Malvern St James School is an independent school in

Great Malvern Great Malvern is an area of the civil parish of Malvern, Worcestershire, Malvern, in the Malvern Hills District, Malvern Hills district, in the county of Worcestershire, England. It lies at the foot of the Malvern Hills, a designated Area of O ...

, Worcestershire, England. Founded in 1893 as Malvern Girls' College, it was renamed Malvern St James following a merger in 2006 with St James's School in

West Malvern West Malvern is a village and a civil parish on the west side of the north part of the Malvern Hills, on the western edge of Worcestershire, England. It has become effectively an outer suburb of Malvern and part of an urban area often called '' ...

. It continues to occupy the same campus as the former college, which includes as its main building the former Imperial Hotel, taken over for use as a school by Malvern Girls' College in 1919. The school comprises three sections: a Prep Department for pupils aged 3–11, a Senior School for pupils aged 11–16, and a

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 ...

for pupils aged 16–18.

History

Two schools

Malvern Girls' College was founded in 1893 by Miss Greenslade and Miss Poulton, and was first located in College Road. In 1919 they acquired the Imperial Hotel and in 1934, a major extension including an assembly hall was built. Further extensions included the Hatfield building in the 1960s, the Edinburgh Dome in 1977 and The Science Education Centre in 1998. St James's School was founded in the south of England by twin sisters

Alice Alice may refer to: * Alice (name), most often a feminine given name, but also used as a surname Literature * Alice (''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland''), a character in books by Lewis Carroll * ''Alice'' series, children's and teen books by ...

and Katrine Baird in 1896 and moved to the large mansion of

Lord Howard de Walden Baron Howard de Walden is a title in the Peerage of England. It was created by writ of summons in 1597 by Queen Elizabeth I for Admiral Lord Thomas Howard, a younger son of Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk, by his second wife, the Honour ...

in 1902. The Abbey School was founded in

Blockley Blockley is a village, Civil parish#United Kingdom, civil parish and Parish, ecclesiastical parish in the Cotswold (district), Cotswold district of Gloucestershire, England, about northwest of Moreton-in-Marsh. Until 1931 Blockley was an Encl ...

Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Shropshire, Staffordshire, and the West Midlands (county), West ...

and moved to Malvern in 1897 and to

Malvern Wells Malvern Wells is a village and civil parish south of Great Malvern in the Malvern Hills district of Worcestershire, England. The parish, once known as South Malvern, was formed in 1894 from parts of the civil parishes of Hanley Castle, Welland ...

in 1908. Two of the Baird sisters, Diana and Alice, ran the two houses for students: the Junior House, for the girls aged 11–14, and the Senior House for girls above 14. "The Miss Bairds were remarkable: five spinster sisters all over six feet tall and all to be Head Mistresses." The girls wore a simple uniform: white cotton shirts, navy blue coats and skirts. "There were no 'O Levels' or 'A Levels' in those days, and exams were not taken seriously. 'Citizenship' was what the Miss Bairds were most anxious to instill; it must be admitted with considerable success--many girls were later notable for lives of public service."

The merger

In 1979 the two schools merged on the West Malvern campus of St James and the resulting school was named St James's & The Abbey. In 1994 Lawnside School, which was founded around 1856, merged with St James's & The Abbey School and the school was renamed St James's. In 2006, Malvern Girls' College merged with St James's School and was refounded as Malvern St James (MSJ).

Teaching

In 2019, one of the set texts (''Spies'' by

Michael Frayn Michael Frayn, FRSL (; born 8 September 1933) is an English playwright and novelist. He is best known as the author of the farce ''Noises Off'' and the dramas ''Copenhagen (play), Copenhagen'' and ''Democracy (play), Democracy''. Frayn's novel ...

) had been removed from the sylabus of the English Literature International GCSE paper. The school apologised and launched an investigation into the incident, and applied to the exam board Cambridge International for 'special consideration' in order that the mistake would not unfairly impact any grades. Malvern St James received the highest rating of 'Excellent' in the

independent schools Inspectorate The Independent Schools Inspectorate (ISI) is approved by the Secretary of State for Education – under section 106 of the Education and Skills Act 2008 – to inspect private schools in England. These schools are members of associations, whi ...

