| Revision as of 21:46, 11 December 2007 editDewarw (talk | contribs)2,088 edits →Notable Alumni: removed list of ex '''RGS Worcester''' pupils- these are already on the RGS Worcester page. Since RGS'''AO''' Worcester is new, then are no past pupils of note!← Previous edit | Latest revision as of 08:37, 6 March 2011 edit undoBC108 (talk | contribs)Extended confirmed users7,056 edits Redirect to Royal Grammar School Worcester | ||
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| {{otheruses4|the current RGSAO, '''established in 2007'''|the old RGS (1291-2007)|Royal Grammar School Worcester|the old AO (1833-2007)|The Alice Ottley School}} | |||
| {{Infobox Secondary school | |||
| | name = RGS Worcester and The Alice Ottley School | |||
| | logo = Being designed | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
| | motto = ''Respice et Prospice / Canadia Rectaque'' | |||
| | established = 2007 (merger of: RGS Worcester (founded ante 1291) and The Alice Ottley School (founded 1883)) | |||
| | type = Private coeducational secondary | |||
| | affiliations = ] | |||
| | headmaster = Andrew Rattue | |||
| | enrolment = 934 | |||
| | age range = 3-18 | |||
| | year-groups = 1-13 | |||
| | colours = Green, Blue, White | |||
| | city = ] | |||
| | county = ] | |||
| | country = {{flagicon|UK}} ] | |||
| | website = http://www.rgsao.org/rgsao| www.rgsao.org] | |||
| }} | |||
| ] (known as '''RGSAO''' for short) is a coeducational, private, day school in ], ]. It was formed from the merger of ] and ] in ] ]. The ] of the school is Andrew Rattue, who was headmaster of the Royal Grammar School prior to the merger. | |||
| ==History== | |||
| As the origin of the school lies along the two paths of both the RGS and AO, the school has a somewhat complex and interesting history. The school can trace its origins back to and before 1291. | |||
| ===RGS Worcester=== | |||
| '''RGS Worcester''' (Royal Grammar School Worcester) was originally founded as a secular monastic school in Worcester around ] by ]. It was located outside the monastic precincts (as with the The King's School, Canterbury) and catered for the relatives of monks and children intending to go into the monastery. The first written reference to the school appears in 1265 when the ], ], sent four chaplains into the city to teach. | |||
| Conclusive evidence appears in ] when an argument was settled by Bishop ] regarding who owned the wax from the candles used at the feast of St Swithun. It was decided that the Scholars of the Worcester School owned the wax, and the Rector of Saint Nicholas Church had to rely on the generosity of the scholars in order to get candle wax. The headmaster is mentioned as Stephen of London. The letter dated December 1291 is in the County Records Office in Worcester. | |||
| The next headmaster was appointed in 1312 as Hugh of Northampton as recorded in the Bishop's register for that year. He was appointed personally by the Bishop of Worcester, Archbishop of Canterbury, Lord Chancellor Walter Reynolds. The school continued to exist under the control of the city guilds through the centuries with various records of headmasters being appointed, again listed in the registers of the bishops of Worcester. One in particular was 'Sir Richard (Chaplain)', who was dismissed by the bishop of Worcester, Philip Morgan, in 1422 for taking money from the scholars for his own use. He was replaced the same year by Sir John Bredel. Sir Richard Pynnington was appointed in 1485 and is known to have given money to the Archbishop of Canterbury's fund, showing the strong connection of the school with the church. | |||
| ====Royal charters==== | |||
| Bishop Hugh Latimer wrote to ], Lord Chancellor, in ] asking for money to help with the City Walls, the Bridge and the School again showing the school's connection with the Bishop. Indeed the school was often referred to as the Bishop's School. After a petition by some notable citizens of Worcester to endow the school permanently, the school was given a Royal Charter by ] in ] and a governing body known as the Six Masters was set up, which remains as the governing body today. Amongst famous Six masters are ], ] and ]. | |||
| The Six Masters acquired much land for the school including its current site bought in ], the Pitchcroft fields, now used as the city racecourse, and land in Herefordshire still owned by the school. The 1906 Charity Commission survey also recorded a number of Pubs in Worcester which still exist today. | |||
