contactus@regencyeducation.co.uk
Friday February 24th, 2017
A new senior school is to open in September right in the heart of London. Eaton Square School, a popular London Prep school, which is part of a group of schools, is now opening a senior school with the same name. An impressive Grade I listed building on Piccadilly, not far from the Ritz hotel, across the road from Green Park, will house the school.
Last week I was invited to attend an event dedicated to the opening of the school where Mr Sebastian Hepher, the Head of the Prep school, introduced the newly appointed Head of Eaton Square Upper school Mr Phillip Williams, who previously was the Deputy Head of Francis Holland Sloane Square, prior to that, since 1992, he spent 11 years at Winchester College, which he left in the position of Under Master.
Enrolments are open now. The school will take boys and girls from the age of 11. There is a shortage of school places in London and this will be a welcome relief of the built up queue for senior school places in central London.
Wetherby Prep was the pioneer of the trend – Wetherby Senior school has recently opened, cashing in on the well established reputation and excellence of Wetherby Prep and Pre-Prep School, and now offering places to the leavers of the Prep school and also taking in the boys from other local schools.
Continuing on our series talking about famous British school, I thought it would be interesting to do so in the context of a particular experience of a former pupil of two well known schools.
Last Sunday Kirsty Young of Desert Island Disks, one of my favourite programmes on Radio 4, interviewed military historian and writer Sir Anthony Beevor, the author of the highly acclaimed book Stalingrad and a number of other historical books.
During the interview, Sir Anthony spent a significant amount of time reminiscing about his early years and his education that formed him as a writer.
It always fascinates me how people get moulded by their schools. The school, even more so than university, often has the most significant influence on the choices they make later in life.
Sir Anthony Beevor attended the Abberley Prep School till the age of 13 and then went to Winchester College, one of the top three boarding schools in the country.
His remark was, that the great opportunity for education at Winchester was wasted on him, which, in his words, “was a great shame”. However, he continues, the seeds for his future self-education were planted there. Interestingly, his desire to ‘toughen up’ later in life and to join the Army, was a result of having a debilitating condition at the ages of 4 to 7, which confined him to crutches and significant ridicule at school.
Sir Anthony had failed both his English and History A-Levels during his time at Winchester. At one time at Winchester, he recollected, he found it odd and unnatural overhearing the two scholars discussing Proust in the break time in the cloisters at the age of 13.
Having rather underachieved academically, he then joined the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst (that amongst other alumni counts most of the British royals, including Prince William and Prince Harry) to become an officer in the British Army.
His first internationally acclaimed book Stalingrad was published in 1998 followed by Berlin: the Downfall 1945 and The Battle of Ardennes: 1944.
Here are the schools that Sir Anthony attended:
Abberley Hall Prep school
A mainstream independent day and boarding school with 273 pupils aged from 2 to 13.
To give you an idea of the current academic and overall level, in 2016, out of 45 leavers, 36 got scholarships to senior schools in various fields ranging from sport, art, drama, DT as well as academic. Children progress to some famous schools – Winchester, Eton, Radley, Harrow, Cheltenham Ladies’ College, – as well as to the best of the nearby schools – Cheltenham College, Rugby, Shrewsbury, Moreton Hall, Stowe, Malvern College, Malvern St James and King’s Worcester.
Abberley Hall sits in ninety acres of park and woodland a 19th century edifice of some significance. The buildings are on a slope and the gentle Worcestershire hills frame the school site. Inside, the first impressions are of a grand but comfortable past.
But there is nothing leisurely about the scholarship at Abberley today. It is a high-powered prep school that prepares children with great success for the top senior schools in the country. It offers a traditional academic curriculum. The older children have 30 hours of lessons a week.
Abberley has its own chalet in the French Alps and all year 5s and 7s have a couple of weeks out there each year to immerse them in a different culture and pick up a bit more French, which they are learning alongside Spanish, Latin and Greek.
Winchester College
A mainstream independent boarding school for 690 boys aged from 13 to 18.
Winchester College is situated in one of the finest cities in the world. Its buildings and grounds are outstanding.
It has existed in its present location for over 600 years and claims the longest unbroken history of any school in England.
Founded in the 14th century by William of Wykeham, Bishop of Winchester, and the sage behind the school’s motto: Manners maketh man.
The bishop also founded New College, Oxford, with which the college maintains strong links.
The atmosphere is donnish – the masters are called dons here and the college has a language of its own (called Notions) for almost every aspect of daily life. The lack of girls, together with the school’s academically elitist ethos, gives the boys the gift of unselfconsciousness rarely seen elsewhere.
Div’ is the unique and highly-prized complementary program at the heart of the Winchester ethos. It aims to instill a knowledge and understanding of British, European and world history and culture and, as such, is a true, liberal education.
The school offers the shortest list of exam subjects of any reputable sixth form in England. Chemistry and physics are the most popular Pre-U subjects, closely followed by history and English literature. Philosophy and theology are also popular.
According to Tatler Magazine, 35% of leavers in 2015 had places at Oxford or Cambridge.
According to Tatler Magazine, 35% of leavers in 2015 had places at Oxford or Cambridge
“ Regency Education helped all three of our boys get into a wonderful school where they now thrive. ”
“ REGENCY EDUCATION WAS ABLE TO HELP US WITH EVERY STEP OF THE SCHOOL APPLICATION PROCESS ENSURING THE EDUCATIONAL SUCCESS OF OUR CHILDREN. AN INVALUABLE SERVICE. ”
“ REGENCY EDUCATION WAS ABLE TO HELP US WITH EVERY STEP OF THE APPLICATION PROCESS ENSURING THE EDUCATIONAL SUCCESS OF OUR CHILDREN - AN INVALUABLE SERVICE. ”
