| Motto | Domine Dirige Nos |
|---|---|
| Established | 1442 |
| Type | Boys' independent day school |
| Headmaster | D. R. Levin |
| Assistant Headmaster | C. B. Fillingham |
| Chair of Governors | The Reverend Stephen Haines CC |
| Founder | John Carpenter |
| Location | Queen Victoria Street London EC4V 3AL England |
| DfE number | 201/6007 |
| DfE URN | 100003 |
| Gender | Boys |
| Ages | 10–18 |
| Houses | Abbott, Beaufoy, Carpenter, Hale, Mortimer, Seeley |
| Colours | Red and Black |
| Publication | The Citizen (weekly) City Lights (termly) The Chronicle (annual) |
| Number of pupils | 903 (as of 2008/2009)[1] |
| Teaching staff | 122 (as of 2009/2010)[2] |
| Affiliations | City of London Corporation HSBC |
| Website | www.clsb.org.uk |
The City of London School (CLS) is a boys' independent day school on the banks of the River Thames in the City of London, England. It is the brother school of the City of London School for Girls (a girls' school within the City) and the co-educational City of London Freemen's School (a day and boarding school in Surrey). It is also a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference (HMC).
The School was founded by a private Act of Parliament in 1834, following events starting from a bequest of land by John Carpenter, Town Clerk of London in 1442, for four poor children in the City of London. The original school was established at Milk Street, with the school moving to the Victoria Embankment in 1879, and then to its present site on Queen Victoria Street in 1986. Today, the school provides day education to about 900 boys aged 10 to 18 and employs approximately 100 teaching staff and around another 100 non-teaching staff including contractors.[3][4] The majority of its pupils enter at age 11 into the first form, with somewhat fewer at age 13 into the third form and some at age 16 into the Sixth form. There is a small intake at age 10 into Old Grammar, a year group consisting of two classes equivalent to primary school Year 6. Admissions are based on an entrance examination and an interview.
Alumni, or "Old Citizens" of note include Liberal Prime Minister (1908–1916) Herbert Asquith, writer Kingsley Amis, lawyer Victor Mishcon, Baron Mishcon and physicist Peter Higgs.
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The City of London School traces its origins to a bequest of land by John Carpenter, Town Clerk of London. On his death in 1442, it was found that Carpenter had listed many bequests, most to his relatives but some to charitable causes. There were no bequests listed to directly support the education of boys in the City of London. However, a bequest of land was left to two trusted friends who were aware that Carpenter desired a legacy which would support children, and in turn the land was passed on to John Don, an influential man in the City of London. On his death, Don left his own will incorporating the words used in Carpenter's bequest of land and his intentions for the land, that it be "for the finding and bringing up of four poor men's children with meat, drink, apparel, learning at the schools, in the universities, etc., until they be preferred, and then others in their places for ever."[5][6] The four boys became known as Carpenter's Children.
