Growing
Hearts & Minds
Pupil-centred learning
for 3-16 year olds
Welcome!
Dear families,
A warm welcome to our small, much-loved school!
Are you hoping to find a school where your child is inspired to love books, the arts, science and to understand the world around us?
A place full of warm bonds and trust, where s/he can grow happy, empathic and secure?
A school where your child will explore, observe closely, think deeply, debate, experiment and create?
Somewhere s/he can learn how powerful a young adult is- and how s/he can effect positive change in the world?
Then, come and meet us! We’d love to hear all about your child.
Audrey
Headteacher
Grow with us
Why The Olive Tree School?
Our spaces
Come and see our Science lab, ICT room, busy Art studio, two peaceful libraries, our vibrant Music room, outdoor classrooms, two thriving vegetable plots- and our beloved theatre! Bring your child to play our four gorgeous upright pianos dotted around school. Let her/him have a play in our 1000sqm sports hall!
Small is beautiful
Our school was born in 2010 in a lovely house out of the wish to give a small group of children warm, personalised teaching and creative, high-quality learning. We moved to our current premises in 2012 and now have 200 pupils. We are still true to those original aims: a love of ideas, small, family-feel classes of 20 pupils, and close, trusting bonds with adults.
Pupil-centred learning
As in the Montessori and Waldorf traditions, we create space and time for a child and young adult to think deeply, to experiment with ideas and materials, to learn in nature, and to explore concepts in dynamic, sensory ways. We know a stress-free environment is essential to deep learning; our official UK-government exams at age 16 are outstanding. See results chart below.
Our school inspector says,
“The lessons conducted are highly engaging, fostering an environment where children not only actively participate but also achieve an impressive command of the English language. This combination contributes to a highly enriching learning experience for the children.’’
NABSS Inspection Report Nov 2024
Indroducing our school
Our official results at age 16
The Olive Tree’s exam results for 2015-25 at GCSE compared with schools in England in 2025 can be seen below.
The purple bar shows the percentage of pupils in schools in England achieving a grade 7 (A) or above in 2025.
The blue bar shows the percentage of pupils at The Olive Tree School achieving a grade 7 (A) or above between 2015-25.
 Words from the Head
Your Child at Ages 3-5: Learning through Curiosity, Exploration & Creative Problem-Solving
Families’ questions about early learning How does a young child learn best? What do these educational philosophies believe: Montessori, Waldorf, Reggio Emilia? How do they enrich our work at The Olive Tree? How does this sit alongside the British curriculum? Placing your child at the heart of her/his learning At The Olive Tree, we draw
Home & Belonging
What does the concept of ‘home’ mean to an international child? Many of us have left our country of origin to set up a new home, perhaps more than once. What do our children and young adults have to say about this? How do our ‘Third Culture Kids’, as they’ve been termed, define the concept
Accreditations
