Downe House School: Difference between revisions

Add links
Coordinates: 51°26′14″N 1°16′25″W / 51.4373°N 1.2737°W / 51.4373; -1.2737
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Browse history interactively
← Previous edit
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
No edit summary
Tags: Mobile edit Mobile app edit iOS app edit
Changing short description from "Girls' school in Cold Ash near Newbury, Berkshire, England" to "Girls' school in Berkshire, England"
 
(40 intermediate revisions by 21 users not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
⚫
{{Short description|Girls' school in Berkshire, England}}
{{Primary sources|date=April 2024}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2020}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2020}}
{{Use British English|date=February 2023}}
⚫
{{short description|Girls' school in Cold Ash near Newbury, Berkshire, England}}
{{Infobox school
{{Infobox school
| name = Downe House School
| name = Downe House School
Line 7: Line 9:
| coordinates = {{coord|51.4373|-1.2737|type:edu_region:GB_dim:100|format=dec|display=inline,title}}
| coordinates = {{coord|51.4373|-1.2737|type:edu_region:GB_dim:100|format=dec|display=inline,title}}
| motto =
| motto =
| type = [[Independent school (United Kingdom)|Independent]] day and boarding
| type = [[Private schools in the United Kingdom|Private]] day and boarding
| religious_affiliation = [[Church of England]]
| religious_affiliation = [[Church of England]]
| established = 1907
| established = 1907
Line 31: Line 33:
[[File:The Downe House School - geograph.org.uk - 11377.jpg|thumb|right|Main entrance]]
[[File:The Downe House School - geograph.org.uk - 11377.jpg|thumb|right|Main entrance]]


'''Downe House School''' is a selective independent girls' day and [[boarding school]] in [[Cold Ash]], a village near [[Newbury, Berkshire]], for girls aged 11–18.<ref>{{cite web|title=Schools Guide 2012 - Downe House|url=http://www.tatler.com/guides/schools-guide/2012/public/downe-house|publisher=[[Tatler (1901)|Tatler]]}}</ref>
'''Downe House School''' is a independent girls' [[boarding school|boarding]] and [[day school|day]] school in [[Cold Ash]] near [[Newbury, Berkshire]], for girls aged 11–18. Entrance is [[Selective school|selective]], and the school has an enrolment of 559.<ref>{{cite web|title=Schools Guide 2012 - Downe House|url=http://www.tatler.com/guides/schools-guide/2012/public/downe-house|publisher=[[Tatler (1901)|Tatler]]}}</ref>


The ''[[Good Schools Guide]]'' described Downe House as an "Archetypal traditional girls' full boarding school turning out delightful, principled, courteous and able girls who go on to make a significant contribution to the world".<ref>[http://goodschoolsguide.co.uk/school/downe-house-school.html Profile] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090813000259/http://goodschoolsguide.co.uk/school/downe-house-school.html |date=13 August 2009 }} on the [[Good Schools Guide]]</ref>
The ''[[Good Schools Guide]]'' described Downe House as an "Archetypal traditional girls' full boarding school turning out delightful, principled, courteous and able girls who go on to make a significant contribution to the world".<ref>[http://goodschoolsguide.co.uk/school/downe-house-school.html Profile] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090813000259/http://goodschoolsguide.co.uk/school/downe-house-school.html |date=13 August 2009 }} on the [[Good Schools Guide]]</ref>
Line 43: Line 45:


==Houses==
==Houses==
As most girls at Downe House are boarders, the house system is incorporated with the boarding programme. Every girl belongs to a mixed age house (AGN, AGS, Aisholt, Holcombe or Tedworth) throughout their time at the school. Students, however, only live in the mixed age houses from U4–U5 (Years 9–11).<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.downehouse.net/boarding.asp|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120509154823/http://www.downehouse.net/boarding.asp|url-status=dead|title=Boarding|archivedate=9 May 2012}}</ref>
As most girls at Downe House are boarders, the house system is incorporated with the boarding programme. Three boarding houses home the youngest students, after which they progress to a mixed-age house until [[Sixth Form]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.downehouse.net/boarding.asp|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120509154823/http://www.downehouse.net/boarding.asp|url-status=dead|title=Boarding|archivedate=9 May 2012}}</ref>