Little is known of the early years of the legacy. This bequest was administered by the Corporation of London in around 1460 and a small college was founded next to Guildhall Chapel, also using the library facilities in the chapel. Despite the fact that this continued for over 70 years, the earliest certain evidence of the existence of Carpenter's Children can only be traced back to 1536, and thus it isn't clear who these boys were, what they were taught and where they lived. In 1547, under the Chantries Act the Guildhall Chapel and Library were forfeited. The funding for the four boys was also discontinued. The Corporation of London remained in control of Carpenter's estate and accounts from the next 300 years show that the money continued to be spent on children's benefits such as providing new coats to every child or providing them with access to education.[7]
In 1823, a report published by the Charity Commission had revealed that over the centuries, the expenses of the boys' education vastly exceeded the income from the bequest due to the diminishing purchasing power of money. In response to the report, the Corporation of London indicated that it had taken, "great pains...by searching in the archives of the corporation and other places for the will of John Carpenter, without effect". Had the Corporation instead looked for the will of John Don, it would have received guidance in what to do with the money.[8]
Lacking that guidance, discussions began on how the bequest money should be spent. The City Lands Committee suggested in a report that the bequest should be spent on educating a larger number of boys and this approach was adopted in 1826. A number of people including Richard Taylor, a printer and an assistant to the founding of University College London, urged the Corporation of London to spend the bequest on creating a day school for the largest possible number of boys. In 1830, they proposed that the City of London Corporation School be founded with Taylor as a governor, and that the school to be established on the site of the disused London Workhouse. In the mean time, a small number of boys, who became known as Carpenter's scholars, were sent to Tonbridge Grammar School. In 1829, an Act of Parliament was passed to transform the workhouse into a school and governors were appointed. Conditions at the workhouse site had deteriorated and much money was needed for its maintenance. The only funds available, though, were the same £300 (about £22,000 in 2008[9]) a year budget the workhouse had received.[8]
Over the next few years, the workhouse proposal was seen, by the City of London Lord Mayor's deputation and the City Lands Committee (Taylor was a member of both), as impractical and alternate schemes were proposed. In 1832, Warren Stormes Hale, who believed that the Workhouse proposal was not the best use of Carpenter's legacy, was appointed to the City Lands Committee. He became chairman of the committee in 1833, and would come to be considered the second founder of the City of London School, after Carpenter.[8]
At this point, the City Lands Committee started to search for better locations for a school. They selected Honey Lane Market, a site on Milk Street, as their preferred location. However, this proposal faced the same funding difficulties as the Workhouse proposal; only £300 per year was available, insufficient to build and maintain a school. This problem was not recognised until the bill to found the school reached the House of Lords. An altered bill was finalised in 1834, removing any references to the London Workhouse and addressing the Lords' objections.[8]
The altered bill was passed as an Act of Parliament in 1834. It was this act which founded the City of London School, which initially had around 400 pupils. The act gave the Corporation of London a duty to maintain a school on the Honey Lane Market site and so gave control over almost every aspect of the school's running to the Corporation. A committee was also set up to manage the school, with Hale as chairman. Although the committee's powers were initially limited, they gained more control over time as they made important decisions for the school.[8]
The act gave the new school a £900 (around £75,000 in 2008[9]) a year budget from the bequest while the governors of the City of London Corporation School, who still wanted to implement their original idea, gained nothing, only retaining the old workhouse income.[8] Both Hale and the Corporation of London were also eager to create this second school, which the governors of the City of London Corporation School had proposed. Despite their efforts, the other school was not founded until 1854, as the Freemen's Orphanage School, in Brixton with Hale as chairman. The Freemen's Orphanage School still exists today as the City of London Freemen's School in Surrey.[8]
The foundation stone of the new school was laid by Lord Brougham at premises in Milk Street, in the City of London near Cheapside, on the site of the old Honey Lane Market, in 1835 and the school opened its doors in 1837.
The school was remarkable for its time in several respects. It did not discriminate against pupils on the grounds of religious persuasion (at a time when most public schools had an Anglican emphasis); it included pupils from non-conformist and Jewish families. Also, unlike other established independent schools, it was a day school (although there were in early days a handful of boarders, no boarding department ever became established). It also promoted a practical and progressive scheme of education which was well ahead of its time. It was the first school in England to include science on the curriculum and to include scientific experiments as part of its teaching.[5][6] It also offered education in commercial subjects. This did not, however, diminish the excellence of its teaching in the subjects traditionally favoured by independent schools, and it sent classical and mathematical scholars to Oxford and Cambridge throughout the nineteenth century. These included the mathematician Edwin Abbott Abbott (whose exploration of a world in other than three dimensions, Flatland, is still in print and who returned to the school as headmaster) and H. H. Asquith, who though educated as a classical scholar went on to become the British Prime Minister.
