Royal High School, Bath
Established | 1998 (merger) |
---|---|
Type | Independent day and boarding school |
Religion | Inter-denominational |
Principal | Mrs Jo Duncan |
Head of Sixth Form College | Nicholas Hayward |
Location |
Lansdown Road Bath Somerset BA1 5SZ England 51°23′49″N 2°21′55″W / 51.3970°N 2.3654°WCoordinates: 51°23′49″N 2°21′55″W / 51.3970°N 2.3654°W |
Local authority | Bath and North East Somerset |
DfE URN | 109348 Tables |
Students | Approx. 700 |
Gender | Girls |
Ages | 3–18 |
Houses |
Grosvenor/Du pré Lansdown/Wollstonecraft Charlcombe/Brontë Northfields/Austen |
Colours | |
Website | www.royalhighbath.gdst.net |
The Royal High School is an independent day and boarding school for girls in the city of Bath, Somerset, England, catering for up to 1,000 pupils. The school is located on Lansdown Hill just outside Bath city centre. It has boarding facilities catering for about 150 girls.
History
Bath High School for Girls
Bath High School for Girls was founded in 1875 by the Girls' Public Day School Company (now the Girls' Day School Trust). It was a direct grant grammar school from 1946 until 1976.
Royal School
Merger
The Royal High School was formed by the merger in 1998 of Bath High School (day) and the Royal School (day and boarding).[1] As a result, it is the only member of the Girls' Day School Trust (GDST) to provide boarding accommodation.[2] Now, the Junior School has Cranwell House as its main building, whereas the Senior School has the main school building and the Winfield centre for sixth form students – both on Lansdown Road.
Junior School
Girls can start in the Nursery School one and a half months before they are three years old. The Junior School will take pupils in September after their fourth birthday. The Junior School has around 200 full-time pupils from Reception to Year 6, and around 20 part-time pupils in the Nursery.
The Junior school is situated in the Cranwell House,[3] in Weston Park, very near to the Senior School.
Senior School
The senior school is situated on Lansdown Road near Bath city centre.
The main building was built in 1856-8 by James Wilson and is a Grade II listed building.[4] There is an Art School; a Sixth Form café; a fitness suite, a newly refurbished Sixth Form College and boarding house; two Performing Arts Theatres (The Sophie Cameron Performing Arts Centre and The Memorial Hall); The Hudson Centre for lectures and meetings; a swimming pool, tennis courts and hockey pitches; a library and a new Media Centre.[5] The boarding houses are situated in Lansdown Road. The Senior school has a medical centre.
Academic performance
It regularly comes near the top of league tables for Bath schools for GCSE and A-Level results.[6] The school provides Modern Languages including GCSE French, which girls start to learn in Reception class. German, Spanish, Italian and Chinese are also available. The school also provides the IB Programme, where it had an average score of 37 points in 2015.
Arts
The art school was opened by Professor Sir Christopher Frayling – Rector of the Royal College of Art and Chairman of the Arts Council, England in November 2008. The art school comprises four studios, where specialisms vary across an activities including painting, sculpture, printmaking, film and photography. In 2006 it received an award from the 'Good Schools Guide' for gaining the best A' level results in the country over a three-year period. Leavers have gone on to St Martins, London, Edinburgh University, Glasgow school of art, Falmouth school of art and Parsons New York. Degree choices vary from Fine Art and Fashion through to Architecture and Photography.
In 2011 a History of Art A' level began.
Music
The Music Department is housed on two floors and has a suite of 10 practice rooms, IT Music Suite, Main Teaching Room, office and instrument storage facilities. Ensembles consist of Junior Choir Yr7 and 8, Senior Choir Yr9 – 13, Chamber Choir, V20 (Show and Pop Choir), Orchestra, Swing Band, Wind Band, Chamber Groups and Pop/Rock Bands.
The department has concerts throughout the academic year both internally and externally. International tours take a place every two years and there are opportunities for students to learn an instrument, provided by a team of 18 instrumental staff. Ensembles participate in local and national music festivals/competitions.
