opportunity to properly introduce our very own chef, Justin Di-Marco. Justin works for our school caterer, Thomas Franks Ltd and started working at St. Margaret’s in November 2017. Justin is also dad to Monty, who is in Reception. What did you do before working here? I am a classically trained chef, having attended catering

Engineering Day

Year 5 and Year 6 spent Monday 14th June 2021 working on an Engineering Project designed by a team from the Engineering Department at the University of Cambridge. They watched video presentations to introduce them to the environmental challenges that will face engineers in the future and were introduced to different bridge designs. The children completed written work that was submitted as part of their

Anti-Bullying Ambassadors Appointed

At St. Margaret’s we believe that a happy child is a successful child and we are serious about providing a safe, caring, kind and friendly environment for all the St. Margaret’s family. As well as being awarded a Gold Award from the All Together programme by the Anti-Bullying Alliance, being a Stonewall School Champion, running a Girls on Board Programme and being a Halo School,

Praise from our Parents

We are delighted with the positive responses to our recent Voice of the Parent annual survey. The huge majority of the 128 parents that completed it told us how happy both their children and they were with every aspect of the school. Caring, friendly and nurturing environment “It’s not just the high standard of education, it’s all the extra bits too which makes for happy

A bright future for Year 6

We are incredibly proud of our 2020/21 Year 6 cohort for their resilience and hard work during the most challenging time of their academic lives. Not only have they had to deal with two lockdown's forcing them to undertake online learning at home. They have also had to adapt to a new way of life back at school, including keeping to year bubbles, no school

Meet our Deputy Head

We are delighted that Mrs Charlotte Mackle is taking the post of Deputy Head. Mrs Mackle joined in 2003 and has been a member of our Leadership Team for four years as Head of Prep. She currently teachers Year 5 and is our Head of Maths too.

Proud to be a Halo School

Introducing the Halo Code We are excited to announce that St. Margaret's has adopted The Halo Code, the UK's first Black hair code, the UK's first Black hair code. No Black staff or students should have to change their natural or protective hairstyle in order to thrive at our school. We hope that the Halo Code will move us one step closer to a world

Our Story: 75 Years of St. Margaret's

This National Storytelling Week, we are thinking about the stories of St. Margaret's over the 75 years since it was founded in 1946. We hope to celebrate across this 75th anniversary year by sharing stories, memories and pictures from former pupils and staff. But where better place to start the story of St. Margaret's, than with the timeline of the school and its Headteachers! 1946

Music & Drama Education Awards Nomination

We are delighted to announce that our Director of Performances, Mrs Claudia Gray, has been shortlisted in the 2021 Music & Drama Education Awards. Mrs Gray, is nominated for the Drama Inspiration Award for writing and directing the Year 6 leavers film, 'Our story of resilience'. The Music & Drama Education Awards are being celebrated with an extra special virtual ceremony on the 24th March

Successful transition back to Online Teaching & Learning

As we enter another lockdown, we have transitioned back to our Online Teaching and Learning Programme for all school aged children, using online learning platforms Tapestry and Seesaw and Microsoft Teams for live face-to-face teaching. Designed around the St. Margaret’s curriculum, our children continue to receive the high-level programme of study that they would be working to when in school. Our online teaching provision was

Meet Nursery Practitioners Miss Jamil & Miss Fraser

Miss Sophie Jamil When did you join St. Margaret’s? I joined in January 2021, but I was a pupil myself from 2001 – 2009! What did you do before? I graduated from Oxford Brookes University in 2020 with a Sociology degree, and I was also a nursery assistant for several different nurseries in Oxford. I also currently run my own small earring business, “Love Minimal”. Why did

Introducing new teacher, Mr Perkins

                                                     Job title: Graduate Sports Assistant When did you join St. Margaret’s? 1st January 2021 What did you do before? I was at Suffolk New College, where I completed my PGCE Teacher Training. Why did you decide to become a

