Dean Close School

Dean Close School is a co-educational private boarding and day school (for pupils aged 3–18) in the public school tradition, located in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. The school opened in 1886 and is divided into pre-prep, preparatory and senior schools located on separate but adjacent sites outside Cheltenham town centre, occupying the largest single private area of land within the town, at some 50 acres.

Dean Close School
Dean Close School, Cheltenham
Address
Shelburne Road Cheltenham , Gloucestershire , GL51 6HE United Kingdom
Coordinates	51°53′34″N 2°6′18″W
Information
Type	Public school Private boarding and day school
Motto	Verbum Dei Lucerna ("God's word, a guiding light")
Religious affiliation(s)	Church of England[1]
Established	1886; 137 years ago
Department for Education URN	115797 Tables
President	Lord Ribeiro CBE FRCS, President of The Council[2]
Chairman of the Trustees	Kathryn Carden CBE[2]
Headmaster	Bradley Salisbury
Gender	Co-educational
Age	3 to 18
Enrolment	550 pupils (Senior), 450 pupils (Prepatory and Pre-Prepatory)
Colour(s)	Maroon and Navy
Publication	The Young Decanian and The Decanian
Preparatory School	Dean Close Preparatory School
Former Pupils	Old Decanians (ODs)
Warden of the Dean Close Foundation	Emma Taylor[3]
ISI Report	Routine Inspection 2024
Website	www.deanclose.org.uk

Established in 1886 as an all-boys school, the school became co-educational in 1970. It takes day pupils, as well as boarders. Children as young as three join the pre-preparatory school, and the senior school teaches up to the age of eighteen.

The headmaster of Dean Close School, Bradley Salisbury, is a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference.^{[citation needed]}

The headmaster of the Preparatory School, Paddy Moss, is a member of the IAPS and the Choir Schools' Association.^{[citation needed]}

Since 2015, the school has been led by a foundation, the Dean Close Foundation, incorporating Dean Close School, its Prepatory and pre-Prepatory Schools, Dean Close St John's, Dean Close Airthrie School and a series of nurseries branded 'Dean Close Little Trees'. The first Warden was Jonathan Lancashire, holding the role concurently with his role in the Senior School. He was replaced by Emma Taylor in 2016.^[4]

History

The school, originally called "Dean Close Memorial School", was founded in 1886, the 79th of the 103 Victorian public schools in order of foundation,^[5] and named after the Very Reverend Francis Close, Dean of Carlisle Cathedral. Former pupils include the poet James Elroy Flecker, whose father was the School's first headmaster (the old Flecker Hall was named after him), and the artist Francis Bacon.^[6]

Other Notable Old Decanians include musician and founder of The Rolling Stones Brian Jones; George Adamson; Major General William Dimoline; Bernard Ribeiro, Baron Ribeiro; WW2 fighter ace Wing Commander Geoffrey Page; Emma Sky; Richard St. Barbe Baker; Major Wilfrid St Clair Tisdall; Oliver C. Allison; Verrier Elwin; Emmy Winner and BAFTA Award nominee Hugh Quarshie; actor Ernest Cossart; and television presenter Jeremy Wade.^[6]

In the First World War more than 120 former pupils were killed; their names, along with the names of 71 young men killed during the Second World War, are recorded in the school's memorial chapel which was consecrated in 1923.

The school buildings were requisitioned by the Home Office during the Second World War^[7] and the staff and pupils were removed to Monkton Combe School near Bath in Somerset. Ultimately, the buildings were not required by the government, and were handed back in 1940. In December of the same year, the school was hit by five bombs during air raids. Two of the bombs caused substantial damage to the Junior School and shrapnel damage can be observed on what was the Careers building, now an administrative office.

In 1967, the first girl was admitted for tutorials, and by 1969 the school had started encouraging female applicants to study full-time.^{[citation needed]} Enrollment increased over the next 35 years to create a balanced co-educational environment, with almost equal numbers of boys and girls.

The school hosted the JACT Greek summer school from 1969 to 1985, under the aegis of the then headmaster Christopher Turner.^[8]

In the early 2000s, the then head teacher Rev. Tim Hastie-Smith advised author Jilly Cooper on her up-coming novel Wicked!, which was set in an independent school.^[9]

The most recent additions to the school's property are a £3 million sports hall^[10] and a £4.5 million prep school hall^[11] which opened in October 2013.