The school eventually outgrew its original site. While many public schools moved away from Greater London in the late Nineteenth Century, a joint decision was made by the school's management and the school committee to stay in the capital as it was deemed a stimulating environment for education by many. By a further Act of Parliament (the City of London School Act 1879), it was empowered to move to a new site at Blackfriars on the Victoria Embankment overlooking the Thames (still in the City of London). The school moved in 1883 and the new building was opened by the Prince of Wales, (the future Edward VII).[10]
In 1920, an arrangement was made whereby all the boy choristers of the Temple Church, were given scholarships at the City of London School. In 1926, this arrangement was extended to the boy choristers of the Chapel Royal at St. James's Palace.[11] The choristers included Ernest Lough whose recording of Mendelssohn's "O for the Wings of a Dove" with the Temple Choir in 1927 made him world famous; it was the first classical record to sell (by 1962) more than a million copies. Other musicians educated at the City of London School include the cellist Steven Isserlis.[12]
In 1938, the headmaster F.R. Dale made an agreement with George Turner, headmaster of Marlborough College, to evacuate the school there, if it became necessary. On 1 September 1939 following the German invasion of Poland and the start of the Second World War, the majority of the school were sent to Marlborough College by train.[13]
Accommodation was not provided in the agreement with Marlborough College and so Turner wrote to the Mayor of Marlborough to request accommodation in town. Many of the accommodation billets were occupied by soldiers and women working for the Ministry of Health at the time and so for the first night, the boys slept in the gymnasium of the school, before moving into the town's billets the following night.[13]
When the Marlborough term began, an arrangement was made whereby City of London boys had lessons during games for Marlborough College pupils and vice versa. The difficulties at the Marlborough location ranged from finding a study for Headmaster Dale to finding enough kitchen staff to prepare food for both schools. Resources were limited and outbreaks of influenza and rubella were common. Like many other schools evacuated into the countryside, the City of London School's enrollment fell from 700 to 430 during the war, although no pupil was killed or injured as a direct result of enemy fire.[13]
The arrangements at Marlborough College gave pupils the opportunity to strengthen the school's clubs and societies. This included a dramatic society, in which Kingsley Amis played a large part.[13]
Marlborough College itself experienced some threat from the war. The Ministry of Aircraft Production had also relocated there, and in 1942, bombs fell nearby. By 1944, with the war settling down, the City of London School returned to its home on the Victoria Embankment, which had suffered no structural damage during the Blitz. Air raid shelters were built on site as a precautionary measure.[13]
Soon after the building reopened, a bomb fell on the nearby Law Courts, and the staff sent pupils home for a week. However, some pupils were due to take public exams. After Marlborough College refused permission to take the exams there, it was decided that boys would take the Higher Certificate papers in the Guildhall Crypt.[13]
It took the school over five years to fully recover from the effects of the war.[13] Many Old Citizens had lost their lives fighting in the war. Today, a memorial exists on the school's current grounds to remember those Old Citizens who had lost their lives in both the Second World War and the First World War. An annual remembrance service, involving members of the Combined Cadet Force, is held in November.[14]
The school underwent many changes during its time on the Victoria Embankment. The curriculum had been consolidated at the turn of the century, the Combined Cadet Force was modernised, the house system had been reorganised, the "mission", what is now the annual charity appeal, had been started and a Community Service Organisation had been set up as an alternative to the Combined Cadet Force. It was compulsory for a boy, above the third form, to serve in one of these organisations for at least five school terms. This is a tradition which still exists today. In 1925, the school acquired its sports grounds at Grove Park, Lewisham. This site included a pavilion, containing offices and changing rooms, which was designed, by Old Citizen Ralph Knott, to also be a memorial to those Old Citizens who had lost their lives in the First World War. When J. A. Boyes became headmaster in 1964, further modernisations were made in the building. As the number of pupils increased over the years, overcrowding became a problem. Headmaster Boyes, believed that a new, modern building was needed for the school, and his efforts managed to secure a site on the banks of the River Thames for a new facility.[11]
