Colfe's School

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Colfe's School
Motto	AD ASTRA PER ASPERA "reach for the stars"
Established	1588 (restablished 1652)
Type	co-educational Independent day school
Headmaster (Senior)	Richard Russell
Headmaster (Preparatory)	John Gallagher
Governors	Leathersellers' Company
Founder	John Glyn in 1588, restablished with Abraham Colfe's name in 1652
Location	Lee London England
LEA	Greenwich
Staff	100 (approx.)
Students	1,000 (approx.)
Houses	Beardwood, Bramley, Norton and Prendergast
Publication	The Colfeian
Official Visitor	HRH Prince Michael of Kent
Former Pupils	Old Colfeians
Ages	3-18 (Nursery - Sixth Form)
Website	colfes.com

Colfe’s is a co-educational independent day school in Lee, London and within the London Borough of Greenwich. The school is a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference. The official Visitor to the school is HRH Prince Michael of Kent.

[edit] History

Colfe's is one of the oldest schools in London. The parish priest of Lewisham taught the local children from the time of Richard Walker’s chantry, founded in 1494, until the dissolution of the monasteries by Henry VIII. Rev. John Glyn re-established the school in 1568 and it was granted a Charter by Elizabeth I in 1574. Abraham Colfe became a Governor in 1613 and the school was re-founded bearing his name in 1652.

Colfe declared that the aim of the school was to provide an education for the boys from “the hundred of Blackheath”. He invited the Leathersellers' Company, one of London's livery companies, to be the trustee of his will. Links between the school and the Leathersellers' remain strong.

The school moved to its current site in the 1960s and since then there has been much change, and money has been spent improving facilities, such as an all-weather pitch and new performing arts centre as well as renovating the Leathersellers' sports ground to make it the home of senior sport (rugby football and cricket) and also last year it was the site of the 6th form leavers' ball.

Having been a voluntary aided grammar school, Colfe’s became independent again in 1977. Although founded as a school for boys, girls have been admitted to the Sixth Form for over twenty years. In 1997, it was decided to allow girls throughout the school, and there are now girls in every year group. As of the 2005/2006 academic year, Colfe's first Head Girl was Amy Tarrant

[edit] The School Today

The School is split into two, with students ages 3-11 at the Preparatory School and students ages 12-18 at the Senior School.

[edit] Senior School (Ages 12-18)

The Senior is based at the top of the main school site. The Senior School has very high standards and has had excellent academic success, performing well at A-Level and GCSE.A new all-weather playing field (funded in part by donations from parents and former pupils) was opened in 2006. The school also has a new Performing arts centre, a Sports Complex complete with a 25m swimming pool, 2 gyms and a Sports Hall, excellent IT and Music facilities and over 30 acres of playing fields. Many of the facilities are shared with the Preparatory School.

The school has a house system where each pupil is assigned to one of the four houses (named after previous headmasters) and each pupil takes part in activities throughout the school year to help his or her house win at the end of the year. The houses are: Beardwood, Bramley, Norton and Prendergast.

Colfe's School is also proud to be in the minority of schools which boasts a Combined Cadet Force (CCF). Pupils from year 8 for boys and year 9 for girls learn valuable life skills such as leadership, organisation, and have the chance to earn their Gold Duke of Edinburgh's award, a highly regarded achievement. Commanding Officer Major Chris Cherry leads the unit and is currently working towards the final parade for this academic year, the 'passing out parade' on July 7th when all new recruits become fully fledged members of the unit. WO2 Jack Stamp said "The CCF has changed my life indefinitely and has given me opportunities that have helped me 'rise above the rest'".

Colfe's organises various events throughout the year in which pupils raise money for a variety of charities. In collaboration with various shops and services in Blackheath, Colfe's hosts an annual fashion show to raise money for Cancer Research UK. Over the past three years, Colfe's Sixth Form students and teachers have helped to build, decorate and stock a library in a now-annual trip to the Gambia. This project is led by Dr. RP Thompson, an English teacher at the school. The latest project is to raise fun hard sports for the pupils.

The Senior School (along with the Preparatory School) has recently been added to the 'Good Schools Guide' website ^[1]

[edit] Preparatory School (Ages 3-12)

The Preparatory School is located at the bottom of the school site and are in two self-contained buildings. One of the buildings is for Pre-Prep and Nursery and the other for Preparatory. The preparatory school has the same high standards as the Senior School and has had great academic success with the SATS. The preparatory school also shares many of the facilities with the Senior School including the sports complex and fields and the Performing arts centre.

