Parent Area

List of useful things for students to bring and guidance on quantity of clothing

Two things to keep in mind when deciding what to bring for the first few weeks is that there is a limited amount of storage space per student and the first exeat is three weeks after the start of term. This means that your child will have the opportunity to see what is needed, what is surplus to requirements and how they can manage their storage space. There is a weekly laundry turnover and there are laundry facilities in the Houses and so we would recommend that a minimum of at least two of each item of every day wear is required.

Everyday school dress during the Autumn and Spring Term:

Jackets – Must be worn at all times and not carried. They can be removed in lessons. Formal, smart suit style jacket, dark in colour. Tweed jacket.

Shoes – Smart, formal, black or navy, leather or suede shoes, loafers or flat shoes only. No ‘Superga’ style shoes, no thick soled shoes, no trainers, no canvas, no boots, pumps or casual shoes. Brown shoes allowed in 6th form only.

Trousers – Dark, formal, tailored, trousers, chinos or cords. Must be ankle length. Cannot be jeans or ‘jean-cut’ trousers with external rear pockets or studs.

Skirts – Formal, knee length (or palm width above the knee), black, navy, smart skirt. No cord or denim.

Tights must be worn with a skirt, black, opaque or natural.

Shirts – Shirts must be worn at all times. Smart, fitted, formal, pale colour or discretely striped, tucked in. Girls can have their top button undone.

Jumpers – Dark, formal, fitted, plain, smart V-neck jumper. No sports brands, stripes. No fleece material.

Quarter zip – Dark, formal, fitted, plain, smart. No fleece material or sports brands.

Gilet - dark, formal, fitted, plain, smart. No sleeves, no sports brands.

Tie – Must be black. Sports team, club, house or society tie can be worn. Black tie on a Monday. You cannot wear your own tie. This is done to encourage you to join a sports team, club or society.

Outer coat – Must be smart, plain, formal. No ‘Puffa’ style padded coats, no sports branded coats.

Hair – Sensible hair styles of natural colour. Hair tied up for mass. Boys should be clean shaven.

Make up and jewellery – Discrete and simple jewellery allowed. Discrete make up.

Sunday Mass

• Dark suit for boys and girls. Full tweed suit is acceptable
• Skirts must be of an appropriate length in respect of the Abbey Church
• Plain, white shirts for boys and girls, tucked in.
• Black school ties or house ties only are to be worn by all boys except for School Monitors who may wear a Monitor tie No other ties are acceptable.
• Black, leather shoes only. Brown shoes may only be worn with a tweed suit.
• Girls must wear long hair up and make up must not be excessive, jewellery must be discrete and simple.

Summer term – In the summer months, when announced by the Deputy Head, the following changes to the dress code apply. Jackets are optional. Ties are optional. Pale/light/natural coloured, tailored trousers are allowed. Shirts must always still be tucked in. Top buttons can be undone.

OTHER USEFUL ITEMS:

• A small padlock and key for lockable wardrobes, cupboard and tuckbox
• Stationery/pencil case. These are available from the School Shop but it is helpful to bring a small supply to start with
• A laundry bag
• A shoe cleaning kit
• A small sports bag
• An alarm clock or equivalent
• Casual clothes for leisure time
• A desk lamp
• Handkerchiefs
• Hair dryer
• A small number of spare nametapes
• Duvet & duvet cover (these can be bought from the Tuckshop via the online forms portal) we provide bottom sheets, pillows and pillow cases.
• Wash kit and toiletries
• 3 bath sheet towels
• 4 hand towels
• Black, gold, silver or tortoiseshell hair clips and bands for school
• Umbrella
• A hockey stick and hockey/ football boots, shin Pads, tennis racket (buy low cost equipment to start with – these can always be upgraded if your daughter competes at a high level)
• A covered hot water bottle
• A fleecy blanket, teddy bear or similar friend. Hopefully this item will not be essential but sometimes girls need a familiar face at the beginning of term. A nightlight for those a little worried at night.
• A mug/cup

LAUNDRY 

There is a School laundry which caters for the main house wash. Students are responsible for sending their own laundry, which normally is returned well within the week; the exact number of certain items required will depend upon their own preference and cleanliness. As laundry is done on the School premises all clothing should be machine washable and suitable for tumble drying. Shirts should be of a polyester mixture to minimise ironing. Under no circumstances should nylon shirts be sent - these melt in the dryers. Trousers, pure wool sweaters, quilted shirts/jackets etc may be sent for laundering or dry-cleaning and charged separately on the termly account. The College will not accept any liability for luxury items.