Colchester Royal Grammar School
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| Colchester Royal Grammar School | |
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| Motto | Vitae Corona Fides (Faith is the Crown of Life) |
| Established | 1206 |
| Type | foundation grammar |
| Religious affiliation | Christian |
| Headmaster | Ken Jenkinson |
| Chairman of Governors | Dr J G Tillett |
| Founders | Master John and Joseph Elianore |
| Specialism | Science |
| Location | Lexden Road Colchester Essex CO3 3ND England  |
| LEA | Essex County Council |
| Ofsted number | 115359 |
| Students | 782 |
| Gender | Boys (Mixed Sixth Form, but male boarders only) |
| Ages | 11 to 18 |
| Houses | Dugard's Harsnett's Parr's Shaw Jeffrey's |
| School colours | Purple & gold |
| Website | www.crgs.co.uk |
| Coordinates: | |
Colchester Royal Grammar School (CRGS) is a grammar school in Colchester, Essex, founded in AD 1206[citation needed] and granted two Royal Charters by Henry VIII (in 1539) and by Elizabeth I (in 1584).
The main school buildings are located in the Lexden area of Colchester, with the school's playing fields located three minutes' walk away on Queen's Road.
The school is one of the United Kingdom's most academically successful schools, consistently achieving high results in national league tables1, and regularly placing above public schools such as Eton[citation needed]. The school has around 700 pupils aged 11-18, with girls admitted in the two upper years only. The school features extensive gardens, incorporating Gurney Benham House (named after a former Mayor of Colchester) and Elyanore House, as well as playing fields in Lexden.
The school is officially a specialist science school, and has just recently built a new chemistry block.
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[edit] Academic
As a grammar school, CRGS's stated main aim is to ensure the academic success of its pupils. The school is consistently placed within the top few state schools in the country for A-level results and achieves similar success at GCSE 1. In 2004, it was named as the top state school in the country by the BBC[citation needed]. Headmaster Ken Jenkinson has explained this success by saying that "although as a grammar school the academic success of our students is our principal priority, I tend to see the results as the by-product of an ethos where we encourage students to aim high in all that they do and approach challenges with confidence."[citation needed]
The school's success was recognised by Prime Minister Tony Blair who in 1999 invited the then headmaster of CRGS, Stewart Francis, among other heads of the country's top schools, to a meeting to discuss the improvement of education in Britain.
The school's 'value added' score is higher than the national average[1].
[edit] Subjects
Subjects studied at the school are:
- Ancient Greek (From Year 8, choice between Ancient Greek and German)
- Art
- Biology (From Year 8)
- Chemistry (From Year 8)
- Classical Civilisation (From A level)
- Computing (From A level)
- ICT (Only to GCSE)
- Design & Technology
- Drama (year 7 only, merges into English after that)
- Economics (From A level)
- English
- French
- Geography
- German (From Year 8, choice between Ancient Greek and German)
- History
- Latin
- Mathematics
- Music
- Physical Education (Years 7-11 AND limited places at AS and A-Level). For GCSE, see subnote.
- Physics (From Year 8)
- Religious and Social Studies (Years 7-9 and GCSE only, yet possible extension to A-Level)
- Science (Year 7 only - replaced by Biology, Chemistry and Physics at Year 8). There is a single/triple Science option at GCSE.
- Statistics (Only GCSE, by set)
The school is also trialling extra single Year 10 GCSEs in Astronomy (See Edexcel Specification) and Physical Education.
[edit] Classics
CRGS is one of a very small number of British state schools which still offer Ancient Greek for GCSE and A-Level. Between 1994 and 2004 the Greek government funded teaching of the subject, in an effort to halt its decline in the United Kingdom state sector, thanks to a pupil-led campaign[citation needed]. The Classics department remains an integral and defining part of the school's ethos, especially given that all students take Latin lessons for their first three years, and have the option of Ancient Greek in the second. The school was also the first in the country to teach Classical Civilisation at A Level.[citation needed]
[edit] Admission and classes
Being a selective school, in the Consortium of Selective Schools in Essex "(CSSE)", entrants are required to pass the eleven plus exam.
The eleven plus exam has a variable pass rate of 3% to 20% depending on the set of students[citation needed].
There is also a small intake of four students at age 13 (after Year 8) to make four classes of roughly 25 (the fourth class taking the initial S)[citation needed].
The new intake in year 7 consists of 96 pupils, split into three classes of 32. The three forms are given the initials of 7C, 7R and 7G. At the end of the year, when pupils are asked to choose between Greek and German as a language, the groups of pupils are changed around.
The sixth form has a separate admissions policy, and its forms are not labelled C, R, G and S but instead 12Aa where Aa is the two letter teacher code of the form tutor.
