Bucks &amp; Oxon

WHAT? WHERE?&nbsp;



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1000" height="667" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/04/1-6.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-159047" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/04/1-6.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/04/1-6-800x534.jpg 800w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/04/1-6-400x267.jpg 400w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" /></figure>



Well, this is different!&nbsp;<a href="https://www.stclares.ac.uk/">St Clare&#8217;s&nbsp;</a>is a school in North Oxford for 15-19 year olds, just 1.5km from the city centre, made up of a series of&nbsp;buildings in several adjacent/nearby streets, with a variety of grand red brick Victorian and more suburban Edwardian&nbsp;sites.



The school focuses on the International Baccaulaureate diploma (IB) and thumbing its nose at Brexiteers with its proudly internationalist approach to education &#8211; the original school, launched in 1953, grew out of a scheme to establish links between British and European students after the Second World War.



<figure class="wp-block-image alignnone size-full wp-image-90323"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1000" height="750" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/04/2-7.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-159049" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/04/2-7.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/04/2-7-800x600.jpg 800w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/04/2-7-400x300.jpg 400w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Boarding House</figcaption></figure>



The longest established IB World School in England &#8211; only 13 other schools in the world have taught IB longer &#8211; this co-ed school has around 300 students from over 45 nationalities. A whopping 85 per cent of its student intake is non-British, with a broad mix of nationalities but a careful approach to entry that ensures no one nationality stages a cultural &#8216;takeover&#8217;.



There’s currently a ‘Pre IB’ qualification, with a view to prepare them for the IB Diploma at this eclectic, intriguing and &#8211; according to its <a href="https://www.stclares.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/St-Clares-Oxford-ISI-Report-2019.pdf">2019 ISI report </a>– excellent school. St Clare’s also offers University Pathways, Gap Year and English language courses as well as short Spring and Summer programmes for juniors, teenagers and adults. The College also offers a range of teacher training courses including CELTA, DELTA, IB Teacher Workshops and bespoke courses on English language improvement and methodology, as well as summer and short language courses with activities and days out for juniors aged 9-15, teens 15-17 and adults, 18+.



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-vimeo wp-block-embed-vimeo wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<iframe loading="lazy" title="So this is St Clare&#039;s... (without subtitles)" src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/911614879?dnt=1&amp;app_id=122963" width="500" height="281" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; fullscreen; picture-in-picture; clipboard-write"></iframe>
</div></figure>



 FACILITIES



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1000" height="667" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/04/3-4.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-159059" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/04/3-4.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/04/3-4-800x534.jpg 800w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/04/3-4-400x267.jpg 400w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" /></figure>



Clearly a school that&#8217;s set up in a series of domestic city&nbsp;buildings is not about to roll call a host of sweeping facilities,&nbsp;but academically St Clare&#8217;s&nbsp;is well equipped, with an attractive&nbsp;£3.3m Science and Mathematics building (completed Sept 2014)&nbsp; providing three science labs and prep rooms and three large maths classrooms, and a very swanky glass and metal, angular £5.5 million art studio, with attached dorm block that looks out, Oxford quad style, onto a large square garden &#8211; it&#8217;s very lovely. There&#8217;s also the now obligatory onsite café, The Globe at 135.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1000" height="667" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/04/5-1.png" alt="" class="wp-image-159061" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/04/5-1.png 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/04/5-1-800x534.png 800w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/04/5-1-400x267.png 400w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" /></figure>



The large mansion house on Banbury Road is where the main admin offices are along with the newly renovated and extended dining room for the kids, but dotted around in the vicinity you&#8217;ll also find boarding houses, classrooms, a school hall and lovely library.



<figure class="wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped wp-block-gallery-1 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex">
<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1000" height="667" data-id="159060" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/04/4-6.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-159060" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/04/4-6.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/04/4-6-800x534.jpg 800w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/04/4-6-400x267.jpg 400w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" /></figure>
</figure>



Sports wise, students get free gym membership at&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nuffieldhealth.com/gyms/oxfordshire">the Oxfordshire Health and Racquets club</a>,&nbsp;footballers train at&nbsp;<a href="http://www.oxfordcityfc.co.uk/">Oxford City FC</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;the basketball, volleyball and badminton clubs uses&nbsp;<a href="https://www.fusion-lifestyle.com/centres/ferry-leisure-centre/">Ferry Sports Centre</a>.&nbsp;Interestingly the school&#8217;s most recent&nbsp;Independent Schools Inspectorate report (ISI) cites the&nbsp;excellent take up for sport at the school, part of a programme of&nbsp;Creativity, Activity and Service (CAS)&nbsp;programme (an integral part of the IB)&nbsp;whereby the students have to commit to one creativity, activity and service experience each term from a list of over 50 choices.



SCHOLARSHIPS



The maximum award is for full tuition fees (day pupils) or full tuition and residential fees, awarded on academic ability. Email the Admissions team (<a href="mailto:admissions@stclares.ac.uk">admissions@stclares.ac.uk</a>). The deadline for applications can be found on their <a href="https://stclares.ac.uk/our-courses/international-baccalaureate/scholarships/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label=" (opens in a new tab)">IB World School scholarships page</a>.



