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Roedean School is an independent day and boarding school founded in 1885 in Roedean Village on the outskirts of
Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...
, East Sussex, England, and governed by Royal Charter. It is for girls aged 11 to 18. The campus is situated near the Sussex Downs, on a cliff overlooking Brighton Marina and the English Channel. The school incorporates dance studios, music classrooms, a 320-seat theatre, a heated indoor swimming pool, a golf course, a private tunnel to the beach, a farm and a chapel, as well as a range of workshops, studios, laboratories and sports pitches. It is also well-provisioned with a variety of classrooms. Roedean School is a member of the
Girls' Schools Association The Girls' Schools Association (GSA) is a professional association of the heads of independent girls' schools. It is a constituent member of the Independent Schools Council. History The GSA can trace its history back to the Association of Headm ...
and the
Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference The Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference (HMC) is an association of the head teachers of 361 independent schools (both boarding schools and day schools), some traditionally described as public schools. 298 Members are based in the Un ...
(HMC). The ''
Good Schools Guide ''The Good Schools Guide'' is a guide to British schools, both state and independent. Overview The guide is compiled by a team of editors which, according to the official website, "''comprises some 50 editors, writers, researchers and cont ...
'' stated that the "School has a healthy spirit and much to offer." The
Independent Schools Inspectorate The Independent Schools Inspectorate (ISI) is approved by the Secretary of State for Education – under section 106 of the Education and Skills Act 2008 – to inspect independent schools in England. These schools are members of associations ...
rated Roedean as Excellent in all areas (highest category) in its most recent inspection (March 2016).


History

The school was founded in 1885 as Wimbledon House by three:
Penelope Penelope ( ; Ancient Greek: Πηνελόπεια, ''Pēnelópeia'', or el, Πηνελόπη, ''Pēnelópē'') is a character in Homer's ''Odyssey.'' She was the queen of Ithaca and was the daughter of Spartan king Icarius and naiad Periboea. Pe ...
and her step-sisters Millicent, and Dorothy Lawrence. Their brother was the lawyer Sir Paul Lawrence of Wimbledon who became unable to support them. Their Lawrence great aunts had been noted school teachers earlier in the century, mainly in Liverpool. Roedean was founded to prepare girls for entrance to the newly opened women's colleges at
Cambridge University , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...
, Girton (now co-ed) and Newnham Colleges where Penelope had studied. In 1898, the school moved to its present site, occupying new buildings designed by the architect Sir John Simpson. A sister school, also called
Roedean School Roedean School is an independent day and boarding school founded in 1885 in Roedean Village on the outskirts of Brighton, East Sussex, England, and governed by Royal Charter. It is for girls aged 11 to 18. The campus is situated near the Sus ...
and co-founded by the youngest Lawrence sister, Theresa, in 1903, is located in
Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a Megacity#List of megacities, megacity, and is List of urban areas by p ...
, South Africa. The school motto, ''Honneur aulx dignes'', is in
Norman French Norman or Norman French (, french: Normand, Guernésiais: , Jèrriais: ) is a Romance language which can be classified as one of the Oïl languages along with French, Picard and Walloon. The name "Norman French" is sometimes used to descri ...
, and means "Honour the worthy". When pronounced, it sounds like "Honour Roedean". In 1924 the Lawrence sisters were replaced by
Emmeline Mary Tanner Dame Emmeline Mary Tanner, DBE (28 December 1876 – 7 January 1955) was a British headmistress and educational reformer. She led several schools including Roedean. She was appointed a dame for her contribution to the 1944 Education Act. Life T ...
who became the new head. She had been poached from Bedford High School by Penelope Lawrence as their successor. During the Second World War, the students and staff were temporarily evacuated to Keswick, in the north of England. The school buildings in Brighton, Sussex were used by the Admiralty. They adapted it for use by
Navy A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions. It in ...
cadets attending the Mining and Torpedo School (known as HMS ''Vernon''). Roedean is one of the few girls' schools in the country to have an Old Boys' Association. The artist Percy Shakespeare was killed by a German bomb while serving at Roedean.


