| Radley College | |
|---|---|
 | |
 | |
| Address | |
 | |
Kennington Road ,, OX14 2HR England | |
| Information | |
| Type | Public school Private boarding school |
| Motto | Latin:Sicut serpentes, sicut columbae ([wise] as serpents, [innocent] as doves [Matthew 10:16]) |
| Religious affiliation(s) | Church of England |
| Established | 1847; 178 years ago (1847) |
| Founder | William Sewell |
| Department for Education URN | 123300Tables |
| Chairman of the Council | David Smellie |
| Warden | John Moule |
| Gender | Boys |
| Age | 13 to 18 |
| Enrolment | 770 |
| Houses | 11 |
| Colour(s) | Red White |
| Publication | The Radleian |
| Alumni | Old Radleians (ORs)[1] |
| Campus | 800-acre (3.2 km2) rural campus |
| Affiliations | HMC The Rugby Group |
| Website | www |
.jpg)
Radley College, formallySt Peter's College, Radley or theCollege of St. Peter at Radley,[3][4] is apublic school (independent boarding school) for boys near the village ofRadley, inOxfordshire, in theUnited Kingdom. It was founded in 1847.[5][6] The school covers 800 acres (320 hectares) including playing fields, a golf course, a lake, and farmland. Before the counties of England were re-organised, the school was inBerkshire.
Radley is one of only four public schools to have retained the boys-only, boarding-only tradition, the others beingSherborne,Harrow andEton. Formerly this group includedWinchester, although the latter school is currently undergoing a transition to co-ed status.[7] Of the seven public schools addressed by thePublic Schools Act 1868 four have since become co-educational:Rugby (1976),Charterhouse (1971),Westminster (1973), andShrewsbury (2014). For the academic year 2022/23, Radley charged boarders up to £14,850 per term, or £44,550 per annum.[8] It is a member of theRugby Group.
Radley was founded in 1847 byWilliam Sewell (1804–79) andRobert Corbet Singleton (1810–81). The first pupil wasSamuel Reynolds, who in 1897 wrote his reminiscences of school life.
The school was originally housed in Radley Hall, now known as "Mansion". Radley Hall was built in the 1720s for the Stonehouse family. Later in the 18th century the estate passed to theBowyer family, who commissionedCapability Brown to re-design the grounds. After the school was founded, extensive building work took place, beginning with Chapel (replaced by the current building in 1895), F Social and Octagon (the earliest living accommodation for the boys), Clock Tower, and in 1910 the dining hall (Hall). Building work has continued throughout the 20th and 21st centuries, with three newSocials, a weights-room/gym, a rowing tank, a theatre, and areal tennis court being completed since 2006. The Science Block was also expanded and refurbished in 2019. The grounds include a lake, a golf course and woodland.
On 31 August 2017,The Daily Telegraph[9] reported that a whistleblower had suggested that teachers had helped their students in an art GCSE exam. Investigations by the exam board found no fault beyond a minor technical breach of exam regulations. Radley College issued a statement expressing full support for staff and procedures both within the art department and across the school.
On 6 July 2018, pupils hired a plane totow a banner reading "Make Radley Great Again" over the school, reportedly in response to changes to the school branding and staff during John Moule's time as warden.[10]
There are three academic terms in the year:
Radley College has its own specialised terminology and formalities, similar to thenotions ofWinchester College.[11] For example, all teachers are referred to as "dons", and female teachers and members of staff are addressed only as "ma'am"; theheadmaster is known as the "warden";boarding houses are known as "socials", with theirmasters being known as "tutors" and theirhead prefects as "pups";ties earned by pups, top sportsmen, and other distinguished boys have flat bottoms and are known as "strings" ("social strings" if earned for distinction within the social, "college strings" if earned for distinction within the wider college); and the five year-groups, from first to last, are called "shell", "remove", "fifth", "6.1", and "6.2". During the Michaelmas and Lent terms,gowns are worn over uniforms, while during the summer term, shirts are worn without ties, jackets, or gowns (known as "Summer Dress" or, more officially, as "Shirt-Sleeve Order"). A formal house meeting is held once a week, known as "social prayers" (an assembly usually with a talk or presentation); an informal house meeting with food, known as "cocoa", takes place every evening; a weekend which a boy would usually stay in school for but has been allowed to leave on is known as a "privi" (short for "privilege weekend" as these can be cancelled if a boy is subject to disciplinary proceedings); and the final day of the academic year is known as "gaudy", from theLatingaudē meaning "rejoice thou".
