About Us

Our children are at the centre of all that we do… We know and care about each child…

St Matthew’s is a unique and special school that specialises in infant education and provides an exceptional start to your child’s education.

Founded in 1867 by the philanthropist, Mrs Deacon, as a school for a local orphanage that was much-loved by those who attended. St Matthew’s became a school for the local community because of the Education Act, and later developed as a Church of England School when Mrs Deacon died, and it was passed to the Diocese of Guildford. St Matthew’s remains true to its roots and is a values-based and inclusive church school that serves its local community of Cobham and Downside.

We are a small school, where the sense of family at St Matthew’s ensures that each child feels valued, important and known well by all the staff. We have a strong partnership with parents and welcome their participation in school activities. We know that children thrive in a happy, stimulating and exciting environment and we ensure praise, encouragement and fun in abundance during these vital years of early education so that it is a fulfilling and positive school experience.

As a church school, our Christian vision and values – Responsibility, Friendship, Justice and Wisdom – are central to all that we do, underpinning our school curriculum each day. Our school values have been developed and are shared by the whole school community and with our vision, make our school both distinctively Christian and open to all. Everyone in our community is valued and is enabled to grow to the best they can be.

Our broad and balanced curriculum is exciting, meaningful and relevant, and is the means by which we achieve our objective of educating our children in the knowledge, skills and understanding that they need to be confident life-long learners. Our high standard of education, wealth of learning experiences and challenges enables children by the end of Key Stage One to develop to their full potential academically and personally – enabling a transition with confidence and readiness to Key Stage Two.

We offer a variety of sports, including swimming, and many different extra-curricular clubs, as well as breakfast and after school care for working parents. We are proud of our Eco Schools status and we take advantage of our idyllic location to embrace meaningful outdoor learning experiences that enhance our curriculum provision.