The houses are:
The houses are:
⚫
*Lower School (ages 11–13)
**Hill
**Hermitage
**Darwin
⚫
*Upper School (ages 13–16)
**AGN (Ancren Gate North)
**AGS (Ancren Gate South)
**Aisholt
**Holcombe
**Tedworth
⚫
*Sixth Form (ages 16–18)
**Willis
**York


Students in the Lower Fourth year spend a term boarding at Downe House's campus at [[Sauveterre, Gers|Sauveterre]] near [[Toulouse]], France.<ref name="Sauveterre">{{cite web |title=Downe House Sauveterre |url=https://www.downehouse.net/dh-international/downe-house-sauveterre/ |website=Downe House School |publisher=Downe House School |access-date=6 May 2022}}</ref>
*Hill (ages 11–12)
*Hermitage (ages 11–12)
⚫
*Darwin (ages 11–13)
⚫
*AGN (ages 13–16)
*AGS (ages 13–16)
*Aisholt (ages 13–16)
*Holcombe (ages 13–16)
*Tedworth (ages 13–16)
⚫
*Willis (ages 16–18)
*York (ages 16–18)


==Admissions==
==Admissions==
Line 67: Line 73:


In 2010, the [[Cambridge Pre-U]] was introduced as an alternative to [[A Levels]] at Downe House.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://downehouse.net/cambridge_preu.asp|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110811225023/http://downehouse.net/cambridge_preu.asp|url-status=dead|title=Liberated learning, through liberated teaching|archivedate=11 August 2011}}</ref>
In 2010, the [[Cambridge Pre-U]] was introduced as an alternative to [[A Levels]] at Downe House.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://downehouse.net/cambridge_preu.asp|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110811225023/http://downehouse.net/cambridge_preu.asp|url-status=dead|title=Liberated learning, through liberated teaching|archivedate=11 August 2011}}</ref>

== Houses ==
For the first two years, pupils are split between three lower school boarding houses: Hill, Hermitage and Darwin. They then move on to their mixed aged houses in their third year, the houses being AGS, AGN, Aisholt, Tedworth and Holcombe. The final two years of sixth form are spent in either Willis or York house, as the houses alternate between year groups. The five mixed age houses are used for inter-house competitions such as House Drama, House Music, House Art, House Dance and Sports Day.


==2004 fees story==
==2004 fees story==
Line 75: Line 78:
In 2004, as reported by ''[[The Times]]'', Downe House was one of about sixty of the country's leading independent schools which were accused of running an unlawful price-fixing cartel, contrary to the [[Competition Act 1998]], enabling them to drive up fees charged to thousands of parents.<ref>[http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/education/article588559.ece Independent schools face huge fines over cartel to fix fees - Times Online]</ref> After an Inquiry later that year, in 2005 the school was ordered to pay a nominal penalty of £10,000, and with the other schools agreed to make ''ex-gratia'' payments totalling three million pounds into a trust to benefit pupils who attended the schools during the period in question.<ref>{{cite news|title=OFT names further trustees as part of the independent schools settlement |url=http://www.oft.gov.uk/news/press/2006/182-06 |publisher=[[Office of Fair Trading]] |date=21 December 2006 |url-status = dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080610055129/http://www.oft.gov.uk/news/press/2006/182-06 |archive-date=10 June 2008}}</ref> However, the [[Independent Schools Council]] said the investigation had been "a scandalous waste of public money". Jean Scott, its head, said that the schools had always been exempt from anti-cartel rules applied to business, were following a long-established procedure in sharing the information with each other, and had been unaware of a change to the law, on which they had not been consulted. She wrote to John Vickers, the [[Office of Fair Trading]] director-general, "They are not a group of businessmen meeting behind closed doors to fix the price of their products to the disadvantage of the consumer. They are schools that have quite openly continued to follow a long-established practice because they were unaware that the law had changed."<ref>{{cite news | url = https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/1455730/Private-schools-send-papers-to-fee-fixing-inquiry.html | title = Private schools send papers to fee-fixing inquiry | newspaper = The Daily Telegraph | location = London | date =3 January 2004 | access-date = 27 September 2014}}</ref>
In 2004, as reported by ''[[The Times]]'', Downe House was one of about sixty of the country's leading independent schools which were accused of running an unlawful price-fixing cartel, contrary to the [[Competition Act 1998]], enabling them to drive up fees charged to thousands of parents.<ref>[http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/education/article588559.ece Independent schools face huge fines over cartel to fix fees - Times Online]</ref> After an Inquiry later that year, in 2005 the school was ordered to pay a nominal penalty of £10,000, and with the other schools agreed to make ''ex-gratia'' payments totalling three million pounds into a trust to benefit pupils who attended the schools during the period in question.<ref>{{cite news|title=OFT names further trustees as part of the independent schools settlement |url=http://www.oft.gov.uk/news/press/2006/182-06 |publisher=[[Office of Fair Trading]] |date=21 December 2006 |url-status = dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080610055129/http://www.oft.gov.uk/news/press/2006/182-06 |archive-date=10 June 2008}}</ref> However, the [[Independent Schools Council]] said the investigation had been "a scandalous waste of public money". Jean Scott, its head, said that the schools had always been exempt from anti-cartel rules applied to business, were following a long-established procedure in sharing the information with each other, and had been unaware of a change to the law, on which they had not been consulted. She wrote to John Vickers, the [[Office of Fair Trading]] director-general, "They are not a group of businessmen meeting behind closed doors to fix the price of their products to the disadvantage of the consumer. They are schools that have quite openly continued to follow a long-established practice because they were unaware that the law had changed."<ref>{{cite news | url = https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/1455730/Private-schools-send-papers-to-fee-fixing-inquiry.html | title = Private schools send papers to fee-fixing inquiry | newspaper = The Daily Telegraph | location = London | date =3 January 2004 | access-date = 27 September 2014}}</ref>


