Insights into inspirational arts practice in schools: Magdalen College School and the Oxford Festival of the Arts

Magdalen College School (MCS) was founded in 1480 by William Waynflete, Bishop of Winchester and Lord Chancellor of England, to provide a solid grounding in Latin and Greek grammar to support rigorous humanist studies at university. It continues to fulfil that role but has expanded considerably over the years and is now an independent day school for boys from the age of 7 to 18 years, and for girls from the age of 16 to 18 years. There is the junior school for boys in years 3 to 6, the senior school for boys in Years 7 to 11, and the sixth form for boys and girls in Years 12 and 13. Formerly administered by Magdalen College, the school became a charitable trust in the mid-1980s, although it still maintains a relationship with the College. The school currently has over 900 pupils on  roll, with approximately 140 of those pupils in the junior school. Pupils are admitted on the basis of academic potential. One in 10 pupils are in receipt of some degree of bursary support, and full bur