St Ursula's School

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St Ursula's [High] School is a Roman Catholic private school based in Westbury-on-Trym in north western Bristol near the famous Clifton and Durdham Downs.

The school consists of a Nursery Department, Junior Department and Senior Department, providing education for all ages up to 16, but it no longer has a sixth form.

The previous headmistress, Mrs. Margaret Mcnaughton, retired at the end of the 2005 academic year after 14 years at the school. Her position has been taken up by the old Junior Department head, Lynette Carter, who now runs both the senior and junior schools. She renamed the school from 'St Ursula's High School' to 'St Ursula's School' shortly after her appointment.

Pupils are assessed upon entry to the school. Pupils applying for entry at ages 7 and above take an English and Mathematics assessment, whilst pupils applying at ages 11 and above take an English and Mathematics assessment and a reasoning/problem solving test. Despite these tests the school is not narrowly selective by academic ability but seeks those who it is felt will benefit most from the environment and ethos of the school. It does, however, offer scholarships which can be worth up to half of the school fees if the pupil does exceedingly well in all tests.

The school has had two interactive whiteboards installed; the most recent installation was in the Graveney Suite.

[edit] History

The school is named after its patron saint St. Ursula, a British princess who accepted death rather than marriage to a pagan tribal chief while returning from pilgrimage to Jerusalem. She and her 1,000 maiden companions were slaughtered somewhere near Cologne in Germany and became the patron saint of young girls and students.

Opened in 1897 by the Sisters of Mercy, St. Ursula's was originally a girls' boarding school. The school stopped accepting boarders in 1927 but went on to accept boys, first in the Junior School and then in the Senior Department in 1996 when a major programme of development took place overseen by the first lay Headmistress, Margaret Macnaughton. At this time the Sixth Form was closed due to inadequate numbers.

The school still has close links with the Sacred Heart Catholic Church positioned at the rear of the school but lessons have not been taught by the Nuns since 1988, when the Sisters of Mercy withdrew from independent education in the UK and the school was taken over by an Educational Trust.

During the Second World War, the cellars served as air raid shelters to the growing population of Henleaze and in 1942 the school was bombed and evacuated.

The school's badge and motto, pictured, is known as the Mercy Shield or Misericordia Shield and is the insignia of the Order of the Sisters of Mercy. It has been a symbol of mercy since the thirteenth century. The motto 'Dominus Illuminatio Mea' is Latin for 'The Lord is my Light' and serves to remind that love of God and our neighbour are the primary values of the school.

[edit] Uniform

The school uniform used to consist of navy blue jumpers, navy blue pinafors or skirts for the girls, and a yellow and dark blue diagonally striped tie (for both girls and boys).
However in the last 5 years it has been updated, and the jumpers and skirts are now light grey (boy's trousers have remained dark grey), and the tie is currently diagonally striped with yellow and red. Year 11 prefects have a black tie with the school's badge and two white stripes.

[edit] External links

• St. Ursula's Website
• Independent Schools Council
• School website has been updated and url has been changed [1]