| Established | 1842[1] |
|---|---|
| Type | Independent, boarding and day |
| Religion | Roman Catholic |
| Headmistress | Jayne Triffitt MA (Oxon) |
| Location | Marden Park Woldingham Surrey England, United Kingdom |
| Students | 600 |
| Gender | All-girl |
| Ages | 11–18 |
| Houses | Four:Saint Madeleine Sophie Barat Saint Rose Philippine Duchesne Mother Janet Stuart Mother Mabel Digby |
| Years | 7 - Sixth Form |
| Former name | Convent of the Sacred Heart (1842- ) |
| Website | www.woldinghamschool.co.uk |
Woldingham School is an all-girls, independent, Roman Catholic, boarding and day school in Woldingham, Surrey, England.
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The school was founded as the Convent of the Sacred Heart in 1842[1] in Berrymead, London by the Society of the Sacred Heart. The Society was founded in France in 1800 by Madeleine Sophie Barat (canonized in 1925) immediately after the French Revolution (1789–1799). The first Sacred Heart school had opened in 1801 at Amiens, France; others were soon established in France and across Europe. Soon, schools had been opened on five continents with the Berrymead location being England's first Convent of the Sacred Heart.[2]
The Convent of the Sacred Heart moved to Roehampton, London, in 1850. Shortly after the 1939 outbreak of World War II, the school was evacuated, first to Newquay and later to Stanford Hall, near Rugby. Because the Roehampton site was damaged during the air raids of 1940, the school decided, at the end of war, to find a new location. Marden Park was purchased by the Society in 1945, and the school moved in one year later. Early in the 1980s, the Society decided to commit the school to lay management under the trusteeship of the Society. In 1984, Philomena Dineen was appointed first lay Head of School for the newly renamed Woldingham School; she took up her duties in January 1985.
Girls in different year-groups live in different boarding houses:
Marden House (Years 7 and 8): For these 11-13 year olds, the house structure is designed to be home-like and boarders share rooms of four. There are common rooms where day girls and boarders meet to chat and play, and boarders from Years 7 and 8 spend the majority of their time in the common room, rather than their bedrooms.
Main House (Years 9, 10 and 11): This is a more grown-up environment for 13 to 16 year olds, marking their progression to Secondary School. Boarders have study bedrooms and day girls have study rooms, within the boarding areas, so that everyone is integrated into the life of the year group.
The Sixth Form girls are encouraged to communicate more readily with staff. Sixth Formers also wear uniform. The Sixth-Form accommodations, Berwick House and Shanley House, are relatively new and in Shanley House boarders have private bathrooms.
The global Network of Sacred Heart Schools allows girls unique opportunities for linguistic and cultural exchanges with many European countries.
On entering the school girls are placed into house tutor groups. This is mainly a random placement, although girls follow their elder sisters into the same house. Tutor groups stay together throughout their time at the school. The houses are named after four nuns who were influential figures in the development of the Society. They are Saint Madeleine Sophie Barat, who founded the Society; Saint Rose Philippine Duchesne; Mother Janet Stuart; and Mother Mabel Digby. Each house celebrates its own annual Feast Day with a Mass and supper. The school Foundation Day - in December each year - is marked with a Mass dedicated to the four Houses, a special luncheon and Christmas Dinner.
Woldingham is open to girls between age 11 to 18, who can join the school at ages 11, 12, 13 or 16 making it possible to join the school in at any stage in the junior school (Marden House) or upon entering senior school (Main House). Girls can also join after completing the General Certificate of Secondary Education and enter straight into the Sixth Form (Berwick House and Shanley House, named after the nuns who were headmistresses of the school, respectively).However, one must be careful at this school if attempting to change their daughters' schools because for years 7 to 10 there is a term in advanced notice necessary and in year 11 to sixth form, 2 terms in advance are necessary. If these agreements are not followed, your daughters will remain at the school till the following terms.
The Good Schools Guide called the school "a beautiful, safe environment for your young girl to grow up in away from home", adding that it "doesn't have the edginess of more City-type schools but, to compensate, there is a hugely supportive and cooperative atmosphere".
In May 2006, fifty independent schools agreed to pay nominal penalties, as a result of a 2005-2006 investigation by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT). Fifty of England's top independent schools have broken competition law by sharing information about fees. The OFT has issued a "statement of objections" to them. The preliminary findings are:
This situation came about as a result of a dispute between the U.K. Charity Commission for England and Wales, which regulates the behaviour of U.K. charitable organizations, and the Office of Fair Trading, responsible for profit-making businesses. Although U.K. charities are required to share financial and other information among themselves, U.K. businesses are not allowed to do so. The U.K.Competition Act 1998, which regulates the behaviour of businesses, was altered in 2000 to place independent schools — which are charities — in the same category as businesses as far as exchange of financial information is concerned.
The school is located in 700 acres (2.8 km2) in Surrey; it is thirty-five minutes from central London and twenty minutes from Gatwick Airport.
All of those listed attended the school for at least one term and the names used are those by which they are best known:
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