Bryanston School

Bryanston was founded in 1928 by a young schoolmaster from Australia named J. G. Jeffreys. He gained financial support for the school during a period of severe economic instability with financial backing from Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 9th Earl of Shaftesbury; he paid £35,000 for the Bryanston House and its {{convert|450|acre|km2}} of immediate grounds.

The school occupies a country house designed and built in 1889–1894 by Richard Norman Shaw and modelled on the chateau at Menars in the Loire valley. Shaw designed the house for Viscount Portman to replace an earlier one. The building and estate was the biggest in Dorset and the last of the grand stately homes to be built in England. The home had been occupied by the Portman family for 30 years at the time of its sale, but death duties made it impossible for the 4th Lord Portman to hold on to his family estate.{{cite book| editor-last=Holdsworth | editor-first=Angela | title=Bryanston Reflections: Et nova et vetera | location=London | publisher=Third Millennium Publishing | date=2005 | isbn=978-1-903942-38-3}}

There were seven teachers and 23 boys of various ages in the first term. Jeffreys innovated while respecting traditions, as reflected in his choice of school motto, Et Nova Et Vetera. His was the first English school to adopt the Dalton Plan, its combination of the new and the old being of particular appeal. The system was flexible enough to offer a combination of lessons in the classroom and time for assignment work in subject rooms, which gave the students the freedom to decide which pieces of academic work to focus their attention. Students are required to keep a daily record on a chart showing their use of working and leisure time, meeting with their tutors on a weekly basis to ensure effective monitoring of their progress.{{cite web| url=https://www.bryanston.co.uk/school-life/health-wellbeing/ | title=Health & Wellbeing | publisher=Bryanston School | location=UK | accessdate=3 November 2024 }}

The school opened on 24 January 1928 with 23 pupils and seven members of staff. It grew as a boys' school to some 450 pupils before admitting girls in 1972 – initially into the 6th form only. By 2004, the school had around 650 pupils and 80 teachers. In 2024, Bryanston has 819 pupils and a capacity of 911.{{cite web| url=https://www.get-information-schools.service.gov.uk/Establishments/Establishment/Details/113910 | title=Bryanston School | publisher=Gov.uk | location=UK | access-date=24 December 2024 }}

The Don Potter Art School opened in 1997.

Bryanston is a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference and the Eton Group. It has a reputation as a liberal and artistic school. The principles of the Dalton Plan are still in place today.

In 2005, the school was one of fifty of the country's leading independent schools that were found guilty of running an illegal price-fixing cartel.{{cite web|title=Independent schools: exchange of information on future fees – GOV.UK|url=https://www.gov.uk/cma-cases/independent-schools-exchange-of-information-on-future-fees|website=www.gov.uk|access-date=22 June 2017|language=en}}

File:Bryanston School Gate.JPG

File:Bryanston School the Main Hall 1742437 39de497b.jpg

In 2012, the new boathouse was opened to facilitate the growing rowing programme and to prevent risk to the boats from flooding. It was designed by ABL3 Architects and was shortlisted for a RIBA award.{{cite web| url=https://www.abl3architects.com/portfolio-items/bryanston-school-boat-house/ | title=Bryanston School Boat House| publisher=ABL3 Architects | location=UK | access-date=24 December 2024 }}

In 2014, the school opened a new music building, the Tom Wheare Music School, designed by Hopkins Architects and named after a headteacher of Bryanston. The 300-seat concert hall was named after conductor Sir Mark Elder, who is a former pupil.Diarmuid MacDonagh (14 September 2014) [http://www.dorsetecho.co.uk/news/localnews/dorchester/11481963.School_opens_new_state_of_the_art___8_5m_music_facility/ "School opens new state-of-the-art £8.5m music facility"], Dorset Echo. Retrieved 5 December 2015. The interior of the building won a 2015 Wood Award.{{cite journal| url=https://www.ribaj.com/products/wood-awards-2015-interiors | title=Wood Awards 2015: Interiors | journal=RIBA Journal | date=10 November 2015 }}

The 2023 results are{{Cite web |last=Bryan |date=2024-03-25 |title=Explore Bryanston School: Reviews, Rankings, Fees, And More |url=https://britannia-study.co.uk/boarding-schools/bryanston-school-review/ |access-date=2024-04-02 |website=Britannia UK |language=en-GB}}

• GCSE Results (2023): 38% achieved grades 9-7
• A Level Results (2023): 57% attained grades A*-B