Educational Quality Inspection, published in May 2017.ISI
. Retrieved 12 May 2017

Structure and academic results

The school is divided into four areas MSJ Pre-Prep (Reception to Year 2), MSJ Prep (Year 3 to Year 6), MSJ Seniors (Year 7 to Year 11) and MSJ Sixth Form (Year 12 & Year 13). A-level results 2024: Students achieved 40% of grades at A*-A. GCSE results 2024: 80% of the entries were graded 9-6 A-level results 2023: Students achieved 31% of grades at A*-A. GCSE results 2023: 60% of the entries were graded 9-7. A-level results 2021: Students achieved 43% of grades at A*, 75% at A*-A, 90% at A*-B and 98% at A*-C. GCSE results 2021: 32% of the entries were graded 9; 54% 9-8; and 74% 9-7. A-level results 2020: Students achieved 31% of grades at A*, 67% at A*-A, 87% at A*-B and 97% at A*-C. GCSE results 2020: 57% of entries scored a 9-8 or A* grades; 77% of entries scored 9-7/A*-A grades and 99.5% of entries scored 9-4 or A*-C. 41% of girls gained a clean sweep in grades 9-7 or A*-A. A-level results 2019: 44% of grades were at A* and A, and more than one in six students achieved a clean sweep of A* and A grades. GCSE results 2019: 38% of entries scored a 9-8 or A* grades; and 55% of entries scored 9-7/A*-A grades.

Boarding houses

The school offers full, weekly or flexi boarding. All students whether they are boarders or day students are a part of the boarding community. There are four boarding houses each dedicated to caring for a specific age group: Benhams, Austen, Poulton and Greenslade.

Architecture

The Imperial Hotel

Following the collapse of the spa industry, many of the hotels were acquired for use as private boarding schools, and education became the basis of Malvern's economy; the Imperial Hotel was purchased by the school in 1919. The former hotel is directly opposite

Great Malvern railway station Great Malvern railway station is one of two stations serving the town of Malvern, Worcestershire, Malvern, Worcestershire, England (the other being Malvern Link railway station, Malvern Link station) on the Hereford to Worcester section of the ...

, with its dedicated (now derelict) tunnel to the basement of the building, which is clearly visible from both platforms of the station. The red brick and stone Imperial Hotel, which had been the largest in Malvern during the town's heyday as a spa in the second half of the 19th century, is still one of the largest buildings in Malvern and was built in 1860 by the architect E. W. Elmslie. He also designed the Great Malvern railway station, the Council House and The Grove in Avenue Road in 1867, originally to be his private residence, which in 1927 became part of the Lawnside School. The Imperial was the first hotel to be lit by incandescent gas. It was equipped with all types of baths and brine was brought specially by rail from Droitwich. In 1934 the building was extended with the addition of the York Hall, officially opened by

Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon (4 August 1900 – 30 March 2002) was Queen of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 to 6 February 1952 as the wife of King George VI. She was al ...

The Edinburgh Dome

The school campus has a listed sports hall – The Edinburgh Dome, so named as it was unveiled by the

Duke of Edinburgh Duke of Edinburgh, named after the capital city of Scotland, Edinburgh, is a substantive title that has been created four times since 1726 for members of the British royal family. It does not include any territorial landholdings and does not pr ...

. It consists of a round, green, balloon-shaped building, containing squash courts, a gym area and a games area, surrounded by a moat. Based on an innovative roof construction by Dante Bini, the

Binishell Binishells are reinforced concrete thin-shell structures that are lifted and shaped by air pressure. The original technology was invented in the 1960s by Dante Bini, who built 1,600 of them in 23 countries. The original Binishell method need ...

(or Parashell), it was built in 1977 by architect Michael Godwin and consultant engineer John Faber. It was opened in 1978. On the advice of

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, a battlefield, medieval castles, Roman forts, historic industrial sites, Lis ...

it has been designated a

Grade II listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...

Fees

As of the 2023-24 academic year, fees at the school range from £2,915 to £15,410 per term.

Alumnae

Malvern St James Girls' School

* Hon. Beryl Cozens Hardy OBE (1911-2011) first British woman to chair the committee of the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts from 1972-1975 * Marion Greeves, MBE (1894-1979) the first woman to be elected to the Senate of Northern Ireland * Jennifer Kirby, television and stage actress * Iskra Lawrence, model, activist, and one of the

BBC's 100 Women ''100 Women'' is a BBC multi-format series established in 2013. The annual series examines the role of women in the 21st century and has included events in London and Mexico. Announcement of the list is the start of an international "BBC's wome ...

* Catrina Leung, television actress, singer-songwriter and model

Malvern Girls' College

Mary Hayley Bell Mary Hayley Bell, Lady Mills (22 January 1911 – 1 December 2005) was an English actress and writer, married for 64 years to actor Sir John Mills. Her novel '' Whistle Down the Wind'' was adapted as a film, starring her teenaged daughter, ...

(1911 – 2005), playwright and author of '' Whistle Down the Wind'' *

Barbara Cartland Dame Mary Barbara Hamilton Cartland (9 July 1901 – 21 May 2000) was an English writer who published both contemporary and historical romance novels, the latter set primarily during the Victorian or Edwardian period. Cartland is one of the ...

