WHAT? WHERE?

A stone’s throw from the Heath, The Pointer School is a small, quirky, co-ed Prep, Pre-Prep and Nursery with 347 pupils (220 boys, 127 girls) aged three to 11 years. Spread across two sites, Pointers began life as a dance school established by the pioneering Pointer Sisters (not the Californian girl band, but rather Muriel and Dela Pointer) in the 1920s, before being turned into a Prep in 1950.

It celebrates its 75th anniversary this year and all kinds of fun events are planned, including an art exhibition, parents’ charity dinner aboard the Cutty Sark in nearby Greenwich and even the launch of a cook book. There’s a real focus on quality food at Pointers thanks to Nico, a former two Michelin-starred chef at Le Gavroche, more of which later.

FACILITIES

Lower school at pointers school in Blackheath — The Lower School building

The Pointer School fills two buildings and makes use of every single bit of space. Lower School’s based in a handsome 19th Century villa with views across to the Heath and a decent sized outside space including astro, climbing frames and sweet touches like a ‘buddy’ bench.

Pre School room at Pointers school — Pre School rooms are magical

The interior’s been creatively designed for younger children, including a gorgeous Nurture Room (for children aged three) complete with a treehouse to climb into and read in (they can exit via a slide). Pre-School classrooms are magical, split between a room styled like a hot air balloon (think wicker walls and striped canopy ceiling), while another’s like being in the countryside, there’s even a tree and cow poking its head over a fence painted on the wall.

Upper School might be for older KS2 Years 3-6, but the decor’s just as imaginative and it has the vibe of an eccentric academic’s home with quirky ephemera and antiques throughout, from collectable Matchbox cars to a red telephone box where pupils can listen to stories via an old rotary phone (how cool?).

Classroom at pointers School — A colour classroom

Classrooms benefit from high ceilings, large windows and colour, there’s also a SEND room, complete with sofa and bean bags, downstairs kitchen and dining hall and a sizeable playground with a separate building converted from garages (they really do make use of all their space!) housing a music room and a surprisingly sizeable dance studio.

I have never been to a school that places such an emphasis on food and wellbeing. Pointers recognises that pupils don’t perform as well when they’re full of processed food and sugar, so they’ve invested in a first rate chef and the results, using fresh, organic, seasonal ingredients, are mouth-watering.

Chef Nico at Pointers School — Chef Nico

Muddy turned up around lunch time and was treated to fresh watercress soup with a duck egg followed by Scottish cod with crushed potato and spring onions and green beans. A far, far cry from turkey twizzlers. The food’s so impressive the school runs an annual Parents’ Restaurant fund-raising event staffed by Year 5, who design the menus and wait the tables for chef Nico.

The Lower School also has its own kitchen serving up variations of chef Nico’s sophisticated Upper School dishes, including fresh crudités, ensuring pupils get used to eating healthy, unprocessed food from an early age. Muddy approves.

SPORT

Football practice at Pointers School in Blackheath

While outside space is limited, Pointers is lucky to have Blackheath Rugby Club’s 10-hectare site within walking distance, which is where most sports take place including football, cricket and, of course, rugby (apparently Blackheath’s the oldest rugby club in the world fact fans). Children also have swimming lessons in a nearby leisure centre, though their annual swimming gala is held at London Aquatics Centre at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, which must be an exciting venue to compete in.

Olympic pool at Greenwich — The Olympic Pool in Greenwich

Away from the pitches and pools, Pointers excels at chess, with all children having lessons once a week and the results speaking for themselves – the school nurtured Shreyas Royal who became a grandmaster at just 15 years old (England’s youngest ever!).

CREATIVE ARTS

The entire school feels SO creative, from budgie bookends to telephones that talk, treehouses and sunshine-coloured walls. With a nod to the school’s dance school heritage, all pupils have a dance lesson once a week. Ditto music and drama. During my tour I encountered a group of younger years children singing their hearts out around a piano in the music room, while Year 6 were keenly practising their high kicks in the dance studio next door.

KS2 take part in annual musicals (such as The Wizard of Oz and Annie Jr) which are performed at Greenwich Theatre, there are also concerts at the end of every term, Nativities for KS1 and early years and an annual Music and Drama Showcase at nearby St John’s Church, where some children get to perform solos.

Art’s clearly more than a subject here, it’s in the school ’s DNA. Every corridor’s a treasure trove of collectables, antiques and professional art work and there are plenty of projects on the go at all times. A tour of a Year 1 classroom revealed they’d recently had a session with a professional cartoonist who had led a discussion on super heroes, including tips on creating heroes and villains and how to design comic strips – the results were proudly displayed on walls in the form of masks in a rainbow of shades and fun super hero figures.

LITTLIES

If you want to start your tot Pointers asap you can enrol them at three years meaning they’ll get to hang out in the Nurture Room, a stimulating space with its very own indoor treehouse. When I visited there were four little ones calmly sticking silver and red tissue on a drawing of a Chinese lantern to celebrate the Chinese Lunar New Year, the picture of concentration.

Pre-school has three year group entries and mornings tend to have a more academic focus (counting, reading) while afternoons are more guided free play.

ACADEMICS

So many positives. Muddy’s favourite thing is the weekly DEAR system – Drop Everything And Read. And that includes the teachers. You can read anywhere (floor, at your desk, even on your desk) just as long as you’re reading a book. How refreshing and something Muddy thinks we’ll introduce at home. Little wonder the school’s excelling at English.