In 1986, the City of London School moved to its present site in purpose-built facilities in Queen Victoria Street (where it is opposite the College of Arms and just below St Paul's Cathedral) on one side and facing onto the banks of the River Thames on the other side. It was officially opened in 1987 by HRH The Princess Anne. The Millennium Bridge (a footbridge opened in 2000) is next to the school buildings.[15]
The original building at Milk Street was designed by architect J.B. Bunning, who was the architect to the City of London and also an Old Citizen of the school. The building was designed in a neo -Gothic Tudor style.[16][17][18]
The Victoria Embankment building, a grand building said to be in the Italian Renaissance style (but actually in a high Victorian style with a steep pitched roof resembling that of a French chateau), was designed by Davis and Emanuel Pevsner and constructed by John Mowlem & Co at a cost exceeding £100,000 (about £7,570,000 in 2008[9]). The designers designed the school as "amazingly unscholastic, rather like a permanent Exhibition Palace."[19]
On the front of the building are statues of Shakespeare, Milton, Bacon, Newton and Sir Thomas More, "the first four emphasising the schools literary and scientific traditions, the last being a religious martyr, a famous lawyer, and the author of Utopia."[10]
The building remained the home of the City of London School for a hundred years, although the site expanded to include not only the original building on the Victoria Embankment itself, but a range of buildings at right angles along the whole of John Carpenter Street (which was named after the founder of the school) and further buildings constructed at the back along Tudor Street, with the school playground, Fives courts and cloisters enclosed within the site. These other buildings were demolished when the school moved again in 1986. Here the school was adjacent to the City of London School for Girls (which was founded by the City of London Corporation as a sister school in 1894 and moved in 1969 to its present site in the Barbican) and the Guildhall School of Music (which has also since moved to the Barbican). It was also next to the traditional home of the British newspaper industry in Fleet Street.[20]
This building still stands and is now protected by a preservation order; it is presently occupied by the investment bank JPMorgan and appeared on the left of the famous Thames Television ident for 30 years. The building still features the school's name above the door.[21]
The present building on Queen Victoria Street was designed by City of London architect Thomas Meddings, an Old Citizen of the school as well as a former Temple Church chorister. It is a wholly modern building, although some of the stained glass and sculptures from the Victoria Embankment building has been relocated to this new building. A design and technology block was added to the building in 1990, though in 2008, the block was transformed into a building mainly used by the ICT and music departments, although some design and technology facilities remain. The building was designed on a structural grid and non load bearing walls were used so that the internal layout of the building could easily be changed when necessary. The school's design is also slightly unusual in that it was built avoiding a road tunnel in the centre of the premises. This meant that the first and second floors of the building could only be built on either side of the road tunnel. The load on the third floor directly above the road tunnel is also limited and so a courtyard, surrounded by the building, which goes up to the fifth floor, exists in that area.[22] The current building is opened to the public annually on one weekend in September as part of the Open House London event.[23]
The front view of the building beside the River Thames with St Paul's Cathedral in the background and the Millennium Bridge on the right is occasionally seen in popular media such as in an early scene of the 2005 movie, The Constant Gardener and in the 2009 film Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.
