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The Abbey School, Reading

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Coordinates: 51°26′54″N 0°57′47″W / 51.448333°N 0.963056°W / 51.448333; -0.963056
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The Abbey
Address
Map
Kendrick Road

Reading
,
Berkshire
,
RG1 5DZ

England
Coordinates51°26′54″N 0°57′47″W / 51.448333°N 0.963056°W / 51.448333; -0.963056
Information
TypePrivate day school
Established1887
Department for Education URN110165 Tables
Chair of GovernorsLiz Harrison [1]
HeadWill le Fleming
GenderGirls
Age3 to 18
Enrolment1,006 (2020)[2]
Websitehttp://www.theabbey.co.uk

The Abbey School is a private selective day school for girls, in Reading, Berkshire, England.[3][4]

Overview

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The Abbey School provides education for girls aged 3 to 18 years. The school is based in the centre of Reading, on Kendrick Road. The current Head is Will le Fleming. In 2006, the school had just over 1,000 students throughout the school, from Junior to Sixth Form.[5] The school became an International Baccalaureate World School in 2008. In 2020, the IB cohort averaged 39.6 points, compared to the global average of 30.[citation needed]

Founded in 1887,[6] the school moved to its present site in 1905[6] under the leadership of headmistress Helen Musson.

Notable alumnae include the novelist and social activist Brigid Brophy, the novelist Elizabeth Taylor[7] the educationalist Baroness Brigstocke,[8] and the historian Lucy Worsley. Around 100 years before the school was founded in 1887, the novelist Jane Austen briefly attended Reading Ladies' Boarding School within the Abbey Gateway,[9][10][11] which is commemorated by, and incorporated into, the Abbey School's crest. In 2017, HRH The Countess of Wessex visited the school as part of their 130th anniversary celebrations.

History

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The school was founded in 1887 by Francis Paget - who later became an Oxford bishop - and named Reading High School, replacing the privately owned Blenheim House Ladies' School. It was located at London Road (in the building which became the Gladstone Club). The Church Schools Company, instrumental in founding the school, felt that Reading, with its growing population reaching 60,000, was in need of a new school. The school aimed to provide high quality education with a Christian ethos at an affordable price. When founded, the school had an enrolment of 40 girls, which steadily increased to 120 by 1902.[6]

In 1905, the school moved to its current Kendrick Road site.[12] On 16 March 1905 William Methuen Gordon Ducat, the Archdeacon of Berkshire, laid the foundation stone of the school, which featured the inscription, "In aedificationem corporis Christi". This motto, taken from Ephesians IV:12, can still be seen on the school's crest and promotional t-shirts. The new site was a vast improvement on the old site: there were six classrooms, a hall and space for playing fields.[6]

The school changed its name to The Abbey School in 1913,[12] after parting from the Church Schools' Company. The name was chosen to commemorate a former Reading school dating from 1835, which was based in the Abbey Gateway. A previous school in the Abbey Gateway operating in the 18th-century, named Reading Ladies’ Boarding School, included Jane Austen among its pupils.[9][10][11] The Abbey is now a day school, after ceasing to accept boarding pupils in 1946, and was a direct grant (C. of E.) grammar school in the 1950s.[6]

As of 2006, roughly 45% of entrants in the Upper Third (year 7) came from the Junior School. Also, students from other schools in Berkshire attended.[13]

Reports

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As an independent school, Ofsted do not perform inspections of the school.[14][15] However, Ofsted have inspected the Early Years Centre.[16] The Independent Schools Inspectorate performed an inspection on the whole school in 2002.[17] In 2004, Ofsted inspected the Early Years Centre only, that is, from ages 3 to 5.[18] The Good Schools Guide produced a report on the Abbey in 2005.[13][19]

Notable former pupils

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See also: Category:People educated at The Abbey School

See also

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References

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  1. ^ The Abbey School for Girls Reading
  2. ^ "www.education.gov.uk". Gov.uk. 2020. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 23 February 2012.
  3. ^ "The Abbey School". Retrieved 4 September 2006.
  4. ^ "ISI Inspection October 2002" (PDF). pp. 6, section 3.1. Retrieved 4 September 2006.
  5. ^ "Ethos". Archive.org. The Abbey School. Archived from the original on 20 September 2005. Retrieved 4 September 2006.
  6. ^ a b c d e Laverack, Barbara; Sheldon, Barbara. A History of The Abbey School, Reading 1887–2001. Retrieved 4 September 2006.
  7. ^ a b "Elizabeth Taylor's relentless Englishness". The Times. 7 June 2006. Archived from the original on 29 September 2006. Retrieved 5 September 2006.
  8. ^ a b "Lady Brigstocke". The Daily Telegraph. 6 May 2004.[dead link‍]
  9. ^ a b Reading Museum's local information on Jane Austen's school
  10. ^ a b Dr Tony Corley. "Jane Austen's Schooldays 1785-6". Archived from the original on 15 October 2006. Retrieved 4 September 2006.
  11. ^ a b JASA. "Jane Austen biography". Retrieved 4 September 2006.
  12. ^ a b The Abbey School. "2005 Site Centenary Celebration and ASROGA Reunion". Retrieved 4 September 2006.
  13. ^ a b The Good Schools Guide. "Guide to The Abbey School, Reading". Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 5 September 2006.
  14. ^ Ofsted. "Reports for the Abbey School, Reading". Archived from the original on 5 November 2006. Retrieved 5 September 2006.
  15. ^ Ofsted. "Why is there no report for the independent school I am interested in?". Retrieved 5 September 2006.
  16. ^ Ofsted. "Nursery Inspection Report". Archived from the original on 27 April 2006. Retrieved 5 September 2006.
  17. ^ Independent Schools Inspectorate. "Inspection Report on the Abbey School, Reading" (PDF). Retrieved 5 September 2006.
  18. ^ Scarlett, Jenny (14 October 2004). "Nursery Inspection Report – The Abbey School". UK: Ofsted. Archived from the original on 27 April 2006.
  19. ^ The Good Schools Guide. "Guide to The Abbey Junior School". Retrieved 5 September 2006.
  20. ^ "Baird, Joyce Elizabeth Leslie", Who Was Who
  21. ^ The Abbey School Archive, Reading, Berkshire, UK: The Abbey School
  22. ^ "Amy Flaxman, 2004". Reading, UK: The Abbey School. 15 January 2021. Retrieved 12 September 2021.
  23. ^ Hunt-Grubbe, Charlotte (14 September 2008). "The new women wildlife presenters". The Times. Archived from the original on 1 December 2008. Retrieved 17 September 2010.
  24. ^ The Abbey School. "Abbey Old Girls". Archived from the original on 9 October 2006. Retrieved 5 September 2006.
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