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Colchester Royal Grammar School (CRGS) is a state-funded
grammar school A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented secondary school ...
in
Colchester Colchester ( ) is a city in Essex, in the East of England. It had a population of 122,000 in 2011. The demonym is Colcestrian. Colchester occupies the site of Camulodunum, the first major city in Roman Britain and its first capital. Colch ...
,
Essex Essex () is a Ceremonial counties of England, county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the Riv ...
. It was founded in 1128 and was later granted two royal charters - by
Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disa ...
in 1539 and by
Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen". Eli ...
in 1584.Trevor J. Hearn, ''Vitae Corona Fides: The History of Colchester Royal Grammar School'' (2008) The school's main buildings and playing fields are located in the
Lexden Lexden is a suburb of Colchester and former civil parish, now in the unparished area of Colchester, in the Colchester district, in the county of Essex, England. It was formerly a village, and has previously been called Lessendon, Lassendene and ...
area of Colchester and there are around 950 pupils aged 11–18. Historically a boys' school, it has admitted girls to the sixth form since 1998 and specialises in science and languages.Colchester Royal Grammar School
. ''Ofsted''
The school regularly tops national
A-level The A-Level (Advanced Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education, as well as a school leaving qualification offered by the educational bodies in the United Kingdom and the educational au ...
league tables.


History


Before 1900: foundation, royal charters and early history

Despite the paucity of mediaeval documentation, there is evidence to suggest that the school's origins can traced back to 1206, and indeed earlier to 1132. Several centuries later, following the dissolution of the monasteries by
King Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disa ...
, the royal charter of 1539 ensured that revenues were granted to the bailiffs and commonality of Colchester on condition that they founded a school; this was then enacted by the charter of
Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen". Eli ...
in 1585, on condition that at least £13 6s 8d be set aside annually for the schoolmaster. Revenue from other property was also granted, but this was later challenged in court during the reign of William III, and the arrangements were legally reconfirmed. By 1750, under the stewardship of
Philip Morant Philip Morant (6 October 1700 – 25 November 1770) was an English clergyman, author and historian. Education He was educated at John Roysse's Free School in Abingdon (now Abingdon School) and Pembroke College, Oxford, eventually taking his mas ...
, these revenues were worth £45 per annum and provided scholarships for two boys to study at the
University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...
. For most of its history, the school was small and run mainly out of the headmaster's house, with only minor changes until 1852 when the "big school" was built. At this time there was very little secondary education in northern Essex, and difficulties were exacerbated through friction between the headmaster of the school and the town's Corporation. Pupil numbers dropped, although the school took in a few "parlour boarders" to prepare for entry into the army or university.


Since 1900: new school buildings, uniform and other developments

The school's situation changed in 1900 with the appointment of Percy Shaw Jeffrey as headmaster. He took over a school with 29 boarders and barely any staff, but his reforms rapidly turned the school around. He introduced day boys and established a preparatory school, a cadet corps, an orchestra, a bugle band, school entertainments and theatrical performances. He was a pioneer of the teaching of modern European languages through phonetics, employing language teachers from France and Germany and setting up arrangements for foreign study during holidays. The resulting academic success, scholarships and local goodwill enabled Shaw Jeffrey to expand the school buildings, inspired by the designs of local rivals, such as
Ipswich School Ipswich School is a public school (English independent day and boarding school) for pupils aged 3 to 18 in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. North of the town centre, Ipswich School has four parts on three adjacent sites. The Pre-Prep and Nursery ...
and
Earls Colne Grammar School Earls Colne Grammar School was a grammar school in Earls Colne, Essex, England that was founded in 1520 and closed in 1975. History Foundation Earls Colne Grammar School was founded in 1520 when Christopher Swallow, vicar of Messing endowed l ...
. First, Mansfield House was purchased in 1903 and renamed Gilberd House. In 1908 Shaw Jeffrey convinced the governors and local education board to build a new school building for £4,000 on land previously used as kitchen gardens. The new buildings were designed by architects Newman, Jacques and Round and were opened by Lord Rosebery, the former
Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...
, in May 1910. In 1911 the school was given of playing fields and opened tennis courts and a small rifle range. Until 1908 the school blazer was green, but other schools in the area had adopted the same colour. Wanting the school to be distinct and recognisable, Shaw Jeffrey approached the a tailor and asked what the most expensive dye was. Told that it was purple, he chose it as the new colour for the school's blazer, which it remains to this day. By 1912 numbers had grown to 144 pupils in the main school, split into four houses (School House, Parr's House (formerly North Town), Harsnett's House (formerly South Town) and Dugard's House), and 169 younger boys in the preparatory school. Growth continued through the world wars, with 700 boys by 1947 and five scholarships for pupils to pursue university education. An outdoor swimming pool was constructed in the 1920s and remains in use. In 1966 Labour-controlled
Colchester Borough Council Colchester ( ) is a city in Essex, in the East of England. It had a population of 122,000 in 2011. The demonym is Colcestrian. Colchester occupies the site of Camulodunum, the first major city in Roman Britain and its first capital. Colchest ...
put forward proposals to close Colchester Royal Grammar School and
Colchester County High School Colchester County High School for Girls is a selective girls' grammar school with academy status in Colchester, Essex. The school consistently scores highly in the league tables for the UK. It was joint first in the country in the 2018 secondar ...
and move to a comprehensive system, but this was rejected by
Essex County Council Essex County Council is the county council that governs the non-metropolitan county of Essex in England. It has 75 councillors, elected from 70 divisions, and is currently controlled by the Conservative Party. The council meets at County Hall ...
. The educational expansion of the 1960s allowed the construction of new classrooms and a gymnasium. Expansion continued into the 21st century, with a new art building opened in 2003 and the technology block upgraded. In 2006 a new extension to the science building was completed and two new chemistry laboratories were opened. The school became grant-maintained in the 1980s and converted into an
academy An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosop ...
in 2012.