The school seeks to provide a community "to foster good relationships between members of the staff, the pupils themselves and between members of the staff and pupils",[24] so that pupils can develop their social confidence as well as thrive on academic excellence. The school's aims and range of extracurricular activities reflect this ethos.[25]
City of London School has six Houses. As well as houses named after the founder of the school John Carpenter and former headmaster Edwin Abbott and Mortimer, they include houses named after important Old Citizens or school benefactors including Beaufoy, a philanthropist who donated the sum of £10,000 (about £540,000 in 2008[9]) in the eighteenth century, Hale who played a significant role in the school's founding and Seeley, a famous historian who attended the school. Boys are assigned to a House in the Third Form (13 years old), which they stay in throughout their school career. There are interhouse competitions (e.g. sports, literature among others).[26][27]
The school requires school uniform for all pupils up to the fifth form. Sixth formers do not have to wear uniforms, but are required to wear suits and school ties. The uniform is a red blazer with black stripes or a black blazer, white shirt, black shoes, trousers and socks, and school tie (black with red stripes). There are a selection of other ties worn by some pupils; some are awards for achievements within the school. These include house colours which are awarded to those who have represented their house in multiple events. School colours are awarded to those who have represented the school in multiple events. School colours include junior colours normally awarded to boys in the fourth form and below who have represented the school on a number of occasions, half colours which are awarded to those who have competed in several events for the school, and full colours for those who have shown a good commitment in representing the school. Other ties include the prefects tie for elected prefects, the senior prefects tie for the four senior prefects and the John Carpenter Club tie which is awarded to those who have competed in events at an international level.[28]
In 2009, the Daily Telegraph placed the school 35th in its League Table of Independent School A-level results, with 92.56% of pupils gaining A or B grades at A-level.[29] Currently around 20 pupils take up places at Oxbridge each year.[30]
Pupils are required to take at least ten GCSE subjects in the fourth and fifth form. This must include Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Mathematics, English Literature and English. The four remaining options must include a humanity and a modern foreign language. Additional subjects may be taken by some boys. In 2007, the school also started offering iGCSE in some subjects.[31]
In the sixth form, boys take four subjects at AS-Level and continue three subjects onto A2. Subjects on offer include Geography, History and Politics, Economics, Mathematics, Language and Literature, Modern Languages, Chemistry, Biology, Physics, Drama and Theatre, Classical Languages/Studies, Design and Visual Arts, Religious Education, Information Technology and Physical Education. There is also a programme of PSHE, ICT and games at all levels.[31]
The school offers many extracurricular activities. These include over 50 clubs and societies including a Model United Nations, public speaking and debating society which frequently participates in international competitions, and the Square Mile Club which in the past has attracted notable speakers such as Sir Trevor Macdonald, Brian Paddick, Sir David Pepper and Ian Livingston. There are also trips, opportunities to carry out community service and a Combined Cadet Force.[32] The school also gives boys the opportunity to receive instrumental tuition as well as join music groups including orchestras and choirs. The school also offers sports including Football, Cricket, Basketball, Water polo, Swimming, Sailing, Fencing, Squash, Badminton, Fives, Athletics, Cross-country, Judo, Karate and Indoor rowing. Most of these sports take place on school facilities. Sports such as sailing and climbing take place on non school facilities. Boys also represent the school in competitions at varying levels.[33] The school has a tradition of supporting a charity, chosen by the boys through a ballot, each academic year. The fundraising activities are coordinated by the boys and events take place throughout the year to raise money for the selected charity. An average of £50,000 is raised each year.[34]
The school's sports facilities include a multi purpose indoor sports hall, a fencing salle, three squash courts, a 25 metre swimming pool, a conditioning room and playing fields, astroturf and athletics tracks at Grove Park, Lewisham.[35] Music Facilities include three ensemble rooms, ten rehearsal rooms and a music technology lab.[36] Other facilities include the Great Hall, a sixth form common room, a bookshop, a library, an archive room, three ICT labs, facilities for the Combined Cadet Force, a drama studio, two playgrounds and a drama theatre. The Great Hall houses a Walker organ which was moved from the previous school building and put into a new casing. The organ has 3 manual departments, 61 notes and a pedal department with 32 notes as well as 43 stops, 4 tremulants and 6 couplers.[37][38] The drama theatre was rebuilt in 2009 at a value of £1.3 million. The project was jointly funded by City entrepreneur Brian Winterflood and the City of London Corporation. The new theatre was designed by architectural firm RHWL and built by Wilmott Dixon Construction.[39][40][41]
