Badminton School

Badminton School
Motto Pro Omnibus Quisque, Pro Deo Omnes.
Each for all, and all for God.
Established 1858
Type Independent Day & Boarding
Headteacher Rebecca Tear
Founder Miriam Badock
Location Westbury Road
Bristol
BS9 3BA
England Coordinates: 51°29′08″N 2°37′04″W / 51.48557°N 2.617705°W
DfE number 801/6003
DfE URN 109337 Tables
Capacity 446
Students 447
Gender Girls
Ages 4–18
Houses Badock
Baker
Burke
Murray
Rendall
Webb-Johnson (Webb-J)
Former pupils Old Badmintonians
Website www.badmintonschool.co.uk

Badminton School is an independent, boarding and day school for girls aged 3 to 18 years situated in Westbury-on-Trym, Bristol, England. The school consistently performs well in the government's league tables, particularly at A Level.[1] In 2008 the school was ranked third in the Financial Times top 1,000 schools.[2]

According to the Good Schools Guide, "The secret of the school's success is in its size and a good deal of individual attention."[3]

School history

Badminton School
Badminton School, Bristol

Miriam Badock established a school for girls in 1858 at Badminton House in Clifton.[4] By 1898 it had become known as Miss Bartlett's School for Young Ladies.[5]

Unusually for the time the school developed a broad curriculum, and extracurricular activities, including sport, were encouraged. The school grew steadily in size, and in 1924 moved to the present site, under the headship of Beatrice May Baker (1876–1973). Baker, known as BMB,[6] was fundamental in shaping Badminton’s ethos and had a deep personal influence on individual pupils.[7] She encouraged the girls to be aware of world affairs and internationalism.[8] A pioneer in many educational fields, she established Badminton as a much-admired progressive school.[9] She insisted on the rights of young people to freedom of expression and encouraged a questioning approach to learning: "in chapel 'Jesus often had to share the stage with Lenin'".[10] The international outlook she pioneered continues to this day.

In 1958, the school celebrated its centenary with the opening of a new Science Centre by Countess Mountbatten of Burma. Dame Sybil Thorndike was president of the school at that time, and a new cantata called "The Crown of the Year" by Michael Tippett was specially commissioned to mark the event.

By the late 1960s, the progressive aspects of the school had all but vanished (Royston Lambert speech at Exeter University 19 November 1971)[11] and it had become a standard independent academic school.

Old Badmintonians

Alumnae of the school are known as Old Badmintonians.

  1. ↑ "Badminton School". www.dcsf.gov.uk. Retrieved 2009-01-26.
  2. ↑ "FT.com - In depth - FT top schools". www.ft.com. Archived from the original on 4 March 2009. Retrieved 2009-01-26.
  3. ↑ "Badminton School, Bristol - The Good School Guide". www.goodschoolsguide.co.uk. Retrieved 2009-01-26.
  4. ↑ Badminton School: The First 150 Years Nigel Watson
  5. ↑ "Bristol Schools Information". www.bristolinformation.co.uk. Retrieved 2009-01-26.
  6. ↑ Jean Storry, ed. (1982). At Badminton with BMB by Those Who Were There. Badminton School.
  7. ↑ "Literary Encyclopedia: Dame Iris Murdoch". www.litencyc.com. Retrieved 2009-01-26.
  8. ↑ Watkins, Christopher (May 2007). "Inventing International Citizenship: Badminton School and the Progressive Tradition between the Wars". History of Education (Routledge) 36 (3): 315–338. doi:10.1080/00467600500419810. ISSN 1464-5130.
  9. ↑ Child, Hubert Alwyn Thomas (1962). The Independent Progressive School. Hutchinson.
  10. ↑ "Preface to the online release, October 2007". www.oup.com. Retrieved 2009-01-26.
  11. ↑ Lambert, Royston. Alternatives To School. Exeter University Press. ISBN 0-900771-36-4.
  12. ↑ film adaptations of plays on video By Thomas L. Erskine, James Michael Welsh, John C. Tibbetts
  13. ↑ "Tate: Mary Fedden". www.tate.org.uk. Retrieved 2013-02-21.
  14. ↑ Indira Gandhi: Daughter of India By Carol Dommermuth-Costa
  15. ↑ Jordanian Royalty: Jordanian Princes, Jordanian Princesses, Jordanian Royal Consorts, Kings of Jordan, Recipients of Jordanian Royal Pardons
  16. ↑ Notes to My Mother-in-Law - P Law
  17. ↑ Iris Murdoch: A life - Peter J. Conradi
  18. ↑ Roger Ebert's Movie Yearbook 2009 By Roger Ebert
  19. ↑ Rank: picturing social order 1516-2009
  20. ↑ Somaliland Presidential Families Archives

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