Royal High School, Bath

Royal High School Bath is an independent day and boarding school for girls in Bath, Somerset, England.^[3] It caters to approximately 650 pupils aged 3 to 19, with boarding facilities available for around 150 girls.

The school was founded in 1998 through the merger of the Royal School (established in 1864) and Bath High School. It occupies two sites, with one housing the prep school, including the nursery, and the other accommodating the senior school. In the Sixth Form, students can choose between the International Baccalaureate and A-Level qualifications.^[4] The school is a member of the Girls' Day School Trust (GDST).

History

Founding and merger

The school was founded as the Bath and Lansdown Proprietary College, a boys' day school under the patronage of the Duke of Beaufort and the Marquess of Lansdowne, with the Reverend S. H. Widdrington as chairman (their coats of arms are still present on the building).^[5] In 1864, it was purchased with the patronage of Queen Victoria to provide education for the orphaned daughters of Army officers following the Crimean War.^[6] On 24 August 1865, it opened as the Royal School for Daughters of Officers of the Army, modeled after the Royal Naval School for girls, a boarding school founded in 1840.^[5] During the Second World War, the school relocated to the Longleat Estate for a period of eight years.^[7]

In 1998, the Royal School merged with Bath High School for Girls, established by the Girls Public Day School Company in September 1875 at Portland Place in Lansdown, to form the Royal High School Bath (RHS).^[8] The former Royal School premises became the Senior School, while the former Bath High School became the Junior School.^[9] RHS is the sole member of the Girls' Day School Trust, the UK's largest network of girls' independent schools, with boarding facilities.^[10]

Buildings

The main building, situated atop Lansdown Road in Bath, was designed by architect James Wilson and completed in 1856, shortly after his design of the Wesleyan College (now Kingswood School).^[11][12] Constructed in the Gothic Revival style, it is designated as a Grade II listed building.^[13] The structure houses the Senior School and the Winfield Centre for sixth form students, both located on Lansdown Road. Additionally, the Chapel of the Royal High School, constructed in 1939 and designed by H.S. Goodhart-Rendel in a stripped Gothic style with Tudor detailing, also holds a Grade II listing.^[14] The Prep School is located at Cranwell House, a Grade II listed Victorian mansion in Weston Park.^[15]

Academics

The school regularly comes near the top of league tables for Bath schools for GCSE and A-Level results.^[16] It offers Modern Languages including GCSE French, which girls start to learn in reception class. German, Spanish, Italian, Mandarin, Arabic, and Japanese are also available. The school also offers the IB Diploma Programme, achieving an average score of 35 points in 2023.^[17] Royal High School was rated "excellent" in both academic achievement and personal development in the Independent Schools Inspectorate (ISI) 2016 report.^[18][19] In 2023, it was listed as one of the top 50 boarding schools in the UK.^[20]

Facilities

Art and Drama

The Art Department is situated in the Art School, which was opened by Professor Sir Christopher Frayling, Rector of the Royal College of Art and Chairman of the Arts Council, England, in November 2008.^[21] There are four studios for activities such as painting, sculpture, printmaking, film and photography.^[21]

The Drama department uses of the school's two performance venues; the Memorial Hall, a traditional performance space with movable raked seating and the Sophie Cameron Performing Arts, a multi use performing arts space housed in the former school chapel.^[22]

Steinway Music School

In 2020, RHS became one of only 250 schools worldwide to achieve the prestigious Steinway School status.^[23] The purpose-built Music School comprises a main teaching room, eight sound-proofed practice rooms, a contemporary recital space, 10 Steinway & Sons pianos, two professional-standard recording studios^[24] and a control room equipped with an Audient ASP8024 Heritage Edition mixing console.^[25] As part of the department's Steinway Music School status, a regular programme of masterclasses and recitals led by leading artists is offered.^[26] The Music Department produces 35 concerts during the academic year.^[27]

Sports and games

The sports facilities are located on the Lansdown site. The school campus includes an AstroTurf pitch for hockey and football, two courts for playing netball and tennis and a sports hall marked for netball, basketball and badminton. The school also has strong links with the University of Bath providing access to their Olympic standard sports facilities.^[28]