In June 2015, Dean Close School announced the acquisition of a preparatory school, St John's on the Hill (now Dean Close St John's^[12]), Chepstow.^[13] In 2020 the School announced the further acquisition of another preparatory school, Airthrie in Cheltenham.

Academic achievement

2023 Results:

• GCSE: 54% achieved grades 9–7.
• A Level: 37% attained grades A* or A, with 63% achieving grades A* to B.

2019 Results (pre-pandemic):

• GCSE: 60% scored grades 9–7.
• A Level: 28% secured grades A* or A, with 70% achieving grades A* to B.^[14]

A-Level results in 2007 saw the school achieve a 100% pass rate with 81% of exams graded A–B. These results have put Dean Close in the top 100 schools in England as ranked by UCAS points per candidate.^[15]

As of 2014, Dean Close School is ranked 61st in co-educational senior boarding schools by A Levels, with 43% of pupils achieving A level A & A* grades.^[16] 60% of pupils at Dean Close School also achieved GCSE level A & A* grades.

Combined Cadet Force (CCF)

Dean Close has a long tradition of Cadets. The school had an affiliate tri-service Combined Cadet Force which has a history dating back to 1909 as the Officer Training Corps, in 1948 it was later developed to the Combined Cadet Force.^[17]

Dean Close CCF Sections

Dean Close School CCF consists of Army. The school used to have a Navy and Air Force section, however these were both discontinued. Dean Close CCF (Army Section) are attached to the Rifles Regiment, and consequently Army cadets berets have the Rifles Bugle as their cap badge.^[18]

Royal Visit

In 1951, Friday 16 March, HRH Princess Elizabeth visited Cheltenham and inspected the school CCF Guard of Honour on Shelburne Road outside the school.^[19] Accompanying Princess Elizabeth was A.N. Gilks, the Headmaster at the time.^[20] The Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II on 2 June 1953 was marked at Dean Close School with a ‘Coronation Holiday’ that ran from 30 May to 3 June, allowing Decanians to share the occasion with their families.^[21]

Remembrance Day

Every year on Remembrance Day, all Dean Close staff and pupils gather in front of the School Chapel and mark Remembrance Day with a Military styled Remembrance Service conducted by the Dean Close Combined Cadet Force.^[22] It is then followed by a two-minute silence in honour of the pupils and soldiers who gave their lives in the First and Second World Wars. The two-minute silence is ended with the Last Post.^[23] There is also a Remembrance Service which takes place inside the Chapel for all staff and pupils.^[24]

In April 2016, the headmaster signed the Armed Forces Covenant on behalf of the school.^[25]

Sport

The school is known for its hockey, but has also been successful in rugby.^[26]

Over the last two decades, Dean Close has qualified as national finalists every year for both boys' and girls' indoor and outdoor hockey.^[27]

In February 2013, the U18 girls won the Schools' National Hockey Competition, and were silver medalists in the final of the indoor format. In the summer of 2012 the U16 boys' hockey team won the School National Hockey competition. In the Summer of 2009, Dean Close U18 boys hockey team won the School National Hockey competition. They also reached the School National Hockey Finals again in 2010 and 2011. In 2012, Dean Close equestrians won the National Schools' Cross-Country Champions and the National Schools' Two-Day Event.^[28]

Schola Cantorum

The Abbey School, Tewkesbury, was founded by Miles Amherst in 1973 as the choir school for Tewkesbury Abbey. When the school closed in 2006, its choir (The Choir of the Abbey School, Tewkesbury) was renamed Tewkesbury Abbey Schola Cantorum at Dean Close and given a home at Dean Close Prep School.^[29] The choir of men and children sings traditional choral evensong in the abbey on weekdays during term time, and special services on other occasions.

The choir has a catalogue of recordings on the Delphian, Guild, Naxos, Priory, Regent, Hyperion and Signum labels.^[30] It has performed in the UK and around the world, including with the BBC National Orchestra, and broadcasts choral evensong on BBC Radio 3.

The choir has toured the US, France, Germany, Italy, Sweden and the Netherlands. Gabriel Jackson, Mark Blatchly, John Caldwell and Grayston Ives have all written for the choir, which, in 2007, also gave the first performance of Bob Chilcott's The Night He Was Born.^[31]

Houses (Senior)

House	Year Group	Type	Notes
Brook Court	Senior	Boys' boarding	(opened by Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex)
Dale	Senior	Boys' day
Fawley	Senior	Girls' boarding
Field	Senior	Boys' day
Gate	Sixth form	Boys' boarding
Hatherley	Senior	Girls' day
Shelburne	Senior	Girls' boarding
Tower	Senior	Boys' boarding	(renovation opened by Bear Grylls in 2005)
Turner	Sixth form	Girls' boarding

^[32][33]

School fees

For 2023–2024, the senior school's fees as published by the school are £28,785 a year for day pupils and £42,750 for boarders.^[34] Fees in the prep school are up to £23,085 a year for day pupils and up to £30,585 for boarders.^[35]

Notable Old Decanians

See also: Category:People educated at Dean Close School

Former pupils of the school are known as 'Old Decanians', decanus being the Latin for dean.

