Dame Bradbury's Junior School

Welcome to Dame Bradbury's School, a vibrant and nurturing community committed to our core motto: Nurturing Individuality, Celebrating Excellence.

At Dame Bradbury’s, we provide a nurturing and inclusive environment from Early Years to Year 6. We promote exceptional pastoral care alongside personalised learning experiences for all our pupils. Our commitment to ambition, creativity and individuality drives us to cultivate independent thinkers, who aspire to excellence.

At the heart of everything we do is the key aim of supporting and encouraging every child to be the best they can be as individuals. We understand that choosing the right school is essential, and our commitment is to provide a truly bespoke, tailored provision that meets the needs and passions of each pupil.

We achieve this unique blend of personal care and high aspiration by offering the best of both worlds: a strong, close-knit school deeply rooted in the Saffron Walden community, backed by the extensive strength and superb opportunities of the wider Stephen Perse Cambridge family. This combination makes Dame Bradbury's School truly unique.

Dame Bradbury's is a place where every child's potential is recognised, celebrated, and expertly developed. We invite you to come and explore further how we can provide the foundation for your child's success.

James McCaughran

Head of Dame Bradbury's Junior School

At Dame Bradbury’s we aim to provide a nurturing and inclusive environment from Early Years to Year 6 that promotes exceptional pastoral care alongside personalised learning experiences for all our pupils.

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Excellent Facilities and Experiences

Set in the heart of a beautiful market town within exceptional grounds, our pupils benefit from state-of-the-art digital technology, and superb science, sports and arts facilities. We offer unmatched experiences and facilities in the local area.

A Wealth of Opportunities

We offer a wealth of activities and experiences designed to help our pupils explore their interests and discover new talents. We offer platforms and opportunities for them to develop and grow in confidence, risk-taking and to build resilience in a fully safe and supportive environment. By combining academic rigour with creative, flexible teaching, we see our pupils grow as independent learners.

Experienced and Knowledgeable Staff

Our form, subject, and senior teachers are passionate experts, dedicated to sharing their knowledge and guiding pupils to achieve their personal best. Learning is adapted and tailored to the needs of the individual to support them to be the best that they can be.

Personalised Pastoral Care

All pupils are known individually by our dedicated staff, providing individual support and guidance tailored to their personal needs. With wellbeing as a priority, we support children with a programme of wellbeing activities, Mental Health First Aid trained staff, an Emotional Literacy Support Assistant and a therapy dog, to ensure children feel safe, happy and supported.

Sustainability

We have a range of community initiatives which have helped us maintain our Green Flag status, which teach our pupils how small actions can make a big difference. Our hands-on activities foster environmental stewardship, boost pupil confidence in observational skills, and spark discussions about their discoveries.

There has been a school on our site in Saffron Walden since at least 1317, when manuscripts show the existence of one Reginald, “Scholemaster of Walden” – the first of a series of “scholemasters”. Dame Bradbury's LogoIn 1522, Dame Johane Bradbury, widow of a former Lord Mayor of London and sister of John Leche, vicar of the parish from 1489 to 1521, re-established the old school by obtaining the necessary letters patent from Henry VIII. Even then the school had high aspirations for its teaching, with a curriculum that was to be “after the ordre and use of teching gramer in the Scoles of Wynchester and Eton”.

A new charter of incorporation for the school was obtained in 1549 by Sir Thomas Smith, Provost of Eton and Secretary of State under King Edward VI and Queen Elizabeth I, making it one of the first of the 18 King Edward VI schools – the school colours remain the colours of Edward VI to this day.

In 1940, the school was closed for six years because of World War II. The land and buildings were occupied first by the RAF and later by the 65th Fighter Wing of the American Army. At the end of the war, the governors reopened the school as a junior school for children aged 5 to 11, renaming it Dame Johane Bradbury’s School.

In 2013, Dame Bradbury’s reached another landmark in its history when it became part of the Stephen Perse Cambridge family of schools.

Through our diverse and enhanced curriculum approach, alongside our values-driven ethos, we build the skills young people need to thrive and to make a positive difference in the world. At Dame Bradbury’s, we encourage children to be active learners – to be curious, develop resilience through risk taking and apply a growth mindset through our extensive offering and opportunities for the children to explore their interests and to develop their talents further.

Scientific understanding

We love Science and our pupils develop their curiosity. To house our scientific quests, we have a specialist Science lab, which offers the opportunity for our pupils to develop their passion for the subject as they build on their ability to become independent investigators.

Language and communication

Our language lessons are exciting, imaginative and often cross into other subjects. Learning to introduce yourself in Spanish, discussing hobbies in French, writing imaginative poetry in English, or exploring coding and scripting in Computing are a taste of the challenges on offer.

Mathematical understanding

Investigating, describing, interpreting, solving – our approach to Maths covers a breadth of skills. Our approach is about exploring and experimenting, playing and creating – and, above all, inspiring curiosity and enjoyably challenging our pupils.

