Cheltenham Ladies' College | |
---|---|
![]() | |
![]() | |
Address | |
![]() | |
Bayshill Road , , GL50 3EP England | |
Coordinates | 51°53′52″N2°4′53″W / 51.89778°N 2.08139°W |
Information | |
Type | Private school Boarding and day school |
Motto | Cœlesti Luce Crescat (May she grow in Heavenly light) |
Religious affiliation(s) | Church of England |
Established | 1853 |
Principal | Eve Jardine-Young |
Staff | 215 |
Gender | Girls |
Age | 11to 18 |
Enrolment | 850 |
Colour(s) | CLC Green |
Website | cheltladiescollege.org |
Cheltenham Ladies' College (CLC) is a private boarding and day school for girls aged 11 or older in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. The school was established in 1853 to provide "a sound academic education for girls". [1] It is also a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference.
The school badge depicts two martlets, inspiration for which was taken from the pigeons of the Cheltenham town coat of arms, [2] above three stars, which are in turn above a daisy, a school symbol.
In 2020, Cheltenham Ladies' College was named Southwest Independent School of the Decade by The Times and The Sunday Times . It is listed in The Schools Index as one of the world's 150 leading schools and one of the top 30 UK senior schools. [3]
The school was founded in 1853 after six individuals, including the Principal and Vice-Principal of Cheltenham College and four other men, decided to create a girls' school that would be similar to Cheltenham College. On 13 February 1854, the first 82 pupils began attending the school, with Annie Procter serving as the school's Principal. [4] In 1858, upon Procter resigning from her position, the Principal's post was taken by Dorothea Beale, a prominent suffragist educator who later founded St Hilda's College, Oxford. [1] Beale, Louisa Lumsden and Frances Dove maintained their strong links with Cheltenham's contemporary, St Leonard's School. [5] Beale was commemorated by a Cheltenham Civic Society blue plaque in 2017. [6] In 1998, it was announced that sixth-form girls at the school would be allowed to wear trousers for the first time. [7]
The school is divided into three divisions, Lower College (KS3), Upper College (KS4) and Sixth Form College (KS5). The school gives pupils a choice in what they study. A range of subject combinations is available to Upper College girls at GCSE, and for Sixth Form girls at A-level or International Baccalaureate (IB). Tutors are full-time academic members of staff and advise girls on matters relating to their academic work and progress, while the Professional Guidance Centre gives advice on career options and university applications. [8] Most pupils go on to continue higher education.
The school's academic results are high, both compared to the national average and within the independent sector. From 2014 to 2017, the school reported that over two thirds of A-level results and approximately 90% of GCSE results were A* or A grades. [9] Since 2015, the school has been the top girls boarding school in the country for IB results for three consecutive years. [10] In 2019, 71% of students scored A*/A for their A-level examinations awhile 90% scored A*/A for GCSE. [11]
The school is made up of around 80% boarders and 20% day girls. Whether boarders or day girls, pupils are part of a junior or senior house and are supervised by a Housemistress and a team of House Staff.
Girls who board live in one of eleven boarding houses. There are six junior houses for 11- to 16-year-olds, and five senior houses for sixth form girls. The junior houses are Farnley Lodge, Glenlee, Sidney Lodge, St. Austin's, St. Helen's, and St. Margaret's. At Sixth Form, all girls move to a senior house. The senior houses are Beale, Cambray, Elizabeth, Roderic and St. Hilda's. [12] Each house is run by a housemistress and several resident staff. The housemistresses have a lighter teaching load with a full-time commitment supervising their boarders.
Junior day girls have their own base in Eversleigh, where the three junior houses, Bellairs, Glengar and St Clare, are located. The senior day girl house, Bayshill, is situated in the main college site. [13]
Over 160 co-curricular activities are available.
