Ashford School

Ashford School
Motto Esse Quam Videri
(to be, rather than to seem to be)
Established 1898
Type Independent day and boarding
Religion Church of England
Headteacher
Michael Hall September 2018
Tom Wilding (Senior School)2007-
Penny Willetts 2017 - (Prep School)
Location East Hill
Ashford
Kent
TN24 8PB
UK
Students 840
Gender Mixed
Ages 3–18
Houses Franklins, Knights, Merchants, Pilgrims, Squires, Yeomen
Website www.ashfordschool.co.uk

Ashford School is a coeducational independent boarding and day school in East Hill, Ashford, Kent. There are 480 students in the Senior School (ages 11 to 18) and 360 in the Prep School (ages 3 to 11).

The school is owned and run by the United Church Schools Trust[1] and is a member of The Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference (HMC).[2] The current headteacher is Mr Mike Buchanan, who is Chairman-Elect of HMC for 2016-17. Mike Buchanan will step down as Headmaster of Ashford School in July 2018. Mike Buchanan’s successor will be Michael Hall. Michael Hall will be the Headmaster of Ashford School from September 2018, at the beginning of the 2018-2019 School academic year.

Ashford School was recently ranked one of the UK's top 20 coeducational, independent schools and was voted Independent School of the Year 2010. It was also a Good Schools Guide award winner in 2011 and at the Archant Good Schools Show it was voted one of the country's top five boarding schools.[3] The School was endorsed as outstandingly successful in every category during the most recent inspection by Independent Schools Inspectorate in 2014.[4]

Located within walking distance from Ashford International railway station which is just 37 minutes from London by high-speed train, the school also benefits from rapid access to the continent via Eurostar. The London airports are all within 90 minutes and it runs a bus service to the surrounding towns and villages.

Boarding life starts at age 10 at Ashford School where pupils can choose a range of boarding options: flexi, weekly or full. The school has 3 boarding houses: Junior boarding house Brooke & Refuge and senior boarding houses Brabourne and Alfred.

Ashford school grounds

History

The school was founded in 1898.[5] For the vast majority of its existence[6] it has been a school only for girls. In 2005 it merged with Friars Prep School in Great Chart and in 2006 boys were admitted in some year groups and it is now a fully co-educational school from the age of 3 to 18 offering boarding and day facilities. Mike Buchanan was first appointed the headmaster of Ashford School in February 2005.

Space shuttle experiment

In 1992 a science experiment designed by four girls at the school flew on the Space Shuttle on flight STS-47[7] The experiment had been designed in 1985 by the girls who had won a competition organised by Independent Television News. The chemical garden experiment was successful but the Liesegang rings failed to operate correctly due to a friction in parts of the mechanism. On their return they were displayed in the London Science Museum. The seven-year delay had been caused by the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster which occurred in 1986 shortly before the intended flight.[8]

A.

A. is a semiannual school magazine with sections including Poetry, Fiction, Art&Photography, Opinion and Debate. All content is contributed by Ashford School students.

Ashford School International Centre

The Ashford School International Centre (ASIC) has been opened as of September 2015. This section of the school has been designed to meet the needs of non-native English speaking pupils, from the outset becoming a world-class centre of excellence.

ASIC is an 18th-century Grade II listed building, which has undergone a multimillion-pound refurbishment, providing state of the art teaching classrooms alongside boarding rooms. This school will allow pupils from around the world to complete iGCSE before joining the rest of the school.

Notable former pupils

Heads of Ashford School

  • Muriel Thimann 1898 - 1910
  • Anne Edwards 1910 - 1928
  • Lilian Brake 1928 - 1955
  • Mary Nightingale 1955 - 1971
  • Sanche Thompson 1972 - 1984
  • Tatiana Macaire 1984 - 1992
  • Patrica Metham 1992 - 1997
  • Jane Burnett 1997 - 2000
  • Paula Holloway 2000 - 2005
  • Michael Buchanan 2005 – 2018
  • Michael Hall 2018 -

References

  1. ↑ United Church Schools Trust website Archived May 14, 2008, at the Wayback Machine.
  2. ↑ "The Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference".
  3. ↑ http://www.soak.co.uk/. "News - The winners of the first Archant Good Schools Show Awards announced - The Show - Good Schools Show".
  4. ↑ "Ashford School :: Independent Schools Inspectorate".
  5. ↑ "History".
  6. ↑ "History". Ashford School. Archived from the original on 2009-03-07.
  7. ↑ "Space shuttle mission STS-47 - Press kit". NASA. Retrieved 2010-09-27.
  8. ↑ "Late bloom for crystal garden". The New Scientist. 1993-01-02. Retrieved 2010-09-27.

Coordinates: 51°08′59″N 0°52′42″E / 51.14972°N 0.87833°E / 51.14972; 0.87833

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