Abbotsholme School

Last updated

Abbotsholme School
Fair use logo Abbotsholme School.png
Location
Abbotsholme School
, ,
ST14 5BS

England
Coordinates 52°56′40″N1°49′32″W / 52.944374°N 1.82542°W / 52.944374; -1.82542
Information
Type Private day and boarding school
MottoGlad Day Love and Duty
Religious affiliation(s)Christian
Established1889
Founder Cecil Reddie
Department for Education URN 113003 Tables
PrincipalHelen Wilkinson [1]
GenderCoeducational
Age2to 18
Enrolment290~
Colour(s)Green, Gold   
Former pupilsOld Abbotsholmians
Website http://www.abbotsholme.co.uk/

Abbotsholme School is a co-educational private boarding and day school. The school is situated on a 140-acre campus on the banks of the River Dove in Derbyshire, England near the county border and the village of Rocester in Staffordshire. It is a member of the Society of Heads (formerly Society of Headmasters & Headmistresses of Independent Schools) and is a founding member of the Round Square conference of schools.

Contents

History

Exchange student and classmates at Abbotsholme School in 2012 Adityajit Singh Kang (second from left in red Scholar Blazer & blue Scarf) with Classmates at Abbotsholme School, Rocester, Uttoxeter, Staffordshire, England, UK.jpg
Exchange student and classmates at Abbotsholme School in 2012

Abbotsholme was founded by the Scottish academic and educationalist Cecil Reddie [2] as an experiment in his progressive educational philosophies and theories. [3] [4] The school, then known "The New School", opened in 1889 to boys aged 10 to 19. From the very beginning, it departed from the structure of the traditional public school in favour of a less rigid environment and more liberal education. "Eton collars" were discarded in favour of a more comfortable and practical uniform, and English, French and German were taught in place of Classics (Latin and Greek). The fine arts were introduced as core subjects, considered unusual at that time, since music was mostly taught at cathedral schools and art at specialist art institutes. Practical skills such as animal husbandry and carpentry were integrated into the curriculum. [5]

The school has been coeducational since 1969; girls now make up over one third of overall pupil numbers. [ citation needed ]

In 2017 the school was bought by the Chinese company Achieve Education Ltd, owned by Mrs Tong Zhou, who sits on the Achieve Advisory Board. The directors of the school are now those of Achieve Education and are chaired by Mike Farmer, a former head of Kilgraston School. [6]

Abbotsholme Arts Society

Gordon Clark, director of music at the school from the 1950s, founded the Abbotsholme Arts Society in 1968. The first concert, on 24 September, featured oboist Léon Goossens and the organisers have continued to book front-rank professionals and promising newcomers in classical music and jazz - including Alfred Brendel, Paul Tortelier, Yehudi Menuhin, John Dankworth and Cleo Laine, Evelyn Glennie and Vladimir Ashkenazy. [7] Along with concerts there are also films, lectures and visual arts events. [8]

Performances are mostly held in the school's chapel, though some are held at outside venues. Clark pioneered the idea of subscription concerts. [9] Since 1968 there have been over 1,000 concerts: 2022-23 was the 55th season. [8] Clark also founded the Lichfield Festival in 1981. He retired from teaching in 1984, and died suddenly in New York in August 1989, after which the Gordon Clark Memorial Trust Fund was established. [10] Subsequent artistic directors of the Arts Society were Paul Spicer, Meurig Bowen (from 2001), Richard Hawley (previously orchestral manager of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra) and Neil Millensted. [11]

Notable former pupils

Related Research Articles

Progressive education, or educational progressivism, is a pedagogical movement that began in the late 19th century and has persisted in various forms to the present. In Europe, progressive education took the form of the New Education Movement. The term progressive was engaged to distinguish this education from the traditional curricula of the 19th century, which was rooted in classical preparation for the early-industrial university and strongly differentiated by social class. By contrast, progressive education finds its roots in modern, post-industrial experience. Most progressive education programs have these qualities in common:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Exeter College, Oxford</span> College of the University of Oxford

Exeter College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England and the fourth-oldest college of the university.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Henry Hallett Dale</span> English pharmacologist and physiologist (1875–1968)

Sir Henry Hallett Dale was an English pharmacologist and physiologist. For his study of acetylcholine as agent in the chemical transmission of nerve pulses (neurotransmission) he shared the 1936 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Otto Loewi.

A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher educational institutions, a fellow can be a member of a highly ranked group of teachers at a particular college or university or a member of the governing body in some universities; it can also be a specially selected postgraduate student who has been appointed to a post granting a stipend, research facilities and other privileges for a fixed period in order to undertake some advanced study or research, often in return for teaching services. In the context of research and development-intensive large companies or corporations, the title "fellow" is sometimes given to a small number of senior scientists and engineers. In the context of medical education in North America, a fellow is a physician who is undergoing a supervised, sub-specialty medical training (fellowship) after having completed a specialty training program (residency).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">School of Informatics, University of Edinburgh</span>

The School of Informatics is an academic unit of the University of Edinburgh, in Scotland, responsible for research, teaching, outreach and commercialisation in informatics. It was created in 1998 from the former department of artificial intelligence, the Centre for Cognitive Science and the department of computer science, along with the Artificial Intelligence Applications Institute (AIAI) and the Human Communication Research Centre.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alan Blumlein</span> English electronics engineer

Alan Dower Blumlein was an English electronics engineer, notable for his many inventions in telecommunications, sound recording, stereophonic sound, television and radar. He received 128 patents and was considered one of the most significant engineers and inventors of his time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Highgate School</span> Private school in Highgate, London

