SE CHRONICLE 684

16 ST EDWARD’S CHRONICLE

The Dreaming Spires The city of Oxford as a source of academic, cultural and industrial inspiration. By David Flower, Sub-Warden Academic

is place of ambition. Our ambition is now very clear: we want to make the most of our location and, in particular, to make close connections with the work of the University and the wider intellectual life of the city. Over the next twelve months, all members of our community should notice a step-change in the role of Oxford in the lives of our pupils and staff. This month, we are hosting a major conference on the Oxford Movement and Education (see page 4). Led jointly by members of the School’s History Department, alongside academics from the University of Oxford, our pupils will have the chance to hear from world experts on the religious, intellectual and historical context of St Edward’s School and other schools and organisations founded by Tractarians in the nineteenth century. This event will mark the beginning of an ambitious series of Oxford Lectures. The School will host tutors from the University who will address our pupils, parents, OSE

Very few cities in the world have names that are synonymous with education and good learning. Even in the farthest-flung corner of the world, the word ‘Oxford’ is associated with centuries of academic debate, scientific discovery and the understanding of ancient and modern languages. More simply, the whole city is a font of learning. That St Edward’s finds itself in such a city is not an historical accident. Our founders established a school in Oxford because they placed a premium on sound teaching and learning. When our pupils and their parents choose St Edward’s as a place to study, the city has very probably played a central role in their thinking. Oxford is an hour from the outskirts of London, yet you can be in the countryside in minutes; it is a lovely place to be. Eleven different counties are within an hour’s drive, so it is convenient too. Over the years, the School’s relationship with the other academic institutions in the city has naturally ebbed and flowed; but the city does have one further association: it

Art Historians in the Schools Quadrangle of the Bodleian Library