Berkshire
England
| St Andrew's College, Bradfield (Bradfield College) | |
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| Motto | Benedictus es, O Domine doce me Statuta Tua (Latin for You are blessed, Lord: teach me your laws.) |
| Established | 1850 |
| Type | Public School |
| Religious affiliation | Church of England |
| Headmaster | Mr Peter J M Roberts, MA |
| Warden (Chair of governors) | Sir Colin Lucas |
| Founder | Rev. Thomas Stevens, Rector and Lord of the Manor of Bradfield |
| Location | Reading Berkshire England |
| Staff | 120 (approx.) |
| Students | 720 (approx.) |
| Gender | Mixed |
| Ages | 13 to 18 |
| Houses | 12 |
| School colours | Blue and Green
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| Former pupils | Old Bradfieldians |
| Website | www.bradfieldcollege.org.uk |
Bradfield College is a coeducational public school located in the small village of Bradfield in the English county of Berkshire.
The college was founded in the 1850s by Thomas Stevens, Rector and Lord of the Manor of Bradfield. It now has around 570 male and 150 female pupils.
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According to the Good Schools Guide, the "Pastoral, extra-curricular and academic aspects [are] all strong in a very beautiful setting. [The school is u]nusually family-friendly and with exceptional boarding."[1]
The school, which admits pupils between the ages of 13–18, has been co-educational since September 2005. All first years pupils (fourth formers) enter a first year boarding house (Faulkners) and then, from the second year (known as the shell), they move to their main boarding houses for the remaining four years.
Bradfield's Motto: Benedictus es, O Domine doce me Statuta Tua, which means, You're blessed, Lord, Teach me your Laws."
Bradfield is most renowned for its Greek theatre and Greek play, which is performed on a three-year rota ('presumably', says Tatler's Good Schools Guide, 'it takes that long to build up the stamina again) in conjunction with Cambridge University and Oxford University. Started to save the school from bankruptcy, the Greek plays have been staged by the school for almost 150 years. The students who act in it receive no formal training in speaking Ancient Greek, and have only nine months to learn the lines and direction, as well as keeping up with their other studies. The 2006 play was Euripides’s Medea, directed by John Taylor. It has been noted for its groundbreaking advances, including the addition of projected subtitles and the bold decision of incorporating the orchestra into the skene, using a ramp covered in sand and flooded to symbolise the sea and Medea's situation of being "between places".
In 2005 the school was one of fifty of the country's leading private schools which were found guilty of running an illegal price-fixing cartel, exposed by The Times, which had allowed them to drive up fees for thousands of parents.[2] Each school was required to pay a nominal penalty of £10,000 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.[3]
The Commission for Social Care Inspection, which inspects standards at private and state boarding schools, praised Bradfield, for its "safe and caring environment" and for endeavouring to "develop a more modern approach to boarding".[citation needed] The Daily Telegraph reported that, ‘against the relevant 47 standards, Bradfield achieved 16 gold stars. In only two areas was it judged to have "minor shortcomings”.
Former footballer, Vinnie Jones, once worked in the kitchens at the college. Vinnie’s father, Tom, was the school hairdresser and got him a job washing pots and pans. Although at the time Jones was at a particularly low ebb, the Bradfield days appear in a chapter entitled ‘Life in a Bin Liner’ – he writes with some tenderness about the friends he made, and the room in which he lived: 'It was built on a corner and overlooked the gardens and the sports field, which was lovely, and there was a river the pang at the bottom.' .[4]
The oldest building is college gateway, which incorporates part of a barn of 1382. The wrought iron was made by the village blacksmith.
Bradfield College played host to the UK's first "reverse" triathlon in the 1990s: The "IRT" (TRI backwards) followed the run-bike-swim format. The finisher's T-shirts declared "It doesn't 'ave to 'urt to do the IRT".