European School, Culham

The European School, Culham (ESC) was one of the fourteen European Schools and the only one in the United Kingdom. Located in Culham near Abingdon in Oxfordshire. It was founded in 1978 for the purpose of providing an education to the children of staff working for the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom).

This article is about the European School which operated between 1978 and 2017. For the Accredited European School which replaced it, see Europa School UK.

European School, Culham
Schola Europaea
Address
Thame Lane

Culham
,
Oxfordshire
,
OX14 3DZ

England
Coordinates51°39′22″N 1°15′28″W
Information
TypeEuropean School
Established1978
Closed31 August 2017 (2017-08-31)
Operated byThe European Schools
DirectorLeene Soekov (Estonian)
GenderMixed
Age4 to 18
Enrolment390[nb 1][1] (2016-2017)
 • Peak enrolment835 (2008-2009) [2]
AlumniOld Culhamites
Sister Schools13 European Schools
DiplomaEuropean Baccalaureate
  1. At time of closure.

History

The European School, Culham was founded in 1978 for the purpose of providing an education to the children of staff working for the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom) on the Joint European Torus (JET) fusion energy research programme based nearby, and later, additionally, children of staff seconded as part of the European Fusion Development Agreement (EFDA).[3]

With the relocation of European Union-seconded researchers and their families following the formation of JET's successor in France, the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER), and the formation of EFDA's successor, EUROfusion, to support ITER's development, it was announced that the school would close on 31 August 2017.[3] The school confirmed that this was a move unrelated to Brexit.[4] The final two employees, the bursar and accountant, continued to work until 31 May 2018.

The former ESC campus was subsumed by the Europa School UK on 1 September 2017. ESUK is a 'free school' and an Accredited European School with all students following a learning programme leading to the European Baccalaureate qualification.[5] Accredited European Schools are schools under national jurisdiction within European Union (EU) member states which, without forming part of the intergovernmental network of European Schools, offer its multilingual curriculum and the European Baccalaureate.[6]

Notable alumni

Notable former staff

See also

References
  1. Board of Governors of the European Schools. "Facts and figures on the beginning of the 2016-2017 school year in the European Schools" (PDF). eursc.eu. Office of the Secretary-General of the European Schools. p. 2. Retrieved 23 January 2019.
  2. Board of Governors of the European Schools. "Facts and figures on the beginning of the 2009-2010 school year in the European Schools" (PDF). eursc.eu. Office of the Secretary-General of the European Schools. p. 3. Retrieved 23 January 2019.
  3. European Schools (2013). European Schools, 1953-2013 (PDF). Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union. pp. 22–23. doi:10.2842/11549. ISBN 978-92-9188-143-7. As the European Schools celebrate their 60th Anniversary in 2013, so we at the European School, Culham will be marking our 35th year since opening in 1978. We were founded to support the JET/EFDA research project based nearby at Culham Centre for Fusion Energy. It is an honour that the school continues to be part of a technological revolution that has the potential to change the whole world. Providing high quality multilingual European schooling to the children of EU staff working at JET/EFDA has also supported the recruitment and mobility of a host of top European professionals, researchers and academics in the Oxfordshire/Thames Valley area of England where the school is situated. Our school has attracted hundreds of families and many international businesses to the area. However, JET/EFDA's success, the globalisation of nuclear fusion research and the need to develop on a larger industrial scale in Cadarache in France through the ITER Project means that the European School, Culham will not be able to celebrate its 40th anniversary because we will be closing in 2017.
  4. "We are now closed". European School Culham. Retrieved 23 September 2018. Today, an observer reporting superficially about the closure of our school in Culham could easily weave an imagined narrative around the result of a British referendum that took place a year ago. We all know this couldn't be further from the truth.[...]
  5. "Locations of the Accredited European Schools". eursc.eu. Office of the Secretary General of the European Schools. Retrieved 31 October 2018.
  6. "About the Accredited European Schools". eursc.eu. Office of the Secretary General of the European Schools. Retrieved 22 October 2019.

Further reading
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