Profile of Notre Dame School

Notre Dame School, a foundation of The Company of Mary Our Lady, in Cobham, Surrey, is an independent Catholic day school for girls

In its current form, Notre Dame School has been running since 2003, but is actually part of a long line of educational establishments that were founded in the 17th century by The Company of Mary Our Lady, the oldest recognised educational order in the world. The school had been run by nuns with no governors, but was part of the order's charity.

At the turn of the millennium, the order decided to set the school up as a separate entity, still a charity, but with a governing body that included lay heads. Nuns continue to sit as trustees and governors, but the school now has ownership of its own site (the nuns transferred assets to the "new" school); an important development since it can borrow funds against it, if necessary. Currently, there are around 750 girls aged between 2 .5 and 18 years attend the school. The balance between Catholics and non-Catholics is about 50:50.

The governing body is made up of a team of religious, past heads, successful past pupils from the City and other experts from the business world.

The school has two headteachers, Bridget Williams (senior school) and David Plummer (prep school), but they report externally as one. David is the only male head of a convent prep school in the UK.
"We are often asked whether being a girls-only school is to our detriment, but actually the reverse is the case. Ours is the only girls-only day school in this area, which gives us a distinctive position. But, more importantly, girls can do better without boys," says Bridget.

She continues: “We have recently been developing our alumni network and have been surprised and delighted at the number of successful former pupils. Generally, girl school alumnae groups are hidden, they are weaker than boys. Currently we have 250 signed up. It was launched at the 400th anniversary of the order in 2007 and we have since inaugurated an appeal to invest in performing arts.”

Public benefit isn’t likely to give the school management many sleepless nights. “We have been providing benefits that are now described as ‘public benefit’ for many years. We offer scholarships and bursaries and share facilities. We host master classes in sports, host football and netball tournaments, plus cross-country events and work closely with scouting and girl guide organisations. In addition, the school is used for weddings and christenings. We don't feel obliged to do it – we want to,” says David.

Looking abroad
Through the order, the school has an international dimension. Many girls from the school go on to volunteer to work on projects run by the nuns elsewhere in the world, including Albania. The parents’ association, Friends of Notre Dame, helps with the funding and recently donated £26,000 to the educational efforts in the Congo.
Although there are many schools affiliated to the order throughout the world, Notre Dame, Cobham is the only one in the UK, although the Order has been responsible for establishing six maintained schools over the years.

As part of a ten-year development plan, school has opened new ICT, science and library facilities and has refurbished the pavilion and Summer House.

www.notredame.co.uk