[edit] Facilities
[edit] Classrooms and other buildings
The school has the following facilities:
- Classrooms:
- English: 3 (+1)
- Modern Foreign Languages: 4
- Mathematics: 3 (+3)
- Geography: 2
- Religious Education: 1
- ICT Suites: 4 (two of which sometimes used for lessons in Mathematics and a third used as a Lecture Room for lessons which require ICT work)
- Science Labs: 2 for each science, plus several others
- Technology Block
- Art Block
- Classics and History Block
- Music/Drama Block (Elyanore House, detached from rest of school)
- Library
- Restaurant
- Boarding Houses
(numbers in brackets show rooms that are shared between two subjects, e.g. English and Mathematics share a room)
[edit] Boarding house
One of CRGS's defining characteristics is its boarding house, which is home to 30 sixth form students predominantly from the Far East (most are from Hong Kong and from the United Kingdom and occasionally from elsewhere in the European Union[citation needed].
The school is noted for the large number of overseas students, primarily from Asian countries, who come to the school in its sixth form and stay either at the boarding house or under the care of host families[citation needed].
It is felt by the school that as well as offering excellent opportunities for academic progress, life in the boarding house prepares the student for the future, when he or she is separated from their family and subject to the demands of university life[citation needed].
[edit] Inspectors' feedback on the boarding house
The following comments were made by Ofsted, the UK schools inspectorate[citation needed]:
- "The School cares for its students very well and ensures their health and safety. It provides very high levels of support, advice and guidance, which are firmly based on the monitoring of progress. The school consults students and acts on their views."
- "Pastoral care for boarders is very good. Supervision is very good; it is appropriate to the age and maturity of the boarders. Boarding provides very well for students' personal and academic development, and prepares them well for adult life. Relationships between students, and between students and staff are very good. Boarders have good programme of trips and visits at weekends and a very good social space in the games hut."
[edit] School houses
The four school houses, named after past headmasters, are as follows[citation needed]:
- Dugard's
Named after William Dugard
Head of House: Mr A Livingston
Motto: Dieu Garde (May God protect us)
- Harsnett's
Named after William Harsnett
Head of House: Dr P Jones
Motto: Perge (Forward)
- Parr's
Named after Samuel Parr.
Head of House: Mr R Heard
Motto: Tout Prêt (All Prepared)
- Shaw Jeffrey's (Jay's)
Named after Peter Shaw Jeffrey
Head of House: Mrs K Livingston / Mrs F Heaton
Motto: Dex Aie (May God help us)
The house competition occurs each year, with the winner of the 2006-07 competition being Harsnett's, winning the competition for the first time since the competition was restarted in 1999.
[edit] Awarding of points
There is an annual house competition, in which points are scored by winning at[citation needed]:
- House Quiz (Junior, Middle School and Senior)
- Sport (Including rugby, cross country running, football, swimming gala, year eight cricket day, sports day, tug-o-war and hockey)
- Commendations (awarded on behaviour and work)
- Song Competition (a recent event that has been running for the past few years)
- 24 hour famine (a recent event which has only been running for a few years and won by the house donating the most money)
- House Chess (new for 2007-2008 year)
At the end of the year the house with the most points wins the house trophy.
[edit] Uniform
Pupils in the main school wear a distinctive uniform comprising a purple blazer and tie with house badge, as well as a white shirt and black trousers and socks. Various 'custom' ties are available, recognising achievement or dedication to the school. Students in the Sixth Form do not wear the uniform, but must instead wear smart clothes, typically a suit[citation needed].
[edit] History
Past headmaster Shaw Jeffreys attributed the founding of the school to two key people prior to the granting of its charters:
- Master John, burgess of Colchester and later rector of Tendring, who founded the chantry of St Helen's Chapel in Colchester, in 1322, and
- Joseph Elianore, MP for Colchester in 1312 and later Baliff of Colchester, who founded the chantry of St Mary's, Colchester, in 1348.
With the dissolution of the monasteries by King Henry VIII, the Royal Charter of 1539 ensured revenues were granted to the bailiffs and commonality of Colchester on the condition that they founded a school; this was then enacted by the Charter of Queen Elizabeth in 1585, on condition that at least £13 6s 8d be set aside annually for the schoolmaster. Revenue from other property was also granted, but this was later challenged in court during the reign of King William III, and the arrangements were legally reconfirmed. By 1750, under the stewardship of Philip Morant, these revenues were worth £45 per annum, as well as providing scholarships for two boys to go up Cambridge University.
The school was small and run mainly out of the headmaster's house for most of its early life, with only minor changes until 1852 when the "Big School" was built. At this time there was very little secondary education in this part of Essex, and difficulties were exacerbated through friction between the then headmaster of the school and the town's Corporation. Pupils numbers dropped although the school took in a few "parlour boarders" to prepare for Army or University entry. This changed with the appointment of Shaw Jeffrey from Clifton College to become headmaster in September 1899. He took over a school with 29 boarders, and barely any staff. Shaw Jeffreys' reforms rapidly turned the school about; he introduced day boys and a prep school, a cadet corps, orchestra, bugle band, school entertainments and theatrical performances. He was a national pioneer of the teaching of modern European languages through phonetics, employed language teachers from Germany and France, and set up arrangements for foreign study during holidays. He also founded the Old Colcestrian Society to reconnect the school with its old boys, with Councilor W Gurney Benham chairing its inaugural meeting on 23 June 1901.
