School Seal |
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| Motto | SIGILLVM COMVNE LIBRE SCOLE BVRGENSIVM DE RICHMOND | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Established | Unknown, records exist since 1361. Current establishment founded 1971. (precursors 1566, 1940, 1950)[1] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Type | Comprehensive | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Religion | Secular | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Head Master | Mr Ian Robertson BA (Hons) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Founder | Elizabeth I[2][3] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Specialisms | Arts College; Science and Maths College | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Location | Darlington Road Richmond North Yorkshire DL10 7BQ England |
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| Local authority | North Yorkshire | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| DfE number | 815/4076 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| DfE URN | 121680 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ofsted | Reports | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Staff | >150 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Students | c. 1565 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Gender | Mixed | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ages | 11–18 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Colours |
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| Website | www.richmondschool.net | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Richmond School and Sixth Form College, often referred to simply as Richmond School, is a British Comprehensive School. It was created by the merger of three schools, the oldest of which is of such unknown antiquity that its exact founding date is unknown. The first mentions of it in writings, however, is estimated, to be between 1361 and 1474. It was officially ratified as an educational establishment in 1568 by Elizabeth I.[2][4]
It is located on the outskirts of Richmond, near the Yorkshire Dales. It accepts both boys and girls and serves a wide Catchment area across most of the north-west corner of North Yorkshire, including Swaledale.
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Richmond School was the first school in Richmondshire. It accepted only boys and its only entry requirements were that pupils could read and write. Its original founding date is not know, however it first appears in a registry estimated to have been written in 1361-1474. It was awarded a charter ratifying its status on 14th March 1568 by Queen Elizabeth I and was one of the first free grammar schools in England.[2] The School was built on what is now the Church Yard of St. Mary’s Church[5][6] which stands opposite to and further up the hill to the current Richmond Lower School Building. In 1677 a new building replaced the Elizabethan one and this was used until 1850 when the school moved into a smaller building which still stands and until 2011 was used for teaching year 7 students.
The name of the school from its foundation was Richmond School as it was the only school in the town for a long period of time. In later years it was referred to locally as "The Grammar School" although this was not its official name. Following the merger of the school with the Secondary Modern and the Girls' High School into a single comprehensive school the decision was made to retain the name "Richmond School" for the new establishment.
In 1940 a Girls’ High school was built, designed by Modernist architect Denis Clarke Hall.[6] The School was built approximately 1 mile from the Boys Grammar School near Darlington Road, having its main entrance onto ‘The Avenue’.
In 1950 Richmond Secondary Modern School was built[6] to accommodate those who had not passed their 11 Plus exam and so did not qualify for admission to either Richmond School or the Girls' High School. Large buildings were constructed around 200yds from the Girls’ High School.
In 1971 all three schools merged together to create a Comprehensive School named Richmond School.[6] The then Headmaster of the Grammar School, J.D. Dutton, became the Headmaster of the new combined school. All three original sites were still used but for different purposes. The school was split into three sections: Lower School for Year 7, Middle School for Years 8–11 and Upper School for Years 12–13. These were situated in the former Richmond (Grammar)School, the former Secondary Modern School and the Girls’ High School respectively although significant extensions were added to all sites until the school’s investment as part of a DfES ‘Building Schools for the Future’ programme.
In January 2006 the school was successful in bidding for a DfES grant of £30m to be spent redeveloping the school.[8] A large factor that played a part in the grant was that Richmond is the only school in North Yorkshire to have sites 1 mile apart from each other. In addition to the £30m a successful bid was made to make the school sustainable. This brought the total investment to over £32m. In 2009 it was announced that those entering the school in the academic year 2010–11 would be the last to use the original 1850 site (now called Lower School) in their first year in the school; all years would be taught at the same Darlington Road site and Lower would be sold off.
In the Elizabethan Charter it was stated that the school had the right to "have a common seal for their businesses.". In 1566/7 a new seal for the school was made. The seal was still in existence in 1958. At that time it was kept by the governors.
The seal centered around the figure of Saint John of Compostela. For several years the original Richmond School (the Grammar School) published an annual collection of writings from pupils, poetry and prose, in a small publication called "The Compostelian".
A description of the seal is found in L.P. Wenham's Book (page 27):"The Central figure is that of St. James the Greater in pilgrim's garb. His feet are bare, he has a bushy beard, wears a long, loose dress, has an escallop shell on his broad-brimmed hat, a strip or wallet hangs at his side from his girdle, his left hand holds a rosary and a small barrel or gourd, while in his right hand he carries a palmer's staff. At each side of him, upon Gothic shaped shields are the arms of France (new) and England quartely; in the field are three lilies of France and two leopards of England."
