Tatler Good Schools Guide 2014
Each year Tatler magazine produces a Good Schools Guide. The 2014 review for Eastbourne College reads as follows:
‘Head Simon Davies is a cross between Stephen Fry and Boris Johnson – in a good way. He’s a great one for metaphors: he thinks of his school as Wisley rather than the Chelsea Flower Show, not heavily selective and taking a long view of growth by providing the best microclimate and the best gardeners (by which we assume he means his staff ). Still with us? Good. What this means in practice is that there is a wonderful freedom in the curriculum, with subjects such as industrial design, textiles and architecture available at A-level. His pupils – half of them boarders – are nurtured whatever they choose to do. A-level results are healthy (87 per cent A*-B); there’s a fabulous science block; DT is so good that the Arkwright scholarships are pouring in. The superb new Birley Centre has a new director of music to match – he showed us round like a child in a sweet shop. There’s a long list of sporting triumphs, workshops with Ballet Rambert and a tie-in with Glyndebourne. We very much like the Silver Surfers club at which pupils help Eastbourne’s ageing population with ICT skills. There is a refreshing, rosy-cheeked optimism here, buoyed up, no doubt, by the sea air.’
