Facilities

Facilities

Ipswich School

Early school buildings were located in the town centre but in 1852 the school moved into new buildings opposite Christchurch Park and has remained on this site ever since.

Ipswich School was established on its current site in 1853 and has a history spanning back to the 14th Century in Ipswich. The site has extensive sporting facilities, music and drama venues, as well as a 300 seater capacity main hall which can also be used for dinner functions. Among buildings of particular historical interest is the School’s indoor swimming pool – the oldest of its kind in the country. The School is centred around a cricket pitch and boasts buildings dating back 150 years alongside:

  • IT suites
  • dedicated science labs
  • Sixth Form Centre

Ipswich Prep School

The Prep School was established in 1883 with the aim of preparing children aged 7-11 for entry into the Senior School. In September 1996 the Nursery–Year 2 building was opened and the new building for Years 3–6 was completed in 2006. The outstanding purpose-built facilities are in close proximity to the Senior School and include:

  • hall
  • art, science and music rooms
  • IT suite
  • separate playgrounds, one for early years and one for Years 3-6
  • purpose-built library was built in 2014 for the Lower Prep – from Nursery to Year 2

New Music School

The campaign for a new music school to house Ipswich School’s Britten Faculty of Music was launched in June 2012. The new building includes teaching and practice rooms – two main rehearsal rooms, a technical suite and eight practice rooms. A concert hall, recording studio and four further practice rooms are planned as the final part of the development. It is the school’s intention for this new facility to become one of the region’s main musical hubs, attracting performers from Suffolk and beyond.

School Chapel

Regular Chapel Services for each part of the school offer pupils and families the opportunity of expressing our school community.  There is Christian worship which ranges from a very accessible lower Prep Harvest service to an excellent sung evensong.  The large Chapel Choir is very impressive and sings at a number of cathedrals throughout the year.

Sports Centres

We have three main sports sites in addition to those on the school premises at Henley Road.

Ipswich School Sports Centre, Rushmere

ISSC is a multi-million pound training venue which is part of Ipswich School offering first class sports and events facilities. The site was first developed as a sporting facility back in 1977 by Willis Faber and following a period of private ownership and investment it was taken over by the School in 2012. One of the key requirements for the site was the continued community participation in sport. Situated just 10 minutes outside Ipswich and close to Woodbridge and Felixstowe it has hosted tournaments for Suffolk Netball, Elena Baltacha Academy of Tennis and has been a Junior Regional Performance Centre for Hockey.

www.ipswichschoolsportscentre.co.uk/rushmere

Notcutts

The 32 acres of grass facilities off Henley road/Valley road have been part of the School for many years. Recent improvements to the pavilion mean that it is now an excellent place to host football, cricket and rugby. It can also be used for athletics and rounders and often hosts external school competitions.

www.ipswichschoolsportscentre.co.uk/notcutts 

Westwood

Ipswich School has attractive boarding facilities at Westwood, a Victorian mansion set in wooded grounds near the main school campus. Westwood has a welcoming atmosphere and numbers are limited to fifty Senior School girls and boys, giving the boarding community a strong sense of identity. The accommodation is modern and our staff foster a friendly, relaxed atmosphere. The boarding house is well resourced with games and music practice rooms, and the school’s Astroturf pitch is located within the Westwood gardens. As a largely day school, we offer a wonderful opportunity for our small number of full-time overseas boarders to mix with English pupils and to enrich the culture of the school.

As well as full time boarding, we offer weekly boarding where pupils stay at Westwood on Monday to Thursday (or Friday) evenings. This is ideally suited to those who would otherwise have long journeys to school, or who would enjoy a boarding life during the week and link this with family life at weekends. Occasional boarding allows pupils to book a night at Westwood if parents are away, or if they are staying on at school for an activity.

www.ipswich.school/senior-school/pastoral/boarding

The Lingwood Pavilion at Westwood

Thanks to the generosity of Old Ipswichian Nigel Lingwood, who was at School between 1966 &1977, we have a new sports pavilion overlooking the artificial sports pitch at Westwood Boarding House.

The new building, with its balcony overlooking the pitch, provides a marvellous view of the play area, as well as changing rooms, lavatories, showers, kitchen and social space. Playing and watching hockey and tennis at Westwood will now be a delight.

For details about hiring any of these facilities, visit www.ipswichschoolenterprises.co.uk