Our Story

Faraday School was opened in 2009 by the New Model School company with a simple philanthropic aim: to provide an excellent affordable prep education.

The New Model School Company (NMS) was the brainchild of a group of forward-thinking educationalists, social policy experts and proactive parents who wanted to do things differently. They believed there had to be a way to provide children with a rigorous, knowledge-rich education without it costing the earth.

Such was their belief that they were prepared to fund it themselves. When they first opened our sister school, Maple Walk, in a sports hall in North West London in 2004, they did so with seed investment from a number of individuals, all committed to this vision of a new model of education.

Faraday was opened in East London following the same model. It is supported by the Fishmongers’ Company, one of the Great 12 Livery Companies of the City of London, who sponsor our Fishmongers’ Faraday Award, which offers a free or subsidised school place to a local child every year. We are hugely grateful for their support.

As both schools successfully grew, so did the investment required. But what remains distinctive about the NMS model is that the current and past shareholders do not expect a return on their investment. Philanthropy is still at the heart of the NMS ethos. Enormous efforts are made to maintain the company’s financial resilience while keeping fees as low as possible. All surplus profits made at Maple Walk and Faraday are re-invested in the schools.

As the schools have grown, so has the company. NMS now has a hugely experienced Board of Directors and Advisors who oversee the successful running of the schools, plus our education dynamo, our Teaching & Learning Committee, who oversee and drive our forward-thinking, ambitious, curriculum.

Twenty years on, the belief of our founders is bearing fruit. Both schools are thriving and parents are clearly drawn to our approach of teaching an ambitious knowledge-based curriculum in a creative way. Our results improve year-on-year, with our Year 6 leavers consistently receiving offers and scholarships from many of the top senior schools in London and beyond.