| Bristol Cathedral School ’s new Head has announced
that girls will be admitted to the school at the age
of 11 from September 2005 – a full year earlier
than previously planned.
Mrs Anne Davey does not officially take up her post
as the independent school’s first-ever female
Head until January 2005, but she has already stepped
in to speed up its moves towards co-education.
“We have had a number of enquiries from parents
who wish to send their daughters into our Year 7 next
September, particularly from parents of boys who already
have sons here,” she explained. “Since
the demand for girls’ places was clearly there,
I looked into it the practicalities and found there
was no real reason to delay their admission. The governors
have backed my decision.”
One parent, Mrs Sarah Wilde, gave her reaction to
news that her daughter, Chloe, would be able to follow
in the footsteps of her son, Jack: “I have been
so thrilled with Jack’s time at Bristol Cathedral
School that it is like a dream come true to hear that
girls will be taken from 2005, enabling Chloe to join
the school and benefit from the same opportunities
that Jack has had.”
Mrs Davey added: “We have decided to go public
on the change at this stage to give other families
interested in sending their daughters here in September
2005 plenty of time to apply. Girls and boys wanting
places at Bristol Cathedral School for next September
will need to sit the Bristol independent schools’ Joint
Entrance Examination on 22 January.”
“Our intention now is to put together a co-educational
form as one of our three Year 7 forms in September
2005 and progressively to roll out co-education up
through the school from that point on. The parents
of boys joining us then will be invited to state a
preference for which form they would like their sons
to join. Therefore, a single-sex environment will still
be there for boys whose parents would prefer it, while
those who would like to take advantage of co-educational
education will also now have that choice available.”
For around 800 years, Bristol Cathedral School was
for boys only. In 1980, it became one of the first
single-sex independent schools in the country to launch
a co-educational sixth form.
It first revealed that it was to become a fully co-educational
11-18 school last summer, when it announced that the
process would begin in September 2006. Around the same
time, Bristol Cathedral School unveiled plans for its
biggest-ever construction project – a £3million
building to house its Lower School and its Music and
English departments.
Mrs Davey said that in fact the school has already
opened its doors to one group of girls below sixth
form level: “In response to requests from a specific
group of parents, we took a small number of girls into
Year 10 this September and we are expecting applications
of a similar nature this year.”
She concluded: “I firmly believe that co-education
is the right way forward for Bristol Cathedral School
, and it is interesting that several other leading
independent schools around the country have reached
a similar conclusion.”
The Joint Entrance Examination on 22 January 2005
is suitable for children who have followed a normal
primary school curriculum. No special coaching is required,
although practice papers are available from bookshops.
Parents of prospective pupils will have the chance
to meet Mrs Davey on 6 January 2005 . For further details
of the examination and of this meeting, families should
contact the Head’s Secretary, Mrs Jane Richardson,
on 0117 925 4545.
|