==Notable former pupils ==
==Notable alumnae ==
{{See also|Category:People educated at Downe House School}}
<!--Arrange in alphabetical order according to surname-->
<!--Arrange in alphabetical order according to surname-->
<!--Uncited links will be deleted-->
<!--Uncited links will be deleted-->


* [[Margaret Aston]], Medieval historian<ref>{{cite news|last1=Sheppard|first1=Martin|title=Margaret Aston: Historian who illuminated the study of religious life in England between the late Middle Ages and the Civil War|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/world-history/history-of-the-first-world-war-in-100-moments/margaret-aston-historian-who-illuminated-the-study-of-religious-life-in-england-between-the-late-middle-ages-and-the-civil-war-9924131.html|access-date=3 January 2015|work=The Independent|date=14 December 2014}}</ref>
* [[Margaret Aston]] (1932–2014), medieval historian<ref>{{cite news|last1=Sheppard|first1=Martin|title=Margaret Aston: Historian who illuminated the study of religious life in England between the late Middle Ages and the Civil War|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/world-history/history-of-the-first-world-war-in-100-moments/margaret-aston-historian-who-illuminated-the-study-of-religious-life-in-england-between-the-late-middle-ages-and-the-civil-war-9924131.html|access-date=3 January 2015|work=The Independent|date=14 December 2014}}</ref>
* [[Clare Balding]], [[BBC]] sports presenter<ref>{{cite news|title=Clare Balding: 'I want to make the world better, for women mainly'|url=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2013/jan/11/clare-balding-interview-world-better|work=[[The Guardian]]|date=11 January 2013|location=London|first=Kira|last=Cochrane}}</ref>
* [[Clare Balding]] (b. 1971), [[BBC]] sports presenter<ref>{{cite news|title=Clare Balding: 'I want to make the world better, for women mainly'|url=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2013/jan/11/clare-balding-interview-world-better|work=[[The Guardian]]|date=11 January 2013|location=London|first=Kira|last=Cochrane}}</ref>
* [[Elizabeth Bowen]] (1899–1973), novelist and short story writer<ref>{{cite book |first=Elizabeth |last=Bowen |author-link=Elizabeth Bowen |title=Collected Impressions |chapter=The Mulberry Tree |publisher=Longmans Green and Co |location=London |year=1950 |pages=185–194 }}</ref>
* [[Elizabeth Bowen]] (1899–1973), novelist and short story writer<ref>{{cite book |first=Elizabeth |last=Bowen |author-link=Elizabeth Bowen |title=Collected Impressions |chapter=The Mulberry Tree |publisher=Longmans Green and Co |location=London |year=1950 |pages=185–194 }}</ref>
* [[Tessa Dahl]], daughter of [[Roald Dahl]] and Patricia Neal<ref>{{cite news|title=Out of the Shadow|url=http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1989-04-09/features/8904020924_1_roald-dahl-tessa-dahl-happy|publisher=[[Chicago Tribune]]|date=9 April 1989}}</ref>
* [[Tessa Dahl]] (b. 1957), daughter of [[Roald Dahl]] and Patricia Neal<ref>{{cite news|title=Out of the Shadow|url=http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1989-04-09/features/8904020924_1_roald-dahl-tessa-dahl-happy|publisher=[[Chicago Tribune]]|date=9 April 1989}}</ref>
* [[Aileen Fox]], archaeologist<ref>{{cite odnb |first=Henrietta |last=Quinnell |title=Fox [née Henderson], Aileen Mary, Lady Fox (1907–2005) |year=2009 |id=96247 }}</ref>
* [[Amaryllis Fleming]] (1925–1999), cellist<ref>{{Cite book |last=Cook |first=Andrew |title=The Ian Fleming Miscellany |publisher=The History Press |year=2015 |isbn=9780750960915}}</ref>
