Rye St Antony School: Difference between revisions

Rye St Antony School
Roman Catholic
Established	1930
Founder	Elizabeth Rendall and Ivy King
Local authority	Oxfordshire
Department for Education URN	123295 Tables
Headmistress	Miss Alison Jones
Gender	Girls
Age	3 to 18
Enrollment	380~ (2011)
Houses	4
Colour(s)	Red, grey
Website	http://www.ryestantony.co.uk/

Rye St Antony School is an Independent

, England. Rye St Antony pupils are enabled to reach their full academic potential by having access to first class teaching and extra-curricular opportunities that develop them as individuals. The school's name is commonly abbreviated and referred to by both pupils and staff as 'Rye'. Rye is unique as a girls' independent Catholic school founded by lay women rather than by a religious order.

History

The school was founded by Elizabeth Rendall and Ivy King in 1930 after a visit to the Church of St Anthony in Rye, East Sussex.^[1] There have been only four Headmistresses in Rye's history. In 1960 Miss Rendall died, and in 1963 the school became an educational trust with a Governing Body. Miss King continued as Headmistress until 1976 and, unfailing in her interest and encouragement, spent her retirement in a house in the school grounds until her death in 1993. Miss King's younger sister, Miss Gwen, joined the school in 1939 and faithfully served the school until her death in 2000 at the age of ninety-nine. Miss King’s successor as Headmistress was Patsy Sumpter who came to the school in 1959 and worked alongside Miss King in various posts before succeeding her as Headmistress from 1976 until 1990. Alison Jones, the fourth and current Headmistress, was appointed as successor to Miss Sumpter on Miss Sumpter’s retirement in 1990.

The school was first situated in central Oxford before moving to its present site of 12 acres (4.9 ha) in Headington in 1939. The school grounds include a Victorian house built by Alfred Waterhouse, the Architect that designed The Natural History Museum.

A steady programme of building and development has provided the School with a wide range of high quality teaching and residential facilities. A new high specification Performing Arts centre was opened in February 2005.^[2] The school also opened a new Sports Centre (the Morton Sports Centre) in 2008 and renovated the Sixth Form Centre and Boarding house in 2010.

The school was rated "outstanding" in all aspects during their recent 2017 ISI inspection.^[3]

Tangerine Party

A unique and much anticipated tradition at Rye St Antony is the 'Tangerine Party', held on the last day of the Michaelmas term. This is believed to have originated from gifts of (among other things) fruit being donated to pupils whilst rationing was enforced during the Second World War. All members of staff, pupils and parents congregate informally in the Rendall Hall to sing Christmas songs, including 'All I Want For Christmas Is You', 'Merry Christmas Everyone', 'Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer', 'Santa Claus is Coming to Town', and, finally, 'The Twelve Days of Christmas' (featuring Year 13 singing the coveted 'Five Gold Rings'). The school shares Christmas cake and everyone given a tangerine. Songs are usually led by the Lay Chaplain and accompanied by the Director of Music; they become increasingly raucous as the Party progresses. Commonly, some male members of staff are required to stand up and sing 'We Three Kings' in front of the congregation.

Extracurricular Activities

The school has an especially strong commitment to the

. Sport is also a popular aspect of the school with many pupils being members of sports teams and competing at county and national level.

Houses

There are four houses to which pupils are assigned and they generally remain in the same house throughout their time at Rye. These houses compete against one another in both academic and extra-curricular activities throughout the year, each led by a staff Housemaster.

• Stonor
• Hendred
• Holywell
• Binsey

Boarding

The two boarding houses are each in the charge of two Housemistresses and their team of Assistants. Girls have a choice of choosing full boarding, weekdays-only or flexi-boarding.^[4]

• The Cottage for Years 11 and Sixth Form
• The Croft for Year 3 to Year 10

Head Mistresses

• Miss Elizabeth Rendall (joint founder) 1930–1960
• Miss Ivy King (joint founder) 1930–1976
• Miss Patsy Sumpter 1976–1990
• Miss Alison Jones 1990—

Former pupils

Those educated at the school include: Annie Tempest, cartoonist and sculptor

• Teresa Freeman-Grenville, 13th Lady Kinloss^[5]
• Emilia Clarke, actress
• Victoria Aguirre Vila-Coro (Bibi), PhD Visual Sciences, Madrid, Spain

References

External links

• School website
• Profile on the ISC website
• Profile on MyDaughter
• Church of St Antony in Rye, Sussex

51°45′35″N 1°13′33″W / 51.75972°N 1.22583°W / 51.75972; -1.22583