St Faith's School
Encyclopedia
St Faith's School is an independent
preparatory
day school on Trumpington Road
, Cambridge
, England
, for boys and girls aged four to thirteen. The present headmaster is Nigel Helliwell, and the school has in excess of five hundred children. It is affiliated with The Leys School
and many pupils continue their secondary education there.
's autobiographical account of her childhood, Period Piece.
With The Leys
, the school now forms the junior division of The Leys and St Faith's Foundation and shares the motto (In fide fiducia) and coat of arms of The Leys.
Until the 1990s, most classrooms were in converted Victorian
houses. Since then, the school has built Ashburton, opened in 1999, a large red brick building. This contains the School Hall, where assemblies and plays take place, two purpose-built, fully equipped science laboratories, and other classrooms. The naming of the school's Ashburton Hall commemorates the evacuation of some of the boarders during the Second World War to the Golden Lion Hotel in Ashburton
, on Dartmoor
in Devon
.
In June 2006, the school opened a new building for Music and Technology, named The Keynes Building in honour of old boys Maynard and Geoffrey Keynes
.
, Year 1 or Year 2, according to their age. There are normally eighteen children in each of the classes. The head of the Pre Prep is Mrs L. Smith.
, which they continue to learn until they leave. Children are mostly taught by their class teacher, but there is subject specialist teaching in Spanish, Music
, PE and Games.
Years 5 - 8 use the Firwood, Edenfield, Keynes, Leyspring and Ashburton buildings. Pupils have a tutor room which is used for registration and tutorials, but for lessons they move around to different classrooms. From Years 5
to 8, subject specialist teaching is increasingly deployed and children are grouped by ability in many subjects. From Year 3 to 8 there are normally four classes in each year group.
age in and around Cambridge. Ashburton contains the School Hall, the science laboratories, and other classrooms. The school office is on the ground floor of School House. The Keynes Building contains the music department, an ICT
suite and the Design and Technology department. The school has a significant area of grass, used mainly for recreation during break times but also for some schools sports. Most formal games are played at Latham Road, a large grass sports field shared with The Leys School and laid out as rugby
, hockey
or cricket
pitches, depending on the term. A new sports hall has been constructed on the site of a recently demolished gymnasium adjacent to Newton Road. It opened on the 27th May 2011 and its opening had the special guest of the Mayor of Cambridge.
Latham's house colour was traditionally red, but was changed to a light blue colour so it could be seen when the house colour for each student was added to the tie. The school tie traditionally consisted of red and black diagonal stripes with a thin white line below each black line.
report in 2007, "Pupils come predominantly from professional and business families who have high aspirations for their children."
Fees for 2007-2008 are between £2,770 and £3,490 a term, depending on age.
There is an open morning in the Autumn Term. Most admissions are at the ages of 4 and 7, but entry is also possible at other ages, while places are available. For the youngest children, places are offered by the headmaster after a visit by the parents. From Year 3 onwards, admission to the school follows an assessment and interview.
The school also sponsors the education of a child in Albania
, and the children exchange letters.
St Faith's hosts an annual mathematics challenge for thirty-five local maintained and independent schools, and the school hall is used regularly by the Cambridge Music Service.
, which reserves places for St Faith's pupils to compete for in Year 6, guaranteeing entry to The Leys in Year 9. The two schools work closely together.
Other schools to which pupils have moved in recent years include Eton College
, Felsted School
, Framlingham School
, The Friends' School
, The King's School, Ely
, Oakham School
, Oundle School
, The Perse School
, The Perse School for Girls, Rugby School
, Uppingham School
, St Mary's School, Cambridge, and local maintained schools and other schools in the US and continental Europe. In 2005 and 2006, 94 per cent of St Faith's Year 8 leavers gained admission to the school of their first choice. In 2006, twenty awards were achieved to The Kings School, Ely, Felsted, Oakham, The Leys and The Perse.
Old Fidelians include John Maynard Keynes, 1st Baron Keynes, the economist, his brother Sir Geoffrey Keynes
, surgeon, biographer and bibliographer, and Charlie Darwin, the brother of Gwen Raverat
, who wrote about the school in her book Period Piece. They lived at Newnham Grange, now part of Darwin College, Cambridge
, and their sister Margaret Darwin married Geoffrey Keynes. So the Darwins and the Keyneses, two important Cambridge families, have close links with St Faith's.
Independent school (UK)
An independent school is a school that is not financed through the taxation system by local or national government and is instead funded by private sources, predominantly in the form of tuition charges, gifts and long-term charitable endowments, and so is not subject to the conditions imposed by...
preparatory
Preparatory school (UK)
In English language usage in the former British Empire, the present-day Commonwealth, a preparatory school is an independent school preparing children up to the age of eleven or thirteen for entry into fee-paying, secondary independent schools, some of which are known as public schools...
day school on Trumpington Road
Trumpington Road
Trumpington Road is an arterial road in southeast central Cambridge, England. It runs between the junction of Trumpington Street and Lensfield Road at the northern end to the junction of the High Street in the village of Trumpington and Long Street at the southern end...