* [[Miranda Hart]], comedian and actress<ref>{{cite news|title=Miranda Hart: 'I was never in the cool gang'|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/miranda-hart-i-was-never-in-the-cool-gang-6270552.html|work=[[The Independent]]|date=3 December 2011|location=London|first=Gerard|last=Gilbert}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Not too Cool for School! |url=http://downehouse.net/downloads/DHSA%20Cloisters%20Issue%201.pdf |publisher=Cloisters|date=Summer 2011|issue=1|page=5}}{{dead link|date=September 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>
* [[Aileen Fox]] (1907–2005), archaeologist<ref>{{cite odnb |first=Henrietta |last=Quinnell |title=Fox [née Henderson], Aileen Mary, Lady Fox (1907–2005) |year=2009 |id=96247 }}</ref>
* [[Miranda Hart]] (b. 1972), comedian and actress<ref>{{cite news|title=Miranda Hart: 'I was never in the cool gang'|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/miranda-hart-i-was-never-in-the-cool-gang-6270552.html|work=[[The Independent]]|date=3 December 2011|location=London|first=Gerard|last=Gilbert}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Not too Cool for School! |url=http://downehouse.net/downloads/DHSA%20Cloisters%20Issue%201.pdf |publisher=Cloisters|date=Summer 2011|issue=1|page=5}}{{dead link|date=September 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>
* [[Marina Hyde]], columnist for ''[[The Guardian]]''<ref>{{cite web |title=An interview with Marina Hyde (Dudley-Williams DH 1992) |url=https://foundation.downehouse.net/news/alumnae-news/62/62-Marina-Hyde |website=Alumnae News |publisher=Downe House Foundation |access-date=19 December 2019 |date=18 January 2019}}</ref>
* [[Marina Hyde]] (b. 1974), columnist for ''[[The Guardian]]''<ref>{{cite web |title=An interview with Marina Hyde (Dudley-Williams DH 1992) |url=https://foundation.downehouse.net/news/alumnae-news/62/62-Marina-Hyde |website=Alumnae News |publisher=Downe House Foundation |access-date=19 December 2019 |date=18 January 2019}}</ref>
*[[Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge|Catherine, the Duchess of Cambridge]]<ref>{{cite news|title=Royal wedding: 50 things you may not know about Kate Middleton and Prince William|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/royal-wedding/8139417/Royal-wedding-50-things-you-may-not-know-about-Kate-Middleton-and-Prince-William.html|work=The Daily Telegraph|access-date=6 May 2014|first=Laura|last=Roberts|date=17 November 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140605220120/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/royal-wedding/8139417/Royal-wedding-50-things-you-may-not-know-about-Kate-Middleton-and-Prince-William.html|archive-date=5 June 2014|url-status=live}}</ref>
* [[Geraldine James]] (b. 1950), actress<ref name="Tatler 2022">{{cite web |title=Downe House |url=https://www.tatler.com/article/downe-house-tatler-school-guide |website=Tatler |access-date=28 January 2023 |date=20 November 2022}}</ref>
* [[Catherine, Princess of Wales]] (b. 1982)<ref>{{cite news|title=Royal wedding: 50 things you may not know about Kate Middleton and Prince William|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/royal-wedding/8139417/Royal-wedding-50-things-you-may-not-know-about-Kate-Middleton-and-Prince-William.html|work=The Daily Telegraph|access-date=6 May 2014|first=Laura|last=Roberts|date=17 November 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140605220120/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/royal-wedding/8139417/Royal-wedding-50-things-you-may-not-know-about-Kate-Middleton-and-Prince-William.html|archive-date=5 June 2014|url-status=live}}</ref>