ACADEMIC RESULTS



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1000" height="667" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/04/6-4.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-159056" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/04/6-4.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/04/6-4-800x534.jpg 800w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/04/6-4-400x267.jpg 400w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" /></figure>



Impressive. If you’re not au fait with IB grades they run from 24 points for a pass to a maximum of 45 points (only 0.2 of students worldwide get this). Over the last three years at St Clare’s the average score is 36 points, roughly equivalent to A*, A, A at A-level combined with a top grade in the EPQ. Not bad, right?! Especially considering the global average sits at 31, putting St. Clare&#8217;s well ahead of the bunch, with 90% of students scoring above the world average. Additionally, over a third of students scored 38 or over (equivalent to at least A*, A, A at A-level), and every year there are students who achieve the maximum 45, putting them in the top 1% globally. Leavers secure places at top universities across the globe. These include (deep breath) London School of Economics, Imperial College London, The University of Edinburgh and Durham in the UK; Berkeley, Boston, McGill University and Uni of Toronto in the Americas, and RWTH Aachen, Utrecht and Bocconi University in Europe. Phewph.



<figure class="wp-block-image alignnone size-full wp-image-90370"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1000" height="667" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/04/7-4.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-159055" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/04/7-4.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/04/7-4-800x534.jpg 800w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/04/7-4-400x267.jpg 400w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" /></figure>



So they know what they’re doing here! Not surprising maybe given St Clare&#8217;s teaching creds – it’s the only IB teacher training school-based body in Europe, having already imparted its knowledge to Teddies and the European School in Culham.



HEAD TEACHER



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1000" height="667" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/04/8.png" alt="" class="wp-image-159054" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/04/8.png 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/04/8-800x534.png 800w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/04/8-400x267.png 400w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" /></figure>



Duncan Reith took up the mantle of Principal in September 2022, who has over twenty years in top spots at both UK and International schools under his belt. Prior to coming to St Clare&#8217;s, he was Headteacher of Charterhouse in Shenzhen, and Vice Principal of Shrewsbury in Guangzhou before that. His return to Oxford felt like a natural fit, as he read Classics at Exeter College Oxford, and his strong belief in a fully-rounded, holistic education meshes well with the St Clare&#8217;s ethos. 



BOARDING&nbsp;



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1000" height="667" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/04/9-1.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-159053" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/04/9-1.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/04/9-1-800x534.jpg 800w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/04/9-1-400x267.jpg 400w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" /></figure>



There are over 20 St Clare&#8217;s-owned residential houses for the wide variety of adult, school and holiday students who pass through the doors, but in terms of the teenagers, they typically live in groups of 16-18 in several houses down leafy side streets with common room, kitchen, with a House Parent in a separate apartment within each house.



<figure class="wp-block-image alignnone size-full wp-image-90326"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1000" height="667" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/04/10.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-159052" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/04/10.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/04/10-800x534.jpg 800w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/04/10-400x267.jpg 400w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" /></figure>



QUIRKS



It probably won&#8217;t surprise you in a school where kids&nbsp;are encouraged to work independently and use their free time as they like (off into Oxford as and when they fancy &#8211; the benefit of not having a central campus) that St Clare&#8217;s has no uniform&nbsp;and also a first name policy for teachers.



It&#8217;s the first school I&#8217;ve come across where there&#8217;s actively no prefect system either – they’ve replaced it with&nbsp;Student Counsel with a President, and 3 Vice Presidents. Each of the boarding houses also has a Student Counsel Rep so that’s around 21 counsellors in all. So there are leadership positions available but they feel more representative than authoratitive.



FEES



Day pupils annual fee £23,592; weekly and full-time boarders £49,310.  The IB course itself is less expensive than Teddies, and it&#8217;s worth knowing that the day fee includes all meals 7 days a week. 



 WORD ON THE GROUND



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1000" height="667" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/04/11.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-159051" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/04/11.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/04/11-800x534.jpg 800w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/04/11-400x267.jpg 400w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" /></figure>



Inclusive, outward-looking, friendly and&nbsp;ideal for pupils with a mature,&nbsp;independent&nbsp;outlook who want to challenge themselves (the IB is no easy option, just saying). There are high academic expectations put on the children so&nbsp;the idea that this international school is an easy option for rich Europeans to play at&nbsp;Brideshead Revisited&nbsp;is not the case. However, the University-lifestyle alongside a high level of pastoral care, is an ideal stepping stone to University. 



THE MUDDY VERDICT



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1000" height="667" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/04/12.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-159050" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/04/12.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/04/12-800x534.jpg 800w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/04/12-400x267.jpg 400w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" /></figure>



Good for:&nbsp;Parents and children looking for a different educational experience &#8211;&nbsp;more of a half-way house between school and university. It would suit the independent minded, maybe those who feel a bit stifled by, or at odds with more traditional schools,&nbsp;or those who don&#8217;t&nbsp;respond well to authority &#8211; the no uniform, first name ethos gives parity between teachers and pupils.



Not for:&nbsp;If&nbsp;your child is sport&nbsp;crazzzzzy&nbsp;this might not be the place for them just because of the small numbers and&nbsp;off-site facilities. You’ll either&nbsp;love or hate the international element, though concerns may be assuaged by knowing that actually the British contingent here is&nbsp;comparatively&nbsp;high (13% of the cohort and one of 40 nationalities) and all pupils have to speak English to each other.



Dare to disagree?&nbsp;Be my guest! St Clare’s is holding a IB World School Open Day on Saturday 21 September 2024. <a href="https://stclares.ac.uk/our-courses/international-baccalaureate/open-day/">Register here.</a> Let me know what you think, I’m all ears!



<a href="https://www.stclares.ac.uk/">St Clare&#8217;s</a>,&nbsp;139 Banbury Road, Oxford, OX2 7AL. Tel:&nbsp;01865 552031.

St Clare’s, Oxford

You may also like