Many changes took place at Bromsgrove School during the summer holidays, including the conversion of Housman Hall - the former home of Bromsgrove School's most famous Old Boy and latterly a prominent hotel in the town centre - into a 70-bed, en suite mixed boarding house for sixth-formers. The hotel was purchased and converted at a cost of £4 million, and the school is delighted to have a presence within the town itself. Headmaster Chris Edwards stresses that despite increasing the bed capacity by 70, the school roll has not increased; in the senior School the figure remains a little under 750, and boarding pupils simply have a lot more space than was previously the case.

Also completed during the summer months was a new £4 million Humanities building, with spacious classrooms and wireless computer provision - the 20-classroom building is another state-of-the-art facility for the school. The Music School moved into a newly-converted suite of rooms where visiting specialist staff each have the benefit of a dedicated teaching room; there are numerous practice rooms and ensemble rooms and a recording studio. Pupils are encouraged to use the facilities for practice and a grand performance of Les Miserables will help celebrate the fact later this term.

Sports facilities have not been forgotten, and a second Astroturf and a new £1 million changing facility will be ready by September 2006. This will mean that Bromsgrove School will have spent an impressive £23 million in the last ten years on improving facilities.

Results this year were particularly impressive. In A-level Mathematics, 22 pupils sat Further Maths, with all of them achieving grade A in single Maths and an astonishing 17 achieving a second A in Further Maths - nobody dropped below a grade B. And anyone thinking this level of performance is at the expense of the arts need only look at the 75 per cent grade A statistic in Art itself, with four Bromsgrove School pupils amongst the top ten A-level candidates in the country for the EdExcel Examination Board. With these results Bromsgrove School proves that you don't have to sacrifice excellence when offering breadth.

Bromsgrove School also promotes excellence and breadth at Pre-Preparatory, Preparatory and Senior School level, and by any objective measurement, delivers outstanding levels of achievement. Parents, staff and pupils have created a very special environment.

The Preparatory School offers parents more choice and flexibility; parents may opt for a five or six day week according to what best suits their own circumstances, while the seven-day boarding week continues as normal. All statutory academic, sporting and cultural work takes place during the week, while Saturday morning comprises optional enrichment programmes: academic, cultural and physical. Fully staffed and carefully programmed, the Saturday sessions appeal to parents who look to the school to provide a rounded education, while parents seeking to enhance their children's experiences elsewhere on a Saturday have the opportunity to do so without fear of missing core academic work or activities.

The programme enables the school to accommodate children who wish to attend some but not all Saturdays. Essentially, parents may choose a five or six day week as they please, though if a pupil is chosen to represent the school in a Saturday sports fixture, attendance at the fixture is compulsory as in any Preparatory School. Pressures on boarders will be relieved while opportunities will expand.

These new changes, in addition to the already established extended day provision from 7.30am to 7.30pm, and occasional boarding facility, offer parents with busy lives even more flexibility.

Bromsgrove School, Worcester Road, Bromsgrove Tel: 01527 579679