The Preparatory School also has a house system and pupils are entered into one of the four houses (names after great explorers) and they collect credits and distinctions throughout the year. The winning house (done every term) has a house tea party. The four houses are: Drake, Frobisher, Hawkins and Raleigh.

The Headmaster of the Preparatory School is currently John Gallagher.

The Preparatory School (along with the Senior School) has recently been added to the 'Good Schools Guide' website ^[2]

[edit] Notable Colfeians

• Jem Karacan, professional football with Reading F.C. (currently on loan at Millwall F.C.)
• Eric Ambler OBE (1909-1998), influential English writer of spy novels The novelist and critic Anthony Burgess coined the word, 'Amblerian', to describe Ambler's qualities. ^[3]
• Professor Henry Armstrong FRS (1848-1937) Chemist (see further Biographical Database of the British Chemical Community, 1880-1970) ^[4]
• Sir John Bennett(1814-1897), Politician and watchmaker. His portrait hangs in the National Portrait Gallery ^[5]
• Geoffrey Branch, axe-murderer of Edward Dobson ^[6]
• Sir Antonio Brady(1811-1881) Admiralty official, naturalist, and social reformer. ^[7]
• Sir Richard Madox Bromley(1813–1865), civil servant (biography by M. C. Curthoys, ‘Bromley, Sir Richard Madox (1813–1865)’, first published Sept 2004, 410 words)
• Garry Bushell, journalist
• Richard Clinton, professional cricketer^[8]
• Roger Coleman (1929-2002), publisher who oversaw the creation of the Revised English Bible. Obituary The Independent15 May 2002 ^[9]
• Brian Fahey, arranger and composer of big-band music, who worked with Dame Shirley Bassey and other artists. ^[10]. The Scotsman Obituary 20 April 2007 noted that during World War II Fahey then a Lance Bombardier with the RA was one of the few survivors from the infamous Wormhoudt massacre by German SS troops of British soldiers captured at Dunkirk. As the bullets tore into his chest he recalled "half remembered sights and sounds of the cricket nets at Colfe's...". He was one of only six out of 120 to survive ^[11] See also The Herald Obituary 30 June 2007 ^[12]
• Sir Alan Goodison, Diplomat, British Ambassador to Dublin was appointed CMG in 1975, CVO in 1980 and KCMG in 1985. See Telegraph Obituary 14 July 2006 ^[13]] and Times Obituary 13 July 2006 ^[14]
• Professor Kenneth Grayston, Bristol University's first theology professor^[15]
• Malcolm Hardee, comedy club proprietor
• John Henry Hayes, Tory politician
• Professor Jeff Hearn, Swedish School of Economics and Business Administration in Helsinki.
• Sheku Kamara, football player and violent criminal
• Robert Key, England cricketer
• Geoffrey Masters (Lieut-Colonel RA) MC and Bar in World War II (see Telegraph Obituary 25 May 2006)Lieutenant-Colonel Geoffrey Masters
• Edmund Nelson was a talented painter whose portraits of leading Cambridge intellectuals, including G.M. Trevelyan and E.M. Forster, were complemented by those of cricketers (his C.B. Fry now hangs in the Committee Room at Lord's) and artists. His moving portrait of his wife won the prize for the best portrait in the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition of 1947. ^[16]
• Tony Reeves Rock bass player. Played variously with Greenslade, Curved Air and Colosseum.^[17]
• Jack Ryder, Eastenders Actor
• Professor George 'Dick' Say, Head of the Department of Electrical Engineering at the Heriot-Watt College, Edinburgh, for thirty years, and author of various book, died on 14th November 1992, aged 90. ^[18]
• Professor William Alexander Campbell Stewart (1915-1997), educationist and university administrator.(see The Independent Obituary 13 May 1997) [2]
• Dennis Main Wilson, died aged 72, producer of television and radio comedy, best known for Till Death Us Do Part. In a career spanning 50 years he was also responsible for such series as The Goon Show, Hancock's Half Hour, Citizen Smith, and The Marty Feldman Show. See Telegraph Obituary 25 January 1997 ^[19].
• Henry Williamson, author of Tarka the Otter and member of the British Union of Fascists
• Victor Maslin Yeates, often abbreviated to VM Yeates, school friend of Henry Williamson with 5 confirmed kills whilst serving in the RFC and RAF he was an English fighter ace in World War I, author of Winged Victory
• Jon Moody, ZOO Magazine journalist
• Joseph Robbins, Gay rights activist

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Colfe's School website

Coordinates: 51°27′00″N 0°01′16″E / 51.45, 0.021