Cheltenham Ladies' College
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Cheltenham Ladies' College | |
 |
|
| Established | 1853 |
| Type | independent boarding and day school |
| Headmistress | Vicky Tuck |
| Location | Cheltenham Gloucestershire  England |
| Students | 850 (approx) |
| Gender | Girls |
| Website | www.cheltladiescollege.org |
Cheltenham Ladies' College is an independent boarding and day school for girls, located in Cheltenham, a spa town in the English Cotswolds in the county of Gloucestershire. Today, it takes girls aged 11 to 18 as boarding or day pupils.
Contents |
[edit] History
Cheltenham Ladies' College was founded in 1853. In 1858, the principal's post was taken by Dorothea Beale, a prominent Suffragette educator who also founded St. Hilda's College, Oxford.
Miss Beale kept the post of principal until her death in 1906. She transformed the school from a small establishment concentrating on developing traditional women's skills such as music, sewing and drawing into the first academic school offering courses equivalent to those in men's schools, including mathematics and English. She was a pioneer of women's education. By the end of her life, the school had over a thousand pupils (it had had 58 when she arrived) and it had become socially acceptable to educate women.
When it was founded, the Ladies' College reflected the religious values of the time, and appears to have possessed a rather conventional atmosphere. Scripture lessons were given on Saturdays and boarders also had religious instruction every Sunday. Within the school as a whole, there was a rule of silence, both during and between classes. Miss Beale did not start this rule, but enforced it with more vigour than her predecessors: silence, she thought, taught discipline and self-control, but talking degenerated into gossip[1].
A history[2][3] of the college has been written by Amy Key Clarke.
[edit] Present day
The Cheltenham Ladies' College educates ~865 girls. The College today is a vibrant and dynamic community. Students are placed in small classes and are taught by experienced teachers with state of the art facilities. The College also provides a large range of extra-curricular academic, non-academic and sporting activities.
The College crest depicts two doves, taken from the Cheltenham Town shield, above three stars, which are turn above a daisy, one of the most important school symbols. The school Motto is "Cœlesti Luce Crescat" (May she grow in Heavenly light).
GCSE and A-Levels are taken by all students. In September 2008, the International Baccalaureate was offered to Sixth Form students in conjunction with the current A-Level system. Academic results achieved by the students are impressive. All students carry on their studies (often after a gap year) at reputable universities world wide. In 2006, 26 pupils gained places at Oxbridge. The annual boarding fees are around £27,000 and the day fees are around £16,500.
Girls who board live in one of their 10 boarding houses. There are four senior houses (for the Sixth Form girls) and six junior houses (for 11-16 year olds). The junior houses are St. Helen's, Farnley Lodge, Glenlee, Sidney Lodge, St. Austin's, St. Margaret's and the senior houses are St. Hilda's, Beale, Cambray and Elizabeth.
Each of these Houses is run by a Housemistress and several resident House Staff. Each of the Sixth Form Housemistresses has a small teaching commitment. However, the Housemistresses of the Junior Houses do not teach as they are fully involved in looking after the boarders in their care.
Day Girls have their own base: the recently refurbished Eversleigh, where the three Junior Houses are located. The junior houses are: Glengar, St. Clare and Bellairs. Bayshill Court is the home of the Sixth Form Day Girl House: Bayshill House, and the Day Girl Dining Room.
Girls from CLC generally refer to the school as "Coll". Girls are required to wear their uniform, consisting of a white blouse, green skirt, green jumper with a badge on it featuring their house colours. A green blazer featuring the school crest complete with loden coats (also green) is also worn on special occasions. Sixth form girls are given the option of trousers or pencil skirts (navy with pinstripes). There are occasional "mufti days" for charity when girls are allowed to wear their own clothes.
Cheltenham Ladies' College was featured in the 2007 adaption of St Trinians (2007 film)
[edit] Notable Alumnae
- Annette Bear-Crawford, suffragette
- Tamara Beckwith, socialite
- 11th Duchess of Bedford, Duchess
- Lisa Jardine, British historian
- Princess of Borada, Indian Royalty
- Agnes Royden, preacher and suffragette
- Jane Ellen Harrison, British Classical Scholar
- Elizabeth Phillips Hughes, scholar
- Mary Boyce, doyenne of Zoroastrian studies
- Emily Timberlake (nee Knight), scholar
[edit] Business
- Jacqueline de Baer, millionaire entrepreneur
- Nicola Horlick, businesswoman
[edit] The Arts
- Amanda Wakeley, fashion designer
- Florence Farr, actress and one-time mistress of George Bernard Shaw
- Charlotte Reather, comedy writer and actress
- Bridget Riley, artist
- Sophie Solomon, violinist
- Kristin Scott Thomas, actress
- Damaris Hayman, actress
[edit] Politics
- Cheryl Gillan, MP
- Carolyn Kirby, First female President of the Law Society
- Lesley Knox, Founder of British Linen Advisors/ Ex-Director of Bank of Scotland
- Rachel Lomax, The first woman Deputy Governor of the Bank of England
- Fiona MacTaggart, MP
- Gareth Peirce, doyenne of British defence lawyers
- Sally Keeble, politician
[edit] The Sciences
- Maud Cunnington, archaeologist
- Agnes Elizabeth Lloyd Bennett, Pioneering medical practitioner and scientist (also attended Dulwich Girls' High School, Abbotsleigh and Sydney Girls High School)[4]
- Lillias Hamilton, pioneering doctor and author
- Sister Frances Dominica Ritchie, nurse
[edit] Journalism/Authors
- Phyllis Bentley, author
- Katharine Burdekin, author
- Rosie Boycott, journalist
- D. K. Broster, novelist
- Katharine Burdekin, novelist
- Amy Key Clarke, mystic poet and author
- Beatrice Harradan, writer and suffragette
- Phoebe Hesketh, poet
- Jan Ziff, journalist, broadcaster
- Lady Oppenheimer, Writer
- May Sinclair, writer
- Jenny Uglow, biographer
- Margaret Winifred Vowles, author
- Janet E. Courtney, Writer
- Betty Ridley, journalist
- Margaret Kennedy, novelist
[edit] References
- ^ Alan Dures,"Schools" Past-into-Present Series. London: Batsford, 1971. Page 44
- ^ Amy Key Clarke, "A History of the Cheltenham Ladies' College, 1853-1953". London: Faber and Faber, 1953.
- ^ Amy Key Clarke, "A History of the Cheltenham Ladies' College, 1853-1979". Suffolk: John Catt, 1979.
- ^ Curthoys, Ann (1979). "Bennett, Agnes Elizabeth Lloyd (1872 - 1960)". Australian Dictionary of Biography (Online) 7. Melbourne: Melbourne University Press. pp.265-266. Retrieved on 2008-01-17.
[edit] External links
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||
