Colston's School

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Colston's School
Type Independent
Headteacher Peter Fraser
Location Bristol
England
Students c.850
Ages 3 to 18
Website http://www.colstons.bristol.sch.uk

Colston's School (formerly known as Colston's Collegiate School) is an independent co-educational school in Bristol, England. It is located at two sites, the Upper and Lower Schools, in Stapleton, a medium-sized village to the north east of the city, approximately two miles from the city centre.

It was founded in 1710 by the philanthropist, Edward Colston as "Colston's School". Originally an all-boys boarding school, day-boys were admitted in 1949 and girls were admitted to the sixth form in 1984. In 1991 it merged with the girls' school "Collegiate School", Winterbourne and was given the name Colston's Collegiate School, but this was reverted to Colston's School in 2005.[1] The current Headmaster of the Upper School is Peter Fraser.


Contents

[edit] History

Colston made a donation to Queen Elizabeth's Hospital in 1702 and proposed endowing places for a further 50 boys. This came to nothing, probably because of Colston's insistence that the children of Dissenters should be excluded.

Instead, he persuaded the Society of Merchant Venturers to manage a school he established for 50 boys on Saint Augustine's Back, where the Colston Hall now stands. It cost him £11,000 on capital cost and an endowment income of over £1,300. The boys (soon increased to 100) were admitted between the ages of seven and ten years and stayed for seven years. The curriculum covered reading, writing and arithmetic, and the church catechism. On leaving they were to be apprenticed to a trade.

Colston was opposed to Dissent and proposed that any boy who attended a service of worship in any place other than an Anglican church should be expelled. He also told the Merchant Venturers that if they apprenticed a boy to a Dissenter they would be in breach of their Trust.

The school moved to the old Bishops' Palace at Stapleton which has been designated by English Heritage as a grade II listed building.[2], in 1861 and ceased to be a charity institution with a limited curriculum. It also accepted fee-paying boys as well as the 100 boys on the charity foundation.

From about 1900 it began to be accepted as a public school.

By 1955 the school had 35 foundation scholars, selected by open competition, among its 200 boards and 100 day boys.

[edit] The present

[edit] Houses

Before the advent of the day-boys there were four boarding houses, North, South, East and West. These were renamed Aldington, Mortlake, Roundway and Beaufort, with Dolphin being the day-boys house. Later, King's was added as an additional day-boys house. Now there are four main 'Day Houses' of which pupils are allocated one at the start of their Colston's career: Aldington, Dolphin, King's and Roundway. In addition, boys who board at the school are a member of Mortlake house, whereas girls who board at the school are a member of Winterbourne house (reflecting the location of the Collegiate School, which had previously been in the village of Winterbourne, Gloucestershire). Each house, without the exception of Mortlake, who don Navy on a Dark Blue background, has its own tie: navy and green stripes for Aldington; navy, red and white stripes for Dolphin; navy, green and white stripes for King's and navy and maroon stripes for Roundway. The largest house is Aldington, however most of the awards and interhouse competition wins are spread around the houses. Recently though King's House has become one of the most successful houses regularly winning the annual House Cup competition, and this year winning both the House Song, and for the second year in a row the House Music Competition.

[edit] Uniform

School uniform

Colston modelled his school on Christ's Hospital and the eighteenth century uniform reflected this - a long blue coat, knee britches and yellow stockings. By the middle of the twentieth century this was mirrored by the yellow tops of the knee stockings worn by all boys until they graduated to long trousers at the age of 13. At that time caps were worn whenever a boy left the premises of the school. They were the typical peaked cap with a coloured band round the rim and an embroidered dolphin at the front, the colour reflecting the house the boy belonged to - Dolphin's was maroon, for example.

Boys: white cotton shirt (long-sleeved), house tie, black or charcoal grey trousers and socks, black leather shoes and school blazer (navy with yellow stripes, dolphin crest on left breast pocket). There is also the option of the grey school jumper. In summer, the removal of the blazer and tie is permitted, as well as the wearing of short-sleeved white shirts. The 6th form are allowed to wear a suit of their own choice, provided that it is dark in colour.

Girls: white cotton shirt, house tie, navy skirt, black leather shoes and school blazer. There is also the option of the navy school jumper. In summer, the wearing of a short-sleeved blouse sans tie and blazer is permitted. Make-up is not allowed outside of 6th form, but "appropriate" or small jewellery, such as stud earrings and the like, is.