| A second Royal Charter was granted in 1843 by ], and the title of 'Royal' was conferred in ] after the school moved to its present site in Worcester. (It is interesting to note that when Queen Victoria presented the school with three volumes, personally signed by her, she seemed to forget the title of the school. The first volume, Leaves from the Journal of Our Life in the Highlands 1848 to 1861, referred to the school as the 'Royal Free School of Worcester'; whilst the second volume she presented, More Leaves from the Journal of Our Life in the Highlands 1862 to 1882, had the name of the school as 'Queen Elizabeth's Free Grammar School, Worcester.) | |||
| ====Rival schools==== | |||
| In 1501 an attempt was made at establishing a rival school in the city, but the Bishop of Worcester at the time, Sylvestre de Giglis, passed a law that stated any person who set up a school in the city or monastic precincts would be excommunicated. Thus all rivals ceased to exist, and the headmaster of that said school, Hugh Cratford MA, was created headmaster of the City School in 1504.<ref name=Leach>Leach, A. F. ''Schools of Mediaeval England'',Methuen Young Books, 1969. ISBN 0-416-13360-6. </ref> | |||
| In 1541, however, ] founded a new school in Worcester;<ref>Craze, M. ''King's School, Worcester: 1541-1971.'', Ebenezer Baylis and Son, 1972</ref> ] was based on the former site of the Royal Grammar School, and to this day there still exists a level of rivalry between the two schools, which manifests itself most obviously in sports fixtures (mainly rugby) between the two schools. The most prominent of these fixtures being one that occurs once a year between the schools 1st XV on the neutral site of Worcester Rugby Club. | |||
| ===The Alice Ottley School=== | |||
| '''The Alice Ottley School''' was founded by Canon William Butler of Wantage and Alice Ottley on the 21st of June 1883, taking only 11 girls in its first year. Canon Butler had arrived in ] in 1881 and he noted that whilst the provision of education for boys was good (with the Royal Grammar School and the King's School), there was nothing of the same calibre for girls. The school was originally called 'The Worcester High School for Girls' before it was renamed in 1913 in honour of its first headmistress Miss Alice Ottley <ref name="ft.com">; '']'' Magazine, 21/22 July 2007 (page 22)</ref> | |||
| and became 'The Alice Ottley School'. | |||
| Ottley possessed little formal education. The daughter of a clergyman, she had a deep ] faith, indeed, having nursed both her parents through their final illnesses, she had determined to enter an Anglican order of nuns and it was only Canon Butler's persuasion that her vocation lay in teaching that stopped her. Within two years, of its inception, the school grew to 125 pupils. Ottley remained ] until ], despite suffering bouts of ill health. | |||
| Alice Ottley died on 18th September ], on the first day of the new Autumn Term. On 21st September, the day of her funeral and a Saturday, saw all of Worcester's shops closed and all blinds drawn as a mark of respect for her life, Christian faith and contribution to the life of the city. She was buried at Astwood Cemetery, with the inscription 'In Thy Light we shall see Light'. In 1957, the City of Worcester added its own, more lasting commemmoration in the form of a window in the Cloisters of the Cathedral. | |||
| Miss Ottley's successor was Margaret Spurling, who was Headmistress from 1912 until ]. Of her, Miss Ottley had written 'My successor, to my great joy, is appointed and she is all that I can desire'. Miss Spurling had received a formal education and had taken a degree in Classics at London. She had gained wide experience as a teacher, teaching even as far afield as a Church School in Canada as well as at the Francis Holland School in London. She too had a 'nun-like devoutness for faith' . Spurling modernised the school in a number of ways. She introduced the sport of Lacrosse, established three Guide Companies and created the old girls' association. She organised the day girls into Houses, embarked on a building programme and purchased land around 'Springfield' in Britannia Square for a lacrosse pitch. Underpinning all of these achievements was the excellent progress she oversaw in the academic sphere, achieving a 'hat trick' -every year for three years a girl achieved a Classics Scholarship to Oxford. | |||
| The School had well- established links with ] where the annual Carol Service and Prize–giving were held. The School was associated with two great British artists – the renowned British composer ] and the writer ]. Elgar was a visiting teacher of the violin in Miss Ottley’s day whilst Lewis Carroll, who wrote ], was a great friend of Miss Ottley’s and regularly visited the school. | |||