The legend around the edge of the seal reads in Renaissance capitals:
SIGILLVM COMVNE roughly translates as "the common seal", DE RICHMOND simply means "of Richmond", while LIBRE SCOLE burgensium means "of the independent [free] school of the town".
The whole legend, in Elizabethan Latin, roughly means in English "The seal of the independent school of the town of Richmond".[10]
Uniform at Richmond is known for being smart and one of the defining features of the school. The uniform consists of black trousers or a skirt, a white shirt a school tie and a navy blue school jumper or black blazer with the school seal embroidered in full colour. The legend on the uniform's seal is not the original Latin, but instead is simply replace with 'Richmond School Yorkshire'.[11]
A point of contention in recent times between students and teachers has been the school tie. It was, until 2008, continually noted by staff that students were wearing their ties in a more and more informal manner. This prompted the head master at the time, Mr. Phillip Beaver to introduce clip-on ties.[11] These ties, although looked the same, required students to have their top shirt buttons fastened to wear them.
In 2010 a phasing out of the traditional ties consisting of the School’s Colours of Navy blue, Gold and Burgundy began. Each school year, beginning with students starting at the school in 2010 is to wear a tie of a block colour dependent on which academic year the student wearing it is in.
Richmond School is a Performing Arts college and therefore has a history of strength in the Drama, Dance and Music. The school has strong links with the local Georgian Theatre Royal and regularly performs plays there. Once a year the school puts on a locally renown show that is generally considered to be of extremely high standards. The performances are shown in school buildings and usually contain a live orchestra, an impressive set made by the Art Department, professional lighting and sound. School children from local primary schools are invited to a Wednesday matinée and the remaining three evening shows are often sold out.[12]
| Date | Show | Director | Main Cast |
|---|---|---|---|
| December 2011 | The Sound of Music | Mrs. L Moss | |
| February 2011 (postponed due to extreme weather) |
Cider with Rosie | Mr. I Henderson | |
| December 2009 | Oliver! | Miss A Southworth | Oliver: Sophie Overin, Fagin and Mr Brownlow: Ben Bason, Dodger: Dan Overin and Sam Calvert, Nancy: Sophie Holden and Sarah Boddy, Noah:Ben Cain, Sykes: Joe Tankard |
| December 2008 | Little Shop of Horrors | Miss A Southworth | |
| December 2007 | A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum | Miss A Southworth | Psedolus: Robert Knibbs, Hero: Joe Tankard, Philia Rosey Purkiss-McEndoo, Hysterium: Ben Bason, Senex: Joe Gray, Domina: Ashleigh Fayers[13] |
| December 2006 | Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat | Mr. M Kirkham | Joseph: Joe Gray and Ben Lacey, Pharaoh: Stephen Marsh, Narrator: Sarah Harrison, Jacob: Chris Masterman |
| December 2005 | Animal Farm | Mrs. J Demkiw and Mr. M Kirkham | Boy: Ben Bason, Mr Jones, Matthew Thompson, Old Major: Aled Buttrey, Snowball: Emma Kemp, Napoleon: Sam Watkinson, Boxer: Stephen Marsh[14] |
| December 2004 | Bugsy Malone | Mrs. J Demkiw | Bugsy: Sam Watkinson, Blousey: Natasha Wood, Fat Sam: Aled Buttery, Dandy Dan: Matt Houghton[15] |
| December 2003 | Les Misérables | Ms. B Cunningham | |
| December 2002 | A Midsummer Night's Dream | Ms. B Cunningham |
The school has a strong tradition of sport. Until 2003 male students at the Lower School had to perform a 1 mile long run to and from playing fields at Easby. Nowadays the school will have several playing fields and pitches at its Darlington Road site. These include cricket pitches, several full size football and rugby pitches, an all weather astroturf pitch and a large grass athletics track which is locally known as "Wembley" as its dimensions are so close to those of the famous stadium. As part of the redevelopment of the school a large sports hall and gym were also constructed.[16] The School allows the local community sports programs to use its facilities out of term time and multiple training sessions take place at the site.
The school offers primarily a choice of Rugby or Football to boys and Hockey and Netball to girls as part of their compulsory education. However the school offers multiple extra curricular clubs and teams including Athletics, Golf, Trampolining, Cheer Leading among others.[17]
In the Sixth Form the students are timetabled Wednesday afternoons off once a fortnight so they can partake in sporting and extra curricular activities. Sporting teams are popular including a mixed hockey team which won the national title in 2008.[18] Rugby and football are also popular with various wins.