Maths is now as strong as English after Pointers became one of the first schools in the UK to become a Maths Mastery School. Using the Singapore Maths system, pupils use pictoral and abstract methods to answer questions rather than traditional rote learning, to ensure they truly understand a question; think writing a story to explain a method, or using blocks or colouring to demonstrate working out.

Pupils depart to a variety of schools, with head Charlotte Crookes advising parents on the best match for their child, whether that be small, nurturing school like Babington House or a larger, more hot-housey institution such as Jags in Dulwich. If your child’s 11+ material, they’ll be helped to prepare for the exam from Year 3.

I got the sense that independence and entrepreneurialism are strongly encouraged at Pointers too. For example during my tour I came across a group of pupils setting up a newspaper, while last year a group started a secondhand school uniform online store (complete with flash sales) and used the profits to gift a charity and take the whole of of Year 5 out for pizza.

PASTORAL CARE & SEND

This is evidently a very caring school. The usual things are in place, such as Worry Boxes in Upper and Lower schools, but they go the extra mile. For starters staff, some of whom have been there for more than a decade, know all the children well, so are quick to notice any behavioural or emotional changes. There’s a termly resilience survey to find out how pupils are feeling, cosy SEND room (bean bags, sofa, shelves of books) and 23 pastoral groups, including Lego Therapy and Pastoral Food Group for picky eaters.

I chanced on a Food Group during my tour, with six pupils discovering where chickpeas come from, followed by sampling them, crushing them into hummus and finally putting a dollop into a wrap (along with a selection of salad items of their choice) to take home. Apparently this method has helped dozens of kids improve their diet as well as leaving parents slack-jawed when their child suddenly agrees to eat new things at home.

Muddy also met Mia, a Pets for Therapy dog brought in once a week by a local owner to bond with pupils – judging by her wagging tail and the grins’ on the kids faces, this was going well.

QUIRKS

A full-sized mannequin sporting a Changing of the Guard uniform, complete with scarlet jacket and furry hat, stands in reception – apparently he’s been there for more than 20 years and is held in fond memory by former pupils when they come back to visit.

There’s also a jukebox and Lego mini figures designed with the school’s colours and logo – to say these are a hit with kids is an understatement, apparently some pupils have been known to sleep with one by their bed.

EXTRA-CURRICULAR

There are clubs aplenty here with the opportunity to try out new sports alongside music, drama and art provisions. And then there’s the less conventional, like Cookie Monsters Club (a baking class that’s so popular there’s a waiting list) and Virtual Reality and Game Design among the 57 options delivered mainly on site and mostly by in-house staff.

THE HEAD

Cambridge-educated Charlotte Crookes is warm, intelligent and clearly adores the school. She started at Pointers teaching early years and, 13 years later, took the helm as Head Teacher. A big believer in the right education for the right child, she’s forward-thinking, open-minded, a voracious reader and, perhaps most importantly, fun-loving – she’s the first head teacher Muddy’s met with a study boasting a model railway on the ceiling, a magnetic wall and a shelf of books that pupils have personally recommended to her. She strives to work with parents and the community, most recently introducing an app so parents can be more quickly and easily informed about school life, and she’s currently looking to set up a scheme to invite local pensioners into the school for occasional lunches.

WRAP-AROUND CARE

Breakfast Club runs from 7.45am before school and provides a healthy breakfast, while Late Class runs after school until 6.30pm and is an opportunity for children to complete their homework and also enjoy games and activities. The school chef provides a variety of tasty sandwiches and fruit with a drink as an afternoon snack at 4pm. Refreshingly, there’s no requirement to book in advance and there are also holiday clubs to book.

MOBILE PHONE POLICY

Sorry kids, you’re not going to be using TikTok or Snapchat at Pointers, it has a strict no phone policy.

FEES

Nursery, £4,995 per term; Reception – Y6 is £6,485 per term; those fabulous chef Nico lunches are a bit of a steal at £29.25 per week (nursery £21.25). These prices include VAT at 20%.

WORD ON THE GROUND

Parents love the school, with one enthusiastic couple contacting admissions from hospital after their child had just been born…ok there’s no need for that level of organisation, but suffice to say it’s popular and places are snapped up. I got the impression that parents are involved in the school, but not an off-putting amount – if you’re working full-time and can’t pop in to give talks or run a PTA stall, nobody’s going to judge.

THE MUDDY VERDICT

A fun, quirky, successful Prep and Pre-Prep that’s going in the right direction by offering an education that’s about way more than academics ensuring children feel safe, happy and confident. Pupils here are encouraged to think for themselves and appear to love daily school life – including the lunches.

GOOD FOR: If you want a small, nurturing school that will build your child’s self-confidence, allow them to express themselves and try lots of different activities (and foods!), you’re going to love Pointers.

NOT FOR: This isn’t a large school and consequently it doesn’t have all of the trappings of a big Prep, such as onsite playing fields, chapel, theatre or assembly hall.

DARE TO DISAGREE? Tell us your thoughts in the comments below or see it for yourself – the next Pointers School Open Mornings are 11 February (9.15- 10.45am), Book Now and 18 March (9.15-10.45am), Book Now

The Pointer School,19 Stratheden Road, Blackheath, London, SE3 7TH.

The Pointer School, Blackheath, London

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