Highgate School, formally Sir Roger Cholmeley's School at Highgate, is a co-educational, fee-charging, private day school, founded in 1565 in Highgate, London, England. It educates over 1,400 pupils in three sections – Highgate Pre-Preparatory School, Highgate junior school and the senior school (11+) – which together comprise the Highgate Foundation. As part of its wider work the charity was from 2010 a founding partner of the London Academy of Excellence and it is now also the principal education sponsor of an associated Academy, the London Academy of Excellence Tottenham, which opened in September 2017. The principal business sponsor is Tottenham Hotspur FC. The charity also funds the Chrysalis Partnership, a scheme supporting 26 state schools in six London boroughs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Haden Badley</span>

John Haden Badley was an English author, educator, and founder of Bedales School, which claims to have become the first coeducational public boarding school in England in 1893.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blumlein pair</span> Stereo recording technique

Blumlein pair is a stereo recording technique invented by Alan Blumlein for the creation of recordings that, upon replaying through headphones or loudspeakers, recreate the spatial characteristics of the recorded signal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Summertown, Oxford</span> Human settlement in England

Summertown in North Oxford is a suburb of Oxford, England. Summertown is a one-mile square residential area, north of St Giles, the boulevard leading out of Oxford's city centre. Summertown is home to several independent schools and the city's most expensive houses. On both sides of Banbury Road are Summertown's popular shops. There is also a smaller street of shops and restaurants, South Parade, that links Banbury Road and Woodstock Road. Summertown is home to much of Oxford's broadcast media. BBC Radio Oxford and the BBC Television's Oxford studios are on Banbury Road. Start-ups also have an increasing presence on the parade, such as Brainomix and Passle. The studios for JACK FM, Glide FM, and Six TV Oxford are on Woodstock Road.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sidcot School</span> Private school in Winscombe, North Somerset, England

Sidcot School is a British co-educational private school for boarding and day pupils, associated with the Religious Society of Friends. It is one of seven Quaker schools in England. The school is based in the Mendip Hills near the village of Winscombe, Somerset and caters for children between the ages of 3 and 18. Children aged from 3 to 11 are educated in Sidcot Junior School, which is located on its own site adjacent to the main campus. About 130 of the school's 525 pupils (2010) are in this junior school.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sibford Ferris</span> Human settlement in England

Sibford Ferris is a village and civil parish about 6.5 miles (10.5 km) west of Banbury in Oxfordshire. It is on the south side of the Sib valley opposite its larger sister village, Sibford Gower. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 476.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Allan Bradley</span> British geneticist

Allan Bradley FRS is a British geneticist at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute.

Bernard Mordaunt Ward was a British author and third-generation soldier most noted for his support of the Oxfordian theory of Shakespeare authorship and writing the first documentary biography of Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Dexter</span> British hematologist

(Thomas) Michael Dexter FRS is a British haematologist and director of the Wellcome Trust, from 1998 to 2003.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cecil Reddie</span> English educationalist

Dr Cecil Reddie was a reforming English educationalist. He founded and was headmaster of the progressive Abbotsholme School.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jim Cuthbert Smith</span>

Sir James Cuthbert Smith is Director of Science at the Wellcome Trust, Senior Group Leader at the Francis Crick Institute and President of the Council at Zoological Society of London.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jane Clarke (scientist)</span> English biochemist and academic

Jane Clarke is an English biochemist and academic. Since October 2017, she has served as President of Wolfson College, Cambridge. She is also Professor of Molecular Biophysics, a Wellcome Trust Senior Research Fellow in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Cambridge. She was previously a Fellow of Trinity Hall, Cambridge. In 2023, she was elected to the National Academy of Sciences.

James Scott FRCP, FIBiol, FMedSci, FRS is a British cardiologist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amy Badley</span> English educator, suffragist, school co-founder (1862–1956)

Amy Garrett Badley was an English educator, suffragist, co-founder of Bedales School, and a vice president of the National Council for Equal Citizenship.

References

  1. "Abbotsholme School - GOV.UK". get-information-schools.service.gov.uk. Retrieved 6 May 2020.
  2. "Encyclopædia Britannica". Archived from the original on 10 June 2015. Retrieved 10 October 2013.
  3. "Inspection Report" (PDF). INDEPENDENT SCHOOLS INSPECTORATE. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 March 2009. Retrieved 1 September 2008.
  4. Burns, R.W. (2000). The Life and Times of Alan Dower Blumlein. IET. p. 19. ISBN   9780852967737.
  5. "Our History". Archived from the original on 26 August 2012. Retrieved 13 November 2012.
  6. "Achieve Education Limited - Abbotsholme School".
  7. Christopher Morley. 'Forty years of luring some of the best artists around', in The Birmingham Post, 27 September 2007
  8. 1 2 Abbotsford Arts Society: past programmes
  9. Vivien Ardley. Neil Ardley: Kaleidoscopes and Rainbows (2023), p. 184
  10. Gordon Clark Trust website
  11. Abbotsfield Arts Society website
  12. "'If not duffers won't drown'". Archived from the original on 21 November 2016. Retrieved 20 November 2016.
  13. "Wellcome Library Western Manuscripts and Archives catalogue". archives.wellcome.ac.uk.
  14. "Scott e Newsletter" (PDF). Retrieved 5 October 2008.
  15. Crossley, Robert, Olaf Stapledon: Speaking for the Future, Liverpool University Press, 1994
  16. Johnson, W Branch (May 1934). "REDDIE OF ABBOTSHOLME". The Bookman. London. p. 129. ProQuest   3102481.