St. George's School, Harpenden
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| St George's School | |
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| Motto | "Levavi Oculous Schola Georgiana" |
| Type | Voluntary aided school |
| Religious affiliation | Christian - Church of England |
| Headteacher | Mr Norman Hoare |
| Founder | Cecil Grant |
| Specialism | Technology College |
| Location | Sun Lane Harpenden Hertfordshire AL5 4TD England |
| LEA | Hertfordshire |
| Ofsted number | 117556 |
| Students | 1179 |
| Gender | Coeducational |
| Ages | 11 to 18 |
| Houses | Goddard Grant Watts Monk |
| School colours | Goddard: Red Grant: Green Watts: Yellow Monk: Blue |
| Website | http://www.stgeorges.herts.sch.uk/ |
| Coordinates: | |
St George's School, Harpenden a traditional day and boarding school, was originally a private school, and is now a voluntary aided school. It continues to produce motivated and aspirational pupils who are typically the offspring of Harpenden's already professional community. The schools GCSE and ALevel results, along with those of the other two secondary schools in the area, are some of the best in the country. Admission is sometimes competitive, with some parents going to enormous lengths. In 2007 a family decided to rent a small flat because they could not afford Harpenden's house prices. After putting the flat down as their home address, they were found out by the Headmaster who hired a private detective to investigate the situation, and had to withdraw their application; the story made national news.[1]
The School motto Oculos Levavi - Schola Georgiana appears on the uniform badges. It derives from the Keswick School Hymn,[2] Assurgit, which is sung in Latin. Oculos Levavi means "I have lifted up mine eyes" and alludes to Psalms 121, beginning "I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help; my help cometh even from The Lord, who hath made Heaven and Earth." In the sense of "I have raised my sights" this is equivalent to the English motto Aim Higher, which appears over one archway at the front entrance of Keswick House. In 1917 a Montessori unit was opened.
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[edit] Christian ethos
It has managed to maintain a Christian basis in all aspects of school life. The chapel, which seats approximately 300 people is used daily for worship and assemblies. Because the school has a strong, positive, inclusive, warm sense of community, students are required to attend three chapels per term on either a Sunday morning or evening, an arrangement that leads to a conflict of interest (as well as a level of annoyance at the disregard of secularism) for students of other faiths, or who are atheistic, agnostic, or irreligious. The school offers special carol services at Christmas for both the junior (years 7-8) and senior (years 9-13) students. As the school has many ex-pupils who fought, died and were wounded in the first and second world wars, there is also a special Remembrance Sunday service. Chapels are generally taken by the current preacher, Rev. Manning but are often littered with guest speakers.
[edit] House system
The school is split into four houses: Watts (gold) Grant (green), Monk (blue) and Goddard (red) named after Rev. Arthur Watts, a former headmaster, Rev. Cecil Grant, the founder of the school and Bertram Monk and Lister Goddard, two young men who died in the Great War.
Each house is made up of approximately 300 pupils from all years, a team of 13 tutors, a head of house and a deputy head of house, two house captains, chosen from the sixth form and a team of sixth form prefects. Every year, a boy and a girl are chosen from the lower sixth to represent their school as head boy and head girl. They continue their posts into year 13.
The house system aims to welcome the students at St George's into a larger family environment, but one which is less intimidating than that of an entire school. This is especially helpful for younger or new students.
Throughout the school year, the houses compete in a number of events to earn points towards the Chapman Cup. These events include Interhouse Music, Drama, and a variety of sports. These events are predominantly student coordinated, mainly by the house captains, music, drama and sports captains. Pupils get very competitive and the events are always filled with drama, suspense and a lot of enthusiasm and energy.
[edit] Curriculum
St. George's is reputed to have some of the highest examination results in the country for state schools and rivals some of the public schools, although it should be noted that all three senior schools in central Harpenden are of like standard.[citation needed] The school is good in Sports, Arts, Technology and Sciences but this does not mean that any of the other subjects get left behind.[citation needed] As well as classroom teaching, the school has a wealth of extra-curricular clubs, teams and educational visits both residential and abroad. It is currently applying for status as a modern languages college, a status currently given to another school in Harpenden.
The school music department offers peripatetic instrumental tuition for many woodwind, string, and brass instruments as well as classical and jazz piano, guitar, drums and voice. David Harvey (former bassist for high-profile acts such as Percy Sledge, Alisha's Attic and The Tornados) teaches guitar and bass guitar through the school. Many of the students take private music lessons on site. Regular concerts take place in the chapel and the old library. St George's is also attended by one of Britain's good Scottish pipers.
St George's has a longstanding history of sporting excellence. The two main sports played are lacrosse, for girls and rugby union for boys. The school also has netball, cricket, tennis, gymnastics, rounders, basketball and athletics teams who compete in Hertfordshire and sometimes further afield.
Education at St George's aims to recognise all achievements by teams and individuals.
[edit] Boarding
Keswick and Crosthwaite House are currently home to boy and girl boarders. Often, children from abroad come to St George's to board and often spend seven years of their education in Hertfordshire before going on to university or careers. Every year a head boy and head girl are elected exclusively for the boarding house. These two students from the upper sixth help to run the boarding house effectively and aid relationships between matrons and students.
[edit] Notable alumni
- Lennox Berkeley, British composer of French influence, moving towards serialism in later life. Attended 1919-1921.
- Donald Coxeter one of the great geometers of the 20th century.
- Air Marshall Sir Victor Goddard
- Patrick Heron, English abstract artist with work currently hanging in the Tate gallery, St Ives.
- Kenneth Horne the comedian attended St. George's School.
- Andrew Hunter - former MP
- Frances Lincoln, publisher
- Kate Mullins of the The Puppini Sisters[3]
- Michael Oakeshott, an English philosopher with particular interests in political thought. Attended 1912 to 1920.
- Peter Alan Rayner, a British coin-book author having written English Silver Coinage 1649 to date.
- Dominic Stewart-Smith, an early yet obscure pioneer of the modern day computer architecture, attended from 1955-1966.
- George Hogg (adventurer), British journalist who rescued 50 orphaned children in China during the Japanese occupation.[4] He is to be played by Jonathan Rhys Meyers in The Children of Huang Shi, a film to be released in May 2008. [5]
- George Dixon, drummer in hardcore band Your Demise
[edit] References
- ^ Emily Beament. "Head hired private eye to check parents' addresses", The Independent, 2007-05-18. Retrieved on 2008-04-30.
- ^ Reeves is offside again
- ^ Harpenden Magazine, July 2006
- ^ The long march of a forgotten English hero - Times Online
- ^ The Children of Huang Shi (2008)
