Prep School Debate at Forest School | Avon House School
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Prep School Debate at Forest School

Posted: 3rd February 2026

On Tuesday 3rd February two teams of three pupils attended Forest School to take part in a series of three debates against teams from Forest, Chigwell, Bancroft’s, St Aubyns and Snaresbrook Prep. Two topics, one championing AI as a cure-all for the world’s major problems and another opposing keeping animals as pets, had been communicated to teams beforehand but without determining whether they would propose, or oppose the motion. Each team member spoke for two minutes  preceded or followed by their counterpart, with a teacher from Forest acting as the sole judge.

Mr Evans allowed the chosen pupils to split by age and so Jumana, Tyler and Ayla comprised a team from Year 6 with Aarit, Max and Azrael from Year 5. Several lunchtime sessions allowed the teams to determine their running order and material. After a hearty buffet the evening commenced with re-fuelling in between rounds. Both teams were very eloquent and persuasive all evening and were relieved to both having to propose the 3rd “mystery motion that ” This house believes that social media should be banned for all under 16’s”. Although there was no trophy, our two teams won five out of their six debates and wowed the judges with their mature and reasoned arguments.

Congratulations to all concerned and to Forest for hosting such a slick and enjoyable event.

Categories: Extra Curricular News Prep
Closure of Avon House Preparatory School

It is with much sadness that we are announcing the closure of the school with immediate effect. Avon House was founded over a hundred years ago under the name Essex House and then in the early 1950’s was renamed Avon House School. The vision for the current school was that of Sheila Ferrari who bought the school in 1970, providing a family school for pupils from 3-11 years old.

We have explored a number of options to try and save the school from closure but in recent days it became obvious that was not meant to be. The school has struggled with financial pressures including the introduction of VAT on school fees and the rise in NI and pension costs.

We have always put our pupils at the heart of school life both academically and pastorally under the banner of ‘Celebrating and supporting every child’ and we know that many pupils who have journeyed through our school have gone on to great success.

We wish all our pupils and families the best for the future as they embrace new schools in the locality.