, Cambridge
Cambridge
The city of Cambridge is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies in East Anglia about north of London. Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology centre known as Silicon Fen – a play on Silicon Valley and the fens surrounding the...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, for boys and girls aged four to thirteen. The present headmaster is Nigel Helliwell, and the school has in excess of five hundred children. It is affiliated with The Leys School
The Leys School
The Leys School is a co-educational Independent school, located in Cambridge, England, and is a day and boarding school for about 550 pupils aged between 11 and 18 years...
and many pupils continue their secondary education there.
History
The school was founded by a Mr Goodchild in 1884 and in its early years was known as Goody's, after its founder. It features under that name in Gwen RaveratGwen Raverat
Gwendolen Mary "Gwen" Raverat née Darwin was a celebrated English wood engraving artist who co-founded the Society of Wood Engravers in England.- Biography :...
's autobiographical account of her childhood, Period Piece.
With The Leys
The Leys School
The Leys School is a co-educational Independent school, located in Cambridge, England, and is a day and boarding school for about 550 pupils aged between 11 and 18 years...
, the school now forms the junior division of The Leys and St Faith's Foundation and shares the motto (In fide fiducia) and coat of arms of The Leys.
Until the 1990s, most classrooms were in converted Victorian
Victorian era
The Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...
houses. Since then, the school has built Ashburton, opened in 1999, a large red brick building. This contains the School Hall, where assemblies and plays take place, two purpose-built, fully equipped science laboratories, and other classrooms. The naming of the school's Ashburton Hall commemorates the evacuation of some of the boarders during the Second World War to the Golden Lion Hotel in Ashburton
Ashburton, Devon
Ashburton is a small town on the edge of Dartmoor in Devon, adjacent to the A38 Devon Expressway.It was formerly important as a stannary town , and remains the largest town within the National Park, with a population of around 3,500...
, on Dartmoor
Dartmoor
Dartmoor is an area of moorland in south Devon, England. Protected by National Park status, it covers .The granite upland dates from the Carboniferous period of geological history. The moorland is capped with many exposed granite hilltops known as tors, providing habitats for Dartmoor wildlife. The...
in Devon
Devon
Devon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...
.
In June 2006, the school opened a new building for Music and Technology, named The Keynes Building in honour of old boys Maynard and Geoffrey Keynes
Geoffrey Keynes
Sir Geoffrey Langdon Keynes was an English biographer, surgeon, physician, scholar and bibliophile...
.
The Pre Prep School
The Pre Prep school is for children aged 4 to 7 and is mainly based in Southfield House. Children are placed in FoundationReception (school)
Reception or Primary 1 or FS2 is the first year of primary school in the United Kingdom and South Australia. It is preceded by nursery and is followed by Year One in England and Wales or Primary 2 in Northern Ireland and Scotland.Pupils in Reception are usually aged between four and five...
, Year 1 or Year 2, according to their age. There are normally eighteen children in each of the classes. The head of the Pre Prep is Mrs L. Smith.
The Preparatory School
Years 3 and 4 are accommodated in the Newton and School House buildings, both adjacent to Newton Road. Each class has a form room where it remains for the year. There are four classrooms for each year. By this time the children have been formally introduced to a modern language, SpanishSpanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
, which they continue to learn until they leave. Children are mostly taught by their class teacher, but there is subject specialist teaching in Spanish, Music
Music
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
, PE and Games.
Years 5 - 8 use the Firwood, Edenfield, Keynes, Leyspring and Ashburton buildings. Pupils have a tutor room which is used for registration and tutorials, but for lessons they move around to different classrooms. From Years 5
Year Five
Year Five is an educational year group in schools in many countries including England, Wales, Australia and New Zealand. It is usually the fifth year of compulsory education and incorporates students aged between nine and eleven.-Australia:...
to 8, subject specialist teaching is increasingly deployed and children are grouped by ability in many subjects. From Year 3 to 8 there are normally four classes in each year group.
