There have been just ten heads of Amesbury. The chapel choir robes in red by royal consent. The names of 1st team players in the major sports continue to be listed on team boards in the Montgomery Sports Hall, a tradition dating back to 1887. The Moore Prize, first awarded in 1904, continues to be awarded to the Head Boy and Head Girl, over a century later.
Amesburians feel confident and have a sense of pride in knowing that they share a common heritage; that they are a part of something with deep roots. This history, these traditions, really matter to the boys and girls. Another Amesbury tradition is that we have always been innovative.
Amesbury was one of the first schools in the country to ban corporal punishment, to open a Pre-Preparatory department and to have an onsite learning support department. We have been co-educational for nearly 30 years.
At the centre of the Amesbury estate is the elegant Main school building designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens. It is the earliest design completed by Lutyens in the Wren style and the only building he designed as a school. It is, in fact, a very beautiful and oversized dolls house. The main doors are smaller than they would normally be in a building of such a size. The corridors and staircases wider, to take account of the ebb and flow of the school day as pupils enter and exit classrooms. The windows sills are lower, to enable youngsters to see the world outside without having to stand on tip toe. Put simply, it is a building made for children, into which adults have to ‘fit in’, not the other way around. As such it serves as a metaphor and as a daily reminder to us of why we are here.
In the previous decade we have invested over £5m in facilities. Our Well-being hub, library, Visual Arts Department, dance studio and tennis facilities are all indicative of a school that is constantly seeking to improve. Excellent facilities extend the range of opportunities on offer to children, and in so doing help to raise expectations, and not unimportantly, they help us to recruit and retain great teachers.
