St. Swithun's School

About St. Swithun's School

St Swithun’s School is a world-class independent boarding and day school for girls aged 11-18, a prep school for girls aged 4-11 and a co-educational preschool, set in 45-acres of beautiful Hampshire countryside on the outskirts of Winchester. The school is well known for excellent all-round education, forward-looking teaching methods and award-winning pastoral care.

We are an ‘appropriately academic’school, celebrating intellectual curiosity and the life of the mind, but not to the exclusion of all else.

St Swithun’s is accredited as a High Performance Learning World-Class School and is a member of the Fellowship and Global Community of High Performance Learning Schools. We teach our students the ways of thinking and behaving that will equip them for success both in school and beyond. We emphasise the importance of not always getting things right; if you’re not making mistakes, the chances are that you’re not learning.

The school was founded in 1884 by Anna Bramston with the aim of providing an education that developed the full capacity of every girl and enabled her to become a woman of independent thought. The school develops resilient, enquiring, optimistic and collaborative women who will stand on their own two feet and pull others up to stand alongside them.

The school promotes quirky fun whilst providing modern academic, sporting, creative and recreational opportunities to prepare young women for the 21st century.

The school, which has approximately 715 students on its roll, is a registered charity and is governed by the school council.

Staff at St Swithun’s are skilled, hard-working and committed to providing world class teaching, experiences and facilities for our students. We have 330+ staff working across all areas of our school in a wide variety of roles. We encourage everyone to bring new ideas and a passion for their area of expertise, and we know that our school community is enriched by their diversity of skills and experiences. We are serious about the work we do and the results we achieve, but we also like to have fun along the way. We offer a rewarding working environment, a range of generous employee benefits, opportunities for continuous professional development and wellbeing activities throughout the year.

Ms Jane Gandee Headmistress – Senior school                           

Mrs Liz Norris – Prep school head

Values and vision

Lighting sparks since 1884, our vision is a world where young women see possibilities, not barriers. We develop independently minded young women who show courage, compassion, commitment and quiet self-confidence. We believe that it's not just about learning lessons, but learning who we are without fear of failure, censure or outdated attitudes about what young women can aspire to. In our prep school, children embark on a journey where they will grow in knowledge, understanding, confidence and independence while having fun. Our school offers excellent and forward-thinking teaching practice, sporting and recreational facilities. We provide outstanding pastoral care and teaching expertise to create in every individual student a unique tapestry of strengths and interests. The St Swithun’s vision is that by the time a girl leaves she will be courageous, compassionate, committed and self-confident with a love of learning, a moral compass and a sense of humour.

ISI report

The school was inspected in March 2024 under the new ISI framework which provides no qualitative one-word judgements. We are pleased to say that the school met the required standards in the five key areas of the new reporting framework. We were happy to read comments affirming our ethos, including: “Leaders aim to develop confident young people who are courageous in their learning. Fulfilment of this aim is evident in lessons, as well as in pupils’behaviour and achievement as they transition through the school. Learning is characterised by the creative effort of confident, self-motivated, pupils who are highly proactive in their learning facilitated by teaching that provides consistent stretch and challenge.