Helping local disadvantaged families

Every Autumn, for Harvest Festival we collect donations for the Braintree Area Foodbank. This year, more than ever, donations were vital for local families and we are very proud of our St Margaret's Family for generously donating 177.26kg of much needed food and household goods. We have also been collecting for the Foodbank during November as part of their Reverse Advent Calendar fundraiser, with donations

Thinking outside the box to help disadvantaged children

We have once again teamed up with the Halstead Rotary Club to make sure disadvantaged children get a Christmas present this year, through their annual shoebox appeal. Our families packed boxes with gifts for children, babies and adults to make sure even some of the most disadvantaged people in Europe get a present this Christmas. Our families and staff donated an amazing 84 filled boxes

Pupils Act Their Age to help Children in Need

Global Be Well Day

Pupils go green to help Macmillan

Year 6 Awards

School Charity Success

Introducing new teacher, Mrs Rutter

Job title: Prep Teacher When did you join St Margaret’s? August 2020 Where did you work before and what did you do? I worked at Herington House Preparatory School as the Form 1 teacher and was also the lead for Maths and English. I also coached their Netball team. Why did you decide to become a teacher? I love the fact that working with children

Meet the Head - Mrs Carolyn Moss

When did you join St. Margaret’s? I started as a part-time Y6 maths teacher in September 2004 and was given the Y4 class in September 2005.  One of the first pupils in through my classroom door was Imogen Blackburne, Mrs Blackburne's eldest daughter, and this was at a time when Mrs Blackburne didn't work at St Mags! Where did you work before and what did

Headteacher Appointment Announced

I am delighted to confirm the appointment of Mrs Carolyn Moss as Headteacher of St Margaret’s Preparatory School with immediate effect. At this most testing of times for the country, Mrs Moss has provided superb leadership to the school community as it has responded admirably to the unprecedented challenges presented by recent events. This has been reflected in the extremely positive response of both children

Year 6 Celebrations

Parents Praise Return to School

The whole team at St Margaret's has worked hard to ensure the smooth and safe return to school for ALL our year groups and we are delighted with the positive comments we have received from our parents.   "I could not have wished for a better return to school. This pandemic has made it clear that St Margaret's really is a family oriented school. They

Reopen to all children

Year 6 star in farewell film

Congratulations to our Year 6s: 11+ places, scholarships and awards

Focussing on wellbeing as our pupils return to the classroom

Online Teaching & Learning - Getting it right

Back in March, we were able to react to the challenges that the COVID-19 pandemic sprung upon schools. We carefully and meticulously planned our online teaching and learning programme, making every effort to ensure that our pupils are still getting an excellent education. We are successfully delivering the Summer Term curriculum as planned. A school day timetable is being followed and classes are led by

Introducing new teacher, Miss Jessica Wiggins

Job title:  Year 4 Teacher When did you join St. Margaret’s?  April 2020 Where did you work before and what did you do (if not teaching)? My last job was as KS2 Phase Leader, Maths Coordinator and Year 6 teacher at Gosfield School. Why did you decide to become a teacher?  I ran a kid’s club on a holiday camp one summer and realised how

Gold Award for anti-bullying

Picture Perfect

World Book Day Fun!

Our Story

In 1961 the school was sold to W.A. Lindsey Coulbourn MBE, B.Sc. (Econ) and continued as a co-educational day school for children from 4 – 11 years of age with more than 100 pupils. Boys, reaching a sufficiently high standard, could remain at the school until 12 or 13 to take scholarship or Common Entrance examinations. In April 1988 Mr. Coulbourn retired and the school

Christmas Comes Early to St Margaret’s

Year 4 trip to Burwell House

Year 1 trip to Hatfield Forest

Global Be Well Day at St Margaret’s

On Friday 27th September, St Margaret’s will join over 45,000 children and young people around the world to mark Global Be Well Day, a worldwide event led by Cognita, our worldwide family of over 70 schools. All children will be taking part in activities designed to expand their and parents’ understanding of wellbeing during the day. In the run up, on Thursday 26th September, parents

Totally ‘Amazing’ Joseph performance

Goodbye to our Super Sixes!

It's a write off!

