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Bruton School for Girls

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Set on a forty-acre campus in the Somerset countryside, Bruton School for Girls has been providing education for girls for over 100 years. An independent day and boarding school for girls aged 3 – 18, Bruton students achieve consistent high academic results at GCSE and A-Level whilst participating in the wide-ranging activities and opportunities available.

The school comprises of Sunny Hill Nursery and Pre-Preparatory, Sunny Hill Preparatory, a senior school and sixth form with an overall attendance of approximately 350 pupils, of whom a third are boarders. A small number of boys also attend the nursery and pre-prep.


Contact Details

Bruton School for Girls
Sunny Hill
Bruton
Somerset BA10 0NT
United Kingdom
Tel: (01749) 814400
Email: info@brutonschool.co.uk
Website: www.brutonschool.co.uk

History

The school Motto is “Follow the Gleam”, the title of a poem by Alfred, Lord Tennyson. The Gleam is the light of inner inspiration

Bruton School for Girls owes its existence partly to the benefaction of Hugh Sexey, the son of poor parents, who rose to be auditor of the Exchequer from 1599 until his death in 1619. He conveyed some of his property to trustees to be employed in "charitable goodness" and the deed of incorporation of Hugh Sexey's Hospital, founded and endowed in 1638, included the expenditure of money upon - to use Sexey's own words - "breeding children", a phrase which gives the old interpretation of education as nurture.

The wide application of the charity to educational purposes arose in the nineteenth century. Materially helped by the Sexey trust, Sunny Hill School, as it was originally named, was established in 1900 through the initiative of the Right Honourable Henry Hobhouse, greatly assisted by Mr W A Knight, Headmaster of neighbouring Sexey's School, and others interested in education in the locality. It was first set up as a private boarding and day school and in 1911 became a public secondary school, with an annual endowment from Hugh Sexey's Charity and grants from the Somerset County Council. It continued as an Aided Secondary School until the passing of the 1944 Education Act when it became fully independent.

In 1961 the name was changed from Sunny Hill School to Bruton School for Girls.

The Preparatory School was formed from the school’s growing junior department in 1997 and given the name of Sunny Hill Preparatory School. In 1998 the Preparatory School extended to include a Nursery and Pre-Prep accepting pupils from 3 years of age.

In 2001, Bruton School for Girls celebrated its Centenary.


Notable Alumni

Ethel Knight - one of the original pupils who enrolled at the school on 2nd October 1900, became the country's first female Vet. Louisa Gritt - one of only two women ship commanging officers in the Royal Navy. Helen Roberts - awarded MBE in 2001 for services to eye care in East Africa after setting up a successful eye clinic in Kenya. Catherine Davis - Central Asian Correspondent for the BBC World Service and one of the first journalists despatched to Afganistan to report on the attacks in 2001. Clarissa Farr - President of the Girls' Schools Association and High Mistress of St Paul's Girl's School, London.


Location

The school is 4 miles from Wincanton and the M3/A303 corridor between London and the South West. It lies 25 miles south of Bristol and Bath and within 40 miles of Salisbury and the south coast. The Paddington London railway to Exeter and Plymouth is 1 mile away and the line to Waterloo is 12 miles – the school offers minibus connections. Students are collected from Heathrow and other airports at the beginning and end of term. A network of daily buses for day students serves the school.


Bruton School for Girls Website [1]