Bromsgrove School
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| Motto | DEO REGI VICINO (For God, for King, for Neighbour) |
|---|---|
| Established | 1553 (established) 1476 (first recorded) |
| Type | Independent |
| Religion | Anglican Foundation |
| Head Master | Chris Edwards M.A. |
| Chaplain | Revd. Paul Hedworth B.Ed. B.A. |
| Chairman of the Governors | Stewart Towe CBE |
| Founder | Sir Thomas Cookes |
| Location | Worcester Road Bromsgrove Worcestershire B61 7DU England |
| Local authority | Worcestershire |
| Staff | c.490 |
| Students | c.1,600 |
| Gender | Co-educational |
| Ages | 2–18 |
| Houses | 11 (Senior School) 4 (Preparatory School) 3 (Pre-Preparatory) |
| Colours |
Maroon |
| Former pupils | Old Bromsgrovians |
| Maps | School Grounds |
| Website | bromsgrove-school |
Coordinates: 52°19′43″N 2°03′48″W / 52.328611°N 2.063333°W
Bromsgrove School, founded in 1553, is a co-educational independent school in the Worcestershire town of Bromsgrove, England. The school has a long history and many notable former pupils.
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[edit] History
The school was first recorded in 1476 as a chantry school and was re-established as a Tudor grammar school between 1548 and 1553. The financial endowment of Sir Thomas Cookes in 1693 produced the first buildings on the present site and the historic link with Worcester College, Oxford which shares the same coat of arms and motto, based on those of Thomas Cookes of Norgrove. John Day Collis became head-master in December 1842 and the school, through his indomitable energy, grew to be one of the best educational establishments in England. The tercentenary of the grammar school was celebrated on 31 March 1853. In 1856, through his exertions, the chapel was built at a cost of 1,500 pounds, and new school rooms were erected and the old buildings enlarged and improved at a cost of 5,000 pounds.
In 1869 Bromsgrove was one of the fourteen founding schools of the Headmasters' Conference. During the Second World War the school was moved to Llanwrtyd Wells in Wales and its buildings were used by British government departments. In 2002 the school established Bromsgrove International School Thailand (BIST) in Thailand.
In 2005 the school was one of fifty of the country's leading private schools which were found guilty of running an illegal price-fixing cartel, exposed by The Times, which had allowed them to drive up fees for thousands of parents.[1] Each school was required to pay a nominal penalty of £10,000 and all agreed to make ex-gratia payments totalling three million pounds into a trust designed to benefit pupils who attended the schools during the period in respect of which fee information was shared.[2]
In 2007, the school was granted the Freedom of Llanwrtyd Wells,[3] and at the end of each summer term, a commemoration day takes place (known colloquially as Commem), in which a wreath is laid beneath Sir Thomas Cooke's portrait, followed by a service at St. John the Baptist church in Bromsgrove, with the day ending in pupils shaking hands with the headmaster and heads of school.
In 2010, a fourteen-million pound development was announced for the main campus of the senior school to be completed in the summer of 2012, beginning in July 2010 with the construction of a new entrance lodge and drive from Worcester Road. This will lead to the new buildings, including a sports teaching and hospitality suite with a function room, a bar, and kitchen, overlooking the sports pitches. A new indoor sports centre with an eight court netball and indoor hockey pitch, fit for both regional and national indoor hockey matches. Also included will be both basketball and cricket net facilities, as well as a 900 hundred seat spectators' viewing area. A new boarding house for Oakley, and the refurbishment of Mary Windsor House, as well as boarding houses for the preparatory school, for both boys and girls. A new dining hall is also being built to replace the present one on another part of the campus where the present dining hall is situated.
[edit] Students
Bromsgrove School has boarding and day students and consists of three schools, Pre-Prep Nursery School (ages 2–7), Preparatory School (ages 7–13) and the Senior School (13–18). The School has a total of 1,600 pupils, including 200 in the Pre-preparatory School, 500 in the Preparatory School and 900 in the Senior School, of whom 60% are male and 40% female, 60% boarding and 40% day. As well as British students, there are more than three hundred from 40 different countries, especially Russia, Germany, China and Hong Kong.
The school is to some extent a selective school and high A-Level and GCSE grades are achieved, with an A-Level pass rate (grade A*-C) of 96%.[4] Bromsgrove also started teaching the International Baccalaureate Diploma (IB) in 2009, with 6th form students having the choice between them and A-Levels. A Rugby match against King Edward's School, Birmingham, that has been played annually since 1875,[5] is thought to be the oldest continuous Rugby fixture between two schools in England.[6]
[edit] Houses
The preparatory school houses of Boulton (Matthew Boulton), Darby (Abraham Darby), Telford (Thomas Telford), Watt (James Watt), are named after the famous British industrialists.