Absorption of St Mary's Hall

Inspired by his friend William Carus-Wilson, who founded
Cowan Bridge School Cowan Bridge School refers to the Clergy Daughters' School, a school mainly for the daughters of middle class clergy founded in the 1820s. It was first located in the village of Cowan Bridge in the English county of Lancashire, where it was ...
, Reverend Henry Venn Elliott proposed to found a similar school for the county. St Mary's Hall was opened in 1836 and was the second-oldest girls' school in the United Kingdom before it was closed in 2009. At that time, its junior section became Roedean's junior school while many senior girls transferred to Roedean. The junior school was closed in 2011 as the school administration decided to focus on secondary and
sixth form In the education systems of England, Northern Ireland, Wales, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and some other Commonwealth countries, sixth form represents the final two years of secondary education, ages 16 to 18. Pupils typically prepare for ...
education.


Location

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


Academic results

In 2022, the school achieved their best ever results, with 71% of all A-Level grades A*-A and 85% of GCSE grades 9-7.


Houses

The school community is divided into
houses A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air condi ...
. The Lawrence and Tanner House (with Senior and Junior wings) system, introduced in 2005, was reversed starting in 2010. A numbered house system was reintroduced. Roedean school has the longest corridor in England. Year 7 to Year 11 students are spread out amongst Houses 1, 2, 3, and 4. These are named after the house numbers 1–4 of Lewes Crescent, where the School was located prior to moving in 1898 to this campus built for it. Sixth form (Years 12–13) are admitted to Keswick House and Lawrence House, which are detached from the main school building. In the 1960s, the
houses A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air condi ...
were: Junior House; House Number 1; House Number 2; House Number 3; House Number 4; and a Sanatorium. In 1966 part of the Sanatorium was made into rooms for 6th form girls, two 6th form girls from every numbered house. The School retains a sanatorium wing (now known as a health centre) to this day.


Admission procedures

Roedean is a selective school, and entry to the school is based upon the School's own entrance examinations, interviews and reports from the students' previous schools.


Notable alumni

Past pupils are known as Old Roedeanians and include:


Arts

*
Vera Stanley Alder Vera Dorothea Stanley Alder (29 October 1898 – 26 May 1984) was an English portrait painter and mystic. She wrote several books and pamphlets on self-help and spirituality. She founded the World Guardian Fellowship. Background and fam ...
, painter * Pauline Boumphrey, sculptor *
Enid Marx Enid Crystal Dorothy Marx, RDI (20 October 1902 – 18 May 1998), was an English painter and designer, best known for her industrial textile designs for the London Transport Board and the Utility furniture Scheme. Marx was the first female eng ...
, designer * Beatrix Ong MBE, fashion accessories designer * Phyllis Pearsall MBE, artist, writer and publisher * Clare Pooley, blogger and novelist * Zina Saro-Wiwa, video artist and filmmaker * Jillian Becker, author * Dorothy Theomin, philanthropist and art collector


Healthcare and education

* Dame Cicely Saunders, nurse, social worker, physician and writer * Olive Willis, founder of Downe House School


Journalism and literature

*
Alison Adburgham Alison Adburgham (28 January 1912 – 23 May 1997) was an English journalist, author and social historian, best known for her work as fashion editor of '' The Guardian'' newspaper, a position she held for 20 years. Along with Prudence Glynn of ...
, fashion editor of ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers '' The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the ...
'', author and social historian *
Jani Allan Jani Allan (born 11 September 1952) is a South African journalist, columnist, writer and broadcaster. She became one of the country's first media celebrities in the 1980s and 1990s. In 1980, Allan became a columnist for the centrist newspaper, ...
, journalist, broadcaster *
Tessa Dahl Chantal Sophia "Tessa" Dahl (born 11 April 1957) is an English author and former actress. She is the daughter of British author Roald Dahl and American actress Patricia Neal. Early life Dahl was born in Oxford, the second daughter of British au ...
, novelist and daughter of Roald Dahl *
Adèle Geras Adèle Daphne Geras (née Weston; born 15 March 1944) is an English writer for young children, teens and adults. Early life Geras was born in Jerusalem, British Mandatory Palestine to British Jewish parents. Her father (later a lawyer and Hi ...
, writer * Zerbanoo Gifford, writer and human rights campaigner *
Naseem Khan (activist) Naseem Fatima Khan "No. 55513"
''The London Gazette'' (Supplement 1), 12 June 1999, p. B ...
, journalist and activist *
Noo Saro-Wiwa Noo Saro-Wiwa is a British-Nigerian author, noted for her travel writing. She is the daughter of Nigerian activist Ken Saro-Wiwa. Education Noo Saro-Wiwa was born in Port Harcourt, Nigeria, and grew up in Ewell, Surrey in England. She attended ...
, author *
Nancy Spain Nancy Brooker Spain (13 September 1917 – 21 March 1964) was a prominent English broadcaster and journalist. She was a columnist for the ''Daily Express'', ''She'' magazine, and the ''News of the World'' in the 1950s and 1960s. She also appeare ...
, journalist, author and broadcaster *
Katharine Whitehorn Katharine Elizabeth Whitehorn (2 March 1928 – 8 January 2021) was a British journalist, columnist, author and radio presenter. She was the first woman to have a column in ''The Observer'', which ran from 1963 to 1996 and from 2011 to 2017. Sh ...
, journalist, writer, and columnist


