The Oratory School

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The Oratory School
File:Oratory.png
Location
Map
Woodcote
,
Oxfordshire
,
RG8 0PJ

England
Information
TypePublic school
MottoCor ad Cor Loquitur
Religious affiliation(s)Roman Catholic
Established1859
FounderCardinal Newman
Local authorityOxfordshire County Council
PresidentRight Hon Lord Judge the Lord Chief Justice
Chairman of the GovernorsM H R Hasslacher
HeadmasterClive Dytor MC MA (Cantab) MA (Oxon)
Age13 to 18
Enrollmentgender = All boys
HousesSt John, FitzAlan, Faber, St Philip, Norris
Colour(s)Gold and Black
Former pupilsOld Oratorians
Websitehttp://www.oratory.co.uk/
For similarly named schools in the United Kingdom and the United States, see Oratory School.

The Oratory School is the only all-boys, Catholic, boarding & day school for senior boys public school in Great Britain. It has approximately 420 pupils and is located in Woodcote, Oxfordshire near Reading, United Kingdom.

History

The Oratory School was founded under the supervision of John Henry, later Cardinal Newman, in 1859, and the first boys arrived before work began on the first day of May in that year, "Sunday 1 May New School began." [1] The purpose was to provide a Catholic alternative to Eton particularly for the sons of converts from Anglicanism who considered existing Catholic schools culturally and socially inferior.[2] The idea of founding a school had been in Newman's mind for some time before that and education of the young was an abiding interest. In the early 1850s he had been invited by the Irish Catholic bishops to establish a Catholic university in Dublin, but it did not prove a success, though he was able to formulate the principles published as The Idea of a University. When the Irish project came to an end, he was approached by a group of Catholic laymen, principally converts to Roman Catholicism from the Oxford Movement, to set up a Catholic boarding school for boys run on English public school lines, rather than the monastically based Catholic schools that already existed. The original school was opened next to the house of the Oratory Fathers in Edgbaston, Birmingham.


The Oratory School moved from Edgbaston to Caversham Park, Caversham and, in 1942 (when Caversham Park was requisitioned to become a BBC listening station -now BBC Monitoring), after a short sojourn in exile at Downside, finally removed to its present location at Woodcote Estate, Oxfordshire. The Fathers of the Birmingham Oratory handed over control of the school to a Governing Body in 1931, but links with the Birmingham, London and Oxford Oratories remain strong.

The school today

The current headmaster is Clive Dytor (like Newman a convert and former Church of England clergyman), a veteran of The Falklands War who was awarded the Military Cross for his actions during the conflict, and an MA of both Oxford and Cambridge Universities.

The school roll of around 420 pupils includes both boarders and day-boys. The school has four senior (13-18) houses and one junior (11-13) house. The senior houses are: Faber, (house colour is yellow), FitzAlan (black), Norris (green) and St John (red). The junior house is known as St Philip (sky and navy blue). A major programme of rebuilding and upgrading is under way. Two new boarding houses have been built and the remaining two have been refurbished. The Art Faculty has been extended with new design studios, printing and ceramic areas. A new Maths and English Department have been finished and more academic changes are underway. All three sciences are taught separately. Languages include French, Spanish, Italian, Classical Languages and optional Mandarin in the 6th Form.

The school day runs from morning roll call and prayers at 08:25 to the end of prep classes at 19:00.

The CCF parades on Thursday afternoons. (In recent years several pupils have distinguished themselves as members of the CCF and gone on to the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst.)Old Oratorians are now serving in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Music & Drama

Activities include the Schola Cantorum (chapel choir), orchestra, chamber orchestra, jazz band, big band, many specialist vocal and instrumental ensembles, and the boys’ own rock groups. The Schola Cantorum sings weekly Vespers and Benediction, Mass on Holy Days and some Sundays during the year, and one or two annual concerts. Recent major works performed include Mozart: Requiem, Bernstein: Chichester Psalms and Janacek: Octenas. A smaller group of Cantors leads the singing at the other Sunday Masses. There is frequent collaboration with the Choristers of the Oratory Preparatory School. The instrumental groups typically give two major performances each year. Groups are specially formed to perform musicals and operetta working in conjunction with the Drama Department. A full and challenging A Level & GCSE Drama syllabus is offered.