Humanities: social understanding

We connect Humanities with Art, Design, Music and Drama - unlocking creative ways to explore the subjects. From Geography at the coast to experiencing a Victorian classroom, we bring topics to life and use our local and national heritage to inspire our pupils through visits and trips.

Creative and Performing Arts

Drama, speaking and listening skills are embedded across the curriculum, and lessons encourage collaboration and creativity, boosting self-confidence. We ensure art, design and engineering skills are developed, where pupils generate ideas, designs, and competence in handling tools.

Sport, PE and Wellbeing

We believe physical activity plays a vital role in a child’s development. Our dedicated sports programme nurtures a love of movement, teamwork, and healthy competition. We have incredible facilities, including a sports hall, outdoor and indoor MUGAs, astro pitch and a large sports field.

Learning away from the classroom

Co-curricular

From theatre trips and art exhibitions, to accessing a wealth of local options in Saffron Walden - learning in context away from the classroom is integral to our curriculum, both within the timetable and through our clubs and societies. Whether you want to try your hand at tennis or LAMDA, spend time exploring the grounds in our Forest School, hone your jazz skills, develop your chess game, delve into local history, create amazing art and learn about the digital worlds combining technology, science and design, or enjoy team sports, there is something for everyone in our enrichment and outdoor education programmes. Below is a small selection of what we offer.

Ceramics Club

Chess Club

Digital Skills

Eco-Council

Forest School

Jazz and Funk Band

Messy Science

Music Technology

School Orchestra

School Trips

From academic studies to sports, music, drama and art, we are proud of our innovative learning environments and facilities. Located in the heart of Saffron Walden, our school offers state-of-the-art facilities within a supportive community.

Pupils thrive in small class sizes with access to inspiring resources, such as the library, the science laboratory, a drama theatre, an outdoor and indoor MUGA, tennis and netball courts, hockey, cricket and football pitches, a sports hall for full sized netball or basketball matches, three indoor tennis or badminton courts or two full size indoor cricket nets with a bowling machine, to keep our keen cricketers at the top of their game.

The school also benefits from the use of local facilities at Lord Butler Swimming Pool, Saffron Walden and Wendens Ambo Cricket Club and the Carver Barracks Athletics Track.

VENUE HIRE

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Sporting success

As a school which adores sport, we challenge and thrive against the best local schools’ competition and are very active locally as part of the Uttlesford Sports Partnership engaging in athletics, tennis, cross country, dance and swimming events. There are opportunities to shine, but equally to take part and enjoy all that sport has to offer at Dame Bradbury’s School.

Expanding horizons

Our commitment to learning through nature extends beyond the classroom. Examples of trips we take include discovering hidden caverns and developing teamwork skills in the Peak District, immersing ourselves in different languages and culture with our French and Spanish residentials, climbing Snowden, and experiencing the beauty and excitement of a ski trip.

Early Years to Year 6

In our Early Years setting, we offer classes from Rising Three’s, Kindergarten and Reception. By having each of these classes in our early years provision, we can plot a child’s learning journey knowing what they need in Reception and discovering how best to support them in achieving ‘school readiness’ to take them through school years 1-6 with us.

Supportive and inclusive community

We celebrate diversity, embrace cultural identity and ensure that all children feel respected, safe and supported in our inclusive, warm and welcoming environment. Children at Dame Bradbury’s are very much part of the local community and engage with other schools in the areas of music, drama and sport.

Extended school hours

We are open from 7:30am to 6:00pm, providing a safe and supervised environment for your child before and after school. Our after school care includes a Homework Club to support Year 3-6 pupils with work under supervision, and opportunities for pupils of all ages to use our wider facilities for a range of activities until the end of the day.

Convenient home-to-school transport

We offer home to school transport from several key drop-off points to Dame Bradbury’s, allowing children from Year 1 and above to travel to and from school on a bus at a convenient location near you.

Forest School

We strive to maximise time spent outdoors, and have a bespoke Forest School programme located in the historic Castle Grove Woods in Elmdon. Rain or shine, your child will explore, play, and discover the wonders of nature across all seasons in a private, safe and beautiful woodland setting with historic wood and fort.

Bushcraft

As part of our love for outdoor learning, we often use the forest area of school for bushcraft, the science garden for growing and we love to be creative where possible to explore the local areas around Saffron Walden when there are brilliant links to our learning.

The continuity of our all-through approach means that the vast majority of our pupils move directly into our Senior School. They are already familiar with the environment, the ethos, many of the teachers and, most importantly, the expectations for learning. This familiarity removes the anxiety that can often accompany the leap into Year 7, allowing children to step forward with confidence, enthusiasm and a strong sense of belonging.

LEARN MORE

The highlight of my time has been the support that I have received from the staff as they helped me develop my self-belief in the academic ability that they saw in me - I have made many friends in this close-knit community.

George W - Alumnus

DAME BRADBURY'S ADMISSIONS

Stephen Perse Cambridge