Rye St Antony School is an independent Catholic boarding and day school for girls aged 3 to 18 years and boys aged 3 to 11 years in Headington, Oxford, England. The school's name is commonly abbreviated and referred to by both pupils and staff as 'Rye'. Rye is unique as a girls' independent Catholic school founded by two women rather than by a religious order.
The school was founded by Elizabeth Rendall and Ivy King in 1930 after a visit to the Church of St Anthony in Rye, East Sussex.[1]
There have been only six Headmistresses in Rye's history. In 1960, Miss Rendall died, and in 1963 the school became an educational trust with a Governing Body. Miss King continued as Headmistress until 1976 and, unfailing in her interest and encouragement, spent her retirement in a house in the school grounds until her death in 1993. Miss King's younger sister, Miss Gwen, joined the school in 1939 and faithfully served the school until her death in 2000 at the age of ninety-nine. Miss King’s successor as Headmistress was Patsy Sumpter who came to the school in 1959 and worked alongside Miss King in various posts before succeeding her as Headmistress from 1976 until 1990. Alison Jones was appointed as successor to Miss Sumpter, and the fifth Headmistress, Sarah Ryan, succeeded Miss Jones on Miss Jones's retirement in 2018 however, she stayed for just two years. Miss Joanne Croft is now acting head at the school.
The school was first situated in central Oxford before moving to its present site of 12 acres (4.9 ha) in Headington in 1939. The school grounds include a Victorian house built by Alfred Waterhouse, the Architect that designed The Natural History Museum, both in Oxford and London.
A new high specification Performing Arts centre was opened in February 2005.[2] The school also opened a new Sports Centre (the Morton Sports Centre) in 2008 and renovated the Sixth Form Centre and Boarding house in 2010.
The school was rated "outstanding" in all aspects during their recent 2017 ISI inspection.[3]
The school was criticised on social media[4] for the wording of its 2020 exam results release in the midst of the controversial government algorithm used to determine grades,[5] which was criticised by many for using the prior performance of a school to help determine results, causing pupils in low-income areas to achieve significantly less than similarly-performing students in more affluent areas. On 13 August 2020, the day the A-Level results came out, Joanne Croft, the headteacher, posted on Twitter; “#ResultsDay I’m so very proud of all our girls today for their #alevels2020 Ambitious and determined, no pandemic was going to stop them! #DreamBig #WorkHard #Success”.[6] Her tweet caused substantial backlash on social media and was even covered by the Financial Times,[7] which commented that the algorithm led to the school "overturning its normally below-average performance with a stunning set of grades this year."[citation needed]
Tangerine Party
One tradition at Rye St Antony is the 'Tangerine Party', held on the last day of the Michaelmas term, after the traditional Christmas Bazaar. This originated after the girls knitted clothes for the WW2 soldiers and in return they sent gifts like fruit, especially tangerines to pupils whilst rationing was enforced during the Second World War. All members of staff, pupils and parents congregate informally in the Rendall Hall to sing Christmas songs, including 'All I Want For Christmas Is You', 'Merry Christmas Everyone', 'Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer', 'Santa Claus is Coming to Town', and, finally, 'The Twelve Days of Christmas' (featuring Year 13 singing the coveted 'Five Gold Rings'). The school shares Christmas cake and everyone is given a tangerine. Songs are usually led by the Lay Chaplain and accompanied by the Director of Music; they become increasingly raucous as the Party progresses. Commonly, some male members of staff are required to stand up and sing 'We Three Kings' in front of the congregation.
Extracurricular Activities
The school offers the Duke of Edinburgh Award. Sport is also a popular aspect of the school with many pupils being members of sports teams and competing at county and national level.
Houses
There are four houses to which pupils are assigned and they generally remain in the same house throughout their time at Rye. These houses compete against one another in both academic and extra-curricular activities throughout the year, each led by a staff Housemaster. They are named after places with a significance Catholic history around Oxfordshire.
