St Andrew's School is an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

preparatory school in the

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...

of Buckhold, near

Pangbourne Pangbourne is a village and civil parish on the River Thames in the West Berkshire unitary area of the county of Berkshire, England. Pangbourne has shops, churches, schools and a village hall. Outside its nucleated village, grouped developed are ...

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; abbreviated ), officially the Royal County of Berkshire, is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Oxfordshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the north-east, Greater London ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. Together with its 'Pre-Prep – Early Years' department, the school educates girls and boys aged between three and thirteen. In 2011, there were 266 children at the school, of whom 155 were boys and 111 were girls. The school has a Christian ethos, and its chapel services are reported to be "broadly Anglican in style". The most important religious event of the school year is the Advent Carol Service, which is held in the larger chapel of nearby Bradfield College due to the high number of event attendees. Scholarships are awarded to some children above the age of eleven, based on merit. St Andrew's has a School Council to involve its children in decisions affecting them. In March 2011 an Independent Schools Inspectorate report endorsed the school's success.

History

The school was founded in 1934 as a

boarding school A boarding school is a school where pupils live within premises while being given formal instruction. The word "boarding" is used in the sense of "room and board", i.e. lodging and meals. They have existed for many centuries, and now extend acr ...

for boys, and consisted of just two staff and eight boys. Historically, as the school grew, boys would leave to go onto schools such as Eton,

Harrow Harrow may refer to: Places * Harrow, Victoria, Australia * Harrow, Ontario, Canada * The Harrow, County Wexford, a village in Ireland * London Borough of Harrow, England * Harrow, London, a town in London * Harrow (UK Parliament constituency) * ...

and

Winchester Winchester (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government Districts of England, district, at the western end of the South Downs N ...

, however its ties with these schools slowly deteriorated after it first admitted girls in 1971, going on to become fully co-educational.ISI Report, March 2011
online The school's main building, a listed

Victorian Victorian or Victorians may refer to: 19th century * Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign ** Victorian architecture ** Victorian house ** Victorian decorative arts ** Victorian fashion ** Victorian literatur ...

Gothic

country house image:Blenheim - Blenheim Palace - 20210417125239.jpg, 300px, Blenheim Palace - Oxfordshire An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a Townhou ...

called Buckhold, which was designed by

Alfred Waterhouse Alfred Waterhouse (19 July 1830 – 22 August 1905) was an English architect, particularly associated with Gothic Revival architecture, although he designed using other architectural styles as well. He is perhaps best known for his designs ...

in 1885 for

Herbert Watney Herbert Watney (1843–1932) of Buckhold, Pangbourne, Berkshire (now St Andrew's School, Pangbourne, St. Andrew's School) was a nineteenth century London physician, landowner and Philanthropy, philanthropist, and a strong supporter of Christian mi ...

, is set in fifty-four acres of woods and playing fields.

Catherine, Princess of Wales

The school's most famous alumna is Catherine "Kate" Middleton. Following her family's return to Berkshire from

Amman Amman ( , ; , ) is the capital and the largest city of Jordan, and the country's economic, political, and cultural center. With a population of four million as of 2021, Amman is Jordan's primate city and is the largest city in the Levant ...

when she was four years old, Middleton was enrolled at St Andrew's, and she boarded part-weekly at the school in her later years. It was at this school in 1991 that Middleton first saw her future husband,

Prince William William, Prince of Wales (William Arthur Philip Louis; born 21 June 1982), is the heir apparent to the British throne. He is the elder son of King Charles III and Diana, Princess of Wales. William was born during the reign of his p ...

, when he was part of a

Ludgrove School Ludgrove School is an English independent school, independent boys' Preparatory school (UK), preparatory boarding school. Ludgrove was founded in 1892 at Ludgrove Hall in Middlesex by the Old Etonian sportsman Arthur Dunn. Dunn had been employed ...

hockey ''Hockey'' is a family of List of stick sports, stick sports where two opposing teams use hockey sticks to propel a ball or disk into a goal. There are many types of hockey, and the individual sports vary in rules, numbers of players, apparel, ...

team that came to play a match at Middleton's school.

The school today

The school has just under 300 pupils. It is co-educational. Its facilities include boarding houses, three science laboratories, music school, art studio and carpentry workshop, and a chapel. Sporting facilities include a 25-metre pool, all-weather astro playing field, sports hall, climbing wall, 9 hole golf course, 3 tennis courts (including one grass court) and rugby/football/cricket/lacrosse pitches.

Notable former pupils

Former students of the school are called "Old St Andrew's", and there is an OSA Association. * Adrian Liddell Hart, author and adventurer * Adam Boulton, journalist, broadcaster and author *

John le Carré David John Moore Cornwell (19 October 193112 December 2020), better known by his pen name John le Carré ( ), was a British author, best known for his espionage novels, many of which were successfully adapted for film or television. A "sophist ...

(David Cornwell), spy fiction writer * Sir Howard Hodgkin, artist *

Adam Hart-Davis Adam John Hart-Davis (born 4 July 1943) is an English scientist, author, photographer, historian and broadcaster. He presented the BBC television series '' Local Heroes'' and '' What the Romans Did for Us'', the latter spawning several spin-off ...

, broadcaster * Will Lyons (born 1976), journalist, broadcaster and wine writer *

Catherine, Princess of Wales Catherine, Princess of Wales (born Catherine Elizabeth Middleton; 9 January 1982), is a member of the British royal family. She is married to William, Prince of Wales, heir apparent to the British throne. Born in Reading, Catherine grew ...

, wife of

William, Prince of Wales William, Prince of Wales (William Arthur Philip Louis; born 21 June 1982), is the heir apparent to the British throne. He is the elder son of King Charles III and Diana, Princess of Wales. William was born during the reign of his pat ...

St Andrew's Celebrates the Royal Wedding
at standrewspangbourne.co.uk * James Middleton, businessman *

Pippa Middleton Philippa Charlotte Matthews (née Middleton; born 6 September 1983) is a British socialite, author and columnist. She is the younger sister of Catherine, Princess of Wales. Born in Reading, Berkshire and raised in Bucklebury, Middleton atte ...

, events manager, columnist

Notable staff

* 13th Earl of WestmeathPatrick W. Montague-Smith, ''Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage'' (Debrett's Peerage Ltd., 1980), p. 200: "William Anthony Nugent, 13th Earl... Assist. Master, St Andrew's Sch., Pangbourne".

Headmasters

* 1934 – 1954: R. W. Robertson-Glasgow * 1934 – 1945: Bill Ward-Clark * 1945 – 1975: Jack Llewellyn-Smith * 1952 – 1970: Rodney Stebbing * 1949 – 1952: Bill Berkley * 1975(?)- 1985: Bill Philipps * 1985 – 1995: Bob Acheson * 1995 – 2009: Jeremy Snow * 2009 – 2015: Dr David Livingstone *2015 – 2021: Jonathan R. Bartlett *2021–Present: Edward Graham

Notes

External links

Official website

Profile
on the ISC website
Independent Schools Inspectorate Report
(March 2011) {{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Andrew's School, Pangbourne Private schools in West Berkshire District Educational institutions established in 1934 1934 establishments in England Boarding schools in Berkshire Preparatory schools in Berkshire Church of England private schools in the Diocese of Oxford Bradfield, Berkshire