| Established | 1979 |
|---|---|
| Type | Public School |
| Religion | Non Denominational |
| Headmaster | Dr Richard Maloney |
| Chair | Major General Antony Meier CB OBE |
| Founder | Mr P. P. Pyemont |
| Location | Hailsham Sussex BN27 3QH United Kingdom |
| Students | 830 |
| Gender | Coeducational |
| Colours | Green , White |
| Day Houses | Deis; Knights; Dicker; Bloomsbury and Charleston |
| Boarding Houses | Camberlot; Dorms; Stud; Crossways; Dorter |
| Website | St Bede's School Website |
St. Bede's Senior School is an independent, fee-paying secondary school in the rural village of Upper Dicker, near Hailsham, East Sussex, England, with a total of 830 pupils. Its grounds cover around 100 acres (400,000 m2) of the local area. Founded in 1979, St Bede's is co-educational and has a rich sporting pedigree. It is a Boarding School with five Boarding Houses and five Day Houses. It is linked with St Bede's Preparatory School, based nearby in Eastbourne.
Entrance to the school is usually by Common Entrance or the school's own tests, interview, and reference. The school does not select on academic grounds, but offers a wide range of scholarships including Academic, Music, Art, Drama and Sports.
St Bede’s Senior School is a school that believes it can make a unique and exceptional contribution to the education of young people. It prides itself on providing a genuinely holistic education that places the individual student at the very centre, encouraging students to identify their passions and immerse themselves in new and invigorating experiences.
One of the youngest schools in HMC St Bede’s is a co-educational boarding and day school for students age 13 -18. It has been described by the Daily Telegraph as ‘The leading school of its generation’, and is recognised both nationally and internationally as a school that offers a breadth of opportunities. Headmaster is Dr Richard Maloney who joined the school in 2009.
At GCSE there are 35 subjects on offer, in the Sixth Form over 50 courses and the Co-Curricular programme provides over 140 choices each week. A teacher-student ratio of 1-8 allows considerable flexibility of programme for students; The Legat School of Dance offers vocational training alongside academic excellence and the St Bede’s Cricket Academy is growing in reputation as it produces young cricketers who move straight in to county contracts. Football and tennis at the school have similar reputations.
Set within 100 acres of beautiful Sussex countryside, St Bede’s has extensive playing fields, a golf course, riding school, a multi-purpose hall bigger than most sports centres, a national size swimming pool, tennis courts and squash courts. Many of its facilities have been built in the last 15 years and these are bespoke buildings designed specifically for their uses, yet still sit well alongside the more traditional architecture of the original houses. St Bede’s boarding houses are world-class and have been described by The Good Schools Guide as: ‘Some of the most stylish boarding we know’.
The breadth of opportunity for all students reflects the core aim of St Bede’s which is to: ‘Prepare students to lead a full and worthwhile life in the wider world as well-rounded, confident and balanced members of their communities’. Sitting alongside the opportunities is pastoral care, delivered through the House and Tutor system.[1]
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St Bede’s Senior School emerged from the success of St Bede’s Prep School, situated in a stunning location under the South Downs and on the seafront at Eastbourne.
The Prep School was founded in 1895 with an impressive roll of four boys! Seven years later it moved from its site in Blackwater Road to purpose-built premises at the very western end of Eastbourne seafront. Over one hundred years later, and with many new buildings, this is still a magnificent home for the Prep School.
In 1978 it was decided to start a Senior School for pupils who wanted to continue an education steeped in the St Bede’s philosophy of focus upon the individual. A country estate, eight miles to the north of Eastbourne was purchased and St Bede’s Senior School opened its doors in the village of Upper Dicker to just over 30 students.[1]
The Upper Dicker estate, known as The Dicker, was the former estate of the Edwardian MP, financier and fraudster, Horatio Bottomley. Despite several sojourns as a guest at one of His Majesty’s establishments, Bottomley was loved and respected by the villagers of Upper Dicker who would line the street, waving flags, each time he was released from prison. His extravagant building programme, both for the estate and the village created employment, along with his passion for breeding and racing horses. In Bottomley’s day The Dicker boasted its own race course and stables and one of the most prominent houses in the village was the home of Bottomley’s stud manager, known as Stud House. That building still exists today and the name lives on as one of the boys’ boarding houses.[1]
St Bede’s has five houses for day students and five houses for boarders. Each house has a House Council, run by the head girl or boy of that house and which meets weekly. The Head of House, along with another elected member of the House than takes any issues, ideas and suggestions to the School Council which is chaired by the Head of School.
Run entirely by the students, the School Council is a force within the School, representing student opinion and effecting student-led changes which have ranged from changes to meal times and prep times, social networking policies and e-safety and much more.[1]
As a school that it is still in its ‘thirties’ St Bede’s has carried out a vast building programme and continues to do so.
