Contact Information and Routines
Contact Information
Term Dates
Leave of Absence
Weekly & Daily Routines
Bus Routes
Up until the first day of term, your contacts remain the Admissions team. The direct line for Admissions is 01889 591415 or you can email admissions@denstonecollege.net.
Our pastoral structure ensures that every pupil has key staff contacts who will get to know them really well. A pupil’s tutor is a very important figure for them; they see their tutees almost every day and keep a close eye on them, both academically and in terms of pastoral care. For day pupils, the Head of House is a key contact for both parents and pupils. They are a go-to person for any concerns that you might have and liaise closely with tutors regarding pupils. While boarders are also under the care of the Head of House, the key contact for them and their parents is their Head of Boarding who acts in loco parentis for the boarders in their care.
Pupils are allocated to Houses when they join Denstone. We have eight Houses. Siblings are all members of the same House. We allocate all other pupils with the aim of achieving balance across the Houses.
You will hear from the relevant Head of House or Boarding ahead of your start at the College. If you need to speak with them ahead of this, key contact details are given overleaf. If you have any queries on this, please do get in touch with our Admissions team.
The Lodge Reception can be reached on 01889 590484. It is at the front of school and it is probably where you came on your first visit to Denstone. It is open from 8am until 5.45pm Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday; 8am until 4.45pm on Wednesdays, and 8.45am until 2.00pm on Saturdays. Once your son or daughter is in school, there will obviously be occasions where you need to get information to a member of staff or, more importantly, your child. In this instance you should ring or email your child’s Head of House initially, (for day pupils) or Heads of Boarding House (for boarders).
If you are unable to make contact with the Heads of Boarding House as appropriate, then ring the Health and Wellbeing Centre and the duty nurse will take your message and pass it on. The Health and Wellbeing Center number is 01889 594318. We do ask parents only to use this number in an emergency.
Head of Boarding: Mr Nic Horan - nhoran@denstonecollege.net
Head of North House (6th Form Boys)Mr Alex Barnhurst- abarnhurst@denstonecollege.netDuty Mobile 07792 268766
Head of South House (3rd - 5th Form Boys)Mrs Josie Davis - jdavis@denstonecollege.netDuty Mobile 07792 269092
Head of Moss Moor (3rd - 6th Form Girls)Miss Clare Furnival - cfurnival@denstonecollege.netDuty Mobile 07974 008765
Heywood: Mrs Ana Jones - ajones@denstonecollege.net
Lowe &Lonsdale: Mrs Catherine Tuxford - ctuxford@denstonecollege.net
Meynell: Mr James Young - jyoung@denstonecollege.net
Philips: Miss Sarah McDowell - smcdowell@denstonecollege.net
Selwyn: Mr Tony Pearson - tpearson@denstonecollege.net
Shrewsbury: Mrs Kate Mackay - kmackay@denstonecollege.net
Woodard: Mr Chris Sassi - csassi@denstonecollege.net
Senior School: Mrs Rachel Maddocks - rmaddocks@denstonecollege.net
Middle School: Mr Richard Mace - rmace@denstonecollege.net
Lower School: Mrs Kate Phillips - kphillips@denstonecollege.net
The Heads of School provide specialist support and guidance to the pupils within their respective age groups. In addition to a weekly assembly that is focused specifically according to the academic and pastoral progress of their pupils, they also provide an extra point of contact for pupils. They also support the Heads of House and pastoral team regarding matters involving a number of pupils across different Houses. Each of the Heads of School is also a member of the Safeguarding Team, with specific responsibility for the pupils in their School.
01889 594318
Please remember that all pupils are required to fulfil their games commitments on Saturday afternoons. This will generally mean that they will be free to go home after games, around 4.00pm. However, when they are involved in home or away matches they may need to remain at school longer. In these cases it may be possible to pre book an occasional boarding place if family circumstances require it, and if we have space.
Although Sixth Formers do not have lessons on a Saturday, those who are selected to represent the school in various fixtures must ensure that they honour this commitment.
Parents of day pupils are asked to contact Heads of House/ Heads of Boarding for leave of absence from school or activities. Where a leave of absence is longer than a day the Head should be contacted. When a pupil is unable to attend school through illness the school should be contacted via absense@denstonecollege.net with the Head of House/ Head of Boarding copied in, the type of illness should be explained in the email.
Parents of boarding pupils should let the Heads of Boarding House know if your son or daughter will be absent overnight for any reason.
Exeat arrangements are subject to school commitments and pupils may be required to leave later or return earlier if they have school obligations (e.g. games, play rehearsals, exams etc.). Exeats and half-terms enable boarders to visit their parents or official guardians.
Parents of boarders are asked to notify the Heads of Boarding House in writing of any other changes in arrangements. The College currently closes completely for half-terms and the three main holidays and we are unable to allow pupils to remain in school under any circumstances.
Registration
All pupils should attend morning registration at 8.45am on weekdays and 9.30am on Saturdays. If for any reason your child is late, they should report to the Lodge on arrival. Parents are asked to email both the child’s Head of House (day pupils) or Heads of Boarding House (boarding pupils) and the Lodge on absence@denstonecollege.net or leave a phone message on 01889 590484.
This must be before 8am on your son or daughter’s first day of absence which has not previously been agreed with the school and every subsequent day of illness. If any pupil is to be late back from a weekend Exeat or half-term break we also ask that the Heads of Boarding House or Head of House be informed. All pupils then attend a second registration each day at the beginning of the afternoon session. Again, any pupil missing this registration must report to the Lodge.
Chapel
We are always pleased to welcome parents at our celebration of Holy Communion in Chapel on Friday afternoons. You asked to be seated by 4:40 PM. You are very welcome to come forward and receive the elements of bread and wine or a blessing as we celebrate as community in this place.
Confirmation is held annually. Pupils are given the opportunity to consider confirmation as part of their first form RS lessons. This opportunity will be communicated to parents in the Head's newsletter. Equally anyone wanting to discuss confirmation is encouraged to contact the chaplain.
The College runs an extensive network of buses, serving pupils across Derbyshire and Staffordshire.
Buses arrive at Denstone at 8.30am and leave at 5.40pm. On Wednesday afternoons, the buses leave at 4.15pm, but parents should be aware that upon occasion pupils may be involved in fixtures that finish later, and will need picking up at those times. On Saturdays, buses arrive at Denstone at 9.15am, 45 minutes later than during the week. Buses do not run on Saturday afternoon, so parents are asked to pick up their children at approximately 4.00pm, depending on their games commitments.
During the first half of Michaelmas Term, and from Lent Half Term onwards, the College is on Summer Timetable on Mondays. At these times, 1st to 3rd Form Form pupils have a prep session from 4.10pm - 5.30pm. Parents of 1st to 3rd Form Form pupils can choose to collect and sign out their children from school after 4.10pm, if they wish, at these times of the year. Buses will still leave at 5.40pm, for those who remain in school for the prep session.
Bus information for September 2025 will be available on the following platform from the Summer Half Term.
Information about our routes can be found here. Please do contact denstonecollege@vectare.co.uk if you would like to discuss our Home to School Transport options.
View Our Bus Routes Here
