Call for more UAE students

The Downs Malvern is an independent co-educational Prep School, located on a stunning 55-acre site on the western slopes of the Malvern Hills. With 260 students on its rolls, the school comprises a kindergarten, pre-prep and preparatory School; the Preparatory School takes both day students and boarders.

I have been Headmaster at The Downs Malvern since 2009, and am a member of the Boarding Schools’ Association and the IAPS.

The Downs School at Colwall was founded in 1900 by Herbert Jones, who had been educated in Cambridge and was Headmaster at Leighton Park School. When he and his wife founded The Downs as a Preparatory School for boys, it opened with four pupils and slowly expanded, with 40 pupils by 1918.

A distinctive feature of the School is its miniature-gauge railway, the Downs Light Railway, which was established in 1925. Complete with a tunnel and station, it is the world’s oldest privately owned miniature railway.

In the early 1900s, The Downs was also unusual in pioneering extra-curricular activities such as music and hobbies for its pupils. This innovation eventually spread across the mainstream Prep Schools too.

Children at The Downs Malvern benefit from excellent teaching alongside superb extra-curricular, boarding and sports facilities, including a multi-million-pound sports hall, all-weather sports pitch, IT suite, three fully-equipped science laboratories, a design technology department, music school, art studio and more.

Our Boarding House has newly refurbished dormitories with two large communal TV and games’ rooms where all boarders can socialise. 
Our boarders are in the care of professional Houseparents, John and Sarah Warlow, ably supported by a residential team of teaching and nonteaching staff who share several years of experience between them. The team also includes two full-time Matrons.

Our current development plans include the construction of a new four-lane, 25m swimming pool which will enhance our already extensive and highly successful sports programme.

Due to the fine quality of our current pupils from the UAE, we intend to increase the number of marketing ventures to the Middle East and, through discussions with the parents in the UAE, work out ways in which we here at The Downs Malvern can ensure that their children’s experience at the school, including travel to and from the UAE, is as wonderfully memorable as it should be.

Do get in touch — we would be delighted to hear from you!