Our Lady of Sion School

Our Lady of Sion School, commonly known as Sion School or just Sion, is a privately funded and independent school for male and female students, founded in Worthing, West Sussex, England in 1862 by the Sisters of Sion.

Sion in Worthing is part of a world-wide network of schools founded by the Sisters of Sion.

The school's current Head Master is Rolf Harris, who succeeded Brian Sexton in September 2000. The School has a number of well-known alumni, including Actors, Sportsmen, Politicians and Musicians. It has a very strong academic record. The school motto is 'Consideration Always'.

Overview

Our Lady of Sion day-schools approximately 530 children between the ages of 3 and 19 at a cost of about £9,000 a year. In the VIth form there are some scholarships provided for by the school and awarded by examination results each year;^[1] these students pay up to 75 per cent of full fees. Of the other pupils, up to a third receive some kind of bursary or scholarship. The original school was a girls only boarding school, with few students, and teaching undertaken solely by the Sisters of Sion.

As the school grew, more students were allowed to attend provided that they paid their own fees and lived outside the school in parental or guardian accommodation. The Houses developed over time as a means of organising the larger number of students in attendance. There are three "houses" within the school; Gamma, Sigma and Delta, named after Greek letters. The house colours are Blue, Green and Yellow respectively, and students houses are identified by a respectively coloured stripe on the school tie.

Heads of School (one boy and one girl) and House Captains (the selected senior pupil in each house) at one time wore badges to identify themselves, however this is not the case anymore. Those in Sixth Form are entitled not to wear uniform, but rather have a "code of dress" that is based less on what you can wear, and more on what you cannot.

History

Sion school in Worthing was founded in 1862 and is one of several Sion schools situated around the world. Its claimed aim is to foster bridge-building and tolerance and to welcome pupils from all faiths and ethnic backgrounds. In the years following its establishment the Sisters of Sion played a key role in its development and then, in 1984, the first lay Head was appointed, Mr. Brian Sexton. He introduced co-education, a major innovation which made Sion one of the very few schools in the UK then offering a complete education, for both sexes, between the ages of 3 and 19.

In September 2000 Michael Scullion took over as headmaster.

Fees and charitable status

Like all English private and independent schools, Sion's facilities come at the price of fees. Whilst not as expensive as other schools, Sion does not offer the opportunity to board, dramatically lowering the cost. The school does, however, offer a number of bursaries and scholarships.

School magazines

The Sionian is the official school newsletter and is released at the end of each academic term, being sent home with the pupils report cards. It is edited and pieced together by a member of staff, although the majority of articles are written by students throughout the school, documenting recent events such as school trips. Once a year there is also a school magazine written and edited entirely by the sixth form. It provides a humorous outlook on the past years events, and it is named differently every year. Recent magazines have been called 'PasSION', and 'FuSION'.

Old Sionians

• William Brown, musician, The Ordinary Boys
• Noah Huntley, actor
• Lucinda Kennard, actress
• James Gregory, musician, The Ordinary Boys
• Roxanne McKee, actress, Hollyoaks
• Alex Coomber, athlete

References

External links

• Our Lady of Sion School
• Profile on the Independent Schools Council website