In a world of keyboards, good handwriting is still a highly-valued skill that should be nurtured and celebrated. And at St Margaret's we have two reasons to celebrate having won two awards in the national ISA Handwriting competition. Sylvia G was the winner of Year 3-4 Girls; whilst Sophie C was highly commended in Year 5-6 Girls. Congratulations, super work!

We’re a new SuperCamps venue for 2019!

Book by 24th June and get 10% off!*   These fun, multi-activity sessions for children aged 4-12 are more than just childcare, with messy play, games, art, crafts and sport, plus great partnerships like LEGO© building challenges and Teddy Bear Mountain for teddy designing. With a host of activities organised each day, children are all treated as individuals and can participate as much as they

Year 6 ace the robotics challenge

Nursery and Reception get hands-on with some amazing creatures

What a super morning getting to meet some fascinating animals brought along by Lottie from Wild Science. Nursery and Reception children were very excited to high-five a tarantula, hold a tree frog, pet a water dragon, stroke a giant millipede and tickle the tummy of an albino hedgehog. Plus there were lots of cuddles with Lottie’s lop-eared rabbit and guinea pigs. We learned about the

Year 6 were flying high at PGL

Last week saw our brave Year 6 pupils and staff literally take to the air at PGL Bawdsey Manor in Suffolk. Facing their fears and participating in breath-taking activities like abseiling, zipwire and a giant swing controlled by your classmates, Year 6 literally had to risk it all with leaps of faith and stepping out into the dark. And there was a fair amount of

'Disco Lab' proves a hit with St Margaret's pupils

The Discovery Lab was officially opened on Friday 26th April at St Margaret’s Preparatory School in Gosfield. It was funded by St Margaret’s Parent Association through a variety of events from bake sales to quiz nights, family bingo and a summer ball.    Pupils were invited to name the facility and design a logo. The winning entry by John Gacho Lopez in Year 4 has been made into a professional sign

Christmas Holiday Homework

Holiday Homework! We are delighted that the whole school is having some really useful and fun holiday homework for the Christmas break and it's a homework that can be done anywhere. Each child is being asked to:  undertake some litter picking, and supply a photo of them doing it somewhere special to them. This ties in with our charity for the year, which is

Essex Uni Writing Competition 2018

Essex University recently held a Creative Writing Competition with children’s author James Campbell (BoyFace and The Funny Life of Pets) on the lookout to find the next generation of talented authors and illustrators from across Essex.   The competition was open to Key Stage 1 and 2, and was designed to inspire children from across Essex to delve deep into their imaginations! The theme this

Sporting Superstars!

For a small independent school St. Margaret’s Prep School has achieved some remarkable sporting results in the last couple of weeks. On Thursday 22nd November a team of Year 6 girls represented the school at the Independent Schools Association National Hockey Tournament at Lea Valley Olympic Park. Conceding only one goal throughout all of their matches, the girls eventually finished 6th of 16 schools. Wednesday

Girls on Board

Girls on Board is an approach which helps girls, their parents and their teachers to understand the complexities and dynamics of girl friendships. The language, methods and ideas empower girls to solve their own friendship problems and recognises that they are usually the only ones who can. By empowering girls to find their own solutions, parents need worry less, schools can focus more on the curriculum

The Parents' Association Christmas Fair

Dylan, in Year 5, was sitting at a desk in 'late waiters' while his mother was helping to set up and run a stall at the Parents' Association Christmas Fair on Wednesday 14th November. Unprompted he decided to write down what he saw, and we thought that this was just too brilliant not to share with our school community: 'The listening black, bare skeletons stand

Creative writing - My Robot - by Maya E (4C)

We are delighted to share an example of some fabulous creative writing: My Robot Story It was a cold, wet, miserable day and nine year old Alex was tired of doing her boring homework (she says it’s too easy for her!). Alex decided to build a robot to do all her homework for her. She builds a huge, monstrous robot and decided to call  it

Mrs Easton's Trip to Guatemala

I was fortunate this summer to go on a “trip of a lifetime” to Guatemala In a small group, we travelled around the country with the UK’s only Maya archaeologist, Dr Diane Davies, as our leader. From Diane and her many friends, we learnt about how the Maya live today and how the ancient Maya lived. This involved getting up at 4.00 am, walking through

Celebrating two National Athletics Champions!

