St Bernard's Convent School
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St Bernard's Catholic Grammar School (formerly St Bernard's Convent School) is a Catholic School on Langley Road, Slough (originally Buckinghamshire but now Berkshire) and is also a Humanities School.
Until August 2006, the school was also the home to nuns of the Bernardine order, who gave up their home for the school, and a few gave up their time to teach. At the time of the foundation, the monastery was right in the countryside, with nothing but fields separating it from Windsor Castle. Now the area has become increasingly built up, and the Sisters lived their monastic life in the suburbs of a busy town in the South East of England, about 25 miles West of London. Nevertheless, the monastery, set in extensive grounds with fields, a vegetable garden, orchard and cemetery, provided an oasis of peace and prayer for those who visit. A large house - Stella Maris - in the monastery grounds served as a small pastoral centre. The Bernardines have always wished to co-operate with the pastoral life of the Church, and this was one such way of collaborating with the Church in the Diocese of Northampton.
The nuns left the school in mid 2006. Some went to a new foundation in Stroud, Gloucestershire, and others to Hyning, Lancashire.
The student body is divided into four different houses - Annay, Clairvaux, Citeaux and La Plaine. The houses are names after various monastic houses, relating to the school's history. The schools motto is 'Dieu Est Mon Abri' which means 'God is my Shelter. The badge is diamond shaped, with three swords on a blue background.
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[edit] History
The school is built round and includes Aldin House, dating from about 1860. Pevsner believed the house was built by and for Charles Aldin[1]: it is also widely believed[2] that the house was built for Angela Burdess-Coutts but that she never lived there as Queen Victoria did not approve of her marriage to the much younger William Lehman Ashmead Bartlett. Given that this marriage did not take place until 1881 when the house had already entered use as a school, Pevsner's version seems more plausible.
In 1869, John Hawtrey opened St Michael's School in Aldin House. The school remained there for 14 years, with pupils including the future Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin.
The original chapel was built in 1875, and dedicated as an Anglican chapel by Bishop Samuel Wilberforce of Oxford . After St. Michael's left, the site was used for a year by the Welsh Charity School of Ashford, Middlesex while their usual buildings were modified, and subsequently St George's School , Southwark used the building for the same purpose. The Jesuit Fathers then bought the house and used it as a college for eight years, and the house was bought (and renamed St Bernard's) by the Bernardine Nuns in 1897[3]. Since then, various additions have been made to the building.
Beginning with a school for 12 French students, the educational work of the Bernardines at Slough has evolved enormously. In 1904[4], day girls were first admitted to the school, leading to the development of a girl's grammar school. The school became co-educational in 1989[5] and now forms a large mixed Voluntary Aided Grammar School for about 900 students aged 11-18.
In 1906, a nearby house was bought and opened as St Joseph's day school 'for children of all denominations'[6]. In 1945, St Joseph's formally merged with St Bernards, becoming the preparatory school. In the 1970s and 1980s, the prep school moved to a new site[7] where it continues today as an independent fee paying school for about 200 pupils, although it shares a badge with the state supported grammar school.
Both schools aim to provide a strong Christian caring environment in which young people can grow up in an atmosphere of trust and respect. The development of the whole person is of the utmost importance. Several nuns work in a variety of capacities in the two schools, although both have lay headteachers. The school frequently appears in high positions in both local and national league tables which measure academic performance.[citation needed]
[edit] Headteachers
Dame Marie Hilda Sr Mary Anthony
- Sr Mary Stephen (1954 - 1998)
- John McAteer MA (1998 - current)
[edit] Pupils
There are about 800 pupils, with four forms in each Year group; A, B, R and S. In the current year 8, there is also a W form. The letters correspond to the founder of the house (eg Citeaux, founded by Robert XXX, becomes R, and you get 7R, 8R, 9R etc.)
