Saint Felix School in Southwold celebrated a milestone 125th anniversary this week with a range of activities which began with a special assembly for Senior pupils on Monday morning with Headmaster James Harrison where pupils modelled Saint Felix uniforms through the ages. Sixth Form and Senior pupils went on to enjoy a black-tie dinner on Monday evening, complete with guest speaker performer and alumna – Old Felician – Deborah Evans Stickland, CEO of the Outside In Pathways, a charity which offers people with learning disabilities opportunity to explore their cultural life with all forms of art.
The school usually holds a “Saint Felix Day” celebration on 8 March, in honour of the school’s namesake, Saint Felix of Burgundy, who died on that day in 647. On Saint Felix Day itself the school shared digital scans on its social media channels of photographs, memorabilia and cuttings from its own archive using the thoroughly modern hashtag: #SaintFelix125. Photos included Saint Felix pupils digging trenches in preparation for possible invasion in 1938, landmark moments such as a visit by Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother in 1972 to open the new swimming pool and a visit by Rt Hon David Lloyd George OM, MP, whose granddaughter attended the school, for the school’s first speech day in 1935.
Further memories shared by alumni, former staff members and those familiar with the school were re-shared across the day with a wonderful response from current pupils to their own history. One former pupil remembered the visit by the Queen Mother:
“All the Mums in big hats. New swimming pool since been replaced. QM in black as Edward VIII had died, arriving by helicopter. We all had to learn to do a royal curtsey in case she spoke to us.”(@sarah.allan.5209_)
Other staff members shared poignant photographs of their children as pupils at the school across the years, in particular twin brothers Josh and Sam Stephens who joined the nursery aged 2 in 2006 and take their A Levels this year.
Head boy Josh Stephens said, “One of my fondest memories from Saint Felix School was spending the night camping with my friends in Year 3 on the Clough playing field. We had a campfire with s’mores and hot chocolate and we were all very excited about staying up late. The highlight was being driven around the school grounds in a Land Rover in the dark!”
Saint Felix Day fittingly coincides with International Women’s Day. The school was founded in 1897 by Margaret Isabella Gardiner who was a keen supporter of the emancipation of women movement.
A look through the Saint Felix press cuttings offers a plethora of stories about pupil achievements and activities across the past decades, including art prizes, award-winning poetry, acclaimed musical performances at local arts festivals, science competition success and regional, national, and international sporting achievement. Fundraising activities are often for charities with children at their heart, such as Street Child, Children in Need and The Loft Youth Centre.
The school has produced many remarkable alumni – who include Barbara Denis de Vitre, OBE, Creator of a Role for Women Police (1918-23) and Corporal Josephine Robins, MM, one of first WAAFs to be Awarded the Military Medal (1934-36). Past governors include Dame Stella Rimington, former director general of MI5.
The school has survived two world wars, with two evacuations which involved temporary relocations in 1915-16 to a large Hydro at Moffat in Dumfriesshire then in 1940-45 to Tintagel and Somerset while the school buildings were requisitioned by the Army then the Navy and used as Headquarters of the Eastern Command for the D-Day landings. Saint Felix has in turn offered sanctuary to those fleeing conflict and persecution by opening its doors to 200 Jewish children from Europe in 1938 and more recently for refugees from Syria.
Following its partnership last May with renowned education provider, Inspired Learning Group (ILG), Saint Felix can continue to provide the best possible education and opportunities for students. Through this partnership, Saint Felix will benefit from a multi-million-pound investment that will go towards improving the school facilities and professional development opportunities, to enhance the school’s existing high standards of teaching and learning.
Recent academic highlights include top examination results for Saint Felix pupils. The school is top school in Suffolk, and in the top 5% nationally, for A Level progress. Recent sporting achievements include record-breaking wins by the St Felix Swimming Club in the Suffolk County Swimming Championships, great individual performances at local rugby clubs for Saint Felix Senior and Sixth Form pupils, top UK rankings for school tennis players, county representation by the Saint Felix Equestrian Team at the British Show Jumping academy and British Show jumping Norfolk teams, cross country runners chosen for UK and regional championships and success for netball players accepted as part of the U15 development pathway squad, to name but a few!
This Friday Saint Felix welcomes schools from across Norfolk and Suffolk, as well as schools from ILG, to an Inter-School Cross Country event. Saint Felix has Open Morning on Saturday 12 March – all are welcome.
Happy birthday to the amazing Saint Felix School.
Here’s to the next 1.25 centuries!
James Harrison, Headmaster said:
“We aim to uphold Margaret Isabella Gardiner’s legacy of providing opportunity to those seeking an excellent education. We will continue to build on the great work by the school’s staff and pupils across the decades, equipping pupils with the skills they will need to cope with the challenges of an ever-changing modern world. In everything that we do here we aim to ensure that Saint Felix pupils are prepared for the present and the future, taught how to have fun and develop a lifelong love of learning.”