Oxford High School (Oxford)
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If you're looking for the high school in California, see Oxford Academy.
Oxford High School (OHS) is a private girls' school based at Belbroughton Road, Oxford, United Kingdom, made up of around nine hundred pupils aged three to eighteen.
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[edit] History
The school began life on November 3, 1875, with twenty-nine girls and three teachers under headmistress Ada Benson, at the Judge's Lodgings (St Giles' House) at 16 St Giles', central Oxford. It was the 9th school opened by the Girls' Public Day School Company. Pupils were given a holiday when the Assize Judge visited. The school moved to 38 St Giles' in 1879 and then to 21 Banbury Road at the start of 1881. Charles Dodgson (aka Lewis Carroll) taught logic to girls at the school in the late 19th century [1].
Rapid expansion led to the ultimate removal of the school to Belbroughton Road in 1957. It became independent in 1976. The Junior Department at Belbroughton Road was opened in 1989, with 100 pupils aged 9–11, and closed in 1999 following the 1997 merger between OHS, Greycotes and the Squirrel School.
[edit] Present day
Current fees are £2,798 per term. Its Junior Department is composed of Greycotes and The Squirrel, both on separate campuses; the Squirrel pre-prep department also educates boys between the ages of three and seven. It is a member of the Girls' Day School Trust (GDST), an association of 29 private girls' secondary schools in the UK. It is led by headmistress Felicity Lusk and the two deputy heads; the pastoral Deputy head Olwen Curry (MA, MSc Oxon - Biology) and the academic Deputy head Dr Peter Secker (BSc PhD Birmingham - Mathematics).
[edit] Academics
It is one of the top academic girls' schools in the country.[citation needed] The school consistently occupies a high place in national league tables, although it does operate a selective admissions procedure and it has been accused by some of putting these results ahead of education and welfare. The school appears to suffer on the national league tables in GCSE results, purportedly because the IGCSE in Mathematics that students sit is not recognised in the majority of league tables. The subjects OHS offer are predominately academic although Drama, Art, DT, Textiles and IT can also be taken.[2] In 2001, Oxford High School was successfully taken to court by the Freud family, who accused the school of excluding their daughter because her academic results were not of a high enough standard. The school takes great pride in its sixth form where they offer a wide variety of a-level subjects including Italian (that is learned in 2 years), economics, politics and psychology. [3]
In 2006, Oxford High School announced that it was taking the unusual step of making Mandarin Chinese a compulsory subject for pupils in their first year. These pupils will then have to take either French or Mandarin on to GCSE. Until recently French was compulsory for all students until they reached sixth form. However now the school has changed its policy allowing girls to drop French providing that they take another modern foreign language at GCSE. The school is also in the process of opening a twin school in Shanghai[4].
The Good Schools Guide has labelled Oxford High School as an "unbeatable start in life" with both excellent pastoral and academic provisions.[citation needed]
[edit] Headmistresses
- Ada Benson 1875–1879
- Matilda Ellen Bishop 1879–1887
- Lucy Helen Soulsby 1887–1897
- Edith Marion Leahy 1898–1902
- Rosalind Mabel Brown 1902–1932
- Margaret Gale 1932–1936
- Violet Evelyn Stack 1937–1959
- M.E. Ann Hancock 1959–1966
- Mary Warnock 1966–1972
- Elaine Kaye 1972–1981
- Joan Townsend 1981–1996
- Felicity Lusk 1997 to present
[edit] Houses
The girls in the senior department are divided into four houses, each named after an Ancient Greek deity.
[edit] Notable alumnae
- Camilla Barnes, fashion designer.
- Dame Josephine Barnes (1912-1999), first woman President British Medical Association (BMA).
- Emma Bridgewater, potter.
- Ursula Buchan, journalist.
- Jacintha Buddicom, poetess and childhood friend of George Orwell.
- Helen Darbishire (1881-1961), academic.
- Cressida Dick (b. 1960), Commander of Metropolitan Police.
- Sian Edwards, conductor.
- Rebecca Flemming, academic.
- Martha Lane Fox, entrepreneur lastminute.com.
- Louisa Fuller, violinist.
- Mel Giedroyc, actress/comedienne.
- Lucy Gordon, actress/model.
- Emily Gowers, academic.
- Sophie Grigson, cookery TV/writer.
- Eliza Guest, entrepreneur.
- Julia Hollander, director.
- Harriet Hunt, chess international master.
- Elizabeth Jennings (1926-2001), poet.
- Liz Jensen, novelist.
- Hester Jones, academic.
- Frances Kirwan, academic.
- Dame Rose Macaulay, novelist.
- Miriam Margolyes, (b.1941), actress.
- Lucy Mayers, model.
- Charlotte Mendelson (b.1972), novelist.
- Teresa Morgan, academic.
- Eleanor Oldroyd, BBC Radio Sport presenter.
- Ann Pasternak Slater, academic.
- Beryl Millicent Power (1891–1974), civil servant.
- Eileen Power (1889-1940), economic historian and medievalist.
- Rhoda Power (1890–1957), broadcaster and children's writer.
- Margaret Rawlings (1906–1996), actress, (Lady Barlow)
- Vicky Robinson, ambassador, Rangoon.
- Jane Salmon, cellist.
- Caroline Series, academic.
- Dame Maggie Smith, actress.
- Rosalind Thomas, academic.
- Joanne Van Heningen, architect.
- Louise Williams, violinist.
- Arabella Warner, journalist.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- School website
- Headmistress's letter Sept 06 on the school website.
- Article on the Freud legal action from The Independent newspaper
- St Giles' House (Judge's Lodgings), 16 St Giles' Street, Oxford, where OHS was founded
