Those that now originated were of a new kind, at least for girls; schools where the boarding-houses form part of the regular organisation, and the whole life and development of the girls is under the charge of the mistresses. Something of the sort had already been done at Cheltenham, and doubtless the College owed much of its success to its boarding-house system. Although a general English education, which is wanted by all alike, can be supplied in any town capable of supporting a large day-school, the very special teaching wanted by a few girls working for scholarships or specially advanced examinations causes a severe strain on the resources of a moderate-sized school, is impossible for financial reasons in a small one, and quite inaccessible to those girls with country homes from whom a considerable proportion of college students is drawn. Hence there arose a new type of school.
The first of this kind originated in Scotland, at St. Andrews. It was founded in 1877 by a local company with a view to educating their own daughters; but arrangements were at once made for taking boarders, and these were placed under the immediate charge of the head-mistress. As the numbers increased, other houses were taken and placed under charge of senior mistresses; and as more and more girls were attracted from a distance, the boarding element began to predominate. With Miss Lumsden, one of the ‘Girton pioneers,’ as first head-mistress, and Miss Dove, another student of Hitchin days, as her successor, the school very quickly settled down into lines very closely resembling those of a boys’ public school. The boarding-houses became an integral part of the institution, the school-house being under the charge of the head-mistress, and the others under the senior assistants. In this way the staff of the school was strengthened by the encouragement thus offered to women of ability to remain in the school instead of seeking their promotion elsewhere. The boarding-houses are also valuable in ensuring regular attendance and proper home preparation, since the day-girls, being in a minority, cannot introduce those lax ideas of attendance which are in some places unfortunately the result of the much vaunted home influence.
The numbers in the school are limited to 200. The admission age is thirteen or fourteen, no girl can be admitted who has turned seventeen. All must pass an entrance examination, graduated according to age, but always including a certain amount of Arithmetic, English, Latin and French. A school of 200 girls, all between thirteen and nineteen, and all with a sufficient preparatory training, can genuinely concentrate its efforts on higher teaching. The classes become easier to group, and with a large staff which allows of careful subdividing, all the ordinary hindrances to progress are removed, and a school is enabled to work under the best possible conditions. It can, if it is desired, make a speciality of certain branches of study. At St. Andrews classics take an important place; of the present staff five have passed the Classical Tripos. Among the honours won by old pupils are first classes in Classical Moderations and Final Classical Schools at Oxford, and in the Classical Tripos at Cambridge. The school distinctly aims at a literary curriculum, with the higher certificate of the Joint Board to fix the standard, and Oxford or Cambridge as the goal for those girls whose education is to be continued.
St. Leonard’s School, as it has been called since it acquired the old buildings and beautiful grounds of the ancient St. Leonard’s College, is organised with a school-house and seven boarding-houses, each under the charge of a mistress. With all the girls under the control of the head-mistress it is possible to carry out the prefect system, and, by giving a good deal of responsibility to the Sixth Form, remove that element of excessive supervision which was often a harmful element in the old-fashioned boarding-school. Each house constitutes a small community, with its separate dining-room and study, where each of the elder girls has a small writing-table and bookshelf. Some rules prevail in all, e.g. that no work shall be done before breakfast or after 8.30 P.M. School hours are from 9 to 12.30 every day, with special subjects in the afternoon. After dinner about one and a half hours are given to games under charge of a special mistress. There is a playground of sixteen acres, which comprises cricket-field, golf-course, lawn and gravel tennis-courts, large hockey-courts and fives-courts, etc. The St. Leonard’s girls are renowned for their skill in games.
With a school thus organised the life of the girls is made easier. There is no conflict of aims; in term-time the school claims its due, in holidays the home. Whether this is theoretically the best plan is an academic rather than a practical question, but it is undoubtedly beneficial to the studies and health of the girls. A mistress who is intimately acquainted with the work of every Form can check overwork more effectually than the most anxious mother, who is incapable of judging from that school point of view which looms so large in the young girl’s mind. Loyalty and public spirit, developed by this joint life of small communities within a large one, are important factors in forming character, and the general atmosphere of alternate work and play without the excessive excitement of home gaieties and the distraction of domestic interests unquestionably facilitates study. Whether the gains to character really outweigh the advantages of the family life depends so entirely on the arrangements and atmosphere of each particular home, that it is impossible to give any general opinion. At any rate results seem to show that this class of school is one of the chief needs for girls at the present time. A good deal of attention had been drawn to St. Leonard’s School in England, and in spite of the distance many girls were in the habit of journeying northwards three times a year for the sake of sharing in its advantages. At last a number of educationalists decided to establish a school of this kind in England, and induced Miss Dove, who had now placed the Northern school on a thoroughly satisfactory basis, to organise a similar one in the South. The Education Company, Limited, was formed, with a council of which the Master of Trinity became president. It was fortunate enough to secure for its first school the beautiful house and grounds of Wycombe Abbey. Situated in lovely country, with thirty-six acres of its own, and the rest of the park stretched all about it, the old trees, the historic memories and dignified surroundings help to shed over the school some of that feeling of tradition and veneration for the past, which all girls’ institutions must of themselves lack for some time to come.