Sporting fixtures are played in a wide range of sports against schools and colleges such as Radley College, Eton College, Harrow School, Millfield and City of London Freemen's School. The school has a Sports Centre with full facilities including squash courts, indoor pool and Real Tennis Court. It is one of only three schools in the country to have its own RT Court and hosted the Real Tennis World Championships in 2006. There is a nine-hole golf course, indoor shooting range, (the School is one of the top shooting schools in the country) as well as grass tennis courts, rugby and football pitches. The Oratory School won the 'Independent School of the Year Sports Award' at the Daily Telegraph & Norwich Union 2008 School Sport Matters Awards. Major sports include:

Cricket

The School has a great cricket tradition with regular fixtures against Eton, Magdalen College School, Stowe. Also clubs such as the MCC and the Berkshire Gentlemen. There is a tour to Barbados in December. The School has strong links with Barbados. The Oratory was one of the few schools to be allowed to play at Lords from 1926-1968 against Beaumont until 1966 and for the last two years against Downside. Old Oratorians Benny Howell plays for Hampshire & Berkshire CC and Daniel Housego plays for Henley and Middlesex CC.

Rugby football

Over the last decade the school has established itself as one of the better rugby playing schools in the country, and is now a match for anybody on its day. Master in Charge of Rugby Football is Tom Hennessy (former Munster and London Irish prop).

The first time in the schools history that the First XV were unbeaten in the then 126 years of history, was the 1985 -1986 season, where the team won all 14 matches including , Eton, Shiplake and the final match against London Oratory. This event was recorded in the Times Newspaper, The Telegraph and the team was awarded Team of the Month in Rugby World. Master in Charge of First XV was Paul Keddie, Captain and tight head prop was Stuart Pike who went on to play for London Irish along with Ted Stevens (Scrumhalf) (and Oxford University), Greg ("Olly)- Flanker, John Hollands (Loose Head Prop) and Paul Jevons - Full Back (and Oxford University)

Perhaps the two most famous pupils of the school to emerge onto the rugby scene in the past 5 years are Ayoola Erinle (Leicester Tigers and England) and Andy Vilk (Sale Sharks and Captain England 7's). A worthy mention must also go to Mark Bruce who plays for Buccaneers in Ireland and has represented the Irish 7's team. Daniel Cipriani attended the school from aged 11-13 before continuing his secondary education at Whitgift School.

Real tennis

The Oratory is one of only three schools in the United Kingdom to possess a real tennis court (the others being Canford and Radley) and enjoys considerable success in this ever increasingly popular sport, hosting numerous championships and international tournaments. The court is home to the Oratory Tennis Club, a club primarily made up of paying members of the public, but also of boys from the school. Every boy in the School has a chance to experience the game. The School has produced two national players in Richard Greenland and Paul Knox.

It was the first location in the United Kingdom to construct a Real Tennis court for 80 years, finishing the building in 1990. Over recent years the UK Professional Singles Tournament has been held at the court, and in April 2006 the World Championships were held there in which world no. 1 Rob Fahey (Australia) beat USA player Tim Chisholm.[3].

At present Ross Brown and Mark Eadle run the Real Tennis club for the boys, assisted by Thomas Phipps who also runs the squash.

Shooting

The Oratory School Shooting Team enjoys frequent success both at CADSAM (Cadet Skill At Arms Meeting) and at the NRA Meeting at Bisley where they maintain their title of Holders of the Schools' Aggregate, The Cottesloe Vase & 4th Division Skill At Arms Champions. NRA[4]. The School has produced representatives shooting for the GB U19 & U25 Rifle Teams. Currently pupils shooting for GB in the Athelings tour to Canada and to Jersey.[citation needed].

