CHELTENHAM LADIES' COLLEGE

'Cheltenham Ladies' College' is located in Cheltenham, a spa town in the English Cotswolds in the county of Gloucestershire. Today, it takes girls aged 11 to 18 as boarding or day pupils. It is arguably the most famous girls' school in Britain. The school has a reputation within the media of being among one of the most expensive and exclusive private schools in the world. It is widely thought of as the 'female equivalent of Eton'.

Contents

History

Present day

Notable Alumnae

External links

History

Cheltenham Ladies' College was founded in 1853. In 1858, the principal's post was taken by Dorothea Beale, a prominent Suffragette educator who also founded St. Hilda's College, Oxford.
Miss Beale kept the post of principal until her death in 1906. She transformed the school from a small establishment concentrating on developing traditional women's skills such as music, sewing and drawing into the first academic school offering courses equivalent to those in men's schools, including mathematics and English. She was a pioneer of women's education. By the end of her life, the school had over a thousand pupils (it had had 58 when she arrived) and it had become socially acceptable to educate women.
The lead it took in the education of woman in the 19th century it still holds to the present day.

Present day

The school educates around 850 girls, of whom 80% board. The annual boarding fees are around £25,000 and the day fees are around £16,500. As well as attracting girls from the UK, the school has historically attracted a proportion of its girls from around the world. Its strength in being able to attract girls from the most prominent and distinguished families in the world is what has maintained its reputation as one of the world's 'great' schools. As one would expect, it has excellent facilities, both for teaching and for sport. Its academic prowess is notable, with a very large proportion of its girls going on to the best universities in the UK, such as Oxford or Cambridge, as well as to the Ivy League universities in America. However, it manages to remain a friendly school catering for a range of abilities.
The school crest depicts three doves, taken from the Cheltenham Town shield, above the ornate letters "CLC", which is in turn above a daisy, one of the most important school symbols. The school motto is ''Coelesti luce crescat'' meaning 'May she grow in heavenly light'.
The school has its own mailing system called "slab" whereby, in each house, a girl is appointed to carry post from her house to the main entrance every morning and return every lunch and afternoon.
Girls who board live in one of their 10 boarding houses. There are four senior houses (for the Sixth Form girls) and six junior houses (for 11-16 year olds). The junior houses are St. Helen's, Farnley Lodge, Glenlee, Sidney Lodge, St. Austin's, St. Margaret's and the senior houses are St. Hilda's, Beale, Cambray and Elizabeth.
Each of these Houses is run by a Housemistress and several resident House Staff. Each of the Sixth Form Housemistresses has a small teaching commitment. However, the Housemistresses of the Junior Houses do not teach as they are fully involved in looking after the boarders in their care.
Day Girls have their own base: the recently refurbished Eversleigh House, where the three Junior Houses are located. Bayshill Court is the home of the Sixth Form Day Girl House and the Day Girl Dining Room.
Girl from CLC generally refer to the school as "Coll". Girls are required to wear their uniform, consisting of a white blouse, green skirt, green jumper featuring their house colours and a green blazer featuring the school crest complete with loden coats (also green). Sixth form girls are given the option of trousers (navy or black). There are occasional "mufti days" for charity when girls are allowed to wear their own clothes.
The present headmistress, Vicky Tuck, was recently awarded headmistress of the year by ''Tatler Magazine''. One of the key strengths of the school is its ability to attract 'top flight' staff as well as pupils. The school will also be offering international baccalaureate courses as of September 2008

Notable Alumnae

★ Jacqueline de Baer, millionaire entrepreneur

★ Annette Bear-Crawford, suffragette

★ Tamara Beckwith, actress

★ 11th Duchess of Bedford

★ Phyllis Bentley, author

★ Katharine Burdekin, author

★ Rosie Boycott, journalist

★ D. K. Broster, novelist

★ Katharine Burdekin, novelist

★ Maud Cunnington, archaeologist

★ Florence Farr, actress and one-time mistress of George Bernard Shaw

★ Cheryl Gillan, MP

★ Lillias Hamilton, pioneering doctor and author

★ Beatrice Harradan, writer and suffragette

★ Phoebe Hesketh, poet

★ Nicola Horlick, businesswoman

★ Lisa Jardine, British historian

★ Carolyn Kirby, First female President of the Law Society

★ Lesley Knox, Founder of British Linen Advisors/ Ex-Director of Bank of Scotland

★ Rachel Lomax, The first woman Deputy Governor of the Bank of England

★ Fiona MacTaggart, MP

★ Lady Oppenheimer, Writer

★ Gareth Peirce, doyenne of British defence lawyers

★ Princess of Borada, Indian Royalty

★ Charlotte Reather, comedy writer and actress

★ Bridget Riley, artist

★ Sister Frances Dominica Ritchie, nurse

★ Agnes Royden, preacher and suffragette

★ May Sinclair, writer

★ Sophie Solomon, violinist

★ Kristin Scott Thomas, actress

★ Margaret Winifred Vowles, author

★ Amanda Wakeley, fashion designer

External links

★ The Cheltenham Ladies' College website

★ The Guild website

★ Page at SchoolsGuideBook.co.uk