Cheltenham Ladies' College: Difference between revisions
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Presently, the school educates around 850 girls, of whom 80% board. It has excellent facilities, both for teaching and for sport. Its academic prowess is notable but it remains a friendly school catering for a range of abilities. |
Presently, the school educates around 850 girls, of whom 80% board. It has excellent facilities, both for teaching and for sport. Its academic prowess is notable but it remains a friendly school catering for a range of abilities. |
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==Criticism== |
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In [[2002]], Jessica Sidgwick, 20, a former day pupil said in an interview with [[Tatler]] magazine that she had left ''“branded with the memory of an epidemic of starvation.”'' She described a world in which girls would compete to lose weight as fiercely as they chased high grades, with baggy clothes worn to hide the skeletal effects of fasting and vomiting. Sidgwick's claims were dismissed as “a complete work of fiction” by Vicky Tuck, the school’s Headmistress: ''“The pupils are very hurt and upset by the piece, as are the staff who gave this girl so much of their time.”'' The Eating Disorders Clinic at Delancey Hospital in Cheltenham, the nearest to the school, says that a fifth of the 30-40 patients that it sees every year come from the college. However, Sam Clarke-Stone, the clinical co-ordinator, said that this could be because teachers at the school were vigilant and keen to catch any problems early<ref>http://www.timesonline.co.uk/printFriendly/0,,1-2-485550,00.html</ref> |
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==Former pupils== |
==Former pupils== |
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Revision as of 00:57, 21 January 2007
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The Cheltenham Ladies' College was founded in 1853 as a school for women. It is situated in Cheltenham, a spa town in the English Cotswolds. Today, it takes girls aged 11 to 18 as boarding or day pupils. It is one of the most expensive private schools in England, with boarding fees of around £27,000 a year.
In 1858 the Principal's post was taken by Dorothea Beale, a prominent Suffragette educator who also founded St. Hilda's College, Oxford.
Ms. Beale kept this post until her death in 1906, and transformed the school from a small establishment concentrating on developing women's accomplishments in music, sewing & drawing for example, into the first academic school offering courses equivalent to those in men's schools - like mathematics and English.
A verse from the time of Ms Beale runs:
- Miss Buss and Miss Beale
- Cupid’s darts do not feel.
- How different from us,
- Miss Beale and Miss Buss.
(Her friend Frances Buss was the head of the North London Collegiate School.)
The school crest depicts three dove, taken from the Cheltenham Town shield, above curly writing reading CLC, which is in turn above a daisy, one of the most important school symbols.
Presently, the school educates around 850 girls, of whom 80% board. It has excellent facilities, both for teaching and for sport. Its academic prowess is notable but it remains a friendly school catering for a range of abilities.
Criticism
In 2002, Jessica Sidgwick, 20, a former day pupil said in an interview with Tatler magazine that she had left “branded with the memory of an epidemic of starvation.” She described a world in which girls would compete to lose weight as fiercely as they chased high grades, with baggy clothes worn to hide the skeletal effects of fasting and vomiting. Sidgwick's claims were dismissed as “a complete work of fiction” by Vicky Tuck, the school’s Headmistress: “The pupils are very hurt and upset by the piece, as are the staff who gave this girl so much of their time.” The Eating Disorders Clinic at Delancey Hospital in Cheltenham, the nearest to the school, says that a fifth of the 30-40 patients that it sees every year come from the college. However, Sam Clarke-Stone, the clinical co-ordinator, said that this could be because teachers at the school were vigilant and keen to catch any problems early[1]
Former pupils
- Mary Archer - research chemist, wife of Lord Archer
- Tamara Beckwith - former it-girl, she left when she got pregnant
- Rosie Boycott - writer, feminist
- Cheryl Gillan MP
- Katherine Hamnet - dress designer
- Nicola Horlick - fund manager. She ran away at the age of 14, saying there was a "deep paranoia" of pupils becoming pregnant, and pupils were treated like prisoners[2]
- Lisa Jardine - writer
- Sue Lloyd-Roberts - broadcaster
- Rachel Lomax - Deputy Governor, Bank of England
- Fiona Mactaggart MP
- Clare Marx (first woman orthopaedic surgeon)
- Bridget Riley (artist)
- Kristin Scott Thomas - actress. Said her time at the school in the 1970's "destroyed every ounce of self-confidence I ever hoped to have". After leaving the school, she fled to Paris at the age of 18[3]
- Clare Spottiswoode (OFGAS)
- Amanda Wakeley (dress designer)
- Penelope Walker (opera singer)
References
External links
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