Children in navy school uniforms walking up the drive to the red-brick school

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Where curious children grow into confident young people.

Where curious children grow into confident young people.

Where curious children grow into confident young people.

A small, warm prep school in the countryside, where every child is known, encouraged and challenged to do their best.

Small classes

No more than 16 children

Outdoors every day

Forest school and a working garden

Strong results

Leavers into top senior schools

“Our daughter runs into school every morning. The teachers know her inside out.”

Sophie, Year 2 parent

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About Satchel

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Portrait of a warm

Welcome to Satchel Hill

A school where childhood is given room to grow.

Since 1931 we’ve believed that children learn best when they feel safe, known and a little bit adventurous. Our job is to keep them curious — and to send them on at eleven confident, kind and ready for anything.

Mrs Eleanor Marsh

Head

Meet our staff

We want every child to leave Satchel Hill knowing what they love, how to work hard at it, and how to be kind along the way.

We want every child to leave Satchel Hill knowing what they love, how to work hard at it, and how to be kind along the way.

We want every child to leave Satchel Hill knowing what they love, how to work hard at it, and how to be kind along the way.

Our

Learning paths

Reception

Ages 4–5

A gentle, play-based start to school life, with phonics, number and lots of time outdoors.

Find out more

Years 1–2

Ages 5–7

Confident readers and curious thinkers, with specialist French, music and PE every week.

Find out more

Years 3–4

Ages 7–9

More independence, an instrument for everyone, and the first residential trip in Year 4.

Find out more

Years 5–6

Ages 9–11

Preparing for senior school with confidence — 11+, scholarships and leadership roles.

Find out more

See our curriculum

Why Satchel Hill

Six things that make a Satchel Hill day different

Small classes

Never more than sixteen children, so teachers know every child well.

001//

Specialist teachers

French, music, PE, art and science taught by specialists from Reception.

002//

Forest school

Every class spends a whole afternoon a week in our own woodland.

003//

Music for all

Every child in Year 3 learns an instrument, free of charge, for a year.

004//

Sport every day

Games, swimming and dance, with fixtures for every child who wants one.

005//

Wraparound care

Breakfast club from 7.45am and after-school club until 6pm.

006//

Come and see for yourself →

About the school

Uncover the story that shapes every school day

From eleven pupils and a pony in 1931 to two hundred and forty curious children today — the house, the woods and the values haven’t changed much.

Our history

Exterior of a handsome red-brick Victorian country house used as a school

01

Since 1931

Founded by two sisters in a house on Satchel Lane with eleven pupils and a pony. Ninety-five years on, the house is still the heart of the school.

Small group of children aged 6–7 sitting in a circle on a classroom rug

02

Our values

Be curious. Be kind. Be brave. Three words every child can say — and that we try to live by every day, in the classroom and out of it.

Child aged 5 in wellies watering vegetables in a raised wooden garden bed at school, other children digging behind, spring light

03

Outdoors every day

Nine acres of fields, woods and gardens. Lessons move outside whenever they can, and every child has a vegetable bed of their own.

After the bell

Clubs & activities

Children aged 8–10 in football kit dribbling a ball around cones on a school field

Monday

3.30–4.30pm

Football

Skills, small-sided games and fixtures against local schools.

Girls aged 9–11 playing netball on an outdoor court, one shooting at the hoop

Tuesday

3.30–4.30pm

Netball

Footwork, passing and Saturday matches for the keen.

Close view of children’s hands playing violins in a school orchestra rehearsal, sheet music on stands

Wednesday

8.00–8.30am

Orchestra

Our school orchestra — every instrument welcome, every level.

Children aged 7–10 singing in a school choir in a stone church, candles, mouths open mid-note

Thursday

12.45–1.15pm

Choir

Singing at the Christmas carol service, the cathedral and the summer concert.

Children aged 7 making clay pots at a messy art table after school

Tuesday

3.30–4.30pm

Art club

Painting, printmaking and clay in our art studio.

Children aged 9 rehearsing a play with simple costumes in a school hall, expressive faces

Friday

3.30–4.30pm

Drama

Games, improvisation and a short play every term.

Children aged 5–6 holding magnifying glasses looking at bugs on a log in the woods

Wednesday

3.30–4.45pm

Forest explorers

Den building, bug hunts and campfire hot chocolate.

Children aged 10 programming a small wheeled robot on a table with a tablet, excited

Thursday

3.30–4.30pm

Coding & robots

Scratch, micro:bits and robots that draw.

