Eagle House School

School badge

Entrance to Eagle House School
Address
Map
Crowthorne Road

Sandhurst
,
Berkshire
,
GU47 8PH

England
Coordinates51°21′22″N 0°48′02″W / 51.35619°N 0.80066°W / 51.35619; -0.80066
Information
TypePreparatory day and boarding
MottoSublimiora Petamus (Aiming High) / Learning For Life
Religious affiliation(s)Church of England
Established1820; 204 years ago (1820)[1]
FounderJoseph Railton
Local authorityBracknell Forest
Department for Education URN110133 Tables
HeadEd Venables
GenderCoeducational[1]
Age3 to 13[1]
Enrolment418 (2018)
HousesSenior - Ospreys, Merlins, Kites and Harriers. Junior - Kingfishers, Robins and Jays.
Colour(s)Gold, Red, Blue    
Websitehttp://www.eaglehouseschool.com

Eagle House School is a 3–13 co–educational preparatory school near Sandhurst in Berkshire, England. Founded in 1820, it originally only admitted boys, keeping them "until they went out into the world",[2] however, as of 2023, it admits both boys and girls. It is one of the country's oldest preparatory schools.

History

Eagle House was founded in 1820[3] at Brook Green, Hammersmith. In 1860 it moved to a house named Brackenbury's at Wimbledon, then in 1886, after a major fire,[4] moved to its present home at Sandhurst.[5][6] In 1930 a severe outbreak of chicken-pox and measles reduced the school's numbers from twenty-nine to five, but the school soon recovered.[7] The school was purchased by Wellington College in 1968 and shares most of its governors.[8]

Between 1957 and 1962 Nick Drake, later a singer-songwriter, attended the school and became head boy. He was taught French at the school by John Watson, who while still at Eagle House came second in the Eurovision Song Contest 1960 with his song "Looking High, High, High".[9]

Lieutenant-General Sir John Cowley chaired the school's Governing Body from 1968 to 1976.[10]

Present day

Originally for boys only, Eagle House now caters for boys and girls between the ages of two and thirteen.[1] It is in the same ownership as Wellington College, forming part of the same registered charitable organization. A majority of pupils continue their secondary education at the college. Before the college became fully coeducational in 2005, most girls left at age 11 for secondary school.

The school releases its own publication titled "The Eagle" regularly which is available to pupils and parents in hard copies, paper-back copies, and also on the school's website.

Headmasters

Notable former pupils

See also: Category:People educated at Eagle House School

References

  1. ^ a b c d Alex Sharratt, Preparatory Schools 2011 (2011), p. 72: "Eagle House School 5096 (Founded 1820) Headmaster: Mr CEG Taylor BA(Hons), PGCE, appointed: September 2006 / School type: Coeducational Day & Boarding / Boarders from 7 years / Age range of pupils: 3–13 / No. of pupils enrolled as at 1/9/10: 346 / Boys: 212, Girls: 134 / No. of boarders: 60... Teacher/pupil ratio 1:8"
  2. ^ "Our History". Eagle House School. Retrieved 29 December 2023.
  3. ^ Wendy Bosberry-Scott, ed., John Catt's Preparatory Schools 2010 (2010), p. 34
  4. ^ J. S. Cockburn, H. P. F. King, K. G. T. McDonnell, A History of the county of Middlesex: Volume 5 (1995), p. 375
  5. ^ Country Life, vol. 171 (1982), p. 25: "THE FIRST EAGLE HOUSE SCHOOL, AT BROOK GREEN, HAMMERSMITH, moved to Wimbledon in 1860, and to Sandhurst in 1886..."
  6. ^ Donald P. Leinster-Mackay, The Rise of the English prep school (1984), p. 126
  7. ^ Eagle House Magazine dated Lent Term, 1930
  8. ^ 2009 ISI Inspection Report Archived 2 July 2013 at the Wayback Machine
  9. ^ a b Patrick Humphries, Nick Drake: the biography (London: Bloomsbury Publishing, 1998), p. 22.
  10. ^ "COWLEY, Lt-Gen. Sir John Guise" in Who's Who 1990 (London: A. & C. Black, 1990).
  11. ^ Thomas Moore, Nicholas Lee Torré, Cantus hibernici, vol. 2 (1858), p. viii: "Huntingford, Rev. Edward, DCL, Head Master of Eagle House School"
  12. ^ Alfred Hiley, Recapitulatory examples in arithmetic (1882), p. ii
  13. ^ 'BURGE, Stuart', in Who Was Who (A. & C. Black, 1920–2008); online article (subscription site), by Oxford University Press, December 2007, accessed 20 April 2012
  14. ^ 'GARDNER, John Linton', in Who's Who 2012 (London: A. & C. Black, 2012) online article (subscription site), by Oxford University Press, January 2012, accessed 20 April 2012

Further reading

External links

Schools in Berkshire, England1
Authority control databases
Categories