St Faith's School

History

The school was founded by Ralph Shilleto Goodchild, a graduate of Christ’s College, around 1884. It features under that name in Gwen Raverat's autobiographical account of her childhood, Period Piece.

The Leys and St Faith's Foundation share the motto (In fide fiducia) and coat of arms.

Until the 1990s, most classrooms were in converted Victorian houses. Since then, the school has built Ashburton, opened in 1999, a large red brick building. This contains the School Hall, where assemblies and plays take place, two purpose-built, fully equipped science laboratories, and other classrooms. The naming of the school's Ashburton Hall commemorates the evacuation of some of the boarders during the Second World War to the Golden Lion Hotel in Ashburton, on Dartmoor in Devon.

In June 2006, the school opened a new building for Music and Technology, named The Keynes Building in honour of old boys Maynard and Geoffrey Keynes.

In May 2011 a state of the art Sports Centre was opened by Geoffrey Windsor-Lewis, a prominent Old Fidelian.

Admission, fees and scholarships

Fees for 2016-17 are between £3,955 and £4,985 a term, depending on age.

An Independent Schools Inspection of St Faith's, in June 2011, reported the following ‘St Faith’s is highly and conspicuously successful in meeting its stated aims, especially those aspiring to achieve high academic standards, and provides an inspiring education and a stimulating curriculum’. Pupils’ achievement is ‘excellent’. Teaching across the school is ‘excellent’, as is pupils’ personal development and cultural and spiritual awareness. Pupils’ social development was also judged ‘outstanding’ with the pastoral support a major strength of the school.

There is an open morning in the Autumn Term. Most admissions are at the ages of 4 and 7, but entry is also possible at other ages, while places are available. For the youngest children, places are offered by The Headmaster after a visit by the parents. From Year 3 onwards, admission to the school follows an assessment and interview.

Awards

The school has achieved Eco-Schools' Green Flag status. In 2014, St Faith's were awarded the, much coveted, Ashden Award for its pioneering approach to the teaching of sustainability.

After St Faith's

In recent years, half or more of the Year 8 leavers have gone on to The Leys School, which reserves places for St Faith's pupils to compete for in Year 6, guaranteeing entry to The Leys in Year 9. The two schools work closely together.

Other schools to which pupils have moved in recent years include Eton College, Felsted School, Framlingham School, The Friends' School, The King's School, Ely, Oakham School, Oundle School, The Perse School, The Stephen Perse Foundation, Rugby School, Uppingham School, St Mary's School, Cambridge, and local maintained schools and other schools in the US and continental Europe. In 2014, a record twenty-eight scholarships were achieved to Senior Schools.

Old Fidelians

Old Fidelians include John Maynard Keynes, 1st Baron Keynes, the economist, his brother Sir Geoffrey Keynes, surgeon, biographer and bibliographer, and Charlie Darwin, the brother of Gwen Raverat, who wrote about the school in her book Period Piece. They lived at Newnham Grange, now part of Darwin College, Cambridge, and their sister Margaret Darwin married Geoffrey Keynes. So the Darwins and the Keyneses, two important Cambridge families, have close links with St Faith's.