Explore school life

100%
100%

of leavers took up a place at their first-choice senior school

Moving on at eleven

Ready for the next adventure

Our Year 6 children move on to the best senior schools in Hampshire and beyond — and nearly a third with a scholarship. We prepare them for 11+ and pre-tests without ever letting it take over Year 6.

Group of Year 6 children aged 10–11 walking out of the school gate together with backpacks

31%

won scholarships or awards in 2026

14

different senior schools this year

A day at Satchel Hill

From breakfast club to home time

    News & events

    Latest news and upcoming events

    Year 6 children aged 11 sketching inside a great English Gothic cathedral nave, tall stained-glass window behind

    Read the story

    Trips

    Year 6 make history at the cathedral

    Reception children aged 4–5 holding up freshly dug potatoes in the school garden, proud faces

    Read the story

    Outdoors

    A record harvest from the school garden

    Children’s orchestra performing on stage in a grand Victorian town hall, audience in the foreground, warm stage light

    Read the story

    Music

    Orchestra plays at the Guildhall

    Year 6 children aged 11 sketching inside a great English Gothic cathedral nave, tall stained-glass window behind

    Read the story

    Trips

    Year 6 make history at the cathedral

    Reception children aged 4–5 holding up freshly dug potatoes in the school garden, proud faces

    Read the story

    Outdoors

    A record harvest from the school garden

    Browse all news & events →

    Girl aged 8 painting a large colourful canvas in a bright art studio, paint pots and brushes everywhere, back three-quarter view
    Children aged 6 crouching in the school vegetable garden pulling up carrots, muddy hands, laughing
    School orchestra of children aged 8–11 rehearsing with violins and cellos in a wood-panelled hall, conductor’s hand in the foreground

    School life

    A glimpse of school life

    Explore school life

    Boys and girls aged 9 playing a football match on the school field, one child mid-kick, white goalposts behind
    Two children aged 10 wearing safety goggles doing a colourful science experiment in a modern school lab, amazed faces
    Children aged 6–7 building a den with branches in a beech wood at forest school, dappled sunlight

    Parents say

    In their own words

    • Our son was so shy when he started in Year 2. Two years on he’s singing solos in the carol service. The teachers just saw something in him.

      Close head-and-shoulders portrait of a mother in her late thirties, warm smile, outdoors with soft green background, natural light

      Rachel Thompson

      Mum of Leo, Year 4

    • The small classes really are small. His teacher knows exactly where he’s up to in every subject — and tells us before we have to ask.

      Close head-and-shoulders portrait of a father in his forties, friendly, outdoors with soft green background, natural light

      Mark Elliott

      Dad of Freddie, Year 5

    • Forest school on a Friday is the highlight of her week. She comes home muddy, happy and full of facts about beetles.

      Close head-and-shoulders portrait of a mother of British Middle Eastern heritage

      Amira Haddad

      Mum of Layla, Reception

    • We looked at six schools. Satchel Hill was the only one where the children stopped to say hello and hold the door.

      Close head-and-shoulders portrait of a mother in her forties, cheerful, outdoors with soft green background, natural light

      Sarah Pickering

      Mum of three

    • The 11+ preparation was calm and thorough. She got into her first choice and never once felt stressed about it.

      Close head-and-shoulders portrait of a father in his late forties, glasses, outdoors with soft green background, natural light

      James Whitfield

      Dad of Poppy, Year 6 leaver

    • Breakfast club and after-school club make it work for two working parents — and they’re genuinely fun.

      Close head-and-shoulders portrait of a young couple in their thirties, smiling together, outdoors with soft green background, natural light

      Nina & Ollie Carter

      Parents of Max, Year 1

    Book a visit

    Parents say

    In their own words

    • Our son was so shy when he started in Year 2. Two years on he’s singing solos in the carol service. The teachers just saw something in him.

      Close head-and-shoulders portrait of a mother in her late thirties, warm smile, outdoors with soft green background, natural light

      Rachel Thompson

      Mum of Leo, Year 4

    • The small classes really are small. His teacher knows exactly where he’s up to in every subject — and tells us before we have to ask.

      Close head-and-shoulders portrait of a father in his forties, friendly, outdoors with soft green background, natural light

      Mark Elliott

      Dad of Freddie, Year 5

    • Forest school on a Friday is the highlight of her week. She comes home muddy, happy and full of facts about beetles.