Rowing

The School has a boathouse on the Thames near Hardwick House and has had some recent success on the rowing front; winning the Child-Beale cup for 1st VIIIs at the National Schools regatta in Nottingham in 2006. The crew were presented with the cup by Sir Matthew Pinsent. In 2008 a senior rower gained selection for the GB Coupe de la Jeunesse team winning a gold and bronze medal in Cork. The club also participates in the annual Henley Royal Regatta racing in the Princess Elizabeth Challenge Cup. Only two other schools besides The Oratory attained double representation at Henley in 2008 - Eton and Shrewsbury.

Art studies

The school's Art Department is, according to the Good Schools Guide 2006/7, the Best Overall for Art & Design at A Level and the Best Results at GCSE for Art & Design in 2007. As a result of the academic success gained over the last 20 years, combined with recent awards from the 'Good Schools Guide', the Art Department has been awarded Foundation Course Status. At the end of the course students can be awarded a Diploma in Foundation Studies (Art & Design) or in fine art – Edexcel in parallel with their A2 courses. This award is usually only granted by universities and recognised art colleges.

Celebrated former pupils and masters

Former masters

Former pupils (Old Oratorians)

Terminology and slang

  • Beating: Boys weren't "caned" but "beaten". Often a whole class would be beaten or a whole dormitory as punishment for launching one of the occasional raids on another dormitory.
  • Blossom’s: A small tuck shop cum general store run by Mrs Cox in the late 1950s and 1960s. On the lane from the OS to the village of Checkendon. Pupils used to get their sweets there and older pupils used to retire to the back room to play pontoon, smoke, drink Coca-Cola and eat crisps. In the 70's, Brats, furnished with cash and a chit signed by a prefect, were frequently dispatched to "Ma Bloss" to purchase cigarettes. The building is now a private residence.
  • Brat: A second-year student at the main school.
  • Bratting: The term 'fagging' wasn't used at The Oratory; 'bratting' was used instead. All second-year boys were considered brats, and each prefect had his brat who would undertake menial tasks. Bratting was abandoned at the Oratory in 1991 more or less at the same time that the Children's Act passed into law. Since 1991 the term 'brat' to describe lower school boys has diminished in use. In may be worth noting, that being a particular person's brat was considered equivalent to being given an orderly. As it may take up far more of the brat's time than an orderly (making tea at any hour or running errands), it was not uncommon for the prefect or master in question to pay the brat at the end of term, for services rendered.
  • Everest: Situated on the top floor at the far end of the Fitzalan wing, conveniently for those with a day study on the top floor, this was one of the more celebrated lavatories where anything up to six boys might gather to share one cigarette. Smoking was banned for all except school prefects who could smoke in the head boy's study, where they were occasionally joined by non-prefects for a, for them, semi-legal fag.
  • Exlade Street: A disused road that runs through the woods by the entrance to the school. The road became redundant when the new main road was built. Exlade Street also refers to the remaining part of the old road, which runs past the Highwayman Pub, in parallel to the new main road. Originally, the pillars marking the entrance to the school drive were located further down the hill on Exlade Street. With the construction of the new main road, the drive was reduced in length by 250 yards and new pillars were erected at the new entrance. In 2000 the original pillars (crumbling away in the woods by Exlade Street) were moved to their new position at the very top of the school drive as a memorial to the first pupils when the school re-opened at Woodcote.
  • Gating: Getting six quarter-of-an-hours in a week would result in "gating". A gated boy could not leave the school grounds for a week and in his free time in that week had to report to the duty master/prefect every quarter of an hour.
  • Head Masters: A detention held in the Head Masters office on a Saturday evening
  • Orderly: The name given to chores, normally done first thing in the morning, before 8.30 roll call. Examples of one's orderly might be to clear rubbish from the 'prefects' path', or 'the back drive', or to be a brat for a particular master or prefect. Most Orderlies would take up about fifteen minutes of your time.

- *Pillock: Popular term of abuse for those e.g. highhanded sorts who remove perfectly good, interesting and informative additions to this entry for the OS which help to give an insight into the school and its ethos, and furthermore do so anonymously i.e. can't be bothered to identify themselves publicly with such baffling behaviour. There is a suspicion that they did not even attend the OS.

