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St Olave's Grammar School

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St Olave's and St Saviour's Grammar School
File:St Olaves School Seal.JPG
Address
Map
Goddington Lane

Orpington
,
London

EnglandEngland
Information
TypeState, grammar school (Voluntary aided)
MottoOlaf to Right the Wrong
Religious affiliation(s)Church of England
Established1571
Local authorityLondon Borough of Bromley
SpecialistMaths and Computing (Operational)
OfstedReports
ChairMr Malcolm Edwards
HeadmasterAnthony Jarvis
GenderBoys (Mixed in the sixth form)
Age11 to 18
Enrollmentc. 900
AffiliationMember of the Woodard Foundation
Beneficiary ofAlleyn's College of God's Gift in Dulwich Estate
Former PupilsOld Olavians
Websitehttp://www.saintolaves.net/

St Olave's and St Saviour's Grammar School for Boys (also known as St Olave's, St Olave's Grammar School, or simply Olaves) is a selective boys' secondary school in Orpington, England. The name is either Template:PronEng, or /ˈɒlɪvz/ (homonymous with "olives"). The school is consistently one of the top achieving state schools in the country.

History

The school in its current form was formed from an agreement in 1896 between two schools, St. Olave's Grammar School (founded 1571), and St Saviour's Grammar School (founded 1562). (Its sister school, St Saviour's and St Olave's School, was founded in 1903). The school, was founded for the parish of St Olave in Southwark (1096-1926) which was named after Saint Olaf. In the seventeenth century St. Olave's Headmaster Robert Browne was imprisoned for his religious non-conformism.

Originally situated on the south bank of the Thames in Southwark in Tooley Street (the street name is a corruption of St Olave's), the school moved to suburban Orpington in 1968.

General information

The school has an Anglican foundation, and is also affiliated to the Woodard Foundation. The school's headmaster is currently Anthony Jarvis, an associate member of the HMC.

The school is heavily oversubscribed (more than 7 applicants per place in 2004). Entry is determined by competitive tests in English, Mathematics and Reasoning. Since 1998, the school has admitted girls to its sixth form. It is currently designated as a mathematics and computing specialist school.

Members of the school are known as Olavians, and alumni as Old Olavians. There are four houses: Bingham, Cure, Harvard and Leeke. These exist for the purposes of the classes and house competitions in the Lower School (Year 7 to 9) and for games competition in Year 10.

St. Olave's exclusively provides Choristers for the Choir of the Queen's Chapel of the Savoy, London, the Chapel of the Royal Victorian Order and the Duchy of Lancaster.

The school was at the centre of controversy in 1996 when Labour Party Cabinet minister Harriet Harman sent her son to the school, despite it being some considerable distance from where she lived. Many considered her sending her son to a selective school to be contrary to Labour's supposedly egalitarian principles.

St Olave's has a strong relationship with Newstead Wood School for Girls, a selective all girls school situated a mile away. The St Olave's Foundation also supports the all girls St Saviour's and St Olave's School in Old Kent Road. Established in 1903, this is a non-selective school in an economically deprived area that is very different in nature from its brother school.

Sports

The school is notable for being one of only a few state schools to play the game of Eton Fives (housing the only indoor Eton Fives courts in the country). In the 2004 Rugby Fives National Championships at the Year 8 level, St.Olaves had four players (Martin Bassot, Jamie Moore, Luke Wooldridge and James Goodman) in the semi-finals of the main competition (therefore having the top 4 players in the country), something that no school had ever done before. Jamie Toop won the English Schools Senior Fives title three years running. The school fields successful Rugby teams from U-12 to the first and second XVs. The second XV have now been unbeaten at home for 3 years. Former School Captain David Akinluyi played for Northampton Saints in the Guinness Premiership until 2007.

The school has been successful in basketball, winning the Kent Cup between 2002 and 2005. In Cricket: James Goodman is in the Kent academy and has trained at the World Cricket Academy in Mumbai, India. He has also captained the U16 England International Team.
In Chess: The St Olave's chess team have continued to impress over a decade by winning the prestigious Millfield International Chess tournament. Notable players are Callum Kilpatrick,Siddhu Viswanath, Richard Lobo and Jia Shen Lee who have all represented the UK, and other players who represent the county at various graded levels. Michael Marrow, Zubin Siganporia and Sam Siebert have represented Kent and England for the duration of their time at St Olave's.

Southern Railway School's Class

The School lent its name to the thirty ninth steam locomotive (Engine 938) in the Southern Railway's Class V of which there were 40. This Class was also known as the Schools Class because all 40 of the class were named after prominent English public schools. 'St Olave's', as it was called, was built in 1934.The locomotive bearing the School's name was withdrawn in the early 1960s.

Notable alumni

This is a partial list. For a more comprehensive one see: List of notable Old Olavians

† Alumni of St Saviour's Grammar School prior to the merger

References

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