Stonor
Hendred
Holywell
Binsey
Boarding
The two boarding houses are each in the charge of two Housemistresses and their team of Under-Graduate Assistants. Girls have a choice of choosing full boarding, weekdays-only or flexi-boarding. [8]
The Cottage for Years 11 and Sixth Form
The Croft for Year 3 to Year 10
Head Mistresses
Miss Elizabeth Rendall (joint founder) 1930–60
Miss Ivy King (joint founder) 1930–76
Miss Patsy Sumpter 1976–90
Miss Alison Jones 1990–2018
Mrs Sarah Ryan 2018–2020
Miss Joanne Croft 2020–
Former pupils
Those educated at the school include: Annie Tempest, cartoonist and sculptor
^ISI Inspection reports, ryestantony.co.uk. Accessed 1 December 2022.
^@queenofswords6 (15 August 2020). "Farlington School 62% (48%)The Marist School 55% (52%)Godolphin School 50% (29.2%)St Mary's Cambridge 54% (51%)…" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
^"How did the exam algorithm work?". 17 August 2020.
^@CroftJoanne (13 August 2020). "#ResultsDay I'm so very proud of all our girls today for their #alevels2020 Ambitious and determined, no pandemic w…" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
^"Fears U-turn on A-level results will create problems for years to come". Financial Times. 17 August 2020.
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message Rye St Antony School is an independent Catholic boarding and day school for girls aged 3 to 18 years and boys aged 3 to 11 years in Headington Oxford England The school s name is commonly abbreviated and referred to by both pupils and staff as Rye Rye is unique as a girls independent Catholic school founded by two women rather than by a religious order Rye St Antony SchoolAddressPullen s LaneOxford OX3 0BYEnglandInformationTypeIndependent day and boarding schoolMottoBe Ambitious Be Curious Be Yourself Religious affiliation s Roman CatholicEstablished1930FoundersElizabeth Rendall and Ivy KingLocal authorityOxfordshireDepartment for Education URN123295 TablesHeadJoanne CroftGenderGirlsAge3 to 18Enrolment380 2011 Houses4Colour s Red grey Websitehttp www ryestantony co uk View of Langley Lodge at Rye St Antony Contents 1 History 2 Tangerine Party 3 Extracurricular Activities 4 Houses 5 Boarding 6 Head Mistresses 7 Former pupils 8 References 9 External linksHistory EditThe school was founded by Elizabeth Rendall and Ivy King in 1930 after a visit to the Church of St Anthony in Rye East Sussex 1 There have been only six Headmistresses in Rye s history In 1960 Miss Rendall died and in 1963 the school became an educational trust with a Governing Body Miss King continued as Headmistress until 1976 and unfailing in her interest and encouragement spent her retirement in a house in the school grounds until her death in 1993 Miss King s younger sister Miss Gwen joined the school in 1939 and faithfully served the school until her death in 2000 at the age of ninety nine Miss King s successor as Headmistress was Patsy Sumpter who came to the school in 1959 and worked alongside Miss King in various posts before succeeding her as Headmistress from 1976 until 1990 Alison Jones was appointed as successor to Miss Sumpter and the fifth Headmistress Sarah Ryan succeeded Miss Jones on Miss Jones s retirement in 2018 however she stayed for just two years Miss Joanne Croft is now acting head at the school The school was first situated in central Oxford before moving to its present site of 12 acres 4 9 ha in Headington in 1939 The school grounds include a Victorian house built by Alfred Waterhouse the Architect that designed The Natural History Museum both in Oxford and London A new high specification Performing Arts centre was opened in February 2005 2 The school also opened a new Sports Centre the Morton Sports Centre in 2008 and renovated the Sixth Form Centre and Boarding house in 2010 The school was rated outstanding in all aspects during their recent 2017 ISI inspection 3 The school was criticised on social media 4 for the wording of its 2020 exam results release in the midst of the controversial government algorithm used to determine grades 5 which was criticised by many for using the prior performance of a school to help determine results