A 91 year heritage of inspirational and courageous women is at the heart of all that is offered at Rye St Antony in Oxford.
In a post-Spice Girl age where equality and the glass ceiling still exist in some workplaces, the message of “girl power” has continued to thrive at Rye. And what better role model for our pupils than the two founders of the school, Elizabeth Rendall and Ivy King, who made the decision to set up their own school in 1930?
They wanted a school which focused on nurturing the individual talents of its pupils, and providing inspiration, care and opportunity so that every child could be the very best version of themselves.
This tradition of “girl power”, leadership, and endless opportunity remains true throughout school today. Our youngest Prep School Captains, for example, make decisions about food, charities, and school events. And further up the school, our Student Leadership Team members chair the School Council, lead a team of Anti-Bullying Ambassadors and have led the student body through its post-Covid reconnection activities. There’s a role for everyone, and everyone has a place and a voice.
Elizabeth Rendall and Ivy King’s decision to set up their own Lay-Catholic school without any religious order says something about their confidence in their belief and their vision for the school.
“This tradition of ‘girl power’, leadership, and endless opportunity remains true throughout school.”
This confidence remains today, and the school continues to grow and evolve. Throughout this 91 year journey, what has never changed is the excellent sense of the individual child at the centre of the school. Every child is celebrated and welcomed for their own individual contributions to the community.
Whether this is a passion for computers and an ambition to explore ethical hacking, an interest in international development and charity work or a love of the theatre and drama, our alumnae continue to tell the story to our current community of achievement without barriers.
Success at Rye St Antony is individual to each child but is open and attainable by all. It could be leading the U15 Netball team to its 20-1 triumph against the neighbouring school’s A team, taking a lead in the Model United Nations Conference and winning best delegate for the Environment and Health Committee or representing the School at Cop-26 and making a stand for climate change.
Or it could be winning a prize in the Oxford Art Competition, or being recognised for charitable efforts and excellent work throughout school. While to the outside world, success is merely a list of grades on a league table published each August post GCSE and A-level results, at Rye we celebrate the achievements of all at each step of the journey.
Excellent academic results come through not only hard work but also a sense of purpose that we all find in our lives. For our pupils, this sense of purpose comes through the commitment to the school community, a space where every child can find what it is that drives them, and be inspired to be courageous and take on a new challenge.
Our Prep School Captains took to this next level this year as they entered an inter-school debating challenge arguing the dangers of vegetarianism. Preparing their debate with a list of impressive and quite astounding facts, their research gave them confidence in their argument and courage of their convictions as they presented their winning debate. An impressive feat for their first competition, but we all knew that they were a determined and an unstoppable force.
“Success is not just about achieving a title or a prize, it’s about making a difference.”
While they are buoyed by their own success in this debating competition, the quest is not over. In real Rye style, it is a case of great we won, but what’s next? What can we do now? Where can we make a difference? And it is this that is the real Rye spirit. Success is not just about achieving a title or a prize, it’s about making a difference. A difference to your life but more importantly the lives of those around you.
All pupils at Rye know about making a difference, and how coming together and working as a team brings about the biggest opportunity. Over the last five years, pupils at Rye have pushed the barriers when it comes to charitable work.
In 2017, pupils at school came together to raise £10,000 in one day for a local children’s hospice. Many would not take this achievement in their stride. But at Rye this triumph led to the school taking fundraising to a whole new level in 2019 when it set its goal of raising £15,000 in one day for the Royal Brompton and Harefield Hospitals Charity to purchase lifesaving equipment for those in need of an organ transplant.
“Girl power in 2022? It has been overtaken by the Rye factor all the way.”
Fundraising in the local community, acts of giving and charity work, voluntary work, as well as a 15 mile walk in one day, led to an inspiring total of £30,000 raised. An astonishing achievement made greater still by knowing that our school has saved the life of someone in need.
All this goes to prove that irrespective of external factors, our pupils achieve, and achieve highly. Success is what you want it to be, and while the founders of Rye continue to inspire and remind us of a world of opportunities that are there for the taking, our pupils are taking their own lead. A lead in school, in the wider community and making a stand for a brighter future to come. Girl power in 2022? It has been overtaken by the Rye factor all the way.