St Margaret’s are absolutely delighted to have two National Athletics Champions this year! Skyla Lawrence in Year 6 became the Year 6 Girls’ Long Jump Champion (4.01 metres), and Roberta Dines in Year 5 became the Year 5 Girls’ High Jump Champion (1.25 metres) at the Independent Schools Association National Finals in Birmingham on Wednesday 19th June The children were all representing East Anglia at

Ava and Orla, fundraising for St. Clare

Ava and Orla Brobyn wanted to do something to help raise money for St Clare Hospice based in Hastingwood, Essex, who have been doing so much to support their family since their father, Conor, was diagnosed with a terminal brain tumour. The girls, both pupils at St. Margaret's, asked if they could sell items from the charity at school to raise funds. With the support

ISA Eastern Region U11 Netball

Eleven girls from Year 5 & 6 travelled to the ISA Eastern Regional Junior Netball Competition at Alleyn Court School in Southend on Wednesday 31st January. The games were quick-fire and strongly contested but St. Margaret's managed to win all five of their preliminary matches to set up a semi-final match against the host school, Alleyn Court, which they won to send them through to

Work for Homework

As part of our PSHEE syllabus we look at economic factors of modern life, teaching the children about money, the world of work and taxation in an age appropriate way. We decided to build upon this by asking all parents and children to undertake a Work for Homework initiative that would give the children the opportunity to discuss some of these key ideas in a real-world setting. 

ISA National Art Competition

Year 2 Trip to RAF Hendon

  On Wednesday, Year 2 went to RAF Hendon (Luca P). It was a very long journey to get to RAF Hendon and the bus was very bumpy (Pandora). I sat next to Tia and we looked at the cars – they were so small. I called them mini cars! (Esme) We went in the massive building in RAF Hendon. It was magnificent! (Evie) The

New Nursery - Now Open!

The new Nursery, which has been designed by Charles Tashima Architecture, London, will compliment the existing school buildings, the main part of which is a listed, 18th Century former Coach House and stable block. The new building will replace two smaller existing nursery rooms creating one large open plan classroom.  Careful planning and design means there will be a larger footprint and the purpose designed

Our Charity Day Tuesday 4th April, 2017 for Tusk

In the Autumn Term every child in the school was given a chance to vote for the charity that we will support this year - an important opportunity for the children to experience democracy in action! After a very strong representation from all our our house captains, each putting forward a case as to why their chosen charity should receive our support, it was an

U10A New Hall Netball Tournament - Friday 10th March

The New Hall Netball tournament is notorious for its high standards of Netball and today was no exception. St. Margaret's were drawn in Pool A and faced our first opponent, New Hall 'A' team. As always the first game is always a little scrappy. Both teams were still warming up [...]

St. Margaret's Art Exhibition 2017

We know that the standard of art at St. Margaret's is pretty special - now here is your chance to come along and take a good look at some of the brilliant work. 3rd - 5th April in the Library and the Gallery - at either end of the school [...]

Safer Internet Day 2017

On Friday 10th February we celebrated Safer Internet Day with an afternoon of assemblies and activities throughout the whole school, aimed at promoting safe, responsible and respectful behaviour online. Our ICT prefects delivered a whole- school assembly on E Safety and then we split into our forms to get involved [...]

Our Christmas gift in 2016

Instead of giving the children a small gift this year, we have decided to put that money into something different that we thought the children would approve of. We are working with Ethiopiahope, to sponsor two children, a four year old girl, Tigust, and a four year old boy, Yohanas, [...]

Christmas Carols at Gosfield Hall

Gosfield Hall Wedding Venue host a wonderful Christmas Lunch for the elderly in Gosfield village each year. This year 72 of our children were invited to sing for them after their meal. The children arrived early, and were treated to a fantastic ‘Hogwarts’ style lunch all seated at a very [...]

