Runnymede College

 

Address: Calle de la Salvia, 30, 28109 Madrid
Website: www.runnymede-college.com
Email: [email protected]
Telephone: +34 916 508 302
Gender: Co-educational
Teaching language: English
Ages: 2 to 18
Curriculum: English National Curriculum, Cambridge IGCSE and A-Levels

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Background

 

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Curriculum

 

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Fees

School fees for the 2021/2022 academic year range from EUR 2,250 for Pre-Nursery to EUR 5,500 for Years 12 and 13. There is an enrolment fee of EUR 3,300.

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From the headmaster

Fifty years ago my parents, Mr and Mrs Arthur F Powell, were confronted with a problem which is not unfamiliar to many parents nowadays. Where do we send the children to school?

Nowadays, the answer is simple, if not easy. There is a huge variety of schools to choose from; schools offering an education in different languages or several; single-sex schools; co-educational schools and schools subscribing to various religious persuasions or indeed, to none. Parents could, nowadays, be said to be spoilt for choice.

In those days, it was not so easy. Education was regulated by the state and the Church who determined curricular content. It was they who decided what was and was not taught. Things which we take for granted today and indeed expect to be taught such as the effect of substances on health or relationship education, were unheard of. The content of history syllabuses was determined by the authorities and even the Modern Languages which were studied at school were determined by the administration.

Our father was not going to submerge us in such an educational system and our mother was not going to agree readily to our being sent to boarding school in England. The outcome was very British: a compromise and the name of that compromise was, Runnymede.

Our father's idea was that Runnymede should be academically excellent, co-educational and cosmopolitan. An educational establishment in which there was complete freedom of speech and expression, where the only limit was respect for the opinions with which one disagreed.

So why call it Runnymede? Runnymede is a meadow by the River Thames near Windsor where on June 15th, 1215 King John sealed Magna Carta. It was the first time an absolute monarch admitted that there were limits to his powers. In the words of the poet, Kipling: “At Runnymede, at Runnymede / Your rights were won at Runnymede”.

The spirit of Magna Carta was reflected in the UN Declaration which mentions “the inherent dignity and the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family” and solemnly states that everyone is entitled to those rights “without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status”.

This, I believe, was the legacy of Magna Carta that my father wished to perpetuate. It is a fine legacy, and I hope it will continue guiding and inspire all Runnymedians throughout their lives.

– Frank M Powell, BSc (Econ.) (Hons.), PGCE