The resulting academic success, scholarships and local goodwill that followed thus enabled Shaw Jeffreys to expand the school buildings, inspired by the designs of rival Ipswich and Earls Colne Grammar Schools. Firstly Mansfield House was bought in 1903 and renamed Gilberd House. In 1908 he convinced the Governors and local Education Board to expand the the Big School and build a New School building for £4000 on land that was previously the kitchen gardens. This was designed by architects Newman, Jaques and Round, and was opened by Lord Rosebery with Colchester Corporation dignatories in May 1910. In 1911 the school was gifted 12 acres of playing field, and opened tennis courts and a small rifle range.
By 1912 numbers had grown to 144 pupils in the main school, split into three Houses (Schoolhouse, North Town and South Town), and 169 younger boys in an attached preparatory school that the headmaster also started as a private venture. Pupils wore different coloured caps depending on their house, until Shaw Jeffreys noted that other local elementary schools were copying the colours. To confound this, he asked the local hatter "what was the most expensive colour and most hard to get", and hence chose purple and gold, which established the colour of the school uniform.
This growth continued through the world wars until, in 1947, under headmaster A S Mason, there were 700 boys, and five scholarships for pupils to pursue university education.
The educational expansion of the 1960s allowed the construction of new classrooms, swimming pool and gym; but the scholarships were no longer required with the introduction of free university education. The 1960s buildings have mainly been replaced; a new art building was opened in 2003 and the technology block was upgraded. In 2006 a new extension to the science building was completed and two new Chemistry laboratories were opened.
Until 2000[citation needed] the headmaster was resident in a house in the school grounds, but this has since been converted into extra classrooms and boarding facilities.
[edit] Old Colcestrians
An Old Colcestrian is the phrase given to a person who formerly attended the school. They are also known as old boys. There is a society of OCs who have a cricket team who annually play against the school's 1st XI.
Some notable OCs include:
- George Biddell Airy (1801-1892), Astronomer Royal
- Mike Baker, BBC journalist and BBCi Education Correspondent[2]
- Dr. David Clary, theoretical chemist and President of Magdalen College, Oxford
- John Eldred MP, an early MP for Harwich
- Benjamin Furley, an early Quaker and founder of Towamencin Township, Pennsylvania in 1703
- Charles Gray (MP) (1696-1782), lawyer, antiquary, and MP for Colchester
- Francis Hauksbee (1660-1713), natural philosopher and scientist
- William St Lawrence, an early Baron of Howth
- Dr. Samuel Kinns (1826–1903), astronomer, Highbury New Park College and anti-evolutionary author
- Baron William Penney (1909–1991) mathematician and "father" of the British atomic bomb
- Jan Pinkava, film director and writer
- William Samuel Powell (1717–1775), Vice-Chancellor of Cambridge University
- John Pluthero, founder of Freeserve
- Sir Bertram Ramsay RN (1883-1945), commanded the 1940 evacuation from Dunkirk
- Andrew Sanger, travel writer
- William Ashwell Shenstone (1850–1908), chemist and schoolmaster
- David Smith, rugby player for Northampton Saints
- Giles Smith, Guardian Writer[citation needed]
- Derek Murray Wyatt, MP for Sittingbourne and Sheppey
[edit] School Song
Carmen Colchestriense by Shaw Jeffrey
First Verse:
Now hands about for Colchester
And sing a rousing chorus
In praise of all our comrades here
And those who went before us.
For to this lay all hearts be true;
The loyal hearts that love us;
So fortune fend each absent friend
While there's a sun above us.
Chorus:
Sing! boys, sing!
Floreat Sodalitas
Little matter, well or ill,
Sentiment is more than skill,
Sing together with a will
Floreat Sodalitas
'tas Colchestriensis
Second Verse:
By mullioned panes the ivy climbs,
On Tudor masks and faces.
So mem'ry adds an evergreen
To well remembered places.
And grave OC's still dream besides
Of days long since departed;
And some have expiated crimes
For which their backs have smarted!
Chorus
Third Verse:
Tradition gives us pride of birth,
Brave hearts and gentle manners,
For we are sons of men who marched
Beneath the Tudor banners!
So as we pass the torch along
Aglow with high endeavour,
One kindly mother we acclaim
That she may stand for ever.
[edit] References
- League Tables from the BBC
- Some Chapters in the History of the Royal Grammar School, Colchester P Shaw Jeffrey & Sir Gurney Benham, 1948
