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Polam School

Polam School is a small independent pre-preparatory school in Bedford for children aged 12 months to 9 years.

Occupying two large Victorian houses on a quiet avenue in the heart of the Bedford, the school has an excellent success rate with assessments to the three Harpur Trust Schools in Bedford, but also feeds into a number of other local schools such as Rushmoor and St Andrew’s, as well as state primary schools.

Music, Languages, Swimming and PE are taught by specialist teachers and are introduced to children as young as 2.  Facilities include a heated indoor swimming pool and a large, well-equipped gymnasium.

The School’s has its own Nursery department for children aged 12 months to 4 years. Both the School and the Nursery underwent an inspection by the Schools Inspection Service in December 2016. The Nursery was judged to be ‘Outstanding ’ in all areas while the School was judged Outstanding in 2 out of 5 areas, with a very solid ‘Good’ for the remaining 3 areas.

Polam School was founded in 1923 by Miss Crump in her home on Chaucer Road. It moved to the current site on Lansdowne Road after the end of the Second World War.

In 1962, it was acquired by Mr & Mrs Poole, who arrived with their four children and soon Polam became well-known for its special family atmosphere.

The School remained a family business, under the Headship of Mr Brown until 2004 when the school was sold. It was later acquired by the Cognita Schools Group.

In 2008, Cognita purchased Acorn School which was a small family-owned nursery based in St Andrews Road. Acorns merged with Polam School, and for a while the school became known as Polam Oaks, before returning to its roots and re-embracing the name of Polam School in 2012.

In 2013 Polam celebrated its 90th Anniversary with a week long programme of events and we are now looking forward to our centenary celebrations in 2023.

Today the School retains the small, family-home feel that has characterised it for 90 years and has a reputation for providing children with a caring, nurturing and happy start in life.