A brief history of Headington schools
Follow the above pointer to view each of the pages below in turn
Here is a list of the known schools of Headington, past and present, linked to a brief page on their history. (For practical information on all current schools in Headington, see the Education page)
| Date founded |
Original name of school (with link to brief history) | Present name of school (or date of closure) |
| 1805 | Free School | Closed 1874 |
| By 1830 | Miss Hanwell’s Seminary | Closed 1854 |
| 1836 | Mrs Butler’s Boarding School for Young Ladies | Closed by 1846 |
| 1840 | Old Headington & Barton Infant School | Closed c.1908 |
| 1847 | Headington National School | St Andrew’s Primary School |
| 1859 | Linden House School | Closed 1864 |
| 1863 | Rookery Preparatory School for Eton and Harrow | Closed 1897 |
| 1864 | Headington Quarry National School | Closed 2003 |
| 1869 | St
Aloysius' / St Joseph’s School |
St Joseph’s RC Primary School |
| 1873 | New Headington Infant School | Closed 1908 |
| c.1885 | Miss Steff’s School | Closed 1939 |
| 1908 | Headington Council School | Closed 2004 |
| 1915 | Headington School | Headington School |
| 1918 | Hunsdon House Nursery School | Hunsdon House |
| 1928 | Ormerod School | Ormerod School |
| 1930 | Rye St Antony School | Rye St Antony School |
| 1935 | St Anne’s School | Closed 1945 |
| 1936 | Headington Senior Council School | Windmill Primary School |
| 1941 | Headington Preparatory School | Closed c.1950 |
| 1949 | Barton Junior Mixed & Infant School | Closed 1975 |
| 1952 | Barton Infant School | Closed 2003 |
| 1953 | Bayswater Secondary Modern School | Bayards Hill Primary School |
| 1954 | Wood Farm Junior Mixed School | Wood Farm Primary School |
| 1957 | Josca’s | Moved to Frilford Heath 1970 |
| 1954 | Cheney Technical School | Cheney School |
| 1959 | Cheney Girls’ Grammar School |
The names of the earliest Headington dames’ schools have gone unrecorded. The Vicar of Headington mentions their existence in a letter to the Bishop of Oxford on 29 April 1808:
There are 3 little Village Schools besides [the Free School] which the Parents of the Children pay for themselves, the Number of scholars about 60, they are taught to read, write and plain work in general.... None of the Schools are kept by Dissenters.
Other very small private schools which did not survive for long include:
- Miss Edney’s School at 84 (fomerly 48) Old High Street in the late 1920s
- Mr & Mrs Benjamin Francis Ward’s School at 33 (fomerly 5) Old High Street in the 1920s and 1930s
- Miss Evett’s School in Quarry Hollow, in the 1930s
- Miss Hammersley’s School at Sandy Lodge in the Croft, in the 1930s
For information on the two small schools in Old High Street, see the reminiscences of Kathleen Eastes.