Saint Felix School is a 2–18 mixed, private, day and boarding school in Reydon, Southwold, Suffolk, England. The school was founded in 1897 as a school for girls but is now co-educational.
| Saint Felix School | |
|---|---|
| Address | |
 | |
Halesworth Road, Reydon , , IP18 6SD England | |
| Coordinates | 52°20′05″N 1°39′18″E / 52.33473°N 1.65489°E |
| Information | |
| Type | Private, day and boarding school |
| Motto | Latin: Felix Quia Fortis (Happiness Through Strength) |
| Established | 1897 |
| Founder | Margaret Isabella Gardiner |
| Local authority | Suffolk County Council |
| Department for Education URN | 124868 Tables |
| Headmaster | Matthew Oakman |
| Gender | Mixed |
| Age range | 2–18 |
| Enrolment | 301 (2018)[1] |
| Capacity | 319[1] |
| Houses |
|
| Colour(s) | Green
Blue Gold |
| Alumni | Old Felicians |
| Website | www |
History
editThe school was founded in 1897 as a girls' school by Margaret Isabella Gardiner.[citation needed]
By September 1902, the present site of the school had been purchased and the first four boarding houses and teaching block completed.[3] In 1909 Lucy Mary Silcox took over as headmistress from the founding head.[4] The student roll grew and in 1910, the Gardiner Assembly Hall and a Library were built and Clough House followed in 1914.[5]
Silcox was able to bring leading thinkers and artists to the school and money was found to buy sculpture[6] and paintings. The modernist paintings inspired pupils like the artist Gwyneth Johnstone who remembered seeing work by Christopher Wood at the school.[7] Silcox directed the girls in ancient Greek plays. The students knew she was President of the local National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies as she gave talks in surrounding villages in support of women gaining the vote.[6] The school continued during the 1914-18 war and during the 1916-1917 school year there was an outpost of the school at Penmaenmawr as some parents were worried about their students' safety.[8] The whole school was evacuated three times and the school took in some Serbian refugees.[9]
Today
editThe school accommodates babies and toddlers in the St Felix Nursery, and children up to the age of 18 in the Sixth Form. The school offers boarding throughout the term, weekly, or 'flexi' boarding.[10] The current head is Mrs Annie Hardcastle
Notable former pupils
edit- Griselda Allan – artist
- Jane Benham MBE – artist and sailor who worked to preserve Thames sailing barges
- Dorothea Braby – artist and illustrator
- Dorothy Elizabeth Bradford – painter
- Stella Browne – feminist and abortion law reformer
- Natalie Caine – woodwind player[11]
- Constance Coltman – the first woman ordained to Christian ministry in Britain[12]
- Katherine Laird Cox – model, magistrate
- Nora David, Baroness David – politician and life peer[13]
- William Ellard – swimmer[14]
- Phyllis Gardner – artist and dog breeder
- Nick Griffin – Former BNP leader and MEP for North West England (1999–2014)[15]
- Lilias Rider Haggard MBE – daughter of Sir Henry Rider Haggard and an author in her own right[16]
- Norman Heatley OBE – biochemist[17]
- Gwyneth Johnstone – painter
- Emily Beatrix Coursolles Jones – novelist
- Nancy Lyle – tennis player
- Violet Helen Millar, later Countess Attlee, wife of Clement Attlee
- Mother Maribel of Wantage – Anglican nun and artist[18]
- Anna Russell – singer and comedian[19]
- Enid Russell-Smith DBE – civil servant[20]
- Mary Snell-Hornby – translation scholar
- Constance Tipper – metallurgist and crystallographer[21]
- Hannah Waterman – actress
- Dame Barbara Woodward – diplomat
- Sonia Tumiotto, athlete and influencer[22]
Notable staff
edit- Lucy Mary Silcox, headmistress from 1909 to 1926[4]
- Anne Mustoe, headmistress from 1978 to 1987[23]
- Ivey Dickson, pianist[24]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b "Saint Felix School". Get information about schools. Government of the United Kingdom. Retrieved 30 January 2019.
- ^ "The House System". Saint Felix School. Retrieved 30 January 2019.
- ^ "History". St Felix School. Retrieved 3 June 2019.
- ^ a b Oldfield, Sybil (2004). "Silcox, Lucy Mary (1862–1947), headmistress and feminist". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/53822. ISBN 978-0-19-861412-8. Retrieved 26 March 2020. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
- ^ "St. Felix School Historical Notes". www.blythburgh.net. Retrieved 26 March 2020.
- ^ a b Oldfield, Sybil (2004). "Silcox, Lucy Mary (1862–1947), headmistress and feminist". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/53822. ISBN 978-0-19-861412-8. Retrieved 26 March 2020. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
- ^ Harrod, Tanya (6 January 2011). "Gwyneth Johnstone obituary". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 26 March 2020.
- ^ "PENMAENMAWR" (PDF). Old Felicians: 32. January 2020.
- ^ Ryan, George. "Southwold boarding school to offer places to Syrian refugees". Lowestoft Journal. Retrieved 26 March 2020.
- ^ Saint Felix School
- ^ Natalie Caine, The Guardian, 2009-02-17. Retrieved 2013-01-05.
- ^ Elaine Kaye, Coltman, Constance Mary (1889–1969), Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004.
- ^ Baroness David, The Daily Telegraph, 2009-12-07. Retrieved 2013-01-05.
- ^ "William Ellard looking to impress in Paris after incredible breakout year". Swimming.org. 27 August 2024. Retrieved 6 September 2024.
- ^ Toolis, Kevin (20 May 2000). "Race to the right". The Guardian. Retrieved 3 June 2019.
- ^ HAGGARD, Lilias Margitson Rider, Who Was Who, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 1920–2008; online edn, Oxford University Press, Dec 2007 accessed 5 Jan 2013
- ^ Sidebottom, Eric (January 2011). "Heatley, Norman George (1911–2004)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/93128. Retrieved 4 January 2013. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
- ^ Sister Janet, Mother Maribel of Wantage Published by SPCK, London (1973) ISBN 0281027285 pg 10
- ^ ‘RUSSELL, Anna’, Who Was Who, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 2007; online edn, Oxford University Press, Dec 2007 accessed 5 Jan 2013
- ^ Jonathan Bradbury, ‘Smith, Dame Enid Mary Russell Russell- (1903–1989)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 accessed 5 Jan 2013
- ^ Anna Leendertz Ford, Tipper, Constance Fligg (1894–1995), Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 accessed 5 Jan 2013
- ^ "Sonia Tumiotto YouTube Channel". YouTube.
- ^ Anne Mustoe – The Daily Telegraph obituary, 11 December 2009.
- ^ 'Ivey Dickson', obituary in The Daily Telegraph, 20 November 2014, p. 33