* [[Rosemary Murray]], first woman to hold office as Vice-Chancellor of the [[University of Cambridge]]<ref>{{cite news |title=Dame Rosemary Murray, First woman to be Vice-Chancellor of Cambridge University (Obituary) |work=The Independent |date=18 October 2004 |access-date=11 April 2021 |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/dame-rosemary-murray-544028.html }}</ref><ref>{{cite odnb |first=Alex |last=May |title=Murray, Dame (Alice) Rosemary (1913–2004) |year=2009 |id=94367 }}</ref>
* [[Mary Midgley]] (1919–2018), philosopher<ref name="Heal 2018">{{cite news |last1=Heal |first1=Jane |title=Mary Midgley obituary |url=https://www.theguardian.com/education/2018/oct/12/mary-midgley-obituary |access-date=28 January 2023 |work=The Guardian |date=12 October 2018}}</ref>
* [[Rosemary Murray]] (1913–2004), first woman to hold office as Vice-Chancellor of the [[University of Cambridge]]<ref>{{cite news |title=Dame Rosemary Murray, First woman to be Vice-Chancellor of Cambridge University (Obituary) |work=The Independent |date=18 October 2004 |access-date=11 April 2021 |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/dame-rosemary-murray-544028.html }}</ref><ref>{{cite odnb |first=Alex |last=May |title=Murray, Dame (Alice) Rosemary (1913–2004) |year=2009 |id=94367 }}</ref>
* [[Alexandra Tolstoy|Countess Alexandra Tolstoy]], writer and presenter<ref>[https://www.burkespeerage.com/featured_families_Tolstoy.php Tolstoy family] at burkespeerage.com, accessed 6 January 2019</ref>
* [[Alexandra Tolstoy|Countess Alexandra Tolstoy]] (b. 1973), writer and presenter<ref>[https://www.burkespeerage.com/featured_families_Tolstoy.php Tolstoy family] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201018030546/https://www.burkespeerage.com/featured_families_Tolstoy.php |date=18 October 2020 }} at burkespeerage.com, accessed 6 January 2019</ref>
* [[Edith Holt Whetham]], agricultural historian and economist<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/2001/feb/15/guardianobituaries|title=Edith Whetham|date=15 February 2001|work=The Guardian|access-date=12 April 2021|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077|first=Jean I. |last=Currie}}</ref>
* [[Edith Holt Whetham]] (1911–2001), agricultural historian and economist<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/2001/feb/15/guardianobituaries|title=Edith Whetham|date=15 February 2001|work=The Guardian|access-date=12 April 2021|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077|first=Jean I. |last=Currie}}</ref>
* [[Annette Worsley-Taylor]] {{post-nominals|MBE}} (1944 – 2015), fashion entrepreneur and the founder of [[London Fashion Week]].<ref>{{cite web|first=Meredith |last=Etherington-Smith |date=31 August 2015 |title=Annette Worsley-Taylor: London Fashion Week founder whose passion for the best design helped turn British fashion into a global success |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/annette-worsleytaylor-london-fashion-week-founder-whose-passion-for-the-best-design-helped-turn-british-fashion-into-a-global-success-10478760.html |work=The Independent}}</ref>
* [[Annette Worsley-Taylor]] (1944–2015), fashion entrepreneur and the founder of [[London Fashion Week]].<ref>{{cite web|first=Meredith |last=Etherington-Smith |date=31 August 2015 |title=Annette Worsley-Taylor: London Fashion Week founder whose passion for the best design helped turn British fashion into a global success |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/annette-worsleytaylor-london-fashion-week-founder-whose-passion-for-the-best-design-helped-turn-british-fashion-into-a-global-success-10478760.html |work=The Independent}}</ref>