Drama
The Drama department has use of the school's two performance venues; the Memorial Hall is a traditional 'end on' performance space and has movable raked seating, the Sophie Cameron Performing Arts is a converted chapel with almost limitless performance possibilities. There is an annual Autumn Upper School play for students in Years 10–13, previous productions include, 'Guys & Dolls', 'The Crucible', 'The Boy Friend', and 'The Tempest'.
There is an annual Summer Lower School play for students in Years 7–9, previous productions include, 'Cold Comfort Farm', 'Pride & Prejudice', 'The Wind in the Willows' and 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'. The Year 13 Theatre Studies students run the weekly Year 7 Drama Club and the drama scholars produce their own evening of performances every term. Students can participate in Speech & Drama lessons.
PE and Sports
The sports facilities at Royal High School Bath are situated on its Lansdown site. Girls play hockey, netball, tennis and athletics from participation level to elite. Royal High School competes with all other public schools in Somerset and can use the University of Bath Olympic Sports Training Village for training and competitions.
On-site facilities include:
- All-weather Astrotruf for hockey
- 8 tennis courts
- Netball courts
- Outdoor swimming pool
- Football field
- Rounders pitches
- Indoor sports hall
- Gym Suite
- Dance studio
- Gymnastic equipment
- Cricket
- Off-site an equestrian team trains at local equestrian centres.
Sporting achievements within the school are awarded by the presentation of "Colours" annually for commitment to clubs and extra-curricular activities.
School houses
There are four houses for the Junior School and four for the Senior School:
For Charlcombe (Junior school) and Brontë (Senior School)
For Grosvenor (Junior School) and Du pré (Senior School)
For Lansdown (Junior School) and Wolstonecraft (Senior School)
For Northfields (Junior School) and Austen (Senior School)
Notable alumni
Royal School
- Mary Duggan, cricketer
- Sheila Gish, actress
- Gillian Howell (1927–2000), architect[7]
- June Lloyd, Baroness Lloyd of Highbury, Nuffield Professor of Child Health from 1985 to 1992 at the British Postgraduate Medical Federation, Professor of Child Health from 1975 to 1985 at St George's Hospital Medical School, and President from 1988 to 1991 of the British Paediatric Association
- Myrtle Maclagan, cricketer
- Iris Morley, historian
- Edith Picton-Turbervill OBE, Labour MP from 1929 to 1931 for The Wrekin
- Susan Strange, economist
- Cecil Woodham-Smith (née Fitzgerald), historian
- Sonia Melchett (née Graham), socialite and writer
Bath High School
- Dawn Austwick OBE, chief executive of the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation, and CEO of the Big Lottery Fund
- Mary Berry, food writer
- Jennie Formby, senior official in the Unite trade union and General Secretary of the Labour Party
- Elspeth Howe, Baroness Howe of Idlicote CBE, wife of Geoffrey Howe, and chair 1997–9 of the Broadcasting Standards Commission
- Dr Cicely Williams CMG, advisor in Maternal and Child Health, pioneer in the treatment of kwashiorkor, and the first Head of the maternal and child health section at the World Health Organization
References
- ↑ Davidson, Max (24 November 2008). "Town vs Gown: Royal High School vs Beechen Cliff School in Bath". The Telegraph. London. Retrieved 29 March 2009.
- ↑ "The Royal High School, Bath (GDST), Bath and North East Somerset". isbi Schools. Retrieved 29 March 2009.
- ↑ Mag, Bath (14 February 2014). "Royal High School Move to Cranwell House". The Bath Magazine. Bath. Archived from the original on 9 August 2014. Retrieved 28 February 2014.
- ↑ "Royal School". Images of England. English Heritage. Retrieved 29 March 2009.
- ↑ "Royal High School Facilities". RHSB Facilities. RHSB.
- ↑ "Schools in Bath and North East Somerset". BBC. 19 February 2006. Retrieved 29 March 2009.
- ↑ Richards, J. M. "Gillian Margaret [Jill] Howell (1927–2000), architect". ONDB. OUP. Retrieved 23 November 2017.
External links
- Official website
- Profile on the Independent Schools Council website