| Motto | Levavi Oculos (Aim Higher) |
|---|---|
| Established | 1907 |
| Type | Voluntary Aided Comprehensive |
| Religion | Christian |
| Headteacher | Norman Hoare OBE |
| Reverend | Adrian Manning |
| Founder | Cecil Grant |
| Specialism | Technology |
| Location | Sun Lane Harpenden Hertfordshire AL5 4TD England |
| Local authority | Hertfordshire |
| DfE URN | 117556 |
| Ofsted | Reports |
| Students | 1,237 |
| Gender | Mixed |
| Ages | 11–18 |
| Houses | Goddard Grant Watts Monk |
| Colours | Red and Green and Grey |
| Website | www.stgeorges.herts.sch.uk |
St George's VA School, Harpenden (commonly St George's School or St George's) is a traditional day and boarding school in Harpenden, Hertfordshire, United Kingdom, serving students of both genders from ages 11 to 18 with emphasis on a Christian ethos. Founded in 1907 by Reverend Cecil Grant, it was one of the first public school's in Britain to provide mixed-sex boarding education.[1] This history was continued in September 2010 when a mixed-sex boarding house was opened.
St. George's School is in the top 10% of British School's for Academic results [2]
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The School motto Levavi Oculos — Schola Georgiana appears on the uniform badges. It derives from the Keswick School Hymn,[3] Assurgit, which is sung in Latin. Levavi Oculos means "I have lifted up mine eyes" and alludes to Psalm 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.
The school maintains what it sees as a Christian basis in most aspects of school life. However, the school community contains Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist and Jewish students as well. The chapel is used daily for worship and assemblies. In addition to weekly chapels, students in the years 7–11 are required to attend three chapels per term on either a Sunday morning or evening. The school offers special carol services at Christmas for both the lower school (years 7-8) and upper school 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 taken by guest speakers (or Norman Hoare).
The school is split into four houses: Watts (yellow), 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 pupils who died in action in the Great War. Each academic year the House cup, or the 'Chapman Cup' is contested between the houses in a variety of events such as sports, drama and music.
Each house is made up of approximately 400 pupils from all years, a team of 14 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 School Captains. They continue their posts into year 13.
St George's operates on a 8:40 a.m. to 3:40 p.m. schedule, which includes five periods, with a 20 minute break at 10:50 a.m. and a one hour break for lunch at 13:15 p.m. Students may leave the campus for lunch if they are in the sixth form or have registered their absence with the school office. There are two tutor base sessions per day: 8:40 a.m. to 8:50 a.m. and 2:10 p.m. to 2:50 p.m. There is no fifth period on Friday afternoons; students are allowed to leave after 2:55 p.m.
St George's is reputed to have some of the highest examination results in the country for state schools and rivals some of the private schools. The school performs particularly highly in Mathematics and Art, and is also good in Sports, Technology and Sciences. As well as classroom teaching, the school has a number of extracurricular clubs, teams and educational visits both residential and abroad. It is currently applying for status as a modern languages college.
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 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 has a longstanding history of sport. The two main sports played are lacrosse for girls and rugby union for boys. The school also has netball, cricket, tennis, gymnastics, Football, rounders, basketball and athletics teams who compete in Hertfordshire and sometimes further afield.
In 1939 St George's School won the first National Schools Sevens tournement and has continued this Rugby success producing Rugby Sevens and Rugby Union internationals.
The school has a brand new State of the Art Sports Hall with an extensive fitness area and two new PE teaching classrooms. There are also four hard tennis courts, three netball courts and extensive pitches for rugby and lacrosse in Winter, and cricket, athletics and rounders in Summer.[4]
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.
| Name | Year first attended | Year last attended | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sacha Bennett | 1982 | 1987 | Actor, writer, producer and director for film and television. |
| Lennox Berkeley | 1919 | 1921 | British composer of French influence, moving towards serialism in later life. |