==Notes==
==Notes==
Line 109: Line 114:
{{Authority control}}
{{Authority control}}


[[Category:Independent schools in West Berkshire District]]
[[Category:Private schools in West Berkshire District]]
[[Category:Church of England independent schools in the Diocese of Oxford]]
[[Category:Church of England private schools in the Diocese of Oxford]]
[[Category:People educated at Downe House School| ]]
[[Category:People educated at Downe House School| ]]
[[Category:Member schools of the Girls' Schools Association]]
[[Category:Member schools of the Girls' Schools Association]]

Latest revision as of 07:19, 22 April 2024

Downe House School
Address
Map
Hermitage Road

Cold Ash
,
Berkshire
,
RG18 9JJ

England
Coordinates51°26′14″N 1°16′25″W / 51.4373°N 1.2737°W / 51.4373; -1.2737
Information
TypePrivate day and boarding
Religious affiliation(s)Church of England
Established1907
Department for Education URN110123 Tables
HeadmistressEmma McKendrick
GenderGirls
Age11 to 18
Enrolment559
Colour(s)    [1]
PublicationCloisters
Websitewww.downehouse.net
Main entrance

Downe House School is a independent girls' boarding and day school in Cold Ash near Newbury, Berkshire, for girls aged 11–18. Entrance is selective, and the school has an enrolment of 559.[2]

The Good Schools Guide described Downe House as an "Archetypal traditional girls' full boarding school turning out delightful, principled, courteous and able girls who go on to make a significant contribution to the world".[3]

History[edit]

Downe House was founded in 1907 by Olive Willis, its first headmistress, as an all-girls' boarding school. Its first home was Down House in the village of Downe, Kent (now part of the London Borough of Bromley), which had been the home of Charles Darwin.[4]

By 1921 Down House was too small for the school, so Willis bought The Cloisters, Cold Ash, Berkshire, from the religious order known as the Order of Silence. The school moved to the Cloisters in 1922, where it has since remained. It now accepts day pupils but is still predominantly a boarding school.

Downe House won Tatler's "Best Public School" award in 2011.[5]

Houses[edit]

As most girls at Downe House are boarders, the house system is incorporated with the boarding programme. Three boarding houses home the youngest students, after which they progress to a mixed-age house until Sixth Form[6]

The houses are:

  • Lower School (ages 11–13)
    • Hill
    • Hermitage
    • Darwin
  • Upper School (ages 13–16)
    • AGN (Ancren Gate North)
    • AGS (Ancren Gate South)
    • Aisholt
    • Holcombe
    • Tedworth
  • Sixth Form (ages 16–18)
    • Willis
    • York

Students in the Lower Fourth year spend a term boarding at Downe House's campus at Sauveterre near Toulouse, France.[7]

Admissions[edit]

Downe House educates girls between the ages of eleven and eighteen, taking them from the last years of junior school through to the sixth form. Girls can join the school at the ages of eleven, twelve, or thirteen, on leaving a primary or prep school, or at sixteen after completing GCSEs. The biggest intake of girls is at 11+.

Entry into Downe House is competitive, with entrants needing to pass the Common Entrance Examination.

Curriculum[edit]

The core subjects at Downe House are English, Mathematics and Science as well as Humanities, Classics and Social Sciences subjects and there are options such as Fine Arts, Foreign Languages and Business Studies.[8]

In 2010, the Cambridge Pre-U was introduced as an alternative to A Levels at Downe House.[9]

2004 fees story[edit]

Main article: Independent school fee fixing scandal

In 2004, as reported by The Times, Downe House was one of about sixty of the country's leading independent schools which were accused of running an unlawful price-fixing cartel, contrary to the Competition Act 1998, enabling them to drive up fees charged to thousands of parents.[10] After an Inquiry later that year, in 2005 the school was ordered to pay a nominal penalty of £10,000, and with the other schools agreed to make ex-gratia payments totalling three million pounds into a trust to benefit pupils who attended the schools during the period in question.[11] However, the Independent Schools Council said the investigation had been "a scandalous waste of public money". Jean Scott, its head, said that the schools had always been exempt from anti-cartel rules applied to business, were following a long-established procedure in sharing the information with each other, and had been unaware of a change to the law, on which they had not been consulted. She wrote to John Vickers, the Office of Fair Trading director-general, "They are not a group of businessmen meeting behind closed doors to fix the price of their products to the disadvantage of the consumer. They are schools that have quite openly continued to follow a long-established practice because they were unaware that the law had changed."[12]

