Roedean () is a private boarding school governed by royal charter on the outskirts of Brighton, United Kingdom. It was founded in 1885 by three sisters to educate wealthy daughters and heiresses of aristocracy and industrial elites of the 19th century.
It is a girls-only school for those between the ages of 11 and 18. The campus is situated near Sussex Downs, on a cliff overlooking the Brighton Marina and the English Channel. It is widely regarded as the equivalent of Eton for girls, having educated industrialists, ambassadors, stateswomen, civil leaders, artists, and famous writers.
The school is equipped with multiple dance studios, music classrooms, a private theatre, heated indoor swimming pools, private golf courses, farms, chapels, as well as a range of specialised workshops, studios, laboratories and sports pitches.
Roedean School is a member of the Girls' Schools Association and the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference (HMC). The Independent Schools Inspectorate rated Roedean as Excellent in all areas (highest category) in its March 2016 inspection.
In the 2023 A-Levels, the school saw 55.2% of its candidates score A*/A.
History The school was founded in 1885 as Wimbledon House by three women: Penelope Lawrence and her step-sisters Millicent and Dorothy Lawrence. Their brother was the lawyer Sir Paul Lawrence of Wimbledon who became unable to support them. Their Lawrence great aunts had been noted school teachers earlier in the century, mainly in Liverpool. In its early years, Roedean was favoured by wealthy parents - many of whom were Nonconformists - to prepare girls for entrance to the newly opened women's colleges at Cambridge University, Girton (now co-ed) and Newnham Colleges where Penelope had studied. In 1898, the school moved to its present site, occupying new buildings designed by the architect Sir John Simpson. A sister school, also called Roedean School and co-founded by the youngest Lawrence sister, Theresa, in 1903, is located in Johannesburg, South Africa.
The school motto, Honneur aulx dignes, is in Norman French, and means "Honour the worthy". When pronounced, it sounds like "Honour Roedean".
In 1924 the Lawrence sisters were replaced by Emmeline Mary Tanner who became the new head. She had been poached from Bedford High School by Penelope Lawrence as their successor.
During the Second World War, the students and staff, including classics teacher Mary Creighton Bailey, (PDF version) were temporarily evacuated to Keswick, in the north of England. The school buildings in Brighton, Sussex were used by the Admiralty. They adapted it for use by Navy cadets attending the Mining and Torpedo School (known as HMS Vernon (R)). Roedean is one of the few girls' schools in the country to have an Old Boys' Association.Roedean Old Boys' Association
The artist Percy Shakespeare was killed by a German bomb while serving at Roedean.
Absorption of St Mary's Hall Inspired by his friend William Carus Wilson, who founded Cowan Bridge School, Reverend Henry Venn Elliott proposed to found a similar school for the county. St Mary's Hall was opened in 1836 and was the second-oldest girls' school in the United Kingdom before it was closed in 2009. At that time, its junior section became Roedean's junior school while many senior girls transferred to Roedean. The junior school was closed in 2011 as the school administration decided to focus on secondary and sixth form education.
Location Roedean School is set in of grounds off Roedean Way, at the top of a cliff on the Sussex Downs overlooking the sea, approximately in line with Brighton Marina.
Academic results In 2023, the school achieved 55% of all A-Level grades A*-A and 74.3% of GCSE grades 9-7.
Houses The school community is divided into houses.
The Lawrence and Tanner House (with Senior and Junior wings) system, introduced in 2005, was reversed starting in 2010. A numbered house system was reintroduced.
Year 7 to Year 11 students are spread out amongst Houses 1, 2, 3, and 4. These are named after the house numbers 1–4 of Lewes Crescent, where the School was located prior to moving in 1898 to this campus built for it.
Sixth form (Years 12–13) are admitted to Keswick House and Lawrence House, which are detached from the main school building.
In the 1960s, the houses were: Junior House; House Number 1; House Number 2; House Number 3; House Number 4; and a Sanatorium. In 1966 part of the Sanatorium was made into rooms for 6th form girls, two 6th form girls from every numbered house. The School retains a sanatorium wing (now known as a health centre) to this day.
Admission procedures Roedean is a selective school, and entry to the school is based upon the School's own entrance examinations, interviews and reports from the students' previous schools.
Notable alumnae Old Girls are known as Old Roedeanians and include:
Arts Vera Stanley Alder, painter Pauline Boumphrey, sculptor Enid Marx, designer Beatrix Ong, fashion accessories designer Phyllis Pearsall, artist, writer and publisher Clare Pooley, blogger and novelist Edith Pretty, philanthropist and magistrate Zina Saro-Wiwa, video artist and filmmaker Jillian Becker, author Dorothy Theomin, philanthropist and art collector
Business
Marjorie Abbatt, toy-maker and businesswoman
Healthcare and education Dame Cicely Saunders, nurse, social worker, physician and writer Olive Willis, founder of Downe House School Barbara, Lady Stephen, educationalist and biographer
Journalism and literature Alison Adburgham, fashion editor of The Guardian, author and social historian Jani Allan, journalist, broadcaster Tessa Dahl, novelist and daughter of Roald Dahl Adèle Geras, writer Zerbanoo Gifford, writer and human rights campaigner Naseem Khan (activist), journalist and activist Noo Saro-Wiwa, author Nancy Spain, journalist, author and broadcaster Katharine Whitehorn, journalist, writer, and columnist
Military and sport Barbara Calder (1924–2018), yachtswoman Elizabeth Devereux-Rochester, member of SOE F Section Tanya Streeter, world champion freediver Philippa Tattersall, soldier and first female to complete the All Arms Commando Course Amber Anning British Athletics Record holder 400m and double Paris Olympics medallist
Politics and activism Ursula Graham Bower, anthropologist and guerrilla fighter in Burma during World War II Jill Braithwaite, Lady Braithwaite, anthropologist, diplomat and social reformer Anna Campbell, activist Lynda Chalker, Baroness Chalker, politician Dame Margaret Cole, politician and writer Flick Drummond, Conservative Party politician Helen Millar Craggs, suffragette Birgit Cunningham, campaigner Layla Moran, Liberal Democrat politician
Science Helen Dick Megaw, crystallographer
Theatre, television, and film Marisa Abela, actress Jill Balcon, actress Hermione Cockburn, broadcaster Noel Dyson, actress Lucy Griffiths, actress Rebecca Hall, actress Jessica Hester Hsuan, actress Verity Lambert, television producer, known for being the original producer of Doctor Who. Sarah Miles, actress Rhona Mitra, actress, model and singer-songwriter Honeysuckle Weeks, actress Perdita Weeks, actress
See also Grade II listed buildings in Brighton and Hove: P–R
References
External links
St Mary's Hall Association Website Profile on the ISC website ISI Inspection Reports