Our Charity for 2016-2017 is Tusk

Drum roll please..... After an overwhelming vote in their favour, our charity of the year this year is Tusk.... Congratulations to Rolfe, our Green House, and their Captains, Muiris and Miya, for putting together such a strong case. Congratulations to all of the other houses for their brilliant research and [...]

Sofia's super swim

Sofia A, a current Year 6 pupil, recently participated in an astonishing swimming challenge for her swimming club. Sofia swims for Halstead Swimming Club, and they were all recently challenged to participate in a twelve hour, overnight, swim to raise funds for the club, and also for the East Anglian [...]

Let's talk about the weather!

The weather In these dark and blustery days, the Reception classes have been learning about the weather. It’s something we take for granted that a child can identify what the day is like, is it hot or cold? But surprisingly this is a subject which can really get children thinking [...]

Cut Hedge Cross Country Trophy 2016

Defending Champions St. Margaret’s faced some tough competition at this year’s Cut Hedge Trophy. First up it was the Girls to race, consisting of an A Team from Years 5/6 and a B Team from Years 3/4. Great running in the early part of the race saw Lauren MP, Sofia [...]

Forest School arrives at St. Margaret's!

Working in partnership with Sue Harrison from Branching Out-Woods, the school is introducing Forest School for Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 students from January 2017. The Forest School approach originated from Scandinavia where children spend most of their time in the outdoors and the learning is child-led; following the [...]

St. Margaret's Young Sailors

Imogen P, aged 10, in Year 6 has been invited to join the National Sailing East Zone Optimist squad. This is an incredible achievement and is the culmination of 18 months of dedicated training and competing in all weathers and conditions all over the country. Imogen, and Year 6 classmate [...]

Scott - Top of the Essex Leaderboard!

  Scott, who is in Year 6, was selected to play for Essex just over a year ago. He has had success in both the 9 & Under and now in the 10 & Under categories. We are delighted to announce that he has just been presented with a medal [...]

National Championships at Hickstead

The Sunshine Tour is a national equestrian competition for amateur riders. Qualifying competitions took place across all disciplines throughout the year, culminating in the National Championships, which are held at Hickstead - England’s most famous showground. Throughout 2016 Lauren, Isabelle, Helene and Sophia, some of the members of our Equestrian [...]

Our new chef, Kezie English

Welcome to Kezie English who has joined the team at St. Margaret's as the new chef. Kezie has three young children, but prior to having a family she worked in London within contract catering at companies including RBS and Ernst & Young. Her claim to fame was working at Channel [...]

Essex Air Ambulance - Final total

  It has become a tradition that the children at St. Margaret's choose which is going to be the Charity that we support each year. The process starts with a house meeting run by the House Captains. Each of the four houses then elects a charity to support and presents that [...]

Outstanding results at the ISA Regional Athletics

We are very proud of all the athletes who competed at Garon’s Park on Monday 10th June in the ISA Regional Athletics competition. We did extraordinarily well and won a new school record of 25 medals, with 8 children qualifying for the National Finals in Birmingham on 29th June!   [...]

Gemma's Farm visit to The Nursery at St. Margaret's

Nursery and Transition are too little to take out on school visits so the next best thing is to bring the farm into school to see them! A picnic lunch in the orchard was a perfect ending to the ‘day out’. The Early Years play area was transformed into a [...]

St. Margaret's vs Felsted U11B 'Ashes' tournament

Wednesday 25th May saw the deciding match in the Felsted vs St Margarets’ Under 11 B “Ashes”. The three match series has been a tradition for a number of years now with a magnificent trophy on offer and, having lost the first and won the second game, the title was [...]

Proud to be 'Essex Boys'

St. Margaret's are delighted to announce that we now have two of our Prep School boys who have been selected to represent Essex. Scott B (5M) has been competing for the Essex 10U Boys Tennis Squad since last summer and now Freddie K (also from 5M) has been selected for [...]

Stella's 'Ace' Story

For the second year running one of the pupils from Yr. 6 at St. Margaret's has made it through the first round of the Chris Evans Breakfast Show's 500 Words Competition. Last year Isobel M-F, who was then in Year 5, made it through the first round, and this year [...]