Malvern St James
Address
Avenue Road

Malvern
,
Worcestershire
,
WR14 3BA

England
Coordinates52°06′37″N 2°19′03″W / 52.11035°N 2.31756°W / 52.11035; -2.31756
Information
TypePrivate day and boarding
Established1893 as "Malvern Girls' College"
FounderMiss Greenslade and Miss Poulton (Malvern Girls' College)
Department for Education URN117018 Tables
HeadmistressMrs Olivera Raraty
GenderGirls
Age4 to 18
Enrolment400
fees£7,170 - £38,190 per annum
Websitehttp://www.malvernstjames.co.uk/

Malvern St James is an independent school for girls in Great Malvern, Worcestershire, England. Founded in 1893 as Malvern Girls' College, it was renamed Malvern St James following a merger in 2006 with St James's School in West Malvern. It continues to occupy the same campus as the former college, which includes as its main building the former Imperial Hotel, taken over for use as a school by Malvern Girls' College in 1919.

The school comprises three sections: a Prep Department for girls aged 4–11, a Senior School for girls aged 11–16, and a Sixth Form for girls aged 16–18.

History

Two schools

Malvern Girls' College was founded in 1893 by Miss Greenslade and Miss Poulton, and was first located in College Road.

In 1919 they acquired the Imperial Hotel and in 1934, a major extension including an assembly hall was built. Further extensions included the Hatfield building in the 1960s, the Edinburgh Dome in 1977 and The Science Education Centre in 1998.[1]

St James's School was founded in the south of England by twin sisters Alice and Katrine Baird in 1896 and moved to the large mansion of Lord Howard de Walden in West Malvern in 1902.[1][2] The Abbey School was founded in Blockley, Worcestershire and moved to Malvern in 1897 and to Malvern Wells in 1908.[1] Two of the Baird sisters, Diana and Alice, ran the two houses for students: the Junior House, for the girls aged 11–14, and the Senior House for girls above 14.[2] "The Miss Bairds were remarkable: five spinster sisters all over six feet tall and all to be Head Mistresses."[2] The girls wore a simple uniform: white cotton shirts, navy blue coats and skirts.[2] "There were no 'O Levels' or 'A Levels' in those days, and exams were not taken seriously. 'Citizenship' was what the Miss Bairds were most anxious to instill; it must be admitted with considerable success--many girls were later notable for lives of public service."[2]

The merger

In 1979 the two schools merged on the West Malvern campus of St James and the resulting school was named St James's & The Abbey. In 1994 Lawnside School, which was founded around 1856,[3] merged with St James's & The Abbey School and the school was renamed St James's.[1] In 2006, Malvern Girls' College merged with St James's School and was refounded as Malvern St James (MSJ).[1]

Teaching

In 2019, one of the set texts (Spies by Michael Frayn) had been removed from the sylabus of the English Literature International GCSE paper. The school apologised and launched an investigation into the incident, and applied to the exam board Cambridge International for 'special consideration' in order that the mistake would not unfairly impact any grades.[4][5]

Malvern St James received the highest rating of 'Excellent' in the independent schools Inspectorate Educational Quality Inspection, published in May 2017.[6]

Structure and academic results

The school is divided into four areas MSJ Pre-Prep (Reception to Year 2), MSJ Prep (Year 3 to Year 6), MSJ Seniors (Year 7 to Year 11) and MSJ Sixth Form (Year 12 & Year 13).

A-level results 2021: Students achieved 43% of grades at A*, 75% at A*-A, 90% at A*-B and 98% at A*-C.[7]

GCSE results 2021: 32% of the entries were graded 9; 54% 9-8; and 74% 9-7.[8]

A-level results 2020: Students achieved 31% of grades at A*, 67% at A*-A, 87% at A*-B and 97% at A*-C.[9]

GCSE results 2020: 57% of entries scored a 9-8 or A* grades; 77% of entries scored 9-7/A*-A grades and 99.5% of entries scored 9-4 or A*-C. 41% of girls gained a clean sweep in grades 9-7 or A*-A.[10]

A-level results 2019: 44% of grades were at A* and A, and more than one in six students achieved a clean sweep of A* and A grades.[11]

GCSE results 2019: 38% of entries scored a 9-8 or A* grades; and 55% of entries scored 9-7/A*-A grades.[12]

Boarding houses

The school offers full, weekly or flexi boarding. All girls whether they are boarders or day girls are a part of the boarding community. There are five boarding houses each dedicated to caring for a specific age group: Batsford, Benhams, Austen, Poulton and Greenslade.[13]

