Sandroyd School
Encyclopedia
Sandroyd School is an independent
co-educational preparatory school for both day and boarding pupils in Rushmore Park, near the village of Tollard Royal
in Wiltshire
.
. Today, the school's remit is considerably wider, and its male and female pupils go on to a wide range of senior independent schools. Before entry to Sandroyd, all prospective pupils are invited to an assessment morning or afternoon in the year before they are due to start at the School. The date of entry varies according to the Year the child is trying to enter. The children are given a verbal reasoning test, are asked to write a story and also do some reading, enabling the school to identify each child's strengths and weaknesses. The Headmaster then writes to parents with a letter explaining how their child has coped. The School does not reject applicants who have performed poorly.
(now the home of Reed's School) in 1888, although as the Times Digital Archive reveals, he had been tutoring boys there ad hoc at least since 1882. There appears no truth in the statement previously included in this entry and thereby widely distributed on the Internet that Sandroyd School was founded in East London. From 1898 the school owed its further development, and success, to two able men, until then assistant masters at Elstree School, Charles Plumpton Wilson [1859 - 1938] and William Meysey Hornby [1870 - 1955] who took over from Wesley that year, as Headmaster and Deputy Headmaster respectively. Wilson retired in 1920, Hornby then took his place, until his own retirement in 1931. In 1939, the School signed a lease on Rushmore House and the surrounding Rushmore Park, home of the Pitt-Rivers family, lying in the centre of Cranborne Chase
on the borders of Wiltshire and Dorset. In 1939, with the threat of the Second World War, the school moved there, where it has remained ever since.
, explorer Sir Ranulph Fiennes, industrialist Timothy Sainsbury, Professor Michael Dummett
, Lord Snowdon and king Peter II of Yugoslavia
The current editor is Nicholas Dugdale, a teacher at Sandroyd.
Independent school
An independent school is a school that is independent in its finances and governance; it is not dependent upon national or local government for financing its operations, nor reliant on taxpayer contributions, and is instead funded by a combination of tuition charges, gifts, and in some cases the...
co-educational preparatory school for both day and boarding pupils in Rushmore Park, near the village of Tollard Royal
Tollard Royal
Tollard Royal is a village and civil parish on Cranborne Chase, Wiltshire, England. The parish is on Wiltshire's southern boundary with Dorset and the village is southeast of the Dorset town of Shaftesbury....
in Wiltshire
Wiltshire
Wiltshire is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset, Somerset, Hampshire, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire. It contains the unitary authority of Swindon and covers...
.
Introduction
Sandroyd School was originally established by the Reverend Wellesley Wesley as a small private coaching establishment for boys hoping to enter Eton CollegeEton College
Eton College, often referred to simply as Eton, is a British independent school for boys aged 13 to 18. It was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI as "The King's College of Our Lady of Eton besides Wyndsor"....
. Today, the school's remit is considerably wider, and its male and female pupils go on to a wide range of senior independent schools. Before entry to Sandroyd, all prospective pupils are invited to an assessment morning or afternoon in the year before they are due to start at the School. The date of entry varies according to the Year the child is trying to enter. The children are given a verbal reasoning test, are asked to write a story and also do some reading, enabling the school to identify each child's strengths and weaknesses. The Headmaster then writes to parents with a letter explaining how their child has coped. The School does not reject applicants who have performed poorly.
History
Sandroyd School was founded by Revd. Wesley at his home, Sandroyd House in Cobham, Surrey CobhamCobham, Surrey
Cobham is a town in the Borough of Elmbridge in Surrey, England, about south-west of central London and north of Leatherhead. Elmbridge has been acclaimed by the Daily Mail as the best place to live in the UK, and Cobham is a prosperous part of the London commuter belt...
(now the home of Reed's School) in 1888, although as the Times Digital Archive reveals, he had been tutoring boys there ad hoc at least since 1882. There appears no truth in the statement previously included in this entry and thereby widely distributed on the Internet that Sandroyd School was founded in East London. From 1898 the school owed its further development, and success, to two able men, until then assistant masters at Elstree School, Charles Plumpton Wilson [1859 - 1938] and William Meysey Hornby [1870 - 1955] who took over from Wesley that year, as Headmaster and Deputy Headmaster respectively. Wilson retired in 1920, Hornby then took his place, until his own retirement in 1931. In 1939, the School signed a lease on Rushmore House and the surrounding Rushmore Park, home of the Pitt-Rivers family, lying in the centre of Cranborne Chase
Cranborne Chase
Cranborne Chase is a Chalk plateau in central southern England, straddling the counties Dorset, Hampshire and Wiltshire. The plateau is part of the English Chalk Formation and is adjacent to Salisbury Plain and the West Wiltshire Downs in the north, the Dorset Downs to the south west and the...
on the borders of Wiltshire and Dorset. In 1939, with the threat of the Second World War, the school moved there, where it has remained ever since.
Today
In 2003 long-serving headmaster Michael Hatch stepped down and was replaced by Martin Harris, who has since overseen vast changes in the school. That same year, the school's emblem changed from the leaf crest with purple ribbons, enscribed 'Niti est Nitere' to an outline of the temple at Sandroyd. From 2004 Sandroyd School accepted female pupils for the first time, at first only four enrolled, but since then the school has had a much more co-educational appearance. That same year a new swimming pool changing block and girls boarding dormitories were built and the science block was given a temporary renovation. From 2005 a major renovation and building process began including rebuilding the chapel as a new performing arts centre, and renovating and extending the senior boarding quarters.Former pupils
Sandroyd School has a long list of distinguished former pupils, including the playwright Sir Terence Rattigan, former Foreign Secretary and NATO Secretary-General Lord CarringtonPeter Carington, 6th Baron Carrington
Peter Alexander Rupert Carington, 6th Baron Carrington, is a British Conservative politician. He served as British Foreign Secretary between 1979 and 1982 and as the sixth Secretary General of NATO from 1984 to 1988. He is the last surviving member of the Cabinets of both Harold Macmillan and Sir...
, explorer Sir Ranulph Fiennes, industrialist Timothy Sainsbury, Professor Michael Dummett
Michael Dummett
Sir Michael Anthony Eardley Dummett FBA D.Litt is a British philosopher. He was, until 1992, Wykeham Professor of Logic at the University of Oxford...
, Lord Snowdon and king Peter II of Yugoslavia
Peter II of Yugoslavia
Peter II, also known as Peter II Karađorđević , was the third and last King of Yugoslavia...
The Sandroydian
The Sandroydian is an annual school magazine, published and distributed at some time in the Autumn Term. The magazine contains an editorial by the Headmaster, reports by staff and pupils of the many activities, outings and special events which have taken place in the course of the year and full sports results. In addition there is a section reserved for some of the pupils' creative work - art, stories and poetry.The current editor is Nicholas Dugdale, a teacher at Sandroyd.