      Close head-and-shoulders portrait of a mother of British Middle Eastern heritage

      Amira Haddad

      Mum of Layla, Reception

    • We looked at six schools. Satchel Hill was the only one where the children stopped to say hello and hold the door.

      Close head-and-shoulders portrait of a mother in her forties, cheerful, outdoors with soft green background, natural light

      Sarah Pickering

      Mum of three

    • The 11+ preparation was calm and thorough. She got into her first choice and never once felt stressed about it.

      Close head-and-shoulders portrait of a father in his late forties, glasses, outdoors with soft green background, natural light

      James Whitfield

      Dad of Poppy, Year 6 leaver

    • Breakfast club and after-school club make it work for two working parents — and they’re genuinely fun.

      Close head-and-shoulders portrait of a young couple in their thirties, smiling together, outdoors with soft green background, natural light

      Nina & Ollie Carter

      Parents of Max, Year 1

    • The 11+ preparation was calm and thorough. She got into her first choice and never once felt stressed about it.

      Close head-and-shoulders portrait of a father in his late forties, glasses, outdoors with soft green background, natural light

      James Whitfield

      Dad of Poppy, Year 6 leaver

    • Breakfast club and after-school club make it work for two working parents — and they’re genuinely fun.

      Close head-and-shoulders portrait of a young couple in their thirties, smiling together, outdoors with soft green background, natural light

      Nina & Ollie Carter

      Parents of Max, Year 1

    Book a visit

    Parents say

    In their own words

    • Our son was so shy when he started in Year 2. Two years on he’s singing solos in the carol service. The teachers just saw something in him.

      Close head-and-shoulders portrait of a mother in her late thirties, warm smile, outdoors with soft green background, natural light

      Rachel Thompson

      Mum of Leo, Year 4

    • The small classes really are small. His teacher knows exactly where he’s up to in every subject — and tells us before we have to ask.

      Close head-and-shoulders portrait of a father in his forties, friendly, outdoors with soft green background, natural light

      Mark Elliott

      Dad of Freddie, Year 5

    • Forest school on a Friday is the highlight of her week. She comes home muddy, happy and full of facts about beetles.

      Close head-and-shoulders portrait of a mother of British Middle Eastern heritage

      Amira Haddad

      Mum of Layla, Reception

    • We looked at six schools. Satchel Hill was the only one where the children stopped to say hello and hold the door.

      Close head-and-shoulders portrait of a mother in her forties, cheerful, outdoors with soft green background, natural light

      Sarah Pickering

      Mum of three

    • The 11+ preparation was calm and thorough. She got into her first choice and never once felt stressed about it.

      Close head-and-shoulders portrait of a father in his late forties, glasses, outdoors with soft green background, natural light

      James Whitfield

      Dad of Poppy, Year 6 leaver

    • Breakfast club and after-school club make it work for two working parents — and they’re genuinely fun.

      Close head-and-shoulders portrait of a young couple in their thirties, smiling together, outdoors with soft green background, natural light

      Nina & Ollie Carter

      Parents of Max, Year 1

    • Forest school on a Friday is the highlight of her week. She comes home muddy, happy and full of facts about beetles.

      Close head-and-shoulders portrait of a mother of British Middle Eastern heritage

      Amira Haddad

      Mum of Layla, Reception

    • We looked at six schools. Satchel Hill was the only one where the children stopped to say hello and hold the door.

      Close head-and-shoulders portrait of a mother in her forties, cheerful, outdoors with soft green background, natural light

      Sarah Pickering

      Mum of three

    • The 11+ preparation was calm and thorough. She got into her first choice and never once felt stressed about it.

      Close head-and-shoulders portrait of a father in his late forties, glasses, outdoors with soft green background, natural light

      James Whitfield

      Dad of Poppy, Year 6 leaver

    • Breakfast club and after-school club make it work for two working parents — and they’re genuinely fun.

      Close head-and-shoulders portrait of a young couple in their thirties, smiling together, outdoors with soft green background, natural light

      Nina & Ollie Carter

      Parents of Max, Year 1

    Book a visit

    Questions

    Frequently asked questions

    Can’t find what you’re looking for? Our admissions team is always happy to help.

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    Ready to begin?

    Your child’s journey starts with a visit.

    Come to an open morning, or book a personal tour on any weekday. You’ll meet the Head, see lessons in action and have lunch with us.

    Book a visit

    Download prospectus

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