Houses

Royal High School divides its pupils into four houses: Austen, Brontë, Du Pré and Wollstonecraft. Houses compete against one another in both academic and extra-curricular activities throughout the year.^[29]

Boarding

Girls aged 11 to 18 can choose between full boarding, weekday-only boarding, or flexi-boarding. Boarders are accommodated in two boarding houses: School House, within the main school building, and Gloucester House, which is designated for sixth formers, within the grounds of the senior school.^[30]

Royal High Nursery & Prep School

The Royal High Nursery & Prep School is located in Weston. Formerly housed in Bath High School on Lansdown Road, it moved in 2014 to Cranwell House, a Grade II listed Victorian mansion. The Nursery is in the adjacent Vine House and Orangery. Hope Hall located behind Cranwell House, includes classrooms for Years 5 and 6. The site also features a sports hall and a dance studio. The school enrolls around 130 pupils aged 3 to 11, it follows the Reggio Emilia approach to education.^[9]

Notable alumnae

Some of the school's most notable alumnae^[31]

• Dawn Austwick – Chief executive of the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation, and CEO of the Big Lottery Fund (Bath High School).
• Dame Mary Berry DBE – Chef and TV presenter (Bath High School).
• Emily Brooke MBE – Trailblazing inventor and entrepreneur, Founder and Director of Beryl (formerly Blaze) Laser Lights for Bikes.
• Molly Scott Cato – MEP for the South West of England.
• Mary Duggan – Cricketer (Royal School).
• Jennie Formby – Senior official in the Unite trade union and General Secretary of the Labour Party (Bath High School).
• Helen Geake – Archaeologist and key member of Channel 4's archaeology series Time Team.
• Sheila Gish – Actress (Royal School).
• Bunny Guinness – Landscape architect, journalist, and radio personality, regular panellist on BBC Radio 4's Gardener's Question Time (Bath High School).
• Nina Hamnett – Welsh artist and writer, expert on sailors' chanteys, known as the Queen of Bohemia.
• Dr Dawn Harper – Media doctor, presenter of 'Embarrassing Bodies,' and contributor to This Morning and other TV shows.
• Joan Heal – Actress (Bath High School).
• Veronica Henry – Writer of bestselling novels, TV scriptwriter, and journalist.
• Baroness Elspeth Howe CBE – Life-long peer and former chair of the Broadcasting Standards Commission (Bath High School).
• Gillian Howell (1927–2000) – Architect (Royal School).
• June Lloyd, Baroness Lloyd of Highbury – Nuffield Professor of Child Health from 1985 to 1992 at the British Postgraduate Medical Federation, Professor of Child Health from 1975 to 1985 at St George's Hospital Medical School, and President from 1988 to 1991 of the British Paediatric Association (Royal School).
• Myrtle Maclagan – Cricketer (Royal School).
• Sonia Melchett (née Graham) – Socialite and writer (Royal School).
• Iris Morley – Historian (Royal School).
• Penny Mountbatten, Lady Ivar Mountbatten – Businesswoman and philanthropist (Royal School).
• Helen Rollason MBE – Celebrated BBC Sports Presenter.
• Susan Strange – Economist (Royal School).
• Dame Veronica Sutherland DBE CMG – Career diplomat, served as Ambassador to the Republic of Ireland.
• Dr Laura Toogood – managing director of Private Clients at Digitalis, prominent speaker on journalism, and researcher in cybersecurity.
• Dr Caroline St John-Brookes – Lecturer and education writer, Editor of Times Educational Supplement (1997–2000).
• Dr Cicely Williams OM CMG FRCP – Eminent physician and researcher in maternal and child health, first Director of Mother and Child Health at WHO in 1948 (Bath High School).
• Cecil Woodham-Smith CBE – Historian and biographer (Royal School)

References

External links

Media related to Royal High School, Bath at Wikimedia Commons

• Official website
• Profile on the Independent Schools Council website