| ===Merger=== | |||
| On Saturday, 10th December 2006, the schools announced the merger, after the news had been leaked to the press the previous day <ref> </ref>. The merger itself took place on the 1st September 2007. | |||
| ==School Crest== | |||
| The school crest for the new school is currently being designed. It is likely to contain significant parts of each crest, like the black pears on the RGS crest, and the lilies on the AO crest. Both the current crests are shown above. | |||
| ==Junior Schools== | |||
| The school has two junior schools: | |||
| *], origianlly part of RGS Worcester. | |||
| *], originally part of The Alice Ottley School. | |||
| Both of the junior schools are now co-educational, completing the school's change to fully integrated co-education. | |||
| == Land and buildings == | |||
| Many of the current ex-RGS buildings were paid for by the great benefactor and collector ], who was an ] and a Six Master. Perrins Hall was named after his father James Dyson Perrins, owner of ] Worcestershire Sauce, who went to the school. The Combined Cadet Force (CCF) was set up in 1910 and continues to this day, with a rifle range being incorporated into the basement of Perrins Hall in 1914.<ref name=Wheel>Wheeler, A R. ''Royal Grammar School Worcester, 1950 to 1991 with retrospect to 1291'', Royal Grammar School Worcester, 1991. ISBN 0-9516775-0-0</ref> | |||
| ] | |||
| The School Playing Fields are located nearby at the back of the school, next to the ]. Flagge Meadow (pronounced Flag) was first levelled and used for cricket in 1886<ref name=Wheel/> and has seen many famous international cricketers play there. In July 2007, because of ] of ], ] played their ] game against ] at Flagge Meadow.<ref> | |||
| {{cite web |url=http://www.cricketarchive.co.uk/Archive/Scorecards/107/107577.html |title=Worcestershire v Sri Lanka A in 2007 |accessdate=2007-09-26 |publisher=]}}</ref> | |||
| The other playing field across the road from Flagge Meadow is St Oswald's Field mainly used for athletics. Athletics is one of the oldest recorded sports of the school being played before the 1860s.<ref name=Wheel/> Today it continues as a major summer sport along with cricket, with tournaments being held against rival Public Schools from around the country. | |||
| === School's halls === | |||
| ] | |||
| The Old School buildings were built in 1868 on a site owned by the school since 1562.<ref name=Wheel/> Main Hall, Eld Hall and adjoining buildings were designed by A E Perkins in the Gothic style. It is three bays long with a central lantern. A life-size statue of Elizabeth I by R L Boulton stands above the central window.<ref name=Pevs>Pevsner, N. ''Buildings of England: Worcestershire'', Yale University Press, 2002. ISBN 0-300-09660-7.</ref> | |||
| <ref name=Pevs/>Built in 1914 to the plans of Alfred Hill Parker, a former pupil, it is in a Jacobethan style with an ] on the staircase end and balcony looking over the hall. The interior is panelled with fitted bookcases (which make up the ] Library<ref name=Wheel/>) and a plastered ceiling. The organ is on the stage. Two for the two World Wars are housed in the hall. The hall is named after James Dyson Perrins of the ] Worcestershire sauce factory and was built by his son Charles William ], whose life size portrait hangs opposite the fireplace. Portraits of the 20th-century headmasters hang below. | |||
| The Clock Block is connected to the Perrins Hall and was built in 1927, and had extension work carried out in 1967 to link it to the Science Block. It has a bell tower and clock above the entrance. The clock is made of ], and is surmounted by the carved head of ].<ref name=Wheel/> To commemorate the millennium a ] window was commissioned and installed over the main entrance to the Clock Block. | |||
| <!-- Deleted image removed: ] --> | |||
| Other halls include, Central Hall, a grand entrance hall, in the main ex Alice ottley building. Within this building is also Main Hall, where lunch and certain assemblies are taken. This room contains portraits of all the past ]es of AO. It also contains the second school organ, which previously belonged to ], who was a benefactor to the school. There is also Cobham Sports Hall, and Little London Sports Hall. | |||
| Britannia house is where the headmaster's offices and meeting rooms are located. | |||
| === Other buildings of note === | |||
| ] | |||