causing pupils in low income areas to achieve significantly less than similarly performing students in more affluent areas On 13 August 2020 the day the A Level results came out Joanne Croft the headteacher posted on Twitter ResultsDay I m so very proud of all our girls today for their alevels2020 Ambitious and determined no pandemic was going to stop them DreamBig WorkHard Success 6 Her tweet caused substantial backlash on social media and was even covered by the Financial Times 7 which commented that the algorithm led to the school overturning its normally below average performance with a stunning set of grades this year citation needed Tangerine Party EditOne tradition at Rye St Antony is the Tangerine Party held on the last day of the Michaelmas term after the traditional Christmas Bazaar This originated after the girls knitted clothes for the WW2 soldiers and in return they sent gifts like fruit especially tangerines to pupils whilst rationing was enforced during the Second World War All members of staff pupils and parents congregate informally in the Rendall Hall to sing Christmas songs including All I Want For Christmas Is You Merry Christmas Everyone Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer Santa Claus is Coming to Town and finally The Twelve Days of Christmas featuring Year 13 singing the coveted Five Gold Rings The school shares Christmas cake and everyone is given a tangerine Songs are usually led by the Lay Chaplain and accompanied by the Director of Music they become increasingly raucous as the Party progresses Commonly some male members of staff are required to stand up and sing We Three Kings in front of the congregation Extracurricular Activities EditThe school offers the Duke of Edinburgh Award Sport is also a popular aspect of the school with many pupils being members of sports teams and competing at county and national level Houses EditThere are four houses to which pupils are assigned and they generally remain in the same house throughout their time at Rye These houses compete against one another in both academic and extra curricular activities throughout the year each led by a staff Housemaster They are named after places with a significance Catholic history around Oxfordshire Stonor Hendred Holywell BinseyBoarding EditThe two boarding houses are each in the charge of two Housemistresses and their team of Under Graduate Assistants Girls have a choice of choosing full boarding weekdays only or flexi boarding 8 The Cottage for Years 11 and Sixth Form The Croft for Year 3 to Year 10Head Mistresses EditMiss Elizabeth Rendall joint founder 1930 60 Miss Ivy King joint founder 1930 76 Miss Patsy Sumpter 1976 90 Miss Alison Jones 1990 2018 Mrs Sarah Ryan 2018 2020 Miss Joanne Croft 2020 Former pupils EditThose educated at the school include Annie Tempest cartoonist and sculptor Teresa Freeman Grenville 13th Lady Kinloss 9 Emilia Clarke actor Jude Tsang Singer Songwriter Photographer Hong Kong Victoria Aguirre Vila Coro Bibi PhD Visual Sciences Madrid Spain Julie Furber Julie Marriott Executive Vice President at Belden Inc References Edit History of the school About Rye St Antony Rye St Antony ISI Inspection reports ryestantony co uk Accessed 1 December 2022 queenofswords6 15 August 2020 Farlington School 62 48 The Marist School 55 52 Godolphin School 50 29 2 St Mary s Cambridge 54 51 Tweet via Twitter How did the exam algorithm work 17 August 2020 CroftJoanne 13 August 2020 ResultsDay I m so very proud of all our girls today for their alevels2020 Ambitious and determined no pandemic w Tweet via Twitter Fears U turn on A level results will create problems for years to come Financial Times 17 August 2020 Boarding Life at Rye KINLOSS Lady 13th in line of the Lordship cr 1602 Teresa Mary Nugent Freeman Grenville in Who s Who 2014 London A amp C Black External links EditSchool website Profile on the ISC website Profile on MyDaughter Church of St Antony in Rye Sussex Coordinates 51 45 35 N 1 13 33 W 51 75972 N 1 22583 W 51 75972 1 22583 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Rye St Antony School amp oldid 1126312831, 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