Queen's School, Chester
| Motto | Honour Wisdom |
|---|---|
| Established | 1878 |
| Type | Independent day school |
| Headmistress | Sarah Clark |
| Chair of the Governors | Marion Ardron |
| Location |
City Walls Road Chester Cheshire England Coordinates: 53°11′28″N 2°53′49″W / 53.191°N 2.897°W |
| Local authority | Cheshire West and Chester |
| DfE number | 896/6020 |
| Students | 614 (2011) |
| Gender | Girls |
| Ages | 4–18 |
| Colours | |
| Former pupils | Old Queen's Girls |
| Website |
www |
The Queen's School is an independent day school for girls aged 4–18 located in Chester, England. Founded in 1878 as "The Chester School for Girls", Queen Victoria, who was the school's first patron, issued a royal decree naming the school as "The Queen's School" in 1882, the only school in England to have this distinction. It is a member of the Girls' Schools Association.
History
Founded in 1878[1] by a group of prominent Chester citizens as The Chester School for Girls, the school owes its royal name to Queen Victoria. In response to a request from the Duke of Westminster, an early benefactor of the school, in 1882 she commanded "that the School in question shall be styled the Queen's School".
The school originally had its home at 100 Watergate Flags, an 18th century house built upon the site of an extramural Roman bathhouse.
Once again, the Duke of Westminster supported the school by offering the trustees a piece of land which had once been the site of Chester’s City Gaol and House of Correction, together with a gift of £500 towards the building of a new school. This site, right on the city walls of Chester still exists today as the home of the school’s senior pupils. More recently, further buildings have been constructed or acquired, so that the school inhabits a mixture of Georgian and Victorian buildings as well as modern ones.[2]
The Queen's Lower School was originally based in two large Victorian houses in Liverpool Road. It still occupies this site but has expanded in recent years.
Curriculum
Girls are taught a range of subjects including languages, mathematics, the sciences (separately), technology, the humanities, PE and the creative arts. All pupils from Reception learn three languages and in Year 7 are required to learn Spanish and Mandarin Chinese and may choose a language of their choice from those two or French the following year.[3]
The Queen's School regularly appears in league tables as one of the region's top independent schools based on examination results.[4][5]
The Queen's Lower School was one of three independent schools in Cheshire to be named in The Sunday Times' top 100 schools for 2011 based on SAT results.[6]
The 2011 ISI inspection rated both the Lower School and Senior School curriculum as "excellent" in all areas.[7]
The Queen's School is the only independent school in the north of England to be recognised and designated "Confucius Classroom" status by Hanban for excellence in teaching Mandarin Chinese.[8]
Extracurricular
A range of extra-curricular activities and clubs are offered at both the Lower and Senior Schools.
Educational trips take place to theatres, museums and both local and regional sites of interest. Trips abroad to locations such as China, Africa, America, Latin America and Europe take place several times a year.
Music lessons are available to individuals or groups. The school has a number of orchestras, bands, ensembles and choirs and organises regular musical and dramatic productions. The school hosts the Chester Youth Symphony Orchestra once a week. The Lower School Young Voices choir has been semi-finalists for the past three years in the BBC Songs of Praise School Choir of the Year competition, reaching the final in 2015.[9]
Alumnae
- Vivienne Faull, Dean of York Cathedral and only female cathedral provost in Church of England history[10]
- Frances Patterson British High Court judge.[11]
- Beth Tweddle MBE, Olympic gymnast and three times Olympian[12]
- Lindsay Skoll, British High Commissioner to the Seychelles[13]
- Ann Clwyd, Welsh Labour Party politician[14]
See also
References
- ↑ "Leisure and culture: Education". Retrieved 27 January 2016.
- ↑ Chester Chronicle (27 November 2014). "Archaeological finds at Chester city school". chesterchronicle. Retrieved 27 January 2016.
- ↑ "Modern Languages". The Queen's School. Retrieved 27 January 2016.
- ↑ "A Level performance at The Queen's School is among the best in the country". Liverpool Daily Post. 20 August 2010.
- ↑ "The Queen's School, Chester, GCSE results". Chester Chronicle. 27 August 2009.
- ↑ "The Queen’s School Chester and Helsby Hillside Primary School listed in top 100 schools in UK". Chester Chronicle. 17 November 2011.
- ↑ http://www.queens.cheshire.sch.uk/Mainfolder/The-Queens-School-ISI-Report-30-11-11.pdf
- ↑ "Confucius Introduction". The Queen's School. Retrieved 27 January 2016.
- ↑ "BBC - Birmingham reverberates to sound of BBC Songs Of Praise - Media Centre". Retrieved 27 January 2016.
- ↑ "Dean of York - York Minster". yorkminster.org. 2016. Retrieved 27 January 2016.
- ↑ "The Hon Mrs Justice Patterson Authorised Biography | Debrett's People of Today". debretts.com. 2016. Retrieved 27 January 2016.
- ↑ "Beth Tweddle | Sport | The Guardian". theguardian.com. 2016. Retrieved 27 January 2016.
- ↑ "Change of British High Commissioner to the Seychelles". Retrieved 27 January 2016.
- ↑ "Ann Clwyd". politics.co.uk. 2016. Retrieved 27 January 2016.