  • Prep: This is what is more commonly known as "homework". The school day lasted from 9am until lunch at 1pm and then (on Monday and Thursdays) from 3.15pm until 4pm tea and then until 7pm, (on Tuesdays and Fridays) from after 4pm tea until 7pm, and on Wednesdays from 5.40pm until 7pm. Classes were also held until 7pm (when it was time for supper), but in those periods when there were no classes, especially on Wednesday afternoons, boys did prep. (NB There were also classes on Saturday mornings). In addition, there was a prep period before breakfast from 7.20am until 8am, although boys could also attend early-morning Mass at this time.
  • Quarter of an hour: This was the standard punishment for a variety of what were regarded as offences. Examples of such offences include being incorrectly dressed, wearing one's jacket undone if one did not have the privilege of wearing it undone, using a passageway or corridor which one was not privileged to use, being late, running in a corridor, "being lippy" i.e. being cheeky to a prefect. Some offences might seem extremely trivial, but they did contribute to establishing the ethos of the school that privileges had to be earned. A quarter-of-an-hour was the most usual punishment, but more serious offences could earn a "half-an-hour". Both punishments referred to periods of time which were worked off, usually on a Saturday afternoon doing jobs which had to be done e.g. shifting chairs in the gym, clearing a field of the ubiquitous flint stones. Getting six quarter-of-an-hours meant you were gated (see above).
  • Refectory/ref: School's dining hall. The word 'refectory' is pronounced with the stress on the first syllable and the "c" is not pronounced at all i.e it is pronouced "RE-ferr-tree".)
  • Seventh Game: In the summer term, those boys who didn't like cricket and/or who were useless at cricket were allocated to the Seventh Game. When every afternoon the rest of the school was practising elsewhere, boys in the Seventh Games would be obliged to meet on the Top Field (used for rugby on the winter) and, under the eye of a master who was equally uninterested in cricket, spend what was often just a few minutes playing cricket. Boys in the Seventh Game never changed into cricket whites and, depending upon which master was in charge and how seriously he took his duty, games might even merely consist of the boys of each side "getting out", so that the obligation of playing a game of cricket had nominally been fulfilled and everyone could wander off and do their own thing.
  • Shags: The term given to a group of people that were performing their task without any enthusiasm for whatever it was they had been tasked with. This term was often given to the 'Royal Signals', 'Royal Engineers' and 'REME' CCF sections, often populated with 4th years that would rather not be doing CCF. This term was also given the bottom team of any of the various sports.
  • Shake: A term for the wake-up duty performed by a prefect at 7.30am Monday to Saturday. On Sundays boys are allowed a soak before breakfast at 8.30am, which is followed by Mass.
  • Soak: A lie-in. During the 1950s thanks were given to St Soak at the termination of a boy's lie-in. This practice of thanks has now become extinct but the term 'soak' is still in use.
  • The Volcano: Bottom end of St Philip House Field, where a large groundstaff dumping mound takes on the form of a volcano when bonfires are lit inside. St Philip House boys are banned from going near.
  • The Wavy: Short for 'The Wavy Line', the name formerly given to the local shop in Woodcote, now called 'Londis'.
  • Wavy/Rally Field: A large field accessible via a gate at the top of the back drive, that a boy must cross in order to reach 'The Wavy'. Originally the site of the Woodcote Car Rally.==References==
  1. ^ Newman’s Letters and Diaries, Volume XIX, p.120.
  2. ^ Paul Shrimpton, A Catholic Eton? Newman's Oratory School. Leominster: Gracewing, 2005. pp. 26, 29, 41-43. ISBN 0852446616.
  3. ^ Website of the International Real Tennis Professionals Association
  4. ^ "The Schools Aggregate" (PDF). 139th NRA Schools Meeting. National Rifle Association. 2008-07-17. Retrieved 2008-10-31. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  5. ^ Personal recollections of old boys reported on talkpage.

See also

External links

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