Roedean School

Infobox Secondary school
name = Roedean School

motto = "honneur aulx dignes"
"Honour the worthy"
type = Independent, All Girls, Day & Boarding
city = Brighton and Hove
state = East Sussex
province = England
country = United Kingdom
established = 1885
grades =
head_label = Headmistress
head = Frances King
students =
website = [http://www.roedean.co.uk/ Roedean School's official website]

Roedean School is an independent girls' school in Roedean village on the outskirts of Brighton, East Sussex in the United Kingdom. The school overlooks the sea and is situated close to the marina. Students attend from many different parts of the world. As well as teaching academic subjects, Roedean supports a wide variety of extra-curricular activities such as dance, martial arts, sports, riding, music and drama. The school incorporates a 320-seat theatre, a heated indoor swimming pool and a chapel, as well as a range of workshops, studios, laboratories and sports pitches. Current school fees are between £4,550 and £9,750 per term [ [http://www.roedean.co.uk/Default.asp?First=9&Second=36 Roedean School ] ] , from the youngest day girls to the oldest boarders.This makes Roedean the most expensive school in the United Kingdom. [ [http://archive.theargus.co.uk/2003/1/15/142656.html Sewage shock for top school ] ]

History

The school was founded in 1885 as Wimbledon House by three sisters: Penelope, Millicent, and Dorothy Lawrence. In 1898, the school moved to its present site occupying new buildings designed by the architect John William Simpson. A sister school, also called Roedean School and co-founded by the youngest Lawrence sister, Theresa, is located in Johannesburg, South Africa.

During the Second World War the students and staff were temporarily evacuated to Keswick, in the north of England. The school buildings in Sussex were then used by the Admiralty. [ [http://2ndww.blogspot.com/2007/12/keswick-hotel-during-second-world-war.html#links Keswick Hotel and Roedean] ]

Location

Roedean School is set in forty acres of grounds off Roedean Way, at the top of a cliff on the Sussex Downs overlooking the sea, approximately in line with Brighton Marina.

Houses

The school community is divided into houses.

Upper Three (Year 7) - Upper Five (Year 11) students are admitted to Lawrence House or Tanner House.
Six Ones (Year 11) are admitted to Lawrence Sixth Form House or Tanner Sixth Form House.
Six Twos (Year 12) are admitted to Keswick House which is detached from the main school building.

Admission Procedures

Roedean is a selective school, and entry to the school is based upon various examinations, interviews and reports from the girls' previous schools. Entry at 11+ and 13+ is through the Common Entrance examination.Applicants of 11+ and 13+ who are unable to take the Common Entrance examination, those wishing to enter at 12 + and overseas applicants may sit the Roedean entrance examination.For entry at 14+ places are offered to girls who reach the required standard in the Roedean entrance examination and early application is advised. Late applications will only be considered if places are available for the two year GCSE courses.Sixth Form entry is very competitive, and requires at least 55 points in GCSE or equivalent where A*=8, A=7 etc. and, ideally, a grade A in the subjects (or related subjects) that the candidate proposes to take at AS/A level. Applications are also assessed on the basis of our Sixth Form entrance examinations in English and Mathematics, together with either a Verbal Reasoning Test or a Non-verbal Reasoning Test.

Notable Roedeanians

Past pupils are known as and include:

*Jill Balcon
*Lynda Chalker
*Dame Margaret Cole
*Adèle Geras
*Zerbanoo Gifford
*Lucy Griffiths
*Rebecca Hall
*Jessica Hester Hsuan
*Verity Lambert
*Sarah Miles
*Rhona Mitra
*Phyllis Pearsall
*Cicely Saunders
*Tanya Streeter
*Perdita Weeks
*Honeysuckle Weeks
*Katharine Whitehorn
*Olive Willis

Roedeanians in fiction

*Lucy Saxon [ cite web
last =
first =
author =
title = Harold Saxon - "Meet Lucy Saxon"
work =
publisher = BBC
month = June | year = 2007
url = http://www.haroldsaxon.co.uk/lucysaxon.shtml
format =
doi =
accessdate = 2007-06-30]
*Monica Simmons and her five sisters in "Pigs Have Wings" and "Galahad at Blandings"
*Cecilia Tallis ("Atonement")
*Emily James (Head of PR, Hotel Babylon)

References

External links

* [http://www.roedean.co.uk/ Roedean School official site]