Ashford School

Ashford School is a coeducational independent boarding and day school in East Hill, Ashford, Kent. There are 480 students in the Senior School (ages 11 to 18) and 360 in the Prep School (ages 3 to 11).

Ashford School
Address
East Hill

Ashford
,
Kent
,
TN24 8PB

UK
Information
TypeIndependent day and boarding
MottoEsse Quam Videri
(to be, rather than to seem to be)
Religious affiliation(s)Church of England
Established1898
Headteacher
Michael Hall September 2018
Tom Wilding (Senior School)2007-
GenderMixed
Age3 months to 18
Enrolment1000
HousesFranklins, Knights, Merchants, Pilgrims, Squires, Yeomen
Websitehttp://www.ashfordschool.co.uk/

The school is owned and run by the United Church Schools Trust[1] and is a member of The Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference (HMC).[2] The current headteacher is Mr Michael Hall, who has been Headmaster of Ashford School since September 2018.

Ashford School was recently ranked one of the UK's top 20 coeducational, independent schools and was voted Independent School of the Year 2010. It was also a Good Schools Guide award winner in 2011 and at the Archant Good Schools Show it was voted one of the country's top five boarding schools.[3] The School was endorsed as outstandingly successful in every category during the most recent inspection by Independent Schools Inspectorate in 2014.[4]

Located within walking distance from Ashford International railway station which is just 37 minutes from London by high-speed train, the school also benefits from rapid access to the continent via Eurostar. The London airports are all within 90 minutes and it runs a bus service to the surrounding towns and villages.

Boarding life starts at age 10 at Ashford School where pupils can choose a range of boarding options: flexi, weekly or full. The school has 3 boarding houses: Junior boarding house Brooke & Refuge and senior boarding houses Brabourne and Alfred.

Ashford school grounds

History

The school was founded in 1898 by Mrs Muriel Thimann, who opened a small school for "ladies" in Queens Road, Ashford. Nothing much is known of this school except that, before long, it was necessary to move to larger premises; first in Wellesley Road in 1903 and then to two houses in the High Street in 1905.[5] In 1910 Mrs Edwards bought the school and renamed it "The Modern High School for Girls". Within a short time the school expanded into another, adjacent house in the High Street and then finally moved to yet again bigger premises on East Hill in 1913. For the vast majority of its existence[6] it has been a school only for girls. In 2005 it merged with Friars Prep School in Great Chart and in 2006 boys were admitted in some year groups and it is now a fully co-educational school from the age of 3 to 18 offering boarding and day facilities. Mike Buchanan was first appointed the headmaster of Ashford School in February 2005.

Space shuttle experiment

In 1992 a science experiment designed by four girls at the school flew on the Space Shuttle on flight STS-47[7] The experiment had been designed in 1985 by the girls who had won a competition organised by Independent Television News. The chemical garden experiment was successful but the Liesegang rings failed to operate correctly due to a friction in parts of the mechanism. On their return they were displayed in the London Science Museum. The seven-year delay had been caused by the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster which occurred in 1986 shortly before the intended flight.[8]

A.

A. is a semiannual school magazine with sections including Poetry, Fiction, Art&Photography, Opinion and Debate. All content is contributed by Ashford School students.

Ashford School International Centre

The Ashford School International Centre (ASIC) has been opened as of September 2015. This section of the school has been designed to meet the needs of non-native English speaking pupils, from the outset becoming a world-class centre of excellence.

ASIC is an 18th-century Grade II listed building, which has undergone a multimillion-pound refurbishment, providing state of the art teaching classrooms alongside boarding rooms. This school will allow pupils from around the world to complete iGCSE before joining the rest of the school.

Notable alumni
  • Petronella Barker (born 1942), actress
  • Louise Burfitt-Dons, writer and campaigner
  • Liv Boeree, model, TV presenter, champion poker player
  • Sally Brampton, journalist, writer and magazine editor
  • Lucy Cooke, National Geographic explorer, TEDtalker, award-winning documentary producer/presenter, best-selling author and zoologist
  • Wendy Cope, poet
  • Jane Druker, Editor at Large: Fit & Well, also a contributor to Woman & Home
  • Sophie Montagne, adventurer & inspirational speaker: member of the Ice Maiden Expedition
  • Sally Preisig, voice-over artist and puppeteer who created the voice of Bella in Tweenies and was Peggy Patch in Playdays
  • Diana Speed, Radio 4 newsreader
  • Anna Turley, former Labour MP & Chairwoman of the Co-operative Party since 8 June 2019
  • Fleur Willson, Deputy Ambassador, British Embassy Tripoli

Heads of Ashford School
  • Muriel Thimann 1898 - 1910
  • Anne Edwards 1910 - 1928
  • Lilian Brake 1928 - 1955
  • Mary Nightingale 1955 - 1971
  • Sanche Thompson 1972 - 1984
  • Tatiana Macaire 1984 - 1992
  • Patrica Metham 1992 - 1997
  • Jane Burnett 1997 - 2000
  • Paula Holloway 2000 - 2005
  • Michael Buchanan 2005 – 2018
  • Michael Hall 2018 -

References
  1. United Church Schools Trust website Archived May 14, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  2. "The Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference".
  3. http://www.soak.co.uk/. "News - The winners of the first Archant Good Schools Show Awards announced - The Show - Good Schools Show". Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 10 September 2015.
  4. "Ashford School :: Independent Schools Inspectorate".
  5. "History".
  6. "History". Ashford School. Archived from the original on 7 March 2009.
  7. "Space shuttle mission STS-47 - Press kit". NASA. Retrieved 27 September 2010.
  8. "Late bloom for crystal garden". The New Scientist. 2 January 1993. Retrieved 27 September 2010.

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