FAQs

Broadly speaking, our aim is for the children to become well-rounded, happy, helpful and resourceful. They’ll be confident but modest, personable, and keen to make a positive contribution as they move on to their senior schools. They’ll know how to work hard and they won’t be daunted by a challenge. Our Year 6 pupils enjoy leading tours at Open Morning so do come and meet some of them for yourself!

As our parents will testify, our 11+ leavers have long enjoyed excellent results gaining places to the region’s top senior schools, many with scholarship offers for academic, music, sport and all round talent. At The Blue Coat School we ensure that pupils are fully prepared for this rigorous examination process but we strongly believe that education is about much more than just academic results. Our broad curriculum nurtures all talents and abilities, whether academic, sporting or artistic. We pride ourselves on providing a rounded education and encouraging our children to have a curious mind.

BCS Sport is inclusive and varied. The major sports of Hockey, Netball, Rounders, Rugby, Football, Cricket, Athletics and Swimming are enjoyed by everybody. As the children move into Prep there are plenty of opportunities to represent the School in Sport. We also run a number of intra-school fixtures and field C,D and E teams as well as the A and Bs. The School has a number of partnerships with sporting clubs which enhances our provision and aides preparation for competitions. These include links with City of Birmingham Swimming, Aston Villa F.C., Moseley Rugby Club, Edgbaston Kestrels Hockey, Edgbaston Priory Tennis Club and Edgbaston Golf Club. We field competitive teams at many of the national finals of the prestigious Independent Association of Prep Schools (IAPS) and the English Swimming Schools Association (ESSA).

Yes! Blue Coat is renowned for excellence in the Creative and Performing Arts. All our children enjoy making music, whether playing, singing or composing. Regular concerts take place both in and out of school, offering children frequent opportunities to perform before an audience. Over 300 individual instrumental lessons take place each week and pupils often reach Grade 5 standard and above by the time they leave. Our annual BCS Young Musician of the Year is a real showcase of the children’s musical talents.

Children of all abilities are encouraged to take part in Dance and Drama, which like Music, are major strengths. Productions such as Fantastic Mr Fox and The Mummy! are highlights of the year, immensely enjoyed by pupils, parents and staff alike.
Painting, textile composition, pottery or media studies - whatever your child’s artistic gifts, we aim to cater for them and have superb dedicated teaching facilities in which he or she can hone these creative talents!

Around 50 extra-curricular activities take place each week, ranging from Mad Science to Club Create to Aston Villa Football in Pre-Prep and from Fencing to Music Technology to Spanish in Prep. Many of the activities take place at lunchtime, and some after school, and we actively encourage the children to develop a range of interests outside the classroom. There really is something for everyone! For a full listing please refer to our Clubs & Extracurricular page

Our catering is provided by Holroyd Howe, a company founded in 1997 by two chefs passionate about providing quality food to independent schools. We offer a considerable choice of food at lunch: options include a choice of two hot meals and a salad bar with cold buffet. A vegetarian and halal option is always available, and special diets are catered for by request. For dessert we offer a pudding, yoghurt or fresh fruit, and healthy snacks are available mid-morning.

King’s Camps offer activities for children aged 5 and above during the majority of the school holidays. In addition, many other organisations offer provision such as Aston Villa Football Club, Complete Cricket and Diamond Swim Academy, as well as our own BCS pre-season sports camps. For our younger children in Nursery we offer one week at Easter and five weeks over the Summer break.

Breakfast Club runs each morning from 7.30am to 8am. This is open to children in Years 2 to 6. A continental breakfast is served four days a week, with a hot option on a Friday. (Please note children arriving after 7.50am will not receive a breakfast but may still be charged.) This is currently suspended due to COVID-19 but we hope to resume provision in the Michaelmas Term 2021.

Nursery and Pre-Prep children can attend from 8am. Aftercare is available at the end of the school day (3.30pm) on a paid basis according to the number of sessions required. These sessions are again of considerable assistance to parents, and dovetail neatly with the extra-curricular activities available to Pre-Prep children on particular days. Care is taken to maintain the requisite staff: children ratios, and the children experience a range of stimulating indoor and outdoor activities over the course of the week.

In Prep wrap-around care is provided via the four Houses – St. Margaret’s and St. Monica’s for the girls and St. Philip’s and St. George’s for the boys. The cost is covered in the fees so there is no additional charge.

From 8.00 am our children are free to play and relax there with their friends before the start of morning school. They can enjoy table tennis, table football, billiards, board games and much more! At the end of the day, our late pick-up facility enables them to play games until they are collected and if they stay beyond 5pm we will sit them down to complete their homework before the last pick up at 5.45pm.

The children love the houses so much they often don’t want to go home at the end of the school day! Since children aged 7-11 share the same House, it’s rather like being in a large family with lots of brothers or sisters. And numerous competitions and other events ensure healthy inter-house rivalry!

The school’s Health Centre is open from 8.30 am until 5.45 pm and is staffed by a qualified children’s nurse or a fully-qualified first aider. Children are cared for in comfortable surroundings and parents are informed immediately of any significant illness or accident. Many of the Nursery and Pre-Prep staff have a paediatric first aid qualification and are qualified to administer first aid as required.