As Bristol Cathedral School prepares to welcome girls at 11 for the firsttime in its 800-year history, it is now celebrating another female first.
This year's winner of the prestigious Cathedralian academic scholarship is a girl – ten-year-old Hannah Burden, who is pictured wearing the school's new girls' uniform and will start there in September.
Hannah, of Bishopston, won the coveted prize after seeing off the boys with an exceptionally high score in the Bristol independent schools' Joint Entrance Examination. She and her mum, Maria, considered a number of state and independent schools before finally deciding on Bristol Cathedral School .
“After the entrance exam, I was offered a place at two schools,” explained Hannah, who is in her last year at Bishop Road Primary School in Bishopston. “I chose Bristol Cathedral School because I liked it so much when I came in to an open day and because it's quite a small school. I'm used to a mixed school and wouldn't have liked to go to an all-girls school.”
Hannah's mother is a single parent who works for Bristol City Council. She entered her daughter for the examination at the last minute and says Hannah received no special coaching or tuition. The scholarship will entitle the family to a substantial reduction in school fees.
The school's head, Mrs Anne Davey, said: “Hannah won the Cathedralian scholarship with the best performance in the examination. What's more, she is a lively, enthusiastic girl, who wanted a co-educational environment rather than a single-sex school. In short, she's exactly the sort of pupil we like to recruit!”
Hannah's favourite subject is mathematics. Out of school, she enjoys cycling and tae-kwondo. “I used to play the drums but I gave that up – although when I start at Bristol Cathedral School , I'm hoping to pick it up again,” she said.
Mrs Davey added that the programme to recruit girls had exceeded all expectations, with girls making up almost a third of the 60 or so pupils due to join Bristol Cathedral School this September. The girls will be grouped together with boys into co-educational forms, running alongside boys-only forms.
Recruitment of girls and boys for September 2006 will begin in earnest this autumn, when the school is planning a number of BCS Alive! taster and tour days for families of prospective pupils. |