Hazeldene is a house for day girls, and Housman Hall for Sixth Form girls and boys was opened in 2005, after the school bought the Ramada Perry Hall Hotel for 3 million pounds. The building was formerly the home of A.E. Housman, an old Bromsgrovian, and was expanded in 2009. Lupton, named after Lupton House, Sedbergh School, and Lyttelton, named after the school's links with Baron Lyttelton, a local Lord (which is also where the Cobham links came from) are houses for day boys. Mary Windsor, named after the daughter of Thomas Windsor Windsor, 1st Earl of Plymouth and Anne Savile is for girl boarders. Thomas Cookes, named after the founder of the school in its current incarnation,is day girls house. Oakley House is for boarding girls. School House and Walters house are for day boys. School House leads the final call over during the end of year Commemoration Day ceremony as it is the Senior house of the school, and Wendron Gordon with over 100 pupils in 2009-2010 due to merging with School House, (Formerly the original Gordon House combined with the "out house", Wendron), is for boy boarders. The Senior School house Elmshurst, is also for boy boarders and was named after the original house that was located at 17 New Road. Elmshurst was sold in the mid-1970s and the students relocated within the school campus to the current building which was refurbished in 2009 at a cost of around £500,000.
[edit] Notable students
There have been many notable alumni, called Old Bromsgrovians, including five Victoria Cross recipients, and one George Cross holder. AE Housman is one of the early recognisable names, whose house is now the school's House; Housman Hall. In business and politics, David Arculus, Stewart Towe CBE and Digby Jones were educated at Bromsgrove, as were actors Ian Carmichael,[7] Trevor Eve (of Shoestring), and Nick Miles (of Emmerdale). The author Nicholas Evans who wrote The Horse Whisperer, while in music, John Illsley of the rock band Dire Straits attended both the Prep and Senior Schools, and more recently Guillemots member Fyfe Dangerfield and jazz saxophonist Soweto Kinch were pupils at the school. The school has also produced well known sportspeople including Matt Neal, a motor racing driver, who attended during the 1980s. Andy Goode, Ben Foden and Matt Mullan were also pupils and have since played Rugby Union for England.
[edit] Victoria Cross holders
Five Old Bromsgrovians have won the Victoria Cross:[8]
- Field Marshal Sir George White V.C., (1835–1912), Commander-in-Chief, India, 1893–1899, Governor of Gibraltar, 1900–1904,
- Percy Thompson Dean V.C., (1877–1939)
- Eustace Jotham V.C., (c.1884–1915)
- Frank Bernard Wearne V.C., (c.1894–1917)
- Nigel Gray Leakey V.C., (1913–1941)
[edit] George Cross Holders
One Old Bromsgrovian has won the George Cross:[9]
- Group Captain Oliver Campbell Bryson G.C., Royal Flying Corps, (1896–1977)
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Halpin, Tony (10 November 2005). "Independent schools face huge fines over cartel to fix fees". The Times (London). http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/education/article588559.ece. Retrieved 27 April 2010.
- ^ The Office of Fair Trading: OFT names further trustees as part of the independent schools settlement
- ^ Unique Honour For Town School (from Bromsgrove Advertiser)
- ^ Bromsgrove School
- ^ Bromsgrove & KES Birmingham.
- Thomas Winter Hutton, King Edward's School, Birmingham, 1552-1952, Blackwell, 1952. p. 148 "The first Bromsgrove game was in 1875, and 121 games have been played—two in a season at one period."
- Henry Icely, Bromsgrove School through four centuries, Blackwell, 1953. pp. 69,99. "Rugby football, hitherto an unregulated and unsatisfactory game, was by 1875 a far better occupation for October half-holidays than wooding." "In the seventies the Rugby game was still twelve a side. There were School matches. KES, Birmingham, was an early fixture; SES, Oxford, was played for the first time in 1882."
- ^ Staff, Senior School Sports Rugby Bromsgrove School, Retrieved 7 August 2008
- ^ Barker, Dennis (6 February 2010). "Ian Carmichael obituary". guardian.co.uk (London: Guardian News and Media Limited). http://www.guardian.co.uk/tv-and-radio/2010/feb/06/ian-carmichael-obituary. Retrieved 2010-02-06.
- ^ Lovell, Nicholas (1996) V.C.s of Bromsgrove School : : the stories of five Victoria Crosses won by old Bromsgrovians , ISBN 0-9521362-3-6 ISBN 0952136236
- ^ Ashcroft, Michael (2010) George Cross Heroes, "Oliver Campbell Bryson pp 365." ISBN 0-978-07553-60826 Headline Review.
[edit] External links
- Bromsgrove School Website
- Old Bromsgrovian Club
- Bromsgrove School OB's who died in three wars
- Map of Bromsgrove School Grounds
- Educational institutions established in the 1550s
- Independent schools in Worcestershire
- Schools with Combined Cadet Forces
- 1553 establishments in England
- Old Bromsgrovians
- Member schools of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference
- Boarding schools in Worcestershire
- Bromsgrove
- International Baccalaureate schools in England
- Worcester College, Oxford
