An era is set to come to an end for a Sussex school when St Aubyn's School, Rottingdean, shuts its doors on Saturday lessons after more than a century.

Full-term boarding will also be done away with for the first time since the school was founded in 1895, although weekly boarding will continue.

One by one, independent schools in Brighton and Hove have bowed to parents' wishes to end Saturday lessons.

Brighton College ended the tradition several years ago and St Aubyn's is the last to do so.

Headteacher Adrian Gobart said: "Parents have told us they want to have their children home with them at weekends.

"We had begun to phase Saturday school out by moving to alternate weekends but from September it will end completely.

"It is very much the end of an era for St Aubyn's as it coincides with the decision to end termly boarding."

The school, in the picturesque setting of Rottingdean's High Street, was founded as an independent boys' school.

Rudyard Kipling's son, John, was a pupil at St Aubyn's when the author of The Jungle Book and other classics lived in the village.

John was killed during the early stages of the First World War, leaving his father devastated. It affected his writing for many years.

Sir Wilfred Thessiger, explorer and founder of the SAS, is also an old boy. He is now 92 and still regularly visits the school.

Other famous former pupils include England cricketer Matthew Flemming and rower Andrew Lindsay, who won a gold medal at the Sydney Olympics in the men's eights.

Prominent old boys also include former Government ministers Sir George Young and Nicholas Soames, MP for Mid Sussex.

St Aubyn's, which has 180 pupils aged from four to 13, was considered one of the leading prep schools in the country for two thirds of the 20th Century.

Its pupils went on to top public schools, including Eton, Harrow and Winchester and many still do so today.

St Aubyn's took the decision to admit girls and become co-educational just six years ago.

Vanessa Gebbie, head of marketing, said: "It has worked well and the girls have added a great deal to the life of the school.

"We have a split of around 60 per cent boys and 40 per cent girls now.

"The decision to end Saturday school had been evolving anyway.

"Most parents like to have their children home at the weekends and the youngsters don't look forward to having to get up at 7am on a Saturday to go to school.

"On some weekends we were in the position of having a full staff in for just one or two pupils.

"Saturday afternoon sports fixtures will continue and the school day will be extended during the week to absorb the lessons lost at the weekend."

Mrs Gebbie said most pupils were from Brighton, Hove and Sussex but some came from London.

The September 11 terrorist attacks in the United States had a dramatic impact on the number of London-based parents considering sending their children to St Aubyn's.

She said: "Parents have told us they are afraid of a similar attack on London in the future.

"They don't want their children to be educated there and are now actively looking for schools away from the capital.

"They would rather their children boarded during the week because of the threat.

"As a result of the increased interest we are now organising escorted train journeys from Victoria on Sunday evenings and return trips on Friday afternoons for our pupils from London."

But, while Saturday school will come to an end at St Aubyn's, it will live on in other parts of Sussex.

Hurstpierpoint College, Newlands at Seaford and St Bede's and St Andrew's at Eastbourne still carry on the tradition.

Mr Gobat said: "It is the end of an era for us. Our pupils have not expressed any great excitement about it, though.

"Their main concern was it would not mean an end to our Saturday sport fixtures.

"For the teachers and school staff it will be a welcome change not to have to come in for lessons at the weekend.

"There are so many pressures on teachers these days, with some of them working six or seven days a week.

"It will give them the chance to catch up on marking, prepare lessons and even have more of a social life."

St Aubyn's fees are £3,995 per term for boarders and £3,045 per term for day pupils.

There has been a school on the present site since the 1790s, when it was also the vicarage.

The present school was founded by Ulsterman C E F Stanford in 1895 and has remained almost without a break ever since.

During the Second World War the school's pupils and staff were moved to Wales.