Notable alumnae[edit]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ "A new School uniform is in the offing". Downe House. Downe House School. Retrieved 18 January 2018.
  2. ^ "Schools Guide 2012 - Downe House". Tatler.
  3. ^ Profile Archived 13 August 2009 at the Wayback Machine on the Good Schools Guide
  4. ^ Atkins 1976, pp. 106–110.
  5. ^ "Cold Ash school named Tatler's school of 2011". Newbury Weekly News. 7 October 2011. Archived from the original on 3 June 2013.
  6. ^ "Boarding". Archived from the original on 9 May 2012.
  7. ^ "Downe House Sauveterre". Downe House School. Downe House School. Retrieved 6 May 2022.
  8. ^ "curriculum". Archived from the original on 3 July 2013. Retrieved 11 April 2013.
  9. ^ "Liberated learning, through liberated teaching". Archived from the original on 11 August 2011.
  10. ^ Independent schools face huge fines over cartel to fix fees - Times Online
  11. ^ "OFT names further trustees as part of the independent schools settlement". Office of Fair Trading. 21 December 2006. Archived from the original on 10 June 2008.
  12. ^ "Private schools send papers to fee-fixing inquiry". The Daily Telegraph. London. 3 January 2004. Retrieved 27 September 2014.
  13. ^ Sheppard, Martin (14 December 2014). "Margaret Aston: Historian who illuminated the study of religious life in England between the late Middle Ages and the Civil War". The Independent. Retrieved 3 January 2015.
  14. ^ Cochrane, Kira (11 January 2013). "Clare Balding: 'I want to make the world better, for women mainly'". The Guardian. London.
  15. ^ Bowen, Elizabeth (1950). "The Mulberry Tree". Collected Impressions. London: Longmans Green and Co. pp. 185–194.
  16. ^ "Out of the Shadow". Chicago Tribune. 9 April 1989.
  17. ^ Cook, Andrew (2015). The Ian Fleming Miscellany. The History Press. ISBN 9780750960915.
  18. ^ Quinnell, Henrietta (2009). "Fox [née Henderson], Aileen Mary, Lady Fox (1907–2005)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/96247. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  19. ^ Gilbert, Gerard (3 December 2011). "Miranda Hart: 'I was never in the cool gang'". The Independent. London.
  20. ^ "Not too Cool for School!" (PDF). No. 1. Cloisters. Summer 2011. p. 5.[permanent dead link]
  21. ^ "An interview with Marina Hyde (Dudley-Williams DH 1992)". Alumnae News. Downe House Foundation. 18 January 2019. Retrieved 19 December 2019.
  22. ^ "Downe House". Tatler. 20 November 2022. Retrieved 28 January 2023.
  23. ^ Roberts, Laura (17 November 2010). "Royal wedding: 50 things you may not know about Kate Middleton and Prince William". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 5 June 2014. Retrieved 6 May 2014.
  24. ^ Heal, Jane (12 October 2018). "Mary Midgley obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved 28 January 2023.
  25. ^ "Dame Rosemary Murray, First woman to be Vice-Chancellor of Cambridge University (Obituary)". The Independent. 18 October 2004. Retrieved 11 April 2021.
  26. ^ May, Alex (2009). "Murray, Dame (Alice) Rosemary (1913–2004)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/94367. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  27. ^ Tolstoy family Archived 18 October 2020 at the Wayback Machine at burkespeerage.com, accessed 6 January 2019
  28. ^ Currie, Jean I. (15 February 2001). "Edith Whetham". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 12 April 2021.
  29. ^ Etherington-Smith, Meredith (31 August 2015). "Annette Worsley-Taylor: London Fashion Week founder whose passion for the best design helped turn British fashion into a global success". The Independent.

Bibliography[edit]

  • Atkins, Hedley (1976). "Downe House School". Down: the Home of the Darwins: the story of a house and the people who lived there (2nd ed.). [Chichester]: Phillimore. pp. 106–110. ISBN 0-85033-231-1.
  • Bowen, Elizabeth (1950). "The Mulberry Tree". Collected Impressions. London: Longmans Green and Co. pp. 185–194. (Describes life at Downe House during World War I)
  • Horsler, Val; Kingsland, Jenny (2006). Downe House: a Mystery and a Miracle. London: Third Millennium Publishing. ISBN 978-1-903942-50-5.
  • Ridler, Anne (1967). Olive Willis and Downe House: an adventure in education. London: John Murray. At openlibrary.org

External links[edit]

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Downe_House_School&oldid=1220175639"