Architecture

The Imperial Hotel

Main building – the former Imperial Hotel

Following the collapse of the spa industry, many of the hotels were acquired for use as private boarding schools, and education became the basis of Malvern's economy; the Imperial Hotel was purchased by the school in 1919.[14] The former hotel is directly opposite Great Malvern railway station, with its dedicated (now derelict) tunnel to the basement of the building, which is clearly visible from both platforms of the station. The red brick and stone Imperial Hotel, which had been the largest in Malvern during the town's heyday as a spa in the second half of the 19th century, is still one of the largest buildings in Malvern and was built in 1860 by the architect E. W. Elmslie.[15] He also designed the Great Malvern railway station, the Council House and The Grove in Avenue Road in 1867, originally to be his private residence, which in 1927 became part of the Lawnside School. The Imperial was the first hotel to be lit by incandescent gas. It was equipped with all types of baths and brine was brought specially by rail from Droitwich. In 1934 the building was extended with the addition of the York Hall, officially opened by Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother.[14][16]

The Edinburgh Dome

The Edinburgh Dome

The school campus has a listed sports hall – The Edinburgh Dome, so named as it was unveiled by the Duke of Edinburgh. It consists of a round, green, balloon-shaped building, containing squash courts, a gym area and a games area, surrounded by a moat. Based on an innovative roof construction by Dante Bini, the Binishell (or Parashell), it was built in 1977 by architect Michael Godwin and consultant engineer John Faber. It was opened in 1978. On the advice of English Heritage it has been designated a Grade II listed building.[17]

Fees

As of the 2021-22 academic year, fees at the school range from £2,550 to £13,470 per term.[18]

Alumnae

Malvern St James Girls' School

Malvern Girls' College

Lawnside

St James’s, West Malvern

The Abbey School

Notable staff

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "History | Malvern St James Girls' School". www.malvernstjames.co.uk. Retrieved 20 November 2020.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Duchess of Gloucester, Princess Alice (1983). The Memoirs of Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester (Hardcover ed.). London: Harper Collins. p. 43.
  3. ↑ Mowbray, Chris (12 February 1994). "Sun sets on school that rose out of the Empire: Chris Mowbray reports on the demise of a 140-year-old institution". The Independent (UK). Archived from the original on 22 July 2015. Retrieved 15 December 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  4. ↑ "Prestigious private school pupils discover during exam they have been taught wrong book". The Independent. 16 May 2019. Retrieved 17 May 2019.
  5. ↑ "Private school taught wrong exam book". 17 May 2019. Retrieved 17 May 2019.
  6. ↑ ISI . Retrieved 12 May 2017
  7. ↑ "News - Malvern St James Girls' School".
  8. ↑ "News - Malvern St James Girls' School".
  9. ↑ "News - Malvern St James Girls' School". www.malvernstjames.co.uk. Retrieved 25 January 2021.
  10. ↑ "News - Malvern St James Girls' School". www.malvernstjames.co.uk. Retrieved 25 January 2021.
  11. ↑ "News - Malvern St James Girls' School". www.malvernstjames.co.uk. Retrieved 25 January 2021.
  12. ↑ "News - Malvern St James Girls' School". www.malvernstjames.co.uk. Retrieved 25 January 2021.
  13. ↑ "Boarding | Malvern St James Girls' School". www.malvernstjames.co.uk. Retrieved 25 January 2021.
  14. 1 2 Smith, Brian S. (1964). A History of Malvern. Leicester University Press, reprinted by 1978 by Alan Sutton. p. 256. ISBN 0-904387-31-3.
  15. ↑ "Hotel "most magnificent in the kingdom"". Malvern Gazette. Archived from the original on 15 December 2017. Retrieved 15 December 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  16. ↑ Phillips, Grace W. (1980). Smile, Bow, & Pass on: A Biography of an Avant-garde Headmistress, Miss Iris M. Brooks, Malvern Girls' College, 1928-1954. Saint Michael's Abbey Press. ISBN 9780950715209.
  17. ↑ Hogg, Simon, (2009) Grade II listing for Edinburgh Sport Dome, Malvern Architects Journal. Retrieved 12 January 2010
  18. ↑ "Fees and Bursaries | Malvern St James Girls' School". www.malvernstjames.co.uk.
  19. ↑ P. J. V. Rolo, "Harari , Manya (1905–1969)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, January 2011.
  20. ↑ "Peggy Jay". The Telegraph. 23 January 2008. Retrieved 8 December 2017.
  21. ↑ "History | Malvern St James Girls' School". www.malvernstjames.co.uk.
  22. ↑ Rear Admiral Rodney Sturdee: Flag Officer Gibraltar 1969 72 (obituary) in The Times, 5 November 2009, accessed 17 April 2020 (subscription required)

Further reading

  • Dixey, Mary; Stewart, Duseline (1996). The wonderful world of Lawnside: the history of a Malvern School c.1852–1994. Malvern: Lawnside Old Girls' Association.
  • Hurle, Pamela (1993). Malvern Girls' College – A Centenary History. Chichester: Philimore & Co. Ltd. ISBN 0-85033-853-0.
  • Blumenau, Ralph (1965). A History of Malvern College. MACMILLAN; ST.MARTIN'S P. ASIN: B0000CMFA4

See also

List of independent schools in the United Kingdom

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