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===Architecture=== |
===Architecture=== |
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[[Image:Air Vent with Birds and Trees Motif.jpg|thumb|right|Air Vent with Birds and Trees Motif, still found today in the Oak Hall at Prior's Field]] |
[[:Image:Air Vent with Birds and Trees Motif.jpg|thumb|right|Air Vent with Birds and Trees Motif, still found today in the Oak Hall at Prior's Field]]<!--Non free file removed by DASHBot--> |
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Prior's Field, originally called Prior's Garth, was designed by Charles Voysey in the Arts and Crafts style. |
Prior's Field, originally called Prior's Garth, was designed by Charles Voysey in the Arts and Crafts style. |
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Revision as of 05:00, 14 October 2010
Prior's Field School new article content ...
Prior’s Field School
Overview
Prior’s Field is an Independent Girls’ Boarding and Day School in Godalming, Surrey.
34 miles south west of London and adjacent to the A3, Prior’s Field is set in 23 acres of Surrey parkland. Its original building was designed and developed by Charles Voysey (1857-1941), an English architect of the Arts and Crafts movement.
Prior’s Field was founded in 1902 by Julia Huxley, who was the mother of Aldous Huxley and who had progressive ideas about the education of girls in Edwardian Britain.
Today, there are 400 girls at the school, aged 11 to 18, with a third of pupils boarding on either a weekly or full basis. The Headteacher is Mrs. Julie Roseblade who joined the school in 2006 from St. Helen’s, Northwood and is the 10th Head of Prior’s Field. Prior’s Field pupils typically take nine GCSEs in Year 11 and have a choice of 25 A-levels in the Sixth Form. In 2010, 76% of girls achieved A*-B grades, 94% A*-C grades and the pass rate was 100%. [1] The Good Schools Guide 15th Edition, published in 2010, concludes that “For parents who...seek a more balanced approach to life and learning for their daughter, Prior's Field provides a refreshing option”. [2]
Location
Priorsfield Road, Godalming, Surrey GU7 2RH, United Kingdom.
Information
Motto: 'We live by Admiration, Hope and Love'
LEA: Surrey
Ofsted Reference Number: SC013931
Number of pupils: 400
Colours: dark green and blue
Website: www.priorsfieldschool.com
History
Prior's Field School opened on 23rd January 1902. It was founded by Julia Huxley who was the mother of Aldous Huxley, the niece of the poet Matthew Arnold and the grand-daughter of Dr. Thomas Arnold, the headmaster of Rugby immortalised in the novel Tom Brown's Schooldays. The Huxley Family is interesting historically for the achievements of several of its members across the fields of science, medicine and literature.[3]
Starting with a five-acre plot and a moderately-sized house, designed by Charles Francis Annesley Voysey, Julia Huxley opened her school with one boarder, five day girls, a wire-haired terrier and her seven and a half year-old son, Aldous - the eventual author of Brave New World (published in 1932).[4]
Julia Huxley was married to Leonard Huxley, a biographer and writer. She died in 1908 at the age of 46, after only six years as Headmistress, and was succeeded by Mrs. Ethel Burton-Brown who was Head from 1908-1927. The school magazine was published for the first time in June 1908, when there were 85 pupils and 86 Old Girls.[5]
Architecture
thumb|right|Air Vent with Birds and Trees Motif, still found today in the Oak Hall at Prior's Field
Prior's Field, originally called Prior's Garth, was designed by Charles Voysey in the Arts and Crafts style.
Many of the original features designed by Voysey – such as stylised keyholes, door handles, air vents, and fireplaces – can still be seen in the school today, for instance in the Oak Hall, the Senior Common Room and the Bursary offices. The additions to the original house – formerly known as Private Side – were designed by Voysey’s pupil, Tom Muntzer.[6]
Garden Inspired by Gertrude Jekyll
The design of Prior’s Field’s rose garden was inspired by the work of Gertrude Jekyll and features herbaceous borders, dry Bargate stone walls, a dipping pond and rock garden. In the early years, the care of the gardens was in the hands of lady gardeners who trained at Swanley Horticultural College.[7]
Centenary
To mark the school’s centenary in 2002, a £1.2m sports hall was built. Designed in the style of Voysey and named the Centenary Sports Hall, it was opened by Sir Andrew Huxley, a Nobel prize-winner and younger son of Leonard Huxley, by his second marriage to Rosalind Bruce.[8]
Notable Alumni
- Enid Bagnold, Playwright and Author of works including The Chalk Garden and National Velvet.
- Margaret Yorke, Crime Writer who received the Crime Writers’ Association Cartier Diamond Dagger Award in 1999.
- Baroness Mary Warnock, Educationalist and Philosopher.
- Victoria Hamilton, Actress.
- Thetis Blacker, Singer and Artist.
- The school also has a Sherlock Holmes connection: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s daughter, Mary, was one of its earliest pupils.[9]
Admission
The main entry points to Prior’s Field are at ages 11+, 13+ and 16+. Girls attend a Preview Day in November, when they undertake some informal tests and activities, and then go on to sit an Entrance Exam in the following January. At 16+, entrance is dependent on GCSE results and an interview.[10]
References
- ^ http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/education/schoolResult.html?id=9366010
- ^ The Good Schools Guide 2010, 15th Edition, published 2010, page 723.
- ^ Prior's Field School - A Century Remembered 1902-2002 by Margaret Elliott, published by Prior's Field School Trust Ltd, ISBN 0-9541195
- ^ Prior's Field School - A Century Remembered 1902-2002 by Margaret Elliott, published by Prior's Field School Trust Ltd, ISBN 0-9541195
- ^ Prior's Field School - A Century Remembered 1902-2002 by Margaret Elliott, published by Prior's Field School Trust Ltd, ISBN 0-9541195
- ^ http://www.priorsfieldschool.com/school/our-history/the-history-of-pfs/
- ^ http://www.priorsfieldschool.com/school/our-history/the-history-of-pfs/
- ^ http://www.priorsfieldschool.com/school/our-history/the-history-of-pfs/
- ^ http://www.priorsfieldschool.com/pf-huxley-club/ http://www.priorsfieldschool.com/school/our-history/a-glimpse-into-the-past/
- ^ http://www.goodschoolsguide.co.uk/school/priors-field-school.html