| The Science buildings form the third side of the courtyard. These were built in 1922 and opened in that year by the ] and ] (later King George VI and Queen Elizabeth).<ref name=Wheel/> The science buildings were subsequently re-furbished in 1996 and thereafter re-opened by ]. The science block features at one end of a long path which comes from the main quad of the school, which is the location of Perrins Hall and the Main block. This long path is known as Long Walk, in reference not only to its length, but the hope that pupils will not run along it!<ref name=Wheel/> | |||
| Whiteladies House, built in the seventeenth century, was traditionally the Headmaster's house and stands opposite Clock Block across the gardens. Its West wall is part of the Whiteladies Priory | |||
| chapel built in 1255.<ref name=Leach/> Its name derives from the ] that worn by ] nuns, who were based at a Nunnery, which was adjacent to Whiteladies.<ref name=Wheel/> | |||
| ] | |||
| Other buildings include Priory House (17th Century), Pullinger House (1980s), Gordon House (after ] ]) and Hillard Hall (1961, opened by Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother on her second visit to the school).<ref name=Wheel/> The Almshouses, built in 1877 in the ] style, were designed by the famous architect Sir ] and are an example of some of his earliest work.<ref name=Pevs/> ] designed the facade of ], the Royal Naval College Dartmouth and the ]. | |||
| The most recent building work to a school building took place on the school's library. The library was refurbished in 2001, and was renamed the Philip Sawyer Library (after the former Chairman of the Governors). The library is situated above Eld Hall, and features a high vaulted roof structure. | |||
| === Trees of note === | |||
| The school has a rare Black Pear tree, planted in 1961, in its main courtyard.<ref name=Wheel/> The tree is associated with Worcester after the visit of Queen Elizabeth I in 1574 (at which a scholar from her school welcomed her to the city) when she commented on the Black Pear trees. Hence the , County, and the School have three black pears on their Arms. | |||
| ==Houses== | |||
| The RGSAO has thirteen houses. Eight from RGS and five from the ]. The school decided to keep all of the houses because "family traditions and pupil loyalties are important" . | |||
| All girls at the school are put into one of the original RGS houses, and one of the original AO houses. Boys however, are just be put into an original RGS house. The all girl houses are solely used for girls only sports competitions. This has been done because, the RGS houses were co-ed but the AO houses were single sex. | |||
| In the future it is likely that some of the houses will be merged together and some may be axed, as the 13 house system does not work smoothly at the moment. | |||
| {|class=wikitable width=400 align="left" style="margin: 1em 0em 1em 1em 1em;" | |||
| |+'''A table summarising house information''' | |||
| |- | |||
| !style="text-align: left"|House | |||
| ! abbr="found" | Year of foundation | |||
| ! abbr="name" | Named after | |||
| ! abbr="orig" | Original school | |||
| |-align="center" bgcolor="#FFC0CB" style="color:black;" | |||
| !style="text-align: left"|Elgar | |||
| |!-align="center" bgcolor="#FFFF00" style="color:black;"|? | |||
| |!-align="center" bgcolor="#FFFF00" style="color:black;"|Edward Elgar | |||
| |!-align="center" bgcolor="#FFFF00" style="color:black;"|AO | |||
| |-align="center" bgcolor="#FFFF00" style="color:black;" | |||
| !style="text-align: left"|Carroll | |||
| |!-align="center" bgcolor="#0000C8" style="color:white;"|? | |||
| |!-align="center" bgcolor="#0000C8" style="color:white;"|Lewis Carroll | |||
| |!-align="center" bgcolor="#0000C8" style="color:white;"|AO | |||
| |-align="center" bgcolor="#0000C8" style="color:black;" | |||
| !style="text-align: left"|Lyttleton | |||
| |!-align="center" bgcolor="#008000" style="color:black;"|? | |||
| |!-align="center" bgcolor="#008000" style="color:black;"|Lyttleton | |||
| |!-align="center" bgcolor="#008000" style="color:black;"|AO | |||
| |-align="center" bgcolor="#008000" style="color:black;" | |||
| !style="text-align: left"|Oswald | |||
| |!-align="center" bgcolor="#682860" style="color:white;"|? | |||
| |!-align="center" bgcolor="#682860" style="color:white;"|Oswald of Worcester | |||
| |!-align="center" bgcolor="#682860" style="color:white;"|AO | |||
| |-align="center" bgcolor="#682860" style="color:black;" | |||
| !style="text-align: left"|Wulstan | |||
| |!-align="center" bgcolor="#DC143C" style="color:white;"|? | |||
| |!-align="center" bgcolor="#DC143C" style="color:white;"|Saint Wulstan | |||
| |!-align="center" bgcolor="#DC143C" style="color:white;"|AO | |||
| |-align="center" bgcolor="#DC143C" style="color:black;" | |||
| !style="text-align: left"|Langley | |||
| |!-align="center" bgcolor="#FFC0CB" style="color:black;"|1963