School of the Week: Special year for Brackenfield School

Brackenfield was awarded outstanding in all areas by Ofsted earlier in the year and remains the town’s only stand-alone independent prep school for two-11 year olds.

This year is Brackenfield’s 40th anniversary and to mark this special accolade the school is holding a celebration on Saturday, May 20, 2017. Brackenfield would like to hear from anyone with past connections to the school in an attempt to reach as many ex-Brackens as possible.

Headteaacher Pat Sowa is looking forward to a very special day.

“We already have a number of past pupils who are now parents at the school with their own children at Brackenfield and we had a number of ex-Brackens visiting during our recent open morning,” she said. “With our strong family ethos, many of our past pupils and families keep in close contact, which is fabulous, but we want to make sure as many past Brackens as possible are made aware of our anniversary. We have a very special day planned.”

Brackenfield was founded in 1977 by Margaret Sutcliffe, who grew her nursery due to the demand from families who wanted an independent school that focussed on the individual with traditional values and a strong family ethos.

The school continued to grow but in spite of waiting lists and demand for places, to maintain the high quality of education, the school remained with one form per year group with small classes of 22 pupils.

Mrs Sutcliffe has since retired but over the past nine years, the present owners, Mr amd Mrs Comerford, have built on these solid foundations. They are both fully involved in the daily life of the school: Anthony Comerford is the current principal and Helen Comerford is the learning support teacher.

Mr Comerford is looking forward to this special year. “This is a very exciting year for Brackenfield and we are looking forward to a fitting celebration,” he said.

“My wife and I are so proud to be involved in such a wonderful school that holds such a special place in Harrogate life. We are looking forward to welcoming back as many past pupils and families as possible.”

Brackenfield can be contacted on 01423 508558 or email [email protected].

Pick up a copy of the Advertiser series each week to see our School of the Week feature.

l Next week: Highfield Prep School, Harrogate