The Elvian School was a

private school A private school or independent school is a school not administered or funded by the government, unlike a State school, public school. Private schools are schools that are not dependent upon national or local government to finance their fina ...

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...

, Berkshire, United Kingdom run by the

Licensed Trade Charity The Licensed Trade Charity (LTC) is a registered charity in the United Kingdom that cares for people working in, or retired from, the licensed drink trade and their dependents. It is constituted as a registered charity under English law, and its h ...

as a co-educational,

non-denominational Christian Non-denominational Christianity (or nondenominational Christianity) consists of churches, and individual Christians, which typically distance themselves from the confessionalism or creedalism of other Christian communities by not formally aligni ...

school. It was previously the Roman Catholic boys' school Presentation College, Reading, until it went into administration in 2004. In March 2010 it was announced that the school would close at the end of the

academic year An academic year, or school year, is a period that schools, colleges and university, universities use to measure the duration of studies for a given educational level. Academic years are often divided into academic terms. Students attend classe ...

History

The school opened in 1931 as Presentation College, Reading, an independent boys' day school run by the

Presentation Brothers The Congregation of Presentation Brothers (; English: "Brothers of the Presentation of Mary"; abbreviated F.P.M.) is an international Catholic congregation of laymen founded in 1802 in Waterford, Ireland, by a local Irish businessman, Edmund Ig ...

. In May 2003, the Presentation Brothers made the highly controversial decision to close the school the following summer. However, due to the "Save Pres" campaign by staff and students, the Presentation Brothers reversed the decision and the school was transferred to a trust. However, in mid-2004 the school went into administration and was taken over by the

and became the Elvian School. The final headteacher of the school was Paul Bevis.

Closure

In January 2010, staff and parents of pupils were sent letters stating that the future of Elvian School was unclear and that the feasibility of continuing to operate was being considered during a consultation period. On 3 March, a further letter and announcement by the school's director of education, Ian Mullins, stated that the consultation had unanimously agreed that the school could not run into the 2010/11

. The school closed in July 2010.

Rebirth

In 2013 members of the West Reading Education Network WREN announced plans to open a Free School on the site of the former Elvian School, re-using some of the Elvian school buildings. These plans were delayed whilst developers

Taylor Wimpey Taylor Wimpey plc (formerly Taylor Woodrow plc) is one of the largest home construction companies in the United Kingdom. The company was created from the merger of rivals Taylor Woodrow and George Wimpey on 3 July 2007. It is listed on the Lond ...

agreed to purchase the site subject to obtaining planning permission for 182 homes. Planning permission was refused. Taylor Wimpey appealed the refusal, and their appeal was dismissed in December 2013 after a public enquiry. Taylor Wimpey appealed to the High Court for a judicial review of the refusal, which was dismissed in June 2014. The new school opened with the name " The Wren School" in 2015.

Curriculum

The school offered a broad curriculum and included all the subjects of the

National Curriculum A national curriculum is a common programme of study in schools that is designed to ensure nationwide uniformity of content and standards in education. It is usually legislated by the national government, possibly in consultation with state or othe ...

Notable former pupils

Old Presentonians

Michael Bond Thomas Michael Bond (13 January 1926 – 27 June 2017) was an English author. He is best known for a series of children's books featuring the character of Paddington Bear. More than 35 million books in the series have been sold worldwide, ...

OBE – children's author * Gerard Johnson – rock musician. * Joseph Kelly – Catholic newspaper editor and publisher. *

Cormac Murphy-O'Connor Cormac Murphy-O'Connor (24 August 1932 – 1 September 2017) was a British Catholic prelate who served as Archbishop of Westminster from 2000 to 2009. He was also president of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales. He was made ...

– Roman Catholic cardinal. * Damian Thompson – journalist and author. *

Mike Oldfield Michael Gordon Oldfield (born 15 May 1953) is an English retired musician, songwriter and producer best known for his debut studio album ''Tubular Bells'' (1973), which became an unexpected critical and commercial success. Though primarily a gu ...

– rock musician. *

Lawrie Sanchez Lawrence Sanchez (born 22 October 1959) is a football manager and former international footballer for Northern Ireland. The defining moment of his playing career came in the 1988 FA Cup final, when he scored the winning goal for Wimbledon aga ...

– football player and manager. * Jonathan Bowden – nationalist political philosopher.

References

External links

Elvian School
{{authority control Educational institutions established in 1931 Defunct Catholic schools in the Diocese of Portsmouth Defunct schools in Reading, Berkshire 1931 establishments in England Educational institutions disestablished in 2010 2010 disestablishments in England