[edit] Famous Alumni
Ben Freeman (actor who plays Scott Windsor in ITV soap Emmerdale (recently on trial for rape)
Patrick Niknejad (actor)
Sharlene Hector (vocalist)
John Nutter (Professional Non-League Footballer)
[edit] Head Boys and Head Girls
2000-2001 Edward Bradley and Louise Deverell
deputies: Richard Lake and Jenny Madley
2001-2002 Tony O'Donnell and Fiona Green
deputies: Chris Jennings and Francisca Da Costa
2002-2003 Pietro Barrella and Amy Read
deputies: Sean Deverell and Emma Louise Walton
2003-2004 Josh Kanakam and Gemma Forbes
deputies: Daniel Proctor and Zara Tennyson
2004-2005 Thomas Evans and Fionnuala Dorrity
deputies: Edward Tattersfield and Angela Wing
2005-2006 Thomas Bowen and Emma McCarrol
deputies: Stefan Berkieta and Claudia Osei-Asibey
2006-2007 Joseph Hullait and Nissa Black
deputies: Adam Smiter and Francesca Devereux
2007-2008 Joseph Johnston and Suzie Giles
deputies: Jack Harris and Lauren Maher
[edit] Sports Captains
2002-2003 Niall Brophy and Natalie Thomas
2003-2004 Tom Nutter and Claire McAteer
2004-2005 Peter Prendergast and Jo Robinson
2005-2006 Andrzej Jaznikowska and Laura Kennedy
2006-2007 Matthew Spooner and Kathleen Butler
2007-2008 Daniel Bass and Jenny Heckford
[edit] House Captains
Annay
2003-2004 Tegh Bajwa and Rebecca Wood
2004-2005 David Holloway and Stephanie Ejegi-Memeh
2005-2006 Nikesh Sharma and Cara Thomas
2006-2007 Paul Green and Emma Jenkins
2007-2008 Anthony Yiannoullou and Anne-Marie Store
Clairvaux
2002-2003 Tobias Davis and Holly Thomas
2003-2004 Jack Corbett and Gemma Palmer
2004-2005 Daniel Clarke and Sian Caswell
2005-2006 Jamie Dougan and Becky Hamilton
2006-2007 Albert G. M. Sampson and Jayne Young
2007-2008 James Lillis and Zosia Jasnikowska
Citeaux
2002-2003 Christian Mathias and Louise Wing
2004-2005 Barry Stapley and Aoife Corbett
2005-2006 Jack Woodcroft and Emily Conroy
2006-2007 James Murphy and Hannah Cole
2007-2008 Chris Dyde and Jessica White
La Plaine
2002-2003 Lee Cummins and Aine Mulkeen
2004-2005 Stephen Jacob and Katherine Rogan
2005-2006 Daniel Zastwany and Helen Dobbs
2006-2007 Andrew Walker and Emma Sharp
2007-2008 Riccardo Cicero and Karen Bannerman
[edit] Notes and References
- ^ St Bernard's Catholic Grammar School website - Aldin House retrieved 3 March 2007
- ^ p93, The History of Slough, Maxwell Fraser, Slough Corporation, Slough 1973
- ^ p94, The History of Slough, Maxwell Fraser, Slough Corporation, Slough 1973
- ^ p94, The History of Slough, Maxwell Fraser, Slough Corporation, Slough 1973
- ^ p16, The Changing Face of Slough, Slough Museum, Breedon Books, Derby 2003
- ^ p94, The History of Slough, Maxwell Fraser, Slough Corporation, Slough 1973
- ^ [1] History of St Bernard's Preparatory School
[edit] External links
| Berkshire Secondary Schools |
|---|
| Comprehensive: The Bulmershe School | Denefield School | Desborough School | John O'Gaunt Secondary School | Kennet Comprehensive School | Little Heath School | Newlands Girls' School | St. Bartholomew's School | St Crispin's School | The Downs School | Trevelyan School | Trinity School | Waingels College |
| Grammar: Herschel Grammar School | Kendrick School | Langley Grammar School | Reading School | Slough Grammar School | St Bernard's Convent School |
| Independent: The Abbey School | Claires Court School | Crosfields School | Dolphin School | Downe House | Lambrook Haileybury | Leighton Park School | Ludgrove School | Sunningdale School |
| Public: Bearwood College | Bradfield College | Eton College | Heathfield St Mary's | Pangbourne College | Reading Blue Coat School | St. George's School, Ascot | St Mary's School Ascot | St. Piran's | Wellington College |