Boarding houses are bespoke built and world-class. With an emphasis on light and space, the houses have atriums and huge picture windows. Common rooms are large spaces divided naturally into smaller areas for specific purposes. Bedrooms are arranged in ‘flats’ and range from singles and doubles to ‘fours’ for the younger students.
Drama performances take place in the Miles Studio, opened in 2006 by comedian Ronnie Corbett,[2] which also houses the Legat School of Dance. Music performances take place in the Multi Hall or the Library and often outside in the Park.
The Multi Purpose Hall, opened in 2007, ensures that sport can take place whatever the weather and boasts indoor cricket nets, netball courts and badminton courts. At other times it is transformed into a concert hall for audiences of up to a thousand.
The indoor swimming pool is of championship size, there is a fitness centre, four squash courts, a golf course and a riding stable with its own cross-country course. There are enough football, rugby and cricket pitches for as many students who want to, to play sport whether at a competitive level or just for fun. An all-weather Astro is used for hockey throughout the year.[1]
Academically ambitious for all its students St Bede’s offers a breadth of subjects at both GCSE and A Level.
At A Level, Department of Education figures show that since 2008 St Bede’s students have earned results way in advance of what might have been expected of them when they started their courses. St Bede’s makes a difference of more than a grade, on average, for each student in each course. This puts St Bede’s comfortably amongst the top five per cent of schools in the country for Added Value at A Level.
At GCSE, students take English, Maths, a Modern Language and a Science and usually choose a further six subjects.
In the Sixth Form most students follow a four-subject A Level programme; others mix A Levels with Pre-U examinations or BTEC qualifications offered in Business Management, Music, Sport and Animal Management.
Grades for both achievement and effort are sent to parents every three weeks and can be accessed electronically on the Parent Portal.[1]
St Bede’s is considered to be one of the top schools in the country for Art – achieving impressive results year on year at both GCSE and A Level and regularly winning awards. At A Level the standard is such that each year a number of students move straight into courses at the top colleges without being required to complete a foundation course.
Disciplines offered at GCSE and A Level include fine art, graphics, photography and ceramics.
The Performing Arts are a very dynamic part of the School and performances are of a very high standard. In Drama, at A Level, students can choose between Theatre Studies and Performing Arts. Some productions are open to all students, such as the big Christmas showcase which in recent years has included Phantom of the Opera, Peter Pan and Bugsy Malone, whilst others are age or course specific. In all there will be around 20 productions each year.
Music is also at the heart of St Bede’s with nearly 40 performances a year. The School has an orchestra, many ensembles, a jazz band and many other bands. There is a School Choir, a Jazz Choir and a Folk Choir and plenty of opportunities for soloists.
A highlight of the School year is St Bede’s Rocks – held in the Park with a backdrop of the lake. The event starts mid afternoon and goes on into the evening with bands and singers performing on an outside stage.[1]
St Bede’s offers an extraordinary range of choice in its co-curricular programme, ranging from the thrilling to the more cerebral. The programme runs four afternoons each week and incorporates all the major sports as well as minority sports such as beach volleyball.
Whilst some choose to be involved in debating societies, cookery clubs, magazine editorial teams and science clubs, others take to the sports arena.
St Bede’s regularly wins county championships in cricket, football, hockey, netball and tennis and hold current national titles in girls’ cricket and girls’ football. In 2009 the boys’ 1st XI won the England Schools Football championship out of a starting field 2,500. Students have represented their country in Athletics, Cricket, Football, Hockey, Rugby, Sailing, Shooting, Show-jumping, Swimming and Tennis.[1]
St Bede’s puts the safeguarding and well-being of its students at the heart of everything it does.
There are five houses for day students, five houses for boarders and it is these houses that are ‘home’ within the school for the students. The boarding houses have a Housemaster and two House Tutors who live in the houses, matrons are on duty from 7am to 10pm.
Each student has a Tutor who is a member of the academic staff and each Tutor will have up to eight Tutees. Tutor time is scheduled into the weekly timetable and other meetings are arranged during Flexitime.
Food at St Bede’s is under the remit of Holroyd Howe. Boarders can have a full English, cereals and pastries for breakfast. At lunch students can choose between hot dishes and salads or sandwiches and baguettes from the ‘Grab and Go’ section. Evening supper at 7pm is another cooked meal and Holroyd Howe also produce special meals – usually student choice, for special events such as House Formal Dinners and Prefect Dinners.[1]
Dicker House - Boys; Deis House - Boys; Knights House - Boys; Bloomsbury House - Girls; Charleston House - Girls
Camberlot Hall - Boys; Dorms House - Boys; Stud House - Boys; Crossways House - Girls; Dorter House - Girls [1]