Military and sport

* Barbara Calder (1924-2018), yachtswoman *
Elizabeth Devereux-Rochester Elizabeth "Minnie" Devereux-Rochester, also known as Elizabeth Reynolds, (20 December 1917 – between 1981 and 1983) was a member of the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry who served with the Special Operations Executive (SOE) in France during World Wa ...
, member of SOE F Section * Tanya Streeter, world champion freediver * Philippa Tattersall, soldier and first female to complete the All Arms Commando Course


Politics and activism

* Ursula Graham Bower,
anthropologist An anthropologist is a person engaged in the practice of anthropology. Anthropology is the study of aspects of humans within past and present societies. Social anthropology, cultural anthropology and philosophical anthropology study the norms an ...
and guerrilla fighter in Burma during
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
* Jill Braithwaite, Lady Braithwaite,
anthropologist An anthropologist is a person engaged in the practice of anthropology. Anthropology is the study of aspects of humans within past and present societies. Social anthropology, cultural anthropology and philosophical anthropology study the norms an ...
, diplomat and social reformer *
Anna Campbell Anna Montgomery Campbell (1991 – 14 March 2018), also known as Hêlîn Qereçox, was a British feminist, anarchist and prison abolition activist who fought with the Women's Protection Units (YPJ) in the Rojava conflict of the Syrian civil w ...
, activist * Lynda Chalker, Baroness Chalker, politician * Dame Margaret Cole, politician and writer * Flick Drummond, Conservative Party politician * Helen Millar Craggs, suffragette * Birgit Cunningham, campaigner *
Layla Moran Layla Michelle Moran (; born 12 September 1982) is a British Liberal Democrat politician serving as the Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Foreign Affairs and International Development since 2020, and serving as the Member of Parliament for O ...
, Liberal Democrat politician


Science

*
Helen Dick Megaw Helen Dick Megaw (1 June 1907 – 26 February 2002) was an Irish crystallographer who was a pioneer in X-ray crystallography. She made measurements of the cell dimensions of ice and established the Perovskite crystal structure. Education and c ...
, crystallographer


Theatre, television, and film

*
Jill Balcon Jill Angela Henriette Balcon (3 January 192518 July 2009) was a British actress. She was known for her work in film, television, radio and on stage. She made her film debut in ''Nicholas Nickleby'' (1947). She was the second wife of poet Cecil ...
, actress *
Hermione Cockburn Hermione Anne Phoebe Cockburn (born 1973, Sussex, England) is a British television and radio presenter specialising in scientific and educational programmes. She is currently Scientific Director at Our Dynamic Earth. Biography Cockburn gr ...
, broadcaster * Noel Dyson, actress * Lucy Griffiths, actress *
Rebecca Hall Rebecca Maria Hall (born 3 May 1982) is an English actress and filmmaker. She made her first onscreen appearance at age 10 in the 1992 television adaptation of '' The Camomile Lawn'', directed by her father, Sir Peter Hall. Her professional s ...
, actress *
Jessica Hester Hsuan Jessica Hester Hsuan (; PA: syn hyn, also known as Suen Huen, is a Hong Kong actress. Early life Hsuan's father gave her the name Jessica, while her mother gave her the middle name Hester. She was educated in Hong Kong at Maryknoll Convent S ...
, actress * Verity Lambert OBE, television producer *
Sarah Miles Sarah Miles (born 31 December 1941) is an English actress. She is known for her roles in films '' The Servant'' (1963), '' Blowup'' (1966), ''Ryan's Daughter'' (1970), ''The Man Who Loved Cat Dancing'' (1973), '' White Mischief'' (1987) and '' ...
, actress *
Rhona Mitra Rhona is the name of: * Rhona Adair (1878–1961), British golf champion * Rhona Bennett (born 1976), American singer, actress and model * Rhona Brankin (born 1950), Labour Co-operative politician and Member of the Scottish Parliament * Rhona B ...
, actress, model and singer-songwriter *
Honeysuckle Weeks Honeysuckle Susan Weeks (born 1 August 1979) is a British actress best known for her role as Samantha Stewart (later Wainwright) in the ITV wartime drama series ''Foyle's War''. Early life Weeks was born in Cardiff, Wales, to Robin and Susan ...
, actress * Perdita Weeks, actress *Jessica Claire, actress


