Our Lady of Sion School

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Our Lady of Sion School
Motto	Consideration Always
Established	1862
Type	Selective Private school
Gender	Boys and Girls
Headmaster	Mr. Michael Scullion
Founder	The Sisters of Sion
Students	530 (approx.)
Grades	Ages 2 - 18
Location	Gratwicke Road, Worthing, West Sussex, England
Colours	Sion Maroon
Website	www.sionschool.org.uk

Our Lady of Sion School, commonly known as Sion School or just Sion, is a privately-funded and independent school for male and female students, founded in Worthing, West Sussex, England in 1862 by the Sisters of Sion.

Sion in Worthing is part of a world-wide network of schools founded by the Sisters of Sion.

The school's current Head Master is Michael Scullion, who succeeded Brian Sexton in September 2000. The School has a number of well-known alumni, including Actors, Sportsmen, Politicians and Musicians. It has a very strong academic record, with a high percentage of pupils proceeding to Oxford, Cambridge and other prominent universities.

1 Overview
2 History
3 Fees and charitable status
4 School magazines
5 Old Sionians
6 External links

[edit] Overview

Our Lady of Sion day-schools approximately 530 children between the ages of 2 and 18 at a cost of about £9,000 a year. In the VIth form there are some scholarships provided for by the school and awarded by examination results each year; these students pay up to 75 per cent of full fees. Of the other pupils, up to a third receive some kind of bursary or scholarship. The original school was a girls only boarding school, with few students, and teaching undertaken solely by the Sisters of Sion.

As the school grew, more students were allowed to attend provided that they paid their own fees and lived outside the school in parental or guardian accommodation. The Houses developed over time as a means of organising the larger number of students in attendance. There are three "houses" within the school, each house having its own formal name.

The pupils are easily recognisable by their uniform including a straw boater hat with maroon ribbon for girls, and maroon peaked cap for boys. Heads of School (one boy and one girl) and House Captains (the selected senior pupil in each house) wear badges to identify themselves. Those in Sixth Form are entitled not to wear uniform, but rather have a "code of dress" and are expected to adhere to this, especially on chapel days.

[edit] History

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The Congregation was founded ‘to witness in the Church and in the world that God continues to be faithful in love for the Jewish people and to hasten the fulfilment of the promises concerning the Jews and the Gentiles’. Theodore Ratisbonne was born in Strasbourg in 1802 into a Jewish family that was in the process of being assimilated. He grew up in an atmosphere of learning and affection, but where religion did not play a significant part. ‘Religion was repugnant to me, my own and all other religions.’ Then one day a prayer arose out of his confusion: ‘Oh God, if you really exist, let me know the truth, and I swear to consecrate my life to it’.

The teaching of Louis Bautain, a young philosophy professor who drew on the Scriptures in his studies, gradually set Theodore on the path of discovery of the Bible and he was baptised at the age of twenty four. Throughout his life as a Christian, and later as a priest, the Word of God inspired him and he was called to apostolic life, a call that was fulfilled only fifteen years later.

On 20 January 1842, his younger brother Alphonse also decided to become a Christian after Mary appeared to him in a vision in Rome. In the light of the Word of God, Theodore was able to interpret this sign from Mary and, encouraged by his brother, founded the congregation of Our Lady of Sion in 1843. In 1852, he gathered together the first small group of what was to become the men’s Congregation of the Religious Order of Our Lady of Sion.

Sion school in Worthing was founded in 1862 and is one of several Sion schools situated around the world. Its aim is to foster bridge-building and tolerance and it welcomes pupils from all faiths and ethnic backgrounds. In the years following its establishment the Sisters of Sion played a key role in its development and then, in 1984, the first lay Head was appointed, Mr. Brian Sexton. He introduced co-education, a major innovation which made Sion one of the very few schools in the UK offering a complete education, for both sexes, between the ages of 2½ and 18.

In September 2000 Michael Scullion took over as Headmaster and he continues to lead the school forward in the 21st century.

[edit] Fees and charitable status

Like all English private and independent schools, Sion's excellent facilities come at the price of fees. Whilst not as expensive as other schools, Sion does not offer the opportunity to board, dramatically lowering the cost. The school does, however, offer a number of bursaries and scholarships. Like most private schools, Sion is recognised as a charity, and as such receives substantial tax breaks. It is estimated that the UK's 1,300 1 independent schools continue to benefit from their tax free charitable status to the tune of £100M.

[edit] School magazines

The Sionian is the official school newsletter, howeveris the magazine edited by VIth form students at the school and thus, although liable to censorship, has a tradition of being youthful and humorous in its outlook, as well as documenting recent events.