Although the school provides a very modern atmosphere in most aspects of school life, there are some traditional events held annually, although attendance of these events are no longer compulsory for all boys. This includes the annual prize giving ceremony at Guildhall, London and the annual carol service at Temple Church, among others. The school is also home to the annual London Classical Reading Competition, participated in by schools nationwide.[42]
Today, the City of London School's policies are maintained by a board of governors. It continues to be under the governance of the City of London Corporation (the governing body of the City of London headed by the Lord Mayor of the City of London, as opposed to Greater London, as well as an independent corporation). The school is under the governance of the City of London Corporation's corporate arm as opposed to its Local Authority arm.[43]
The school is one of the three independent schools owned by the City of London Corporation, the other two being the City of London School for Girls and the City of London Freemen's School. The City of London School for Girls located in the Barbican is a fifteen minute walk away from the school and there are joint events, such as social evenings, concerts and plays, with the school throughout the year.[44]
Although the City of London School has always charged fees to most of its pupils, those fees have been moderate relative to other independent schools, and it has always offered scholarships, both on the basis of academic and musical ability. In 2008, the school began offering sports scholarships. In addition, due to the withdrawal of the Government Assisted Places scheme in 1998, the school has been able to offer full-fee bursaries (or Sponsored Awards) to pupils from families on lower incomes with the help of contributions from parties including private companies, the John Carpenter Club and parents of current pupils.[45]
For the 2008-09 academic year, the annual school fees were £12,267.[46]
The school currently has six charities registered with the Charity Commission. These are The City of London School Bursary Fund which contributes to the funding of the bursary schemes, The City of London School Bursary Trust which provides bursaries to boys who have gained admission to the school but whose parents cannot afford the fees, The City of London School Scholarships and Prize Fund which allows the school and other parties to offer scholarships, prizes or sponsored awards to current or former pupils without incurring taxes, The City of London School War Memorial Fund which funds the maintenance of war memorials owned by the school, The City of London School Charitable Trust which is the annual charity appeal and The City of London School Education Trust which exempts the school from taxes as an independent school providing education for pupils within the school, as well as providing educational and recreational facilities for children and young people in the surrounding communities.[47]
Many notable people have, in the past and present, been a part of the school both as pupils and staff.
Notable current pupils include actor Skandar Keynes, of The Chronicles of Narnia film series,[48] as well as actor Harry Michell, of Tom Brown's Schooldays and Feather Boy.[49]
There are also notable people in the current staff. These include Jonathan Keates, a successful English writer, biographer and novelist who has won a number of prizes[50] and Sheila Gallagher MBE, the City of London's only remaining lollipop lady.[51]
Former pupils of the City of London School are known as Old Citizens. Old Citizens may join the John Carpenter Club, the school's alumni association.[52] Over 140 people listed in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography were educated at the City of London School, and became "Old Citizens" and that includes only those who were already deceased at the time of writing.[53]
The school has had thirteen headmasters. The first was Rev J. A. Giles, a scholar of Anglo-Saxon history and a Fellow at Corpus Christi College, Oxford,[54] who also wrote a number of scholarly works, including the 34 volume Patres ecclesiæ Anglicanæ.[55] He was however, "temperamentally unsuited" to be headmaster of the school, and was replaced by Rev Dr G. F. Mortimer,[56] a liberal who had written an anti-slavery pamphlet. Mortimer's religious tolerance led him to open the school to boys from Jewish families.[56] He was replaced in 1865 by a former boy, Edwin Abbott Abbott, author of the novella Flatland. Abbott oversaw the education of future Prime Minister H. H. Asquith, before retiring in 1889 to devote himself to literary and theological pursuits.[57] In 1950 Dr. Arthur Willoughby Barton a scholar and top-class football referee, took over as headmaster until 1965. The current head is David R. Levin, who, from September 2009, became the chair of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference.[58]
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