Games uniform

Boys: the autumn term is the rugby term. The rugby kit is a cotton, predominantly navy shirt with gold hoops, navy shorts and navy socks with gold hoops. The same applies for hockey in the spring term. For the summer cricket season, P.E. kit is permitted (white polo shirt, white shorts and white socks), however cricket whites must be worn if selected in a school team. For P.E. lessons, P.E. kit must be worn. On most occasions, the school tracksuit may also be worn.

Girls: girls kit remains the same for all three sports, hockey, netball and rounders, as well as for P.E. lessons. It consists of a white polo shirt with navy gym skirt and white socks.

[edit] Rugby

The school is renowned worldwide for its phenomenal record in rugby union. Under the guidance of Alan Martinovic, it won the Daily Mail Cup at U18 level seven times, including six years in a row between 1995 and 2000 before deciding to withdraw from the competition. Former England and Bath flanker Andy Robinson assisted Martinovic for the first two cup triumphs. It re-entered the competition for the 2003/2004 season, when the school succeeded for an unprecedented seventh time. Martinovic resigned the post in August 2005, and handed the reins to Darryl Paterson. International players to be nurtured by the school include Olly Barkley, Duncan Bell, Tom Varndell and Lee Mears (all England); Andy Lloyd and Gareth Delve (both Wales) and in the less recent past Alan Morley MBE (England and British and Irish Lions) who is the current world record holder for tries scored in first class rugby. The school has over a dozen old boys playing in the Guinness Premiership as of 2006, with even more playing in National Division One and the other National Divisions, and the Magners League. In March 2006 the school created history by becoming the first school to win both the boys and girls senior tournaments at the Rosslyn Park Schools Sevens Tournament. Incredibly, the school successfully defended both trophies in 2007. The girls almost won an amazing third straight title in the 2008 tournament, but were narrowly defeated 5-0 in the final by East Norfolk Sixth Form College.

The current 1st XV head coach is Peter Thornley, the former Leicester and England A flanker, who took over from Darryl Paterson in December 2006. His assistant is Darren Wall.

[edit] Drama

The school is reasonably famous for its drama too, possessing one of the best equipped theatres in the country. It is the only school in Bristol that can offer all fourteen GCSE theatre options. There are a number of shows throughout the year across the age range, the most notable being the plays devised by the students at GCSE and above, many of which have been praised in the Bristol Evening Post. Colston's is always breeding new acting talent under the guidance of Heads of Department Alison Chisnall and recipient of a Highly Commended in The Guardian newspaper's Teacher of the Year Award, Stephen Pritchard. Old Colstonian James Loye is currently playing the role of Frodo Baggins in the hit West End musical 'The Lord of the Rings', and on February 12, 2008 he returned to Colston's to assist A-Level students with their scripted assignments.

[edit] Current Professional and Semi-Professional Old Colstonian rugby players

[edit] Guinness Premiership

  • Duncan Bell, Alex Crockett, Rob Hawkins, Ryan Davis, Lee Mears, Ian Davey, Mike Baxter (Bath Rugby)
  • Alex Clarke, Ed Barnes, Iain Grieve, Joe Burford, Ryan Prosser, Luke Eves, Gareth Griffiths, James Phillips (Bristol Rugby)

[edit] Magners League

[edit] France Top 14

[edit] Italian Super 10

[edit] Welsh Premiership

  • Gareth Knox (Bridgend Ravens)

[edit] National Division One

  • Richard Bignell, Matt Williams (Moseley)

[edit] National Division Two

  • Ryan Westren (Launceston)
  • Bryce Titman (Wharfedale)

[edit] National Division Three South

  • Kieron Lewitt (Canterbury)
  • Henry Mace, Gregg Setherton (Clifton)

[edit] Transport

Colston's is located at the top of Bell Hill, a road running directly underneath the M32 motorway. The road terminates at Junction 2 of the M32. The school is approximately two miles from the city centre. There are three buses that serve the stop outside the school gates:

  • 5: connects Colston's with Oldbury Court, Staple Hill, Fishponds, St. Paul's and the city centre. Approximately 15 minutes off-peak from Colston's to the city centre.
  • 328: connects Colston's with Yate and the city centre. Approximately 10 minutes off-peak from Colston's to the city centre.

The nearest major railway station is Bristol Parkway, a 10 minute drive away.

[edit] Notable alumni

[edit] References

  1. ^ History Colston's School website. Retrieved 20 February 2007
  2. ^ Colston School, former Bishop's Palace. Images of England. Retrieved on 2007-03-13.

[edit] Further reading

  • Roger Wilson, Chapter 22, "Bristol's School", in Bristol and its Adjoining Counties, 1955

Coordinates: 51°28′50″N 2°33′19″W / 51.4806, -2.5554