Headington School is an independent girls' school in Headington, Oxford, England, founded by a group of evangelical Christians in 1915.
| Headington School | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Address | |
 | |
, OX3 0BL England | |
| Information | |
| Type | Private day and boarding school |
| Motto | Αγωνίζου τον καλόν αγώνα της πίστεως (1 Timothy: 6:12. English: Fight the good fight of Faith) |
| Religious affiliation(s) | Church of England |
| Established | 1915 |
| Local authority | Oxfordshire |
| Headmistress | Caroline Jordan |
| Gender | Girls |
| Age | 3 to 18 |
| Enrolment | 1020~ |
| Colour(s) | |
| Song | Fight the Good Fight |
| Former pupils | Headingtonians |
| Website | http://www.headington.org/ |
In 2024, it merged with Rye St Antony School to form Headington Rye Oxford.
History
editHeadington School was founded in 1915 by a group of evangelical Christians to provide "a sound education for girls to fit them for the demands and opportunities likely to arise after the war". It started at Headington Lodge on Osler Road with ten boarding and eight-day girls. As the school rapidly expanded after the war, more buildings were bought and added to the school.
In 1920, Davenport House, one of the current boarding houses, (on the corner of London Road and Pullens Lane) was taken over by the school. The house had a 2-acre (0.81 ha) garden and another 19 acres (7.7 ha) of farmland attached stretching as far east as the White Horse pub. The main school then moved to its current building, built in the neo-Georgian style, in 1930. In 1942 it was registered as an educational charity, in recognition of the benefits that it provides to its pupils and the wider community.[1]
Headington Prep
editThe preparatory school is located on a separate site across the junction where Headington Road and Headley Way meet. The premises which house the prep school were originally known as Brookside. They were taken over by the school in 1916. Built in 1886, they were first occupied by Thomas Arnall, Oxford's Head Postmaster. The school renamed them Napier House when they moved out of the original Headington house with that name.[1] Since the prep school moved in, the facilities have been extended but the main house is still in use. Its pupils uses some facilities of the senior school, such as the swimming pool, playing field, all-weather surface and theatre.
Both the prep and senior schools share the same governing body. Until the 2007–08 school year it admitted boys up to age 7. It is a member of the Independent Association of Preparatory Schools.
School Fees
editFees at Headington School include:[2]
- All necessary educational materials (unless otherwise specified)
- School lunches
- Morning snacks
| Fees per term | Day | Half-Weekly Boarding | Weekly Boarding | Full Boarding |
| Sixth Form Current Pupils | £7,515 | £10,034 | £12,553 | £15,027 |
| Sixth Form Direct Entrants | £8,180 | £11,048 | £13,918 | £16,466 |
| Upper 3 – Upper 5 | £7,515 | £10,034 | £12,553 | £15,027 |
Facilities
editThe school embarked on a series of building projects during the early 2000s, beginning with the Art Department, the professional-standard Theatre at Headington (2002), Napier Boarding House (2003), a large Dining Hall (2005), and most recently the new Music School, which opened in 2009.[3] These complement the original neo-Georgian senior school building constructed in the 1930s.
There are 23 acres of grounds and playing fields, tennis courts, swimming pool and a floodlit Astroturf pitch.[4] The school also owns the Headington School Oxford Boat Club[5] and is one of the few schools in the country to offer equestrian facilities.[6]
Houses
editThere are 10 competitive houses named after previous headteachers surnames. Each House is led by a member of staff and a Sixth Form prefect.
- Dunn
- Sender
- Jones
- King
- Moller
- Porcher
- Rendall
- Sunpter
- Tucker
- Coutts
The names of the houses were changed when Headington School merged with Rye St Antony School.
Year groups
editHeadington uses its own nomenclature for the year groups.
Preparatory School
| Name | Year |
|---|---|
| Nursery | Nursery |
| Pre-Kindergarten | Reception |
| Kindergarten | Year 1 |
| Transition | Year 2 |
| Form 1 | Year 3 |
| Lower 2 | Year 4 |
| Upper 2 | Year 5 |
| Lower 3 | Year 6 |
Senior School
| Division | Name | Year |
|---|---|---|
| Lower School | Upper 3 | Year 7 |
| Lower 4 | Year 8 | |
| Middle School | Upper 4 | Year 9 |
| Lower 5 | Year 10 | |
| Upper 5 | Year 11 | |
| Sixth Form | Lower 6 | Year 12 |
| Upper 6 | Year 13 |
Boarding
editHeadington offers both full-time, part-time or flex-boarding to girls aged 9 and above. Approximately one third of its pupils are boarders.[7] They are grouped by years and reside in four boarding houses.
- Davenport: U2 (Year 5) to U4 (Year 9)
- Hillstow: U4 to U6 (Year 13)
- Napier: L5 (Year 10) to U6
- Celia Marsh: L6 & U6 (Sixth Form)
- MacGregor: L6 & U6 – attached to Celia Marsh House
Curriculum
editHeadington is one of the higher achieving independent schools in Oxfordshire.[8][9]
The International Baccalaureate was offered alongside A Levels from September 2009.[10]
In 2018 Headington School achieved an average IBDP points score of 38.5 per student out of a maximum score of 45 points, making them the 7th best IB school in the UK and the 12th best IB school in the World as per the league tables published by Education Advisers Ltd.[citation needed]
Headington School ceased to offer the International Baccalaureate from September 2020.
