Downe House
- web site: www.downehouse.co.uk
- telephone: +44 (0)1635 200286
This website is best viewed by CSS 2 compliant browsers, please wait a moment whilst the page graphics load. If you continue to see this message after a few seconds please contact us
Caroline Long and Deputy Registrar, Karl Simpson, deal with all the main admission enquiries in consultation with the Headmistress.
Their normal office working hours are:
Monday - Friday 08:30 - 17:00 throughout the year
There is no one way to choose the right school for your daughter. Each case will be slightly different and of course each girl has different needs. However, below is a suggested route.
Please contact the School for a prospectus. Any member of the administrative staff will be able to deal with this if the Registrar is not available. It helps us to know your daughter's date of birth and anticipated stage of entry - 11+, 12+, 13+ or 16+, for example. This enables us to send you any additional appropriate material.
Telephone the Registry to book an appointment to visit. Visits can be arranged during the week and on Saturday mornings. All are normal working days and so you have the opportunity of seeing the School at work. You will meet and spend time with the Headmistress, have a guided tour with a member of the house or teaching staff and have an opportunity to talk to some girls.
If you have not already registered your daughter, please do so as soon as possible after the visit. All further information will then be sent to you automatically about assessment days and the Common Entrance Procedure for example.
Some parents like to bring their daughter to look around the School with them; some like to have the opportunity to look first and then come a second time with their daughters. Each term there is one prospective parents' morning on a Saturday. On this occasion girls will give the tours after a short presentation
Your daughter will be invited to come to the School for an assessment day in the October prior to the year of entry. She will spend the day at the School, getting to know her potential peers, becoming more familiar with the environment and it is also an opportunity for us to get to know her. We will give you feedback from the visit.
The entrance and scholarship examinations take place in the Michaelmas and Lent terms prior to the year of entry. The Registrar will give you further details.
11+, 12+ and 13+
All scholarship examinations for academic awards take place in January. Music scholarships are usually in February. Art scholarship examinations take place in May or June. Common Entrance Examinations are set by the ISEB (Independent Schools' Examination Board). There is one sitting for 11 + in January; two for 13 + in the Spring and Summer terms. If your daughter is at a Preparatory School preparing for Summer Common Entrance that is not a problem. 12+ entry is via our own Downe House Examination which takes place in February.
After the Common Entrance, Entrance Examinations for the Sixth Form and Scholarship examinations, places are offered and accepted.
Your daughter will be invited with you to join us for the day in the Summer term prior to entry. This gives her the opportunity to get to know new friends and staff and you an opportunity to meet staff and other parents.
The competition is open to all students in Year 12 and essay titles are set by Corpus Christi. Poppy will be attending the Prize Giving on 3 July.
Annie entered her design for her AS Level Product Design Resistant Materials coursework and has been selected as one of the 20 finalists. She will take her project and portfolio to the Finals, which will be held at Dulwich College in London on 20 June 2008.
Dan Cruikshank - 'Adventures in Architecture'
Dan is a leading expert on architecture and historic buildings and a regular presenter on the BBC. He is best known for his popular series Britain's Best Buildings and Around The World in 80 Treasures; and for his appearances in Under Fire and What The Industrial Revolution Did For Us.
Sunday, 10 August 2008
Performances at 11am and 6pm at 'The Dell', the outdoor performance space in the RSC Centenary Gardens, bordered by the river and Holy Trinity Church, Stratford-upon-Avon.
Bring a picnic, all welcome!
2nd - 4th May in the Performing Arts Centre
‘Times' writer Mary Ann Sieghart gives Summer Term Medley Lecture
Newbury's MP, Richard Benyon, visited Downe House on 25th April speak to thePolitics Society about his work in the House of Commons and the constituency.
Congratulations to Emma Powell (U5) who was selected for NYT's highly acclaimed acting course.
On Saturday 15th and Sunday 16th March, Downe House hosted a charity fashion show. The events were organised by Rosie Fortescue, Georgiana Haig and Celia Thursfield, in aid of Teenage Cancer Trust, raising a total of just over £5,500.
Gillian Clarke, renowned poet, who has written poetry and prose for children and adults, visited Downe House on Sunday, 16 March. Her poetry reading began with her first publsihed poem 'The Sundial' and the audience were immediately impressed by her passionate and erudite ideas......
Diane Louise Jordan, businesswoman and one of the most popular presenters of BBC One's Songs of Praise, gave a talk and answered questions about how her faith influences the way she conducts her own business life and on matters relating to business ethics and corporate social responsibility more generally.
If you missed House Drama, or would like to see your daughter's performance again, a professional Double DVD recording by Kingsbridge AV Limited of all five productions will be available to order at a cost of £22.50 each.
Click here to find out how to order
This Trust was established in November 2006 as part of the agreed resolution of the OFT's recent investigation.
The objects of the Trust are to:
There are three criteria for eligibility:
For further details go to <Joining Downe> and click on <Scholarships>