Eighteen Old Decanians have been awarded the Distinguished Service Order along with eight Distinguished Service Crosses, ninety-seven Military Crosses, and fourteen Distinguished Flying Crosses, and the conflicts in which they have performed these acts have predominantly been during the First and Second World War.^[36][37][38]

• George Adamson MBE (1906–1989), game warden in Kenya^[6]
• Oliver Claude Allison (1908–1989), Bishop of the Sudan 1955–1974.^[39]
• Francis Bacon (1909–1992), artist and painter of Three Studies of Lucian Freud.^[6]
• Richard St. Barbe Baker OBE (1889–1982), environmentalist, forester and writer.^[6]
• Francis Berry (1915–2006), poet and critic.^[39]
• Timothy Bliss FRS (born 1940), neuroscientist and a winner of Grete Lundbeck European Brain Research Prize.^[6]
• Christopher Brown, (born 1943) composer, particularly of choral music^[40]
• Peter Browne (born 1987), professional rugby union player for Harlequins^[6]
• Denis Burkitt MD FRCS(Ed) FRS (1911–1993), surgeon.^[39]
• Ernest Cossart (1876–1951), actor (and brother of composer Gustav Holst).^[6]
• Basil Dale (1903–1932), Anglican Bishop of Jamaica 1950–1955.^[39]
• Major General William Dimoline CB CMG CBE DSO MC (1897–1964), British Army General.^[6]
• Verrier Elwin (1902–1964), British-born Indian Missionary & Anthropologist.^[39]
• Robert Evans FBA FLSW (born 1943), Regius Professor of Modern History at the University of Oxford.^[39]
• David Fieldhouse FBA (1925–2018), historian of imperial economics^[39]
• James Flecker (1884–1915), English poet, novelist and playwright.^[6]
• Andrew Goudie (born 1945), geographer and Master of St Cross College, Oxford.^[39]
• Stanley Hoare (1903–1994), house master of Brook, hockey player for England, cricketer for Gloucestershire.^[39]
• Tom Johnson (born 1982), professional rugby union player for Exeter Chiefs and England^[6]
• Brian Jones (1942–1969), musician, guitarist and founding member of the Rolling Stones.^[6]
• G. Wilson Knight (1897–1985), literary critic and academic.^[41]
• Sir John Leonard (1926–2002), judge^[39]
• Gordon Luce (1889–1979), scholar and member of the Cambridge Apostles.^[39]
• Samer Majali, businessman and former CEO of Gulf Air.^[42]
• Ben Marsden (born 1979), hockey player for England.^[39]
• Mpumelelo Mbangwa (born 1976), cricketer and commentator.^[6]
• Will Merrick (born 1993), actor^[6]
• John Metcalf MBE (born 1946), composer.^[39]
• Robert Moreland (born 1941), consultant, politician and a former Conservative Party Member of the European Parliament^[39]
• Stephen Neill (1900–1984), Anglican missionary, Bishop of Tirunelveli 1939 & scholar^[39]
• Wing Commander Geoffrey Page DSO OBE DFC & Bar (1920–2000), Second World War flying ace pilot.^[6]
• Hugh Quarshie (born 1954), actor, BAFTA Award nominee and Emmy Award winner.^[6]
• Bernard Ribeiro, Baron Ribeiro CBE FRCS (born 20 January 1944), former president of the Royal College of Surgeons.^[43]
• John Simpson OBE (born 1953), Chief Editor, Oxford English Dictionary^[6]
• Emma Sky OBE (born 1968), Middle East expert and political advisor to U.S. General Ray Odierno.^[6]
• Major Wilfrid St Clair Tisdall MC (1921–2014), Military Cross recipient and British Army Officer.^[44]
• Jim Thompson (1936–2003), Bishop of Bath and Wells 1991–2001.^[39]
• Jeremy Wade (born 1956), television presenter^[6]
• William Welch (1906–1999), Bishop of Bradwell 1968–1973.^[39]