Bedford Greenacre Independent School is a

co-educational Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to ...

private day school located in

Bedford Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population was 106,940. Bedford is the county town of Bedfordshire and seat of the Borough of Bedford local government district. Bedford was founded at a ford (crossin ...

Bedfordshire Bedfordshire (; abbreviated ''Beds'') is a Ceremonial County, ceremonial county in the East of England. It is bordered by Northamptonshire to the north, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Hertfordshire to the south and the south-east, and Buckin ...

, England. The school was formally created in May 2021 from a merger of Rushmoor School and St Andrew's School.

History

Rushmoor School

Rushmoor School was founded in the early 1910s and was originally a privately run school based in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. It educated children of the ages of 8–13. In 1918, the school moved from London to a site on Shakespeare Road in Bedford. In 1965, the owner announced her retirement and the closure of the school, however, a group of parents and friends persuaded her to allow them to take over the running of the school and thus, the school became 'Rushmoor School Ltd', a charitable trust administered by a

board of governors A board of directors is a governing body that supervises the activities of a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government agency. The powers, duties, and responsibilities of a board of directors are determined by government regulations ...

. The school then expanded considerably; it became partially co-educational, accepting children of the ages of 3–16.

St Andrew's School

St Andrews School was founded in 1896 as a school for the daughters of gentlemen. Located on Kimbolton Road in Bedford, before the federation and merger the school consisted of a nursery, reception class, junior school and senior school educating girls aged 3–16 and boys aged 3–9.

Federation and merger

In September 2013 Rushmoor School and St Andrew's School entered into a federation. Both schools retained their own identity and governing body, but shared resources and had one principal. In September 2016 both schools opened a combined

sixth form In the education systems of Barbados, England, Jamaica, Northern Ireland, Trinidad and Tobago, Wales, and some other Commonwealth countries, sixth form represents the final two years of secondary education, ages 16 to 18. Pupils typically prepa ...

. In early 2014, the schools released plans to move to a combined site on the edge of Bedford. The new site utilises the current sports field for development. The plans will see girls and boys educated on the same site in a

Diamond school Diamond school, diamond model, diamond shape and diamond structure are similar terms that apply to a type of independent school in the UK that combines both single-sex and coeducational teaching in the same organisation. Typically, the establishme ...

system. In May 2021 the two schools formally merged under the new name of 'Bedford Greenacre Independent School'. The merged school is expected to relocate to the new site in 2023. A combined nursery school will be retained on the former St Andrews School site on Kimbolton Road.

References

External links

Bedford Greenacre Independent School official website
{{authority control Private schools in the Borough of Bedford Schools in Bedford Diamond schools