Extra-curricular activities
editHeadington offers over 50 different extracurricular activities ranging from sport to the Duke of Edinburgh Award. Headington's Combined Cadet Force is one of only four all girls contingents in the country.[4]
Sports teams and athletes regularly take part in competitions at county or national level.[6][11][12][13]
The rowing team (Headington School Oxford Boat Club) is one of the county's most successful school teams. It won the girls eights category at the National Schools Regatta in 2001[14] and completed the rare "Women's triple" in 2009, 2014, 2015, and 2016 by winning the National Schools, Schools Head and Henley.[15] It has also performed well in the South of England Indoor Rowing Championships, winning five overall classes in 2008[16] and finishing runners-up in 2010.[17] Two of its members were chosen to represent Great Britain at the 2010 Summer Youth Olympics in Singapore and claimed a gold medal in the girls' pair category.[18]
In 2013 seven Headington girls won their category in the Oxford Music Festival and the sixth form vocal ensemble The Eleven received the top choral prize.[19]
Notable former pupils
editThis article's list of alumni may not follow Wikipedia's verifiability policy. (January 2022) |
- Freya Allan, actress (The Witcher, Gunpowder Milkshake)[20]
- Lily van den Broecke, Great Britain Rowing Paralympian: Gold London 2012
- Angela Gallop, British Forensic Scientist
- Fiona Gammond, Great Britain Rowing Olympian
- Frances Gardner, cardiologist
- Katie Greves, Olympic Silver Medallist, European Champion and Triple Olympian in rowing
- Alice Hart-Davis, journalist
- Elizabeth Curzon, Countess Howe, Lord Lieutenant of Buckinghamshire
- Janet Husband, Emeritus Professor of Radiology
- Khadija Bukar Abba Ibrahim, Member of the Nigerian House of Representatives
- Lady Elizabeth Longford, biographer
- Elinor Lyon, children's author[21]
- Ann Mallalieu, Baroness Mallalieu, barrister, politician, and president of the Countryside Alliance
- Ghislaine Maxwell, former socialite and convicted sex offender
- Ann Katharine Mitchell, 1922 - 2020, British codebreaker and social scientist
- Christina Onassis, shipping magnate
- Caryn Agyeman Prempeh, medical practitioner and television personality
- Julia Somerville, former BBC News and ITV News presenter
- Lady Henrietta Spencer-Churchill, daughter of the 11th Duke of Marlborough
- Sophie Sumner, model
- Jane Tewson, founder of Comic Relief
- Emma Watson, actress
- Barbara Woodhouse, TV personality and dog trainer
- Oluyinka Idowu, 1992 Olympic Games & 1994 Commonwealth Silver Medalist.
- Janet Young, Baroness Young, former Leader of the House of Lords
See also
edit- Hillstow Annexe, later Dorset House
References
edit- ^ a b "School History". Headington School. Retrieved 29 June 2015.
- ^ "Headington School Review: Rankings, Results, Fees, And More". Britannia StudyLink Malaysia: UK Study Expert. 3 September 2020. Retrieved 31 December 2020.
- ^ "Headington School Oxford - Facilities". Archived from the original on 20 November 2008. Retrieved 23 March 2010.
- ^ a b "Breadth and balance at Headington School". Oxford Mail. 11 March 2011.
- ^ "Headington School BC". British Rowing.
- ^ a b Sport Archived 8 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Boarding
- ^ "Full GCSE round-up". Oxford Mail. 25 August 2006.
- ^ "Students across county celebrate outstanding GCSE results". Oxford Journal. 2 September 2011. Archived from the original on 6 September 2012.
- ^ "International Baccalaureate". Headington School Oxford. Retrieved 23 March 2009.
- ^ "BADMINTON: Colts set strong pace". Oxford Mail. 20 December 2007.
- ^ "SCHOOL SPORT: Headington are happy with third". Oxford Mail. 6 February 2009.
- ^ "ATHLETICS: Inspired Beth in England call-up". Oxford Mail. 26 March 2010.
- ^ "Headington and Radley rule the waves". Oxford Mail. 2 June 2001.
- ^ "ROWING: Headington complete top treble". Oxford Mail. 25 June 2009.
- ^ "ROWING: Headington pull together". Oxford Mail. 7 February 2008.
- ^ "ROWING: headington and Hinksey in the frame". Oxford Mail. 11 February 2010.
- ^ "Headington girls on top of their game". Oxford Mail. 26 August 2010.
- ^ "Schools Guide 2013: Headington School". Tatler. 2013.
- ^ "Princess Cirilla of Cintra on Netflix's The Witcher: Who is the actress Freya Allan?". monstersandcritics.com. 2019.
- ^ "Elinor Lyon children's author". The Times. London. 14 June 2008. Archived from the original on 23 May 2010. Retrieved 5 April 2010.
External links
edit- Official website
- Headington Preparatory School website
- Profile on the Independent Schools Council website
- Profile on the Good Schools Guide
- Headington School Boat Club
- Profile on MyDaughter
- ISI Inspection Reports – Prep School & Main School