The Music and Drama departments offer productions and concerts each year involving all age groups. Over 1,000 individual instrumental lessons take place each week. [14]
In October 2009, Sir Richard Eyre opened the school's new drama building, The Parabola Arts Centre (PAC). The building was built by Foster Wilson Architects and cost over £12.5 million, funded by donations. The school is a major sponsor of the Cheltenham Music, Literature, Jazz and Science Festivals and events are hosted at the centre annually. [15] The PAC building was awarded the RIBA award. In 2010, Sharman Macdonald (Keira Knightley's mother) was commissioned to write the college's play. [16] In 2016, the school also invested in a new recording studio.
In 2018, the school opened a new Health and Fitness Centre. [17]
Sports facilities include a 25-metre six-lane swimming-pool, netball courts, tennis courts, squash courts, AstroTurf fields, lacrosse pitches, a spin studio, two dance studios and two sports halls. [18]
Over 30 sports are offered, and students are encouraged to maintain their fitness and wellbeing through physical exercise. [19] The main sports are Netball, Lacrosse and Hockey in the winter, and Tennis, Swimming and Athletics in the Summer. The school also has a well-established Rowing Club, and Equestrian and Ski teams.
The school is one of the hardest UK private schools to get into, with competition for places at sixth form being "fierce". [20] Entry to Cheltenham Ladies' College is by examination for girls aged 11+, 13+ and 16+ (Sixth Form), as well as occasionally at 12+ and 14+ where only a few students are admitted. [21]
The school was last inspected by the Independent Schools Inspectorate in October 2014. [22] It achieved the grade "Excellent" in all areas.
In the Financial Times' secondary school ranking, [23] Cheltenham Ladies College was placed at no. 14 in 2010 and no. 34 in 2011. The college was the top girls boarding school and 6th overall in UK rankings for the International Baccalaureate Diploma in 2017. [24]
The Tatler School Guide 2018 notes that "confident, resilient, clever girls flourish" at the college. [16] The Good Schools Guide described the school as "a top flight school with strong traditional values and a clear sense of purpose. For the bright and energetic all rounder this school offers an exceptional education that is both broad and deep, with endless opportunities for fun and enrichment along the way." [25]
In 2020, Cheltenham Ladies' College was named South West Independent Secondary School of the Decade by The Times and The Sunday Times . The awards, published in the "Parent Power" schools guide, commend schools that have achieved academic excellence and provided an outstanding education over the previous decade. [26]
As one of the oldest and most prestigious all-girls' boarding schools in the UK, the school has often been referred to as "the girls' Eton". However, the school has worked hard to play down this reputation. [27]
In 2008 BBC Four made a three-part documentary series titled My New Best Friend to emphasise the importance and nature of friendship among children. The first episode tracked the journey of four young girls starting at Cheltenham Ladies' College. [28]
Cheltenham Ladies' College is mentioned in the film St Trinian's (2007) as the previous school of the main character.
Guild is the association of College's former pupils.
Dorothea Beale LL.D. was a suffragist, educational reformer and author. As Principal of Cheltenham Ladies' College, she became the founder of St Hilda's College, Oxford.
Malvern College is a fee-charging coeducational boarding and day school in Malvern, Worcestershire, England. It is a public school in the British sense of the term and is a member of the Rugby Group and of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference. Since its foundation in 1865, it has remained on the same grounds, which are located near the town centre of Great Malvern. The campus, now covering some 250 acres, is near the Malvern Hills.
Cheltenham College is a public school in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. The school opened in 1841 as a Church of England foundation and is known for its linguistic, military, and sporting traditions.
Ampleforth College is a co-educational fee-charging boarding and day school in the English public school tradition. It opened in 1802 as a boys' school. It is located near the village of Ampleforth, North Yorkshire, England, on the grounds of Benedictine monastery Ampleforth Abbey. The school is located in the heart of a valley with state-of-the-art sports pitches, wooded areas, and lakes. The school holds the oldest purpose-built school theatre in the United Kingdom, a dedicated student pub, and its own infirmary. It is known as the Catholic Eton.