(1901 – 2000), novelist *

Jane Davidson Jane Davidson (born 19 March 1957) is a Welsh former Labour politician, the former Assembly Member for Pontypridd, and served as minister for environment, sustainability and housing in the Welsh Government. She also previously served as the ...

, minister for environment and sustainability in Wales from 2007 to 2011 *

Melanie Dawes Dame Melanie Henrietta Dawes (born 9 March 1966) is a British economist and administrator. In February 2020 she was appointed Chief Executive of Ofcom. She was previously the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Loca ...

, economist and civil servant *

Imogen Edwards-Jones Imogen Edwards-Jones (born June 1968, in Birmingham), is a British writer, author and journalist, who blogs for doyoutravel.com and Get the Gloss. Biography Edwards-Jones was educated at Malvern Girls' College, a boarding independent school in ...

, author of 'Hotel Babylon' *

Dorothy Fernando Dorothy Fernando (; 18 September 1907 – 1981) was a Sri Lankan painter. Early life Dorothy Dias was born in Panadura. She grew up in Colombo with her conservative parents. She studied at Bishop's College in Colombo and Malvern Girls Colleg ...

(1907 – 1981), Sri Lankan painter *

Manya Harari Manya Harari (née Manya Benenson) (8 April 1905 – 24 September 1969)P. J. V. Rolo"Harari , Manya (1905–1969)" ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, January 2011. was a British translator of ...

(1905 – 1969),P. J. V. Rolo
"Harari, Manya (1905–1969)"
''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, January 2011. Russian born British translator of

Russian literature Russian literature refers to the literature of Russia, its Russian diaspora, émigrés, and to Russian language, Russian-language literature. Major contributors to Russian literature, as well as English for instance, are authors of different e ...

and the co-founder of

Harvill Press Harvill Secker is a British publishing company formed in 2005 from the merger of Secker & Warburg and the Harvill Press. History Secker & Warburg Secker & Warburg was formed in 1935 from a takeover of Martin Secker, which was in receivership, ...

Peggy Jay Margaret Christian Jay, Baroness Jay ( Garnett; 4 January 1913 – 21 January 2008) was an English Labour member of London County Council and the Greater London Council between 1934, when she was still in her twenties, and 1967. She then chaired ...

(1913 – 2008), politician and campaigner, attended briefly *

Anna Kavan Anna Kavan (born Helen Emily Woods; 10 April 1901 – 5 December 1968) was a British novelist, short story writer and painter. Originally publishing under her first married name, Helen Ferguson, she adopted the name Anna Kavan in 1939 as both ...

(1901 – 1968), novelist, author and painter *

Dorothy King Dorothy Louise Victoria Lobel King (born 1975) is an American author who lives and works in England. Childhood and education King was born and raised in London where her American father, James King, ran a branch of Oppenheimer & Co. She spent ...

, archaeologist and author * Elizabeth Lane (1905 – 1988), first female high court judge *

Caroline Lucas Caroline Patricia Lucas (born 9 December 1960) is a British politician who was the leader of the Green Party of England and Wales from 2003 to 2006, 2007 to 2012, and 2016 to 2018. She was Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parli ...

, MP, leader of the Green Party 2008–2010 * Frances Lynn, English journalist * Sara Murray, British entrepreneur and businesswoman * Donna Ong, Singapore-based artist * Joanna Van Gyseghem, actress * Tania Long (1913 – 1998), German-born Canadian/American WWII journalist

Lawnside

Phyllida Lloyd Phyllida Christian Lloyd, (born 17 June 1957) is an English film and theatre director and producer. Her theatre work includes directing productions at the Royal Court Theatre and Royal National Theatre, and opera director for Opera North and ...

, Director of " Mamma Mia"

St James’s, West Malvern

Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester (born Lady Alice Christabel Montagu Douglas Scott; 25 December 1901 – 29 October 2004) was a member of the British royal family. She was the wife of Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester, the third son of King ...

(1901-2004) * Penelope Lyttelton, Viscountess Cobham, businesswoman * Dame Clara Furse, Chief Executive (retired) of the London Stock Exchange * Penelope Leach, childcare expert

The Abbey School

* Professor Ursula Martin, computer scientist

Notable staff

* Rear Admiral Rodney Sturdee, bursar of Malvern Girls' College, 1972–1985Rear Admiral Rodney Sturdee: Flag Officer Gibraltar 1969 72
(obituary) in

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

, 5 November 2009, accessed 17 April 2020

References

External links

Malvern St James official website
*
Independent Schools Inspectorate (ISI)Malvern St James Girls' School
profile at

The Good Schools Guide ''The Good Schools Guide'' is a guide to British schools, both state and private. The guide's contributors are predominantly parents, but include researchers and former headteachers. It uses a conversational tone. Selection of schools is made ...