Roedeanians in fiction

* Sophie (bohemian and perpetually dissatisfied single mother in David Kane's film ''
This Year's Love ''This Year's Love'' is a 1999 film written and directed by David Kane and set in and around Camden Town in London. Cast *Dougray Scott as Cameron * Jennifer Ehle as Sophie * Ian Hart as Liam *Sophie Okonedo as Denise *Douglas Henshall as Dan ...
'', 1993) * Chummy Browne (Camilla Fortescue-Cholmondeley-Browne) in ''
Call the Midwife ''Call the Midwife'' is a BBC period drama series about a group of nurse midwives working in the East End of London in the late 1950s and 1960s. The principal cast of the show has included Jessica Raine, Miranda Hart, Helen George, Bryony Ha ...
'' * Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward (heroine in the marionette series '' Thunderbirds'') * Dawn Drummond-Clayton (Tarzan's great-granddaughter in the '' Bunduki'' series) * Emily James (Head of PR, '' Hotel Babylon'') * Lucy Saxon, a character in the science fiction series ''
Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being who appears to be human. The Doctor explores the ...
''. Both Emily James and Lucy Saxon are portrayed by Alexandra Moen. * Scarlett Papava in the James Bond novel '' Devil May Care'' * Lady Constance, as well as Monica Simmons and her five sisters, in the
Blandings Blandings Castle is a recurring fictional location in the stories of British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse, being the seat of Lord Emsworth (Clarence Threepwood, 9th Earl of Emsworth), home to many of his family and the setting for numerous tal ...
series. * Cecilia Tallis in the novel ''Atonement'' * Lady Mary Wimsey in Dorothy L. Sayers'
Lord Peter Wimsey Lord Peter Death Bredon Wimsey (later 17th Duke of Denver) is the fictional protagonist in a series of detective novels and short stories by Dorothy L. Sayers (and their continuation by Jill Paton Walsh). A dilettante who solves mysteries fo ...
novels * Evelyn Caldessa in Mike Carey's Felix Castor novels * Phyllida Erskine-Brown (née Trant) in the Rumpole of the Bailey series * Saffron Courtney (daughter of Leon Courtney) in
Wilbur Smith Wilbur Addison Smith (9 January 1933 – 13 November 2021) was a Zambian-born British-South African novelist specialising in historical fiction about international involvement in Southern Africa across four centuries, seen from the viewpoints ...
's novel "''War Cry''" attends Roedean in South Africa and England * Emma Holmes in Elly Griffiths' Magic Men mystery novels * Charlotte Lacon, daughter of Oliver Lacon in
John Le Carré David John Moore Cornwell (19 October 193112 December 2020), better known by his pen name John le Carré ( ), was a British and Irish author, best known for his espionage novels, many of which were successfully adapted for film or television. ...
's novel '' Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy'', attends Roedean on a scholarship. * The School is mentioned in the episode of the hit British comedy
Only Fools and Horses ''Only Fools and Horses....'' is a British television sitcom created and written by John Sullivan (writer), John Sullivan. Seven series were originally broadcast on BBC One in the United Kingdom from 1981 to 1991, with sixteen sporadic Christmas ...
called The Russians Are Coming.


See also

* Grade II listed buildings in Brighton and Hove: P–R


References


External links

*
St Mary's Hall Association WebsiteProfile
on the
ISC #REDIRECT ISC {{redirect category shell, {{R from other capitalisation{{R from ambiguous page ...
website *
ISI ISI or Isi may refer to: Organizations * Intercollegiate Studies Institute, a classical conservative organization focusing on college students * Ice Skating Institute, a trade association for ice rinks * Indian Standards Institute, former name of ...
Inspectio
Reports
{{authority control Boarding schools in East Sussex Girls' schools in East Sussex Educational institutions established in 1885 Independent schools in Brighton and Hove Member schools of the Girls' Schools Association Grade II listed buildings in Brighton and Hove 1885 establishments in England Schools with a royal charter