The Guardians of Ewelme
© Copyright Peter Ryding 2018, 2019
The Most Noble Guild of Guardians of Ewelme School
The Most Noble Guild of the Guardians of Ewelme School was established to safeguard the school, its children and it’s principle of “Loving Learning”.
Our School
Ewelme school is one of the oldest schools in the world and is rated as ‘Outstanding.’ * It was founded in 1437 by Alice Chaucer and has operated out of the same school buildings ever since. It specializes in teaching in a “Loving learning” way with the two meanings of…
- 1 Providing access to learning in a sensitive, inclusive, personalised, caring, enjoyable and “loving” way.
- 2 Generating a love for learning so that people choose to commit to and enjoy lifelong continuous learning.
Our Challenge
As a small rural primary school operating in a 600 year old building we incur many of the costs of larger schools and yet have very limited funding from the government and are under increasing cost pressures with a heavy reliance upon the generosity of parents and teachers to provide even the basics of running our school.
However, instead of giving in to the cost pressure and reducing our teaching staff (with a 30% increase in class sizes) or even closing altogether, we have channeled the spirit of our founder to take control of our own destiny and raise money to become an even better primary school with more facilities for our children instead of less. And then to share those facilities with other local primary schools and to share some of the insights that has made us “outstanding” with other schools globally. For example just one video that shows a specialist way of teaching children with dyslexia has been viewed by over 35,000 people and won glowing positive comments from other teachers around the world.
Who runs the guild?
The diverse team who run the Guild are all unpaid volunteers including governors of the school, international award winning business people and local parents. They still use the traditional terms including the Grand Master, the Master of Arms and Master of Scrolls and they still hold the meetings in the great hall of the school. We also still use traditional wax seals to finally approve important documents such as the Parchment Membership Scrolls.
The Great Seal of the Guild
The seal of the Grand Master
The seal of the Master of Arms
The seal of the Master of Scrolls
Who are Corporate Members of the Guild?
The Corporate Guardian Members are organisations who use the principles of Loving Learning to continuously develop and inspire their employees and who make donations to help the school and the wider mission of the Loving Learning Foundation.
Who are Private Members of the Guild?
Private Membership of the guild is by invitation only and is exclusively for individuals who have demonstrated the power of learning through achieving significant success in their chosen field of specialization, who also believe in the principles of Loving Learning and are ready to practically support Ewelme School and the work of the Loving Learning Foundation.
There are numerous benefits of being a Private Member of the Guild including honary events at the school and having their own “Guild panoply” based upon their membership level…
- Heroic Guardian
- Knight Guardian
- Lord Guardian
- Royal Guardian
Traditionally there have never been more than 12 Royal Guardian Members at the same time and so we are maintaining that most exclusive and prestigious level at that significant number – 12 disciples of Jesus, 12 members of a jury, 12 months of the year, 12 hours in the day and night.
Previous Honary members of the Guild
Since the school’s foundation in 1437 by the grand daughter of Geofrey Chaucer, the Grandfather of English literature, Ewelme has attracted much royal interest including visits by at least 6 Kings of England including Henry VIII who often visited with Anne Boleyn, Queen Elizabeth I and most recently Kate, The Duchess of Cambridge. We are proud to have Queen Elizabeth I and Henry VIII (who personally saved the school from desecration during his fight with the pope), as previous honory members of the Guild.
How can you join the Guild?
Whilst membership has always been by invitation only, we are now accepting recommendations of who we should invite to become corporate and private members of the guild. This is to win new supporters of the principle of Loving Learning and to help fund exciting new projects within the school and worldwide.
Initial contact should be made via the Master of Arms who will then get in touch to discuss your application. The final decision is made by the full council of the Guild which meetings 4 times each year.
*As rated by SIAMS
