Richard Hale School is a boys' secondary school located in
Hertford
Hertford ( ) is the county town of Hertfordshire, England, and is also a civil parish in the East Hertfordshire district of the county. The parish had a population of 26,783 at the 2011 census.
The town grew around a ford on the River Lea, n ...
in the south east of England. In the 2014–2015 academic year, the school had over 1,000 pupils including students attending the optional
sixth form
In the education systems of England, Northern Ireland, Wales, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and some other Commonwealth countries, sixth form represents the final two years of secondary education, ages 16 to 18. Pupils typically prepare for ...
, which is also open to girls.
History
The school was founded as "Richard Hale's School" on 16 April 1617 by the affluent merchant Richard Hale, who wished to ''"erect a grammar school for the instruction of children in the Latin tongue and other literature in the town of Hertford".'' The original school building was in use for 313 years from 1617 to 1930, and still stands near to
All Saints' Church. For most of its life the school was known as the "Hertford Grammar School" until 1967, when it was renamed to coincide with the 350th anniversary.
It began the transition to a comprehensive school in 1975, a process completed when the last grammar intake left in 1981. New buildings were built in 1977, the gym was built in 1978 and the Sixth form centre from 2009 to 2011. It became a science college in 2003, a foundation school in 2008, and converted to academy status on 1 July 2013.
Houses
Hale gave his name to one of the five original
houses of the school. The remaining four were named after the school benefactors
Francis Earl Cowper KG and Richard Benyon Croft; and former pupils Lieutenant-Colonel Frank Page,
DSO and bar, and the evolutionary biologist
Alfred Russel Wallace
Alfred Russel Wallace (8 January 1823 – 7 November 1913) was a British natural history, naturalist, explorer, geographer, anthropologist, biologist and illustrator. He is best known for independently conceiving the theory of evolution thro ...
. These five houses remained for several decades until a sixth house called "Kinman" was added to the growing school, named after the headteacher
Major George Kinman who organised the school's move in 1930. This house was for the boys who were previously in an overflow form, and not grouped together with their other house mates. House competition is an integral part of school life at Richard Hale, with competitions taking place not only on the sports fields, but on the stage in both music and drama.
Music
Students learn instruments and play in its bands and choirs. The music department puts on concerts every year. In January 2017 the concert band and school choir performed at
St. Paul's Cathedral
St Paul's Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in London and is the seat of the Bishop of London. The cathedral serves as the mother church of the Diocese of London. It is on Ludgate Hill at the highest point of the City of London and is a Gra ...
in London as part of the school's 400th anniversary.
Science
The school is a science academy and has an interest in the scientific development of its pupils. On 26 April, the school successfully sent a balloon up to the edge of space.
[http://www.rhasa.co.uk ]
Sport
The school has a long tradition of most popular sports including football, rugby, cricket, tennis, basketball and athletics. A new 3G full sized football pitch has recently been built allowing the football teams to play and train on a modern surface. This facility is also used within lessons and other extra curricular activities.
Planning permission for a new sports hall was given, however it became unaffordable so the funds were used to erect a Sixth Form Centre, which was finished in the summer of 2011. The school still wishes to build a sports hall but needs finance.
Saturday fixtures take place throughout the year with rugby, football and cricket fixtures taking place against other local schools.
Notable former pupils
*
Ant Anstead
Anthony Richard Anstead (born March 1979) is an English television presenter, motor specialist, car builder, designer and artist, best known for co-presenting the Channel 4 automotive show ''For the Love of Cars'' with Philip Glenister. In 2017 ...
, television presenter and motor specialist
*
Samir Carruthers, Cambridge Utd, footballer
*
Alex Davey ex-Chelsea now playing in the United States, footballer
*
Mike Fibbens, swimmer
*
Rupert Grint, actor
*
Billy Lunn and his brother
Josh Morgan, musicians of ''The Subways''
*
Rob Playford
Moving Shadow is an English breakbeat hardcore, jungle and drum and bass record label which was founded in 1990 by Rob Playford.
History
The label began in 1990, operating from Playford's Stevenage home. Playford had become a focal point for ...
, Drum & Bass DJ, record producer and label owner
*
Oliver Skipp, Tottenham Hotspur and England U21, footballer
*
Harry Toffolo, Huddersfield Town, footballer
*
Mark Williams, former MP for
Ceredigion
Ceredigion ( , , ) is a county in the west of Wales, corresponding to the historic county of Cardiganshire. During the second half of the first millennium Ceredigion was a minor kingdom. It has been administered as a county since 1282. Cer ...