Bedstone is a small village and civil parish in south Shropshire, England, close to the border with Herefordshire.
Truro School is a coeducational private boarding and day school located in the city of Truro, Cornwall, England. It is the largest coeducational independent school in Cornwall with over 1050 pupils from pre-prep to sixth form. It is a member school of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference.
Pate's Grammar School is a grammar school with academy status in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. It caters for pupils aged 11 to 18. The school was founded with a fund bestowed to Corpus Christi College, Oxford, by Richard Pate in 1574. The school became co-educational in 1986, when Pate's Grammar School for Girls merged with Cheltenham Grammar School.
Havergal College is a private day and boarding school for girls from Junior Kindergarten to Grade 12 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The school was established in 1894 and named for Frances Ridley Havergal, a composer, author and humanitarian.
St Edward's School is a public school in Oxford, England. It is known informally as 'Teddies'.
Portsmouth High School is a private day school for girls in Southsea, a district in the southern coastal city of Portsmouth, England. Founded by the Girls' Public Day School Trust in 1882, it is one of the Trust's smaller schools.
The Mary Erskine School, popularly known as "Mary Erskine's" or "MES", is an all-girls private secondary school in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was founded in 1694 and has a roll of around 750 pupils. It is the sister school of the all-boys Stewart's Melville College (SMC) with which MES shares a coeducational nursery and junior school for pupils aged 3–11.
Heathfield School is a girls' independent boarding and day school in Ascot, Berkshire, England. In 2006, the school absorbed St Mary's School, Wantage and was briefly named Heathfield St Mary's School but reverted to Heathfield School in 2009 to prevent confusion with another local girls' school St Mary's School, Ascot. The school's grounds cover 36 acres (15 ha) situated on the edge of Ascot, providing access from London, the major airports, the M3 and M4 motorways.
Abbots Bromley School was a coeducational boarding and day private school in the village of Abbots Bromley, Staffordshire, England. It was one of the original Woodard Schools — and the first such for girls — and so was an Anglican foundation that historically reflected the Anglo-Catholic ethos of the Woodard Foundation. It was affiliated to the Girls' Schools Association, but financial problems over many years closed it in the summer of 2019.
St Mary's School Ascot is a Roman Catholic independent day and boarding school for girls in Ascot, Berkshire, England. It is a member of the Girls' Schools Association. It was named 2015 "Public School of the Year" at the annual Tatler Schools Awards. It was ranked No. 1 in the U.K. by The Daily Telegraph in the 2018 GCSEs.
The Ladies' College is an independent day school for girls in Saint Peter Port, Guernsey. The school was founded on 10 October 1872 in order to provide academic education to girls on the island and was modelled after Cheltenham Ladies' College. As a member of the Girls' Schools Association (GSA), it is a public school in the British sense of the term.
Trent College is a co-educational private boarding and day school located in Long Eaton, Derbyshire, between Nottingham and Derby. Founded in 1868 as a local 'middle class alternative' to the more famous public schools, it is now a coeducational school and a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference.
Albyn School is a coeducational private day school, founded in 1867 in Aberdeen, Scotland. Albyn was originally an all-girls school before becoming co-educational in 2005. The school has a nursery, primary school and secondary school; pupils can attend from 2 years old to 18 years old.
Harrogate Ladies' College is a private boarding and day school located in the town of Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England. Founded as a girls' senior school in 1893, the college includes Highfield Prep School and educates girls from ages 2 to 18 and boys up to age 11. It is a member of the Girls' Schools Association and Allied Schools.
St Swithun's School is an independent day, weekly and full-boarding school for girls in Winchester, Hampshire. It is named after Saint Swithun, a Bishop of Winchester and patron saint of Winchester Cathedral.
Milham Ford School was a girls' secondary school in Oxford, England, located in the suburb of New Marston on Marston Road. It was founded in East Oxford in the 1880s and closed in 2003.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)