Radley College
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Image:Radley College.JPG Radley College (St. Peter's College, Radley) is an English public school (i.e. one of the more prestigious and well-established private, fee-paying schools) sited in the village of Radley near Abingdon in Oxfordshire. It was founded in 1847 by William Sewell
The Warden (headmaster), Angus McPhail (appointed in 2000), is a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference.
During the 1979 summer term, the school's activities were filmed by the BBC for a series called "Public School", broadcast on BBC2 early in 1980. Capturing the end of a period when such schools felt genuinely afraid that the Labour government might push through legislation to close them down (there is a memorable scene of the headmaster expressing his delight in Margaret Thatcher's first election victory), the programme nevertheless now seems like a period piece, if only because it shows certain teaching methods and values that would never be allowed today.
Former pupils include the comedian Peter Cook, Desmond Llewelyn who played Q in many James Bond films, campaigning lawyer Clive Stafford Smith, cricketers Andrew Strauss and Ted Dexter, poet Andrew Motion, and the Australian foreign minister Alexander Downer.
The school places some emphasis on what might be described as traditional strengths - Anglican Christianity (chapel attendance is compulsory for boys five days in the week), sporting prowess (notably cricket, Rugby Union, racquets and rowing), and preparation of boys for entry to the Russell Group of Universities. Music and drama play an increasing role in the life of the school. The prevailing ethos is of respect for authority as vested in senior boys, masters - known as "dons", the Church, and the institutions of the British establishment.
Literature
- Christopher Hibbert, No Ordinary Place: Radley College and the Public School System 1847-1997, 1997, London: John Murray General Publishing Division, ISBN 0719551765.