There are 11 socials at Radley, each housing approximately 70 boys and distinguished by the colours of their members' ties. They are each known by a single letter, although they are formally named after their tutor (e.g., H, formally May's Social). When the college opened, most boys were living together in College, but they were under the care of six "social tutors" and the term "social" then referred to all the boys under the care of one tutor. When D Social was built in 1886 all the boys and their tutor were united in their own living quarters and so the word "social" came to mean the building and all of its inhabitants.[12] Similar toEton's houses and their dames, each social at Radley has a matron known as the "PHM" ("pastoral housemistress"), whose role is central.[13]
| Name | Colours | Tutor |
|---|---|---|
| A | Blue and brown | Richard Hughes |
| B | Purple and black | Charlie Scott Malden |
| C | Pale blue and dark blue | Stephen Giddens |
| D | Blue and white | Charlie McKegney |
| E | Pink and black | Adam Jolly |
| F | Red and gold | Tom Norton |
| G | Red and dark blue | Graham King |
| H | Dark green and light yellow | Nick Wood |
| J | Light blue and coral | Kyle Willis-Stovold |
| K | Green and white | Matt Glendon-Doyle |
| L | Gold and navy blue | Ali Hakimi |
The school was inspected by the independent schools' Inspectorate in February 2008. The inspection report rated the school's standard of education as "outstanding", the highest rating.[14] There was a subsequent inspection by ISI in 2013.[15]
In 2012, the Independent review of A level results, based on government issued statistics, ranked Radley 31st in the UK, ahead ofMalvern (32nd),Harrow (34th),Winchester (73rd),Tonbridge (74th),Eton (80th) andWellington (89th)[16] By 2019 they were still in the top 100 but had dropped to 75th place.[17]
Sports played at the College are rugby football in theMichaelmas Term, hockey,rowing and football in the Lent Term and cricket, rowing, lawn tennis, and athletics in the Summer Term.
Other sports played include badminton, basketball,beagling, cross-country, fencing,fives, lacrosse,rackets, real tennis, rugby sevens, squash, water polo, swimming and sailing.[18][19]
Rugby is the major sport of the Michaelmas term. The school fields 23 rugby teams on most Saturdays of the Michaelmas term and on some Thursdays. The Master in charge of Rugby isGloucester loose-head propNick Wood, OR.
Radley is recognised for itsrowing, having won events atHenley Royal Regatta on 6 occasions.[20] OnlyEton,St Paul's,Shrewsbury, andSt Edward's have won more events at the Regatta.
Cricket is played in the summer term. Some Old Radleians have progressed to play cricket for England or captain county level cricket teams.
Eighteen hockey teams are fielded during the Lent term. Teams train on three Astroturf pitches and a full-sized indoor hockey pitch. Radley takes part in the Independent Schools Hockey League.[21]
Twelve football teams are fielded in the Lent term. Radley competes in ISFA Southern Independent Schools Lent Term League. There is a yearly pre-season training camp before term starts.[22]
Sports such asfives,rackets, sailing, badminton, andpolo are represented, as well asscuba diving. Areal tennis court opened in July 2008, which made Radley the only school in the world to have fives, squash, badminton, tennis, racquets, and real tennis courts all on campus.[23]
The school lent its name to a steam locomotive (Engine 930;Radley) of Southern Railway'sClass V (Schools), which were named for English public schools. Built in 1934 and withdrawn in 1962, the nameplate from 930 is now displayed in the college's shop.
In 2005 Radley College was one of fifty of the country's leading independent schools which were found guilty by theOffice of Fair Trading of running an illegal price-fixing cartel which had allowed them to drive up fees.[24] Each school was required to pay a nominal penalty of £21,360 and all agreed to make ex-gratia payments totalling three million pounds into a Trust designed to benefit pupils who attended the schools during the period in respect of which fee information was shared.[25] In their defence, Jean Scott, the head of theIndependent Schools Council, said that independent schools had previously been exempt from the anti-cartel rules applied to business; they were following a long-established procedure in sharing the information with one another and they were unaware of the current law.[26]
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
51°41′35″N1°15′05″W / 51.69304°N 1.25150°W /51.69304; -1.25150