School site
The School has a large site, compared to other schools for children of prep schoolPreparatory school (UK)
In English language usage in the former British Empire, the present-day Commonwealth, a preparatory school is an independent school preparing children up to the age of eleven or thirteen for entry into fee-paying, secondary independent schools, some of which are known as public schools...
age in and around Cambridge. Ashburton contains the School Hall, the science laboratories, and other classrooms. The school office is on the ground floor of School House. The Keynes Building contains the music department, an ICT
Information and communication technologies
Information and communications technology or information and communication technology, usually abbreviated as ICT, is often used as an extended synonym for information technology , but is usually a more general term that stresses the role of unified communications and the integration of...
suite and the Design and Technology department. The school has a significant area of grass, used mainly for recreation during break times but also for some schools sports. Most formal games are played at Latham Road, a large grass sports field shared with The Leys School and laid out as rugby
Rugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
, hockey
Hockey
Hockey is a family of sports in which two teams play against each other by trying to maneuver a ball or a puck into the opponent's goal using a hockey stick.-Etymology:...
or cricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
pitches, depending on the term. A new sports hall has been constructed on the site of a recently demolished gymnasium adjacent to Newton Road. It opened on the 27th May 2011 and its opening had the special guest of the Mayor of Cambridge.
House system
On entering the prep school, Year 3 children are placed in one of the four houses and remain in that house group throughout their time at St Faith’s. The houses are named after four roads close to the school; these roads are named after famous British people and therefore indirectly so are the houses. The house groups provide pastoral and academic supervision, gentle competition, charity fund-raising and other activities. Pupils wear ties and polo shirts of their house's colour.| House | Named After | Colour |
|---|---|---|
| Bentley | Richard Bentley Richard Bentley Richard Bentley was an English classical scholar, critic, and theologian. He was Master of Trinity College, Cambridge.... , Master of Trinity College |
|
| Chaucer | Geoffrey Chaucer Geoffrey Chaucer Geoffrey Chaucer , known as the Father of English literature, is widely considered the greatest English poet of the Middle Ages and was the first poet to have been buried in Poet's Corner of Westminster Abbey... |
|
| Latham | Rev Henry Latham | |
| Newton | Sir Isaac Newton Isaac Newton Sir Isaac Newton PRS was an English physicist, mathematician, astronomer, natural philosopher, alchemist, and theologian, who has been "considered by many to be the greatest and most influential scientist who ever lived."... |
Latham's house colour was traditionally red, but was changed to a light blue colour so it could be seen when the house colour for each student was added to the tie. The school tie traditionally consisted of red and black diagonal stripes with a thin white line below each black line.
Admission, fees and scholarships
According to an Independent Schools InspectorateIndependent Schools Inspectorate
The Independent Schools Inspectorate is an organisation responsible for the inspection of independent schools in England which are affiliated to the Independent Schools Council . The Inspectorate is a separate company, owned by the Independent Schools Council and has its work monitored by the...
report in 2007, "Pupils come predominantly from professional and business families who have high aspirations for their children."
Fees for 2007-2008 are between £2,770 and £3,490 a term, depending on age.
There is an open morning in the Autumn Term. Most admissions are at the ages of 4 and 7, but entry is also possible at other ages, while places are available. For the youngest children, places are offered by the headmaster after a visit by the parents. From Year 3 onwards, admission to the school follows an assessment and interview.
The school also sponsors the education of a child in Albania
Albania
Albania , officially known as the Republic of Albania , is a country in Southeastern Europe, in the Balkans region. It is bordered by Montenegro to the northwest, Kosovo to the northeast, the Republic of Macedonia to the east and Greece to the south and southeast. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea...
, and the children exchange letters.
St Faith's hosts an annual mathematics challenge for thirty-five local maintained and independent schools, and the school hall is used regularly by the Cambridge Music Service.
Results
In 2006, St Faith's came joint 178th in the Times Online Top 250 Prep Schools. In 2005, the school had been joint 161st in the same table.After St Faith's
In recent years, half or more of the Year 8 leavers have gone on to The Leys SchoolThe Leys School
The Leys School is a co-educational Independent school, located in Cambridge, England, and is a day and boarding school for about 550 pupils aged between 11 and 18 years...
, which reserves places for St Faith's pupils to compete for in Year 6, guaranteeing entry to The Leys in Year 9. The two schools work closely together.
Other schools to which pupils have moved in recent years include Eton College
Eton College
Eton College, often referred to simply as Eton, is a British independent school for boys aged 13 to 18. It was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI as "The King's College of Our Lady of Eton besides Wyndsor"....
, Felsted School
Felsted School
Felsted School, an English co-educational day and boarding independent school, situated in Felsted, Essex. It is in the British Public School tradition, and was founded in 1564 by Richard Rich, 1st Baron Rich who, as Lord Chancellor and Chancellor of the Court of Augmentations, acquired...
, Framlingham School
Framlingham College
Framlingham College is an independent, coeducational boarding and day school in the town of Framlingham, near Woodbridge, Suffolk, England. Together with its preparatory school, Brandeston Hall and Little Bears Nursery it serves pupils from 2 1/2 to eighteen years of age.-History of Framlingham...
, The Friends' School
Friends School Saffron Walden
Friends' School is an Quaker independent school located in Saffron Walden, Essex, situated approximately 12 miles south of the city of Cambridge...
, The King's School, Ely
The King's School, Ely
The King's School, Ely, is a coeducational independent day and boarding school in the cathedral city of Ely, Cambridgeshire, England. It was founded in 970 A.D., making it one of the oldest schools in the world, though it was given its Royal Charter by King Henry VIII in 1541...
, Oakham School
Oakham School
Oakham School is a British co-educational independent school in the historic market town of Oakham in Rutland, accepting around 1,000 pupils, aged from 10 to 18, both male and female, as boarders and day pupils . The Good Schools Guide called the school "a privileged but unpretentious and...
, Oundle School
Oundle School
Oundle School is a co-educational British public school located in the ancient market town of Oundle in Northamptonshire. The school has been maintained by the Worshipful Company of Grocers of the City of London since its foundation in 1556. Oundle has eight boys' houses, five girls' houses, a day...
, The Perse School
The Perse School
The Perse Upper School is an independent secondary co-educational day school in Cambridge, England. The school was founded in 1615 by Dr Stephen Perse, a Fellow of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, and has existed on several different sites in the city before its present home on Hills...
, The Perse School for Girls, Rugby School
Rugby School
Rugby School is a co-educational day and boarding school located in the town of Rugby, Warwickshire, England. It is one of the oldest independent schools in Britain.-History:...
, Uppingham School
Uppingham School
Uppingham School is a co-educational independent school of the English public school tradition, situated in the small town of Uppingham in Rutland, England...
, St Mary's School, Cambridge, and local maintained schools and other schools in the US and continental Europe. In 2005 and 2006, 94 per cent of St Faith's Year 8 leavers gained admission to the school of their first choice. In 2006, twenty awards were achieved to The Kings School, Ely, Felsted, Oakham, The Leys and The Perse.
Old Fidelians
Former pupils are called Old Fidelians, and there is an Old Fidelian Society which helps the school, plays the school at sports, and holds events, including an annual dinner.Old Fidelians include John Maynard Keynes, 1st Baron Keynes, the economist, his brother Sir Geoffrey Keynes
Geoffrey Keynes
Sir Geoffrey Langdon Keynes was an English biographer, surgeon, physician, scholar and bibliophile...
, surgeon, biographer and bibliographer, and Charlie Darwin, the brother of Gwen Raverat
Gwen Raverat
Gwendolen Mary "Gwen" Raverat née Darwin was a celebrated English wood engraving artist who co-founded the Society of Wood Engravers in England.- Biography :...
, who wrote about the school in her book Period Piece. They lived at Newnham Grange, now part of Darwin College, Cambridge
Darwin College, Cambridge
Darwin College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge.Founded in 1964, Darwin was Cambridge University's first graduate-only college, and also the first to admit both men and women. The college is named after the family of one of the university's most famous graduates, Charles Darwin...
, and their sister Margaret Darwin married Geoffrey Keynes. So the Darwins and the Keyneses, two important Cambridge families, have close links with St Faith's.
- John Maynard Keynes (1883–1946)
- Sir Geoffrey KeynesGeoffrey KeynesSir Geoffrey Langdon Keynes was an English biographer, surgeon, physician, scholar and bibliophile...
(1887–1982) - Professor Douglas Hartree FRS (1897–1958), Plummer Professor of Mathematical Physics, University of Cambridge
- Canon John Pearce-Higgins (1905–1985)
- Professor Antony FlewAntony FlewAntony Garrard Newton Flew was a British philosopher. Belonging to the analytic and evidentialist schools of thought, he was notable for his works on the philosophy of religion....
(born 1923), philosopher - Sir John TusaJohn TusaSir John Tusa is a British arts administrator, and radio and television journalist. From 1980 to 1986 he was a main presenter of BBC 2's Newsnight programme. From 1995 until 2007 he was managing director of the City of London's Barbican Arts Centre...
(born 1936), Director of the BBC World ServiceBBC World ServiceThe BBC World Service is the world's largest international broadcaster, broadcasting in 27 languages to many parts of the world via analogue and digital shortwave, internet streaming and podcasting, satellite, FM and MW relays... - Professor Hugh BroganHugh BroganDenis Hugh Vercingetorix Brogan , known as Hugh Brogan, is a British historian and biographer.-Early life:The son of Sir Denis Brogan, he was educated at St Faith's School, Cambridge, Repton School, and St John's College, Cambridge, graduating BA in 1959 and MA in 1964...
(born 1936) - Nigel Lesmoir-Gordon (born 1943), film maker and poet
- Judge John Tanzer (born 1949)