Frensham Heights School
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Frensham Heights School is an independent school located in Surrey, England, run by a registered charity, Frensham Heights Educational Trust Ltd. It was founded in 1925 and formed part of the movement for progressive education. From the start it took boarding and day pupils and was fully co-educational, which was then unusual.
The school was funded by Mrs Edith Douglas-Hamilton and established under joint headmistresses, Mrs Beatrice Ensor and Miss Isabel King. It became firmly established under the headmastership of Mr Paul Roberts (1929-1949)and was recognised as efficient by the Ministry of Education in 1935.
It currently has over four hundred students ranging from the ages of three to eighteen. Based in a mock-Tudor mansion, built by the brewer Charrington in 1902, and its estated, the school is located on a hill several miles away from the small town of Farnham, Frensham Heights offers stunning views over the surrounding countryside. Because of this, Frensham Heights is often used as the reception for weddings during the summer.
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[edit] The Headmaster
The current headmaster is Mr. Andrew Fisher who replaced the previous headmaster Mr. Peter de Voil in 2004. Prior to becoming headmaster of Frensham Heights, Andrew Fisher was headmaster of a school in his native Australia.
[edit] Ex Pupils
Ex-pupils include
- Claus Moser, who came to the school as a refugee from Germany
- Jon Pertwee, the comedian and former Doctor Who actor.
- Nick Mason, drummer for Pink Floyd
- Gerard Taylor, former lead singer of the Los Angeles punk rock bands The Wildcats and The Brothel Creepers, and author of the books Capoeira Conditioning, Capoeira 100, and Capoeira The Jogo de Angola from Luanda to Cyberspace Volumes One and Two. Taylor was expelled from the school during Alan Pattenson's Headmastership in 1975, age 15.
Both Moser and Pertwee were taught by Frances Bibby, the wife of Cyril Bibby.
[edit] Ethos
Frensham Heights is often seen as a liberal school, for instance there are no mandatory school uniforms (unlike many other private schools) and the dress code is extremely broad. The school's motto is 'We are all members one of another' and was adopted by Mr Paul Roberts who was headmaster of Frensham Heights from 1928 to 1949. The school's ethos revolves around the idea of mutual respect between teachers and pupils and as such, staff are referred to by their first name by pupils. The idea of individuality is also encouraged in order that an individual's talents and personality are developed. Because of the belief in the importance of the individual, Frensham Heights has a very active Sixth Form Committee and School Council which play an active part in the running of the school.
While Houses do exist (Ensor, Douglas, Nevill and King) besides termly sporting events, there is little competition between the Houses in terms of House Points and prizes. One pupil from the 1980s writes "i was at Frensham for 5 years, and had an incredible time, that formed much of who i am - i discovered much about myself, the world, and girls there, but now, some 20 years later, is the first time i have learnt that there were houses, let alone what they were called, and i have no concrete evidence to suggest i was ever in one. Instead of a means to encourage competition and as a divisive force, the role of Houses at Frensham is to act as a socializing force once a term as each year group (7-8, 9-10, 11-13) plays a variety of House matches in a sport (football, basketball, netball or hockey). In the summer term there is a 'Sports day' in which each of the houses compete against each other. Aside from these events, however, houses have little impact on school life.
[edit] Projects
Frensham Heights is often the site of many projects. Over recent years this has seen the construction of the award winning Performing Arts Centre (PAC) which is the venue for various drama and dance performances as well as school notices and 'Morning Talk' on a Wednesday in which a speaker will talk about a particular topic. Other recent projects at Frensham Heights have involved the construction a new music school and currently a new sixth form centre is under construction which will be finished by September 2006. As well as having numerous studies for both day and boarder pupils, this new sixth form centre will also act as a boarding house for sixth form boarders.
Socially, the school is involved in many projects such as an active School Council and a large amount of charity fund raising, currently for the Liberty Foundation in Belize. The school also plans to send a team of pupils to Belize in July to work with the Liberty Foundation. The school is also involved in World Challenge, every two years sending a group to a country to participate both in adventure and charity work. In the summer of 2007, the expedition will be to Costa Rica, while previous destination have included Tanzania, Chile and numerous other countries. Money for each expedition is raised by the students themselves and have, recent years, included the raising of money through ice cream sales during the summer term and organising school discos, the most of which being the 'Spring Fling'.
[edit] Extracurricular activities
Extracurricular activities (ECAs) are a large part of Frensham life and all students from year 7 to year 13 are required to take part in at least a few ECAs each week. For years 7-11, the minimum number of ECAs per week is three while in sixth form, the minimum is only two. There are a wide variety of extracurricular activities run both at lunch time and after school and occur every day (including Saturday mornings). Examples of ECAs include swimming (in the summer term), five-a-side football, photography, chess, card games and many more. Furthermore, individual teams and music, dance or drama groups also have ECAs running outside of lesson times which often occur after school (such as Cantamus and the wood wind group).
The actual ECAs available often varies from year to year and term to term (the latter due to variations in weather) and as such, new ECAs may be introduced. For instance, at the start of the 2006/2007 Academic year, a Mandarin ECA will be starting which may continue to GCSE level. 2005/2006 saw the introduction of GCSE Archaeology as an ECA but due to the exam being disconinuted, this will no longer take place from the start of the 2006/2007 academic year.
[edit] Sport
Despite being a somewhat small school, Frensham Heights hosts a number of different sports teams in various fields of sport and played at all age ranges, including common sports such as Football, hockey and cricket. Partaking in sport each week is compulsory up until year 13 when students can opt to use the time usually allocated to sport for extra revision and study, although this is only allowed if a student attends a sport ECA. Between year 7 and year 11, there are two sessions of sport each week, while only one in sixth form. From year 11 upwards, students can choose which sport to do each term with options being basketball, football, table tennis, hockey, golf and others as well as swimming, tennis and rounders during the summer. Prior to year 11, students will partake in sports such as rugby, basketball, hockey and football and athletics, rounders and swimming in the summer term but will have no choice in which activity occurs. Occasionally near the end of a term or school year or at the beginning of a term, games sessions will involve a sport known as 'Killer ball' which is essentially dodgeball.
[edit] Outdoor Education
A subsidiary to sport, outdoor education (or simply outdoor-ed) is compulsory for all students between year 7 and year 11. Different from sport in that it does not stress athletic qualities, instead encourages team-work, co-operation, individual courage and leadership, ideals which reflect the school's ethos. Outdoor ed typically involves team-building activities in the woods including activities such as climbing 'Jacob's Ladder' and navigating a recently constructed high-ropes course (finished in 2004).