The school resembles St. Leonard’s in its organisation, with some slight differences. There are no day pupils and, as the Abbey is itself capable of accommodating a hundred girls, it is divided for school purposes into four divisions, technically known as ‘houses.’ Each house is in the special charge of its tutor, and has its own sitting-room and dormitories, and its table in the dining-room. The house-colour is carried out in the cubicles; cretonnes, bed-spreads, tiles, etc. being red, blue, green, or yellow, according to the special house in which the dormitory is situated. All this prettiness serves as an attractive background for hard work and healthy play. It is pleasant to find the modern school catering for all the sides of a girl’s nature.
It very soon became necessary to build, and with the help of the new houses two hundred can now be accommodated. Beyond this it is not proposed to go; but should the system prove as popular in England as in Scotland, it is probable that the Education Company might open more schools. The conditions of admission, entrance examination, etc. are the same as at St. Andrews. Physical exercise plays an important part, and about two hours every day are given up to games or country walks, which groups of girls are allowed to take together. Each term has its own special game; lacrosse is the favourite in the autumn, hockey in winter, and cricket in summer. The heavy work of the day is thus broken up into two parts, and Wycombe, unlike the majority of girls’ schools, does not rigidly divide these into morning classes, afternoon preparation. Lessons and study hours alternate during the day. This is an attempt to relieve the strain of the long morning, against which many voices are again being raised. Physical and manual training come in for a share of attention, two hours a day in the upper, and three in the lower school. Under these headings come drawing and painting, part-singing, practising, dancing, gymnastics, carpentry, gardening, and needlework. All these are taught by expert teachers, and are treated as an integral part of the general education. In the upper forms six hours a day are given to actual study, in the lower only five. As this includes preparation, and the day is so fully occupied that there is not much chance of stealing odd half hours for work, it will be interesting to see whether this short allowance, with the help of careful arrangement and healthful surroundings, will prove sufficient to prepare girls adequately for college. It is too soon to ask for results, but if this plan succeeds, a problem which engages much attention at present will have been greatly helped towards solution.
Another school that is doing useful work, as what our American cousins would call an ‘experiment station,’ is the one at Brighton now known as Roedean. It was founded in 1885, by the Misses Lawrence, with three distinct aims: (1) to give a due importance to physical education and outdoor games in every girl’s life; (2) to regulate the school discipline in such a way as to develop trustworthiness and a sense of responsibility in the pupils; (3) to give girls a sound and careful intellectual training. The order in which these are stated indicates the growing importance attached to physical training and public spirit, and explains the lines on which what might be called the reformed boarding-school is proceeding.
This Brighton school is just about to take a fresh departure. It has raised money by shares for a new building on a magnificent site between Brighton and Rottingdean. The new premises consist of a convenient school-house and four separate boarding-houses connected by covered passages with the central building. Something of college methods is to be brought into school by giving each girl a separate bedroom, while the eight seniors in each house are to have a study as well. Here they may give their Saturday tea-parties, entertain their friends, and learn to take the responsibility of their own little domain. The special characteristics of the school are the large amount of responsibility given to the girls and their success in games, of which they are not a little proud. The curriculum resembles that of a high school, with more scope for individual tuition, and most of the teachers are graduates. Wimbledon House School, as it was called before the change in site necessitated a change in name, was one of the pioneers in bringing about the newer view of girls’ education. These views are being widely adopted. The increased freedom, the more active life, the great stress laid on the corpus sanum as one means of developing the mens sana, are all part of the new order of things, and a recognition that the wider life led by the women of to-day needs its own special preparation.
A new school of a similar kind has been started at Aldeburgh, and is being carried on in temporary premises at Southwold on the East Coast. It is proposed to acquire a site here or in some other part of Suffolk, and raise money for building by means of a company. The plan is similar to the Brighton one: a school-house and boarding-houses under the charge of teachers, with plenty of freedom and individual responsibility for the girls. The daily hour and a half of outdoor exercise, the adoption of hand and eye training in the regular curriculum, and the medical inspection of the girls by a lady doctor, are among the more modern methods that distinguish it.