• J. G. Jeffreys (1928–32)
• Thorold Coade (1932–59)
• Robson Fisher (1959–74)
• Rev. David Jones (1974–82)
• Bob Allan (acting head, 1982–83)
• Tom Wheare (1983–2005)
• Sarah Thomas (2005–2019) – first female head of Bryanston
• Mark Mortimer (2019–2021)Announced on the [https://www.bryanston.co.uk/news/?pid=3&nid=57&storyid=1075 school website]
• Richard Jones (2021–present)Announced on the [https://www.bryanston.co.uk/news/?pid=3&nid=57&storyid=1647 school website]

• David Briggs (1917–2020), classics (1946–1959)
• Don Potter (1902–2004), sculpture and pottery (1940–1984)

{{main|Old Bryanstonians}}

{{see also|Category:People educated at Bryanston School}}

Alumni of the school are known as Old Bryanstonians; there is an alumni organisation called the Bryanston Society. "The Society exists to further the cause of Bryanston in the broadest possible sense. It aims to bring together the whole Bryanston family through social and sporting events."{{cite web| url=http://www.bryanston.co.uk/podium/default.aspx?t=111303&rc=0 | title=Bryanston Society objectives | publisher=Bryanston SChool | location=UK }}{{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110718115853/http://www.bryanston.co.uk/podium/default.aspx?t=111303&rc=0 |date=18 July 2011 }}.

• The school estate has Europe's tallest London Plane tree (160 ft).{{Cn|date=April 2025}}
• Each year, the JACT Ancient Greek Summer School is held at Bryanston.{{cite web | url=https://startingtoteachlatindotorg.files.wordpress.com/2018/06/morwood-j-2013-the-jact-greek-summer-school.pdf | title= The JACT Greek Summer School |author= James Morwood | date=2013 | accessdate=14 July 2022}}
• The school hosts the annual Dorset Opera Festival, which combines amateur and professional performers. Operas are staged at the conclusion of a two-week summer school.{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/journalists/rupert-christiansen/5970998/Opera-singing-is-not-just-for-professionals.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150403014227/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/journalists/rupert-christiansen/5970998/Opera-singing-is-not-just-for-professionals.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=3 April 2015 |title=Opera singing is not just for professionals |last=Christiansen |first=Rupert |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph |date=4 August 2009 |access-date=12 July 2013 }}
• Research for her 2006 novel Wicked! led author Jilly Cooper to interview former pupils.{{Cite web |date=2016-07-07 |title=Jilly Cooper goes back to school - Telegraph |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160707105622/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1516944/Jilly-Cooper-goes-back-to-school.html |access-date=2025-04-16 |website=web.archive.org}}

{{Commons category|Bryanston School}}

• List of independent schools in the United Kingdom
• Canford School, a boarding school in Dorset
• R. Norman Shaw (1831–1912), architect of the main building
• The Coade Hall, a theatre at the school

{{reflist}}

• [http://www.alibris.com/search/search.cfm?qwork=856666 The Burning Bow], Thorold F. Coade. London: Allen & Unwin (1966). {{ISBN|0-04-370001-2}}.
• Bryanston Reflections: Et nova et vetera, Angela Holdsworth (editor). London: Third Millennium Publishing (2005). {{ISBN|1-903942-38-1}}.

{{Commons category|Bryanston School}}

• [http://www.bryanston.co.uk/ Bryanston School website]
• {{Webarchive |url=https://archive.today/20130421061052/http://www.schoolsguidebook.co.uk/schools/Bryanston_School.html |date=21 April 2013 |title=UK Schools Guide entry }}
• {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081202231555/http://www.isi.net/reports/2007/0170_07.htm |date=2 December 2008 |title=Independent Schools Inspectorate report, 2007 }}
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20050309223915/http://www.dorsetlife.co.uk/articles/ArticlesDetail.asp?ID=6 Dorset Life article on the history of the school building]
• [https://www.theguardian.com/uk_news/story/0,3604,968413,00.html Leading sculptors mark school's 75th birthday], The Guardian, 2 June 2003

{{Schools in Dorset}}

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Category:Houses completed in 1894

Category:Boarding schools in Dorset

Category:Educational institutions established in 1928

Category:Member schools of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference

Category:Private schools in Dorset

Category:International Baccalaureate schools in England

Category:Grade I listed buildings in Dorset

Category:Richard Norman Shaw buildings

Category:1928 establishments in England