Buildings and facilities

The school's main site on Lexden road houses classrooms, science and technology facilities, school hall, library, gymnasium, cafeteria and offices. The site also contains: Gurney Benham House, acquired in 1934 and named after
William Gurney Benham Sir William Gurney Benham, FSA, FRHS (; 16 February 1859 – 13 May 1944) was a British newspaper editor, published author and three times Mayor of Colchester. Early life and family William Benham was born on 16 February 1859 to Edward Benha ...
, a former pupil; Elyanore House, used for music teaching; the George Young building, named after a former English teacher and used for drama; and the Jenkinson Building (opened in 2016), named after a former headmaster and containing computer rooms and chemistry laboratories. The school has male and female boarders who mainly come from overseas (mostly from
Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a List of cities in China, city and Special administrative regions of China, special ...
and parts of the
European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are located primarily in Europe, Europe. The union has a total area of ...
).


Academic situation

Being a selective school in the Consortium of Selective Schools in Essex, entrants are required to pass the
eleven-plus exam The eleven-plus (11+) is a standardized examination administered to some students in England and Northern Ireland in their last year of primary education, which governs admission to grammar schools and other secondary schools which use academi ...
. The school has consistently achieved high results, coming first in the
A-level The A-Level (Advanced Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education, as well as a school leaving qualification offered by the educational bodies in the United Kingdom and the educational au ...
league tables on many occasions. The school is also successful at
GCSE The General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) is an academic qualification in a particular subject, taken in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. State schools in Scotland use the Scottish Qualifications Certificate instead. Private sc ...
level. In 2004 Colchester Royal Grammar School was named as the top state school in the country by the BBC. The school's success was recognised in 1999 by the Prime Minister,
Tony Blair Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He previously served as Leader of t ...
, who invited the headmaster, Stewart Francis, along with other heads of the country's top schools, to a meeting to discuss the improvement of education in Britain. In the early 2000s the headmaster Kenneth Jenkinson explained the success by saying that "although as a grammar school the academic success of our students is our principal priority, I tend to see the results as the by-product of an ethos where we encourage students to aim high in all that they do and approach challenges with confidence".The best and worst results
''BBC''. 15 January 2004. Retrieved 29 July 2009.


Classical Latin and Greek

The teaching of
Classical Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic pe ...
is offered to pupils, in addition to studying
Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...
, up to A-level. Between 1994 and 2004 the Government of
Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders wi ...
funded teaching of the subject in an effort to halt its decline in the United Kingdom state sector. This was the result of a pupil-led campaign following a decision by the governors to cease teaching of the subject following financial difficulties caused by becoming a grant-maintained school. Colchester Royal Grammar School was also the first in the country to teach Classical Civilisation at A-Level. The subject "arose from a conversation between Arthur Brown, Head of Classics, and the Headmaster one afternoon in 1970."


Headmasters

The following have served as headmaster of Colchester Royal Grammar School since 1900: * 1900–1916: Percy Shaw Jeffrey * 1916–1937: Harry James Cape * 1937–1947: Arthur William Fletcher * 1948–1968: Jack F. Elam * 1968–1984: Stanley Gardner * 1985–2000: Stewart A. C. Francis * 2000–2015: Kenneth L. Jenkinson * 2015–present: John Russell For a full list, see: List of headmasters at Colchester Royal Grammar School.


Old Colcestrians

Former pupils, known as "Old Colcestrians", include:


2021 and 2022 Ofsted Inspections

Following the launch of the
Everyone's Invited Everyone's Invited is an anti-rape movement organisation based in the United Kingdom, focused on exposing rape culture through "conversation, education and support." It was founded in June 2020 by Soma Sara, and allows survivors of rape cultur ...
website, which accused schools across the country of having a "toxic rape culture", a former student made the same accusation of CRGS. These allegations triggered an
Ofsted The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted) is a non-ministerial department of His Majesty's government, reporting to Parliament. Ofsted is responsible for inspecting a range of educational institutions, incl ...
inspection. The inspection found safeguarding to be ineffective and the school was graded "inadequate" overall. In February 2022, a Monitoring Visit from Ofsted found that significant improvements had been made to the school's safeguarding and reporting processes, concluding that "safeguarding is effective" and that "pupils say school is a safe and enjoyable place to be."


Sources

* Trevor J. Hearn, ''The Gardens at Colchester Royal Grammar School'' (2014) * Trevor J. Hearn, ''Vitae Corona Fides: The History of Colchester Royal Grammar School'' (2018) * Laurie Holmes and Paul Ma, ''The Colcestrian: Colchester Royal Grammar School and the Great War'' (2014) * Percy Shaw Jeffrey and William Gurney Benham, ''Some Chapters in the History of the Royal Grammar School, Colchester'' (1948) * Geoffrey Martin, ''The History of Colchester Royal Grammar School, 1539–1947'' (1947) * Jonathan Spurrell (ed.), ''None Have Done Better: The lives of the Old Colcestrians who died in the First World War'' (2018)


References


External links


School website

School intranet

EduBase
{{Authority control Schools in Colchester (town) Grammar schools in Essex Boarding schools in Essex Educational institutions established in the 13th century 1206 establishments in England Academies in Essex * Schools with a royal charter