St Clement Danes School
Motto | Loyauté M’Oblige |
---|---|
Established | 1862 |
Type | Academy |
Headteacher | Josephine Valentine BSc, PhD |
Location |
Chenies Road Chorleywood Hertfordshire WD3 6EW England Coordinates: 51°39′49″N 0°30′50″W / 51.6637°N 0.514°W |
DfE number | 919/5421 |
DfE URN | 136901 Tables |
Ofsted | Reports |
Students | 1285 |
Gender | Mixed |
Ages | 11–18 |
Houses | 8 houses |
Website | St Clement Danes |
St. Clement Danes School is a mixed academy school in Chorleywood, Hertfordshire.
Admissions
It takes students aged 11 (Year 7) through to 18 (Year 13).
The School occupies a large site to the northwest of Rickmansworth in Chorleywood. It is about a mile (1.6 km) from Chorleywood station but there are buses from the station and Watford. It is situated on Chenies Road (A404), which at that point occupies the boundary of Hertfordshire and Buckinghamshire for a half mile, adjacent to the north side of the school. The school is less than a mile west of junction 18 of the M25.
History
The school was founded in 1862 by the church wardens of St Clement Danes Parish in Aldwych, London and opened in Houghton Street. It was funded from income from the St Clement Danes Holborn Estate,[1] a charity founded in 1551 which owned a piece of land on the north side of Holborn.[2]
Grammar school
The St. Clement Danes Holborn Estate Grammar School for Boys remained in Houghton Street until 1928, when it transferred to a new site on Du Cane Road in the Metropolitan Borough of Hammersmith, where it flourished as a grammar school until 1975. The school had a well-known choir which featured in a 1975 EMI recording (ASD 3117) of Carl Orff's Carmina Burana, conducted by André Previn with the LSO (and chorus). The site was next to Hammersmith Hospital, and is now occupied by St Clements House, a block of flats and Woodlane High School.
On 29 June 1973, 13-year-old Nicholas St Clair from Fulham was killed on the school playing fields at Shepherd's Bush, when he was struck in the chest by a javelin.
Comprehensive
In 1975, under an agreement between the Governing Board of the School and Hertfordshire County Council, it was re-established in its new premises in Chorleywood, as a Voluntary-Aided Mixed Comprehensive School. In April 1994 the School was incorporated as a grant-maintained school. The Du Cane Road buildings were taken over by Burlington Danes Church of England School, sold to Hammersmith Hospital in 2002 and demolished in 2004.[2]
The school receives additional financial support from the St Clement Danes School Charitable Foundation,[3] one of the beneficiaries of the historic St Clement Danes Holborn Estate.
In a storm in January 2007, a classroom roof caved in during schooltime.
Academy
The school converted to academy status in July 2011.
Houses
The house system was started in 1908 with four houses: Clare, Temple, Clement, and Dane. By 1938 the school had grown and two new houses were added: Burleigh and Lincoln. Essex and Exeter were subsequently introduced in 1952. On the move to Buckinghamshire, the school reverted to six houses, with Clare and Essex not being reintroduced until 2005.
Commemoration
Every year a commemoration service is held in St Clement Danes Church in London to commemorate the beginning of the school. It is a large celebration, in which the orchestra and choir play a big part.
Notable former pupils
Boys' grammar school in London: Leopold Rubinstein architect designer Barbican tower blocks, London CPB
- Sir John Barbirolli, conductor & cellist
- Maj-Gen Eric Barton CB MBE, Colonel Commandant from 1982-7 of the Royal Engineers
- Geoffrey Davies], developed pacemakers with Aubrey Leatham in the 1950s[4]
- Wally Downes, Wimbledon football player
- Frank Field, politician
- Martin Fitzmaurice, darts master of ceremonies
- Andy Fraser, guitarist and vocalist with Free famous for "All Right Now"
- John Jackson, Crystal Palace goalkeeper
- Gwilym Jones, politicians
- Ben Levene, artist
- Hugh Lindsay (born 1938), English amateur footballer who played for Southampton and appeared in the 1960 Summer Olympics[5]
- Glen Matlock, guitarist with the Sex Pistols
- Mikey Craig, bass player with Culture Club
- Michael Oliver, broadcaster on Radio 3 and on Radio 4's Kaleidoscope
- Dennis Potter, television playwright, director, novelist
- John Slater, actor
- David Stoddart, Baron Stoddart of Swindon, Labour MP from 1970 to 1983 for Swindon
- Ron Taylor 1939-1944, Chief Accountant, Magistrates' Association
- Michael Ward, economist who developed international economic statistics
- Alan Wilder, former keyboard player for Depeche Mode
Mixed comprehensive in Hertfordshire:
- Katy Brand, comedian
- Dee Caffari, record-breaking sailor
- Nick Edwards, TV lighting
- Natasha Khan, singer and musician, Bat For Lashes
- Tim Lovejoy, TV presenter
- Rob Kiernan, professional footballer
- Lee Canoville, professional footballer
- Jack Garratt, Singer and multi-Instrumental
- Andrew Hocking, Rapper who composed "Chorleywood rap"
Notable former staff
- Andrew Davies (screenwriter) taught English 1958–1961.
- Bill Ashton (jazz musician and founder of the National Youth Jazz Orchestra) taught French 1971–1973.
- Roland Mathias, poet
- Jonathon Porritt (eco-politician) taught English and directed drama 1974–1977[6]
References
- ↑ Holborn Estate Charity (known as St Clement Danes Holborn Estate Charity), Registered Charity no. 206754 at the Charity Commission
- 1 2 School History, St Clement Danes School.
- ↑ St Clement Danes School Charitable Foundation, Registered Charity no. 312757 at the Charity Commission
- ↑
- ↑ Holley, Duncan; Chalk, Gary (1992). The Alphabet of the Saints. ACL & Polar Publishing. p. 209. ISBN 0-9514862-3-3.
- ↑ "Hot 100 burning issues" (PDF). Resource: 24. January–February 2008.