We Value Everyone.
This is the core of the culture in Talbot’s. Therefore, all members of the house team aim to deliver outstanding care for each boy in their ‘home away from home’. We expect all members of the house community to live in the same way by giving each other respect and helping to create a safe and happy environment to live in. An extension of this culture is that we want all boys to aspire to be all they can, grow in character and thrive. As such, we encourage all young men in Talbot’s to ‘shoulder responsibility, pursue challenge and be an inspiration’.
History and Location
Talbot’s is named after the master who converted a beautiful house on De Parys Avenue into boarding accommodation for pupils in the late 1870s. The house has had fifteen housemasters since H.M. Dymock took charge in 1879. Talbot’s now encompasses two residential addresses on the road, which have been joined, and is blessed with large gardens, including its own orchard and plenty of space for football, cricket and the house chickens.
Though the house is well modernised it still bears the marks of its history with inscriptions in the brickwork still visible from pupils in the first world war and the public spaces enjoying wide open rooms with traditional high ceilings.
Talbot’s enjoys a fantastic location being central to the school campus and only a few minutes walk from the town centre. Boys living in Talbot’s are therefore often to be found entertaining friends at break and lunchtimes in the house, as well as having easy access to all they might need throughout the school day.
Housemaster’s Welcome
“We value everyone” sums up the culture of Talbot’s perfectly. Boys in the house are supported and cared for in as close to a home environment as we are able to create. They are therefore free to flourish and be everything that they can be.
Our doors are always open to the boys and we see them as an extension of our family. Whilst being proud of all their achievements, whether it’s playing in their first concert, or representing their country, we love it most when we see them developing into fine young men that demonstrate the characteristics of the house; shouldering responsibility, pursuing challenge and being an inspiration to those around them.
Our son has grown a lot at Talbot´s and he loves to live there. We really like that the door to your house is always open for him.
Meet the Talbot’s Team
Ross Wise, Housemaster
Mr and Mrs Wise took over at Talbot’s in September 2021. Prior to moving to Bedford School, Mr Wise was Head of Academic Scholars and Enrichment at Downe House. Previously he was the Director of Middle School and Senior Boarding Housemaster in an all-boys school in Australia. He is a keen sportsman and coaches rugby, hockey, and cricket. Mrs Wise is a teacher of Modern Foreign Languages at Kimbolton School and together with their three children, they aim to provide a genuine home away from home for all the young men in Talbot’s they have the privilege of caring for.
Mr Keelan Peters, Assistant Housemaster
Miss Danielle Boughey, House Tutor
Mr Dave Dodgson, House Tutor
Mr Ben Jones, House Tutor
We have wonderful matrons, Mrs Amanda Andrews, Mrs Vanessa Hakesely, Mrs Mary Garnham and Mrs Jan Naylor who combine their wealth of expertise and experience with a motherly touch and work closely with our cleaners and handyman.