(Wales)
Hertford Grammar School
*
Sir Roy Anderson, Rector of
Imperial College London
Imperial College London (legally Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom. Its history began with Prince Albert, consort of Queen Victoria, who developed his vision for a cu ...
and a notable epidemiologist
*
Sir Ernest Birch, colonial administrator
*
Nicholas Bell, English-Australian actor
* Prof
John Cannon CBE, Professor of Modern History at
Newcastle University
Newcastle University (legally the University of Newcastle upon Tyne) is a UK public research university based in Newcastle upon Tyne, North East England. It has overseas campuses in Singapore and Malaysia. The university is a red brick unive ...
from 1976 to 1992
*
Air Vice-Marshal Leslie William Cannon
Air Vice-Marshal Leslie William Cannon, (9 April 1904 – 27 January 1986) was a senior Royal Air Force officer. He served as Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Pakistan Air Force from 1952 to 1955.
Military career
Cannon enlisted in the Royal Ai ...
CB CBE, Commander-in-Chief of the
Royal Pakistan Air Force from 1951 to 1955
* Rt Rev
Richard Chartres, Bishop of London from 1995 to 2017
*
Michael Dobbs
Michael John Dobbs, Baron Dobbs (born 14 November 1948) is a British Conservative politician and author, best known for his '' House of Cards'' trilogy.
Early life and education
Michael Dobbs was born on 14 November 1948 in Cheshunt, Hertfords ...
, author and screenwriter
*
Hugh F. Durrant-Whyte FRS, engineer and academic
*
John Fincham
John Robert Stanley Fincham FRS FRSE (11 August 1926 – 9 February 2005) was a noted British geneticist who made important contributions to biochemical genetics and microbial genetics.
Education and personal life
Fincham was educated at Pet ...
, late Professor of Genetics at
Cambridge University
, 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 ...
, and President of the
Genetical Society from 1978 to 1981, and Editor of ''
Heredity
Heredity, also called inheritance or biological inheritance, is the passing on of traits from parents to their offspring; either through asexual reproduction or sexual reproduction, the offspring cells or organisms acquire the genetic informa ...
'' from 1971 to 1978
*
John Flack, Bishop and Anglican representative to the Holy See, and
Bishop of Huntingdon from 1997 to 2003
*
David Gentleman, illustrator, and has designed the most Royal Mail stamps
*
John Gladwin,
Bishop of Chelmsford
The Bishop of Chelmsford is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Chelmsford in the Province of Canterbury.'' Crockford's Clerical Directory 2008/2009 (100th edition)'', Church House Publishing ().
The current bishop is Guli Francis ...
since 2004
*
Geoff Hamilton
Geoffrey Stephen Hamilton (15 August 1936 – 4 August 1996) was an English gardener, broadcaster and author, best known as presenter of BBC television's ''Gardeners' World'' in the 1980s and 1990s. , television presenter and gardener
* Captain
W. E. Johns, author of the
Biggles
James Bigglesworth, nicknamed "Biggles", is a fictional pilot and adventurer, the title character and hero of the ''Biggles'' series of adventure books, written for young readers by W. E. Johns (1893–1968). Biggles made his first appearance ...
series
*
James Judd, conductor
*
Andrew Karpati Kennedy
Andrew Edmund Karpati Kennedy (born Kárpáti Andor Ödön; 9 January 1931 – 20 December 2016) was a Hungarian-born British author, literary critic and academic with a passionate interest in the language of drama.
Biography Early years
Born i ...
, author and literary critic
*
Air Vice-Marshal Alan Merriman CB CBE AFC, Station Commander of
RAF Wittering
Royal Air Force Wittering or more simply RAF Wittering is a Royal Air Force station within the unitary authority area of Peterborough, Cambridgeshire and the unitary authority area of North Northamptonshire. Although Stamford in Lincolnshire ...
from 1970 to 1972
*
Des de Moor
Des de Moor (born 20 April 1961 in Ipswich, Suffolk, England) is a writer, singer, musician and songwriter. His first performance in front of a paying audience was in Hertford, Hertfordshire, England in June 1976. He worked with local bands an ...
, singer, songwriter and performer
*
Kenny Pickett, singer of 1960s band
The Creation
*
Stephen Pound, Labour MP for
Ealing North
Ealing North is a constituency, created in 1950. Since the 2019 general election, it has been represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament by James Murray of the Labour Co-operative party.
History
Straddling the Western Avenue ...
since 1997
*
Derek Savage, pacifist
* Rt Rev
David Smith,
Bishop of Maidstone from 1987 to 1992 and
Bradford
Bradford is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Bradford district in West Yorkshire, England. The city is in the Pennines' eastern foothills on the banks of the Bradford Beck. Bradford had a population of 349,561 at the 2011 ...
from 1992 to 2002
*
Alfred Wallace
Alfred Russel Wallace (8 January 1823 – 7 November 1913) was a British naturalist, explorer, geographer, anthropologist, biologist and illustrator. He is best known for independently conceiving the theory of evolution through natural se ...
, naturalist, explorer, geographer, anthropologist, and biologist
*
Brian Wilde, actor
References
External links
Richard Hale Association (formed in 1924 as the Old Hertfordians Association)EduBase
{{authority control
Educational institutions established in the 1610s
Secondary schools in Hertfordshire
Boys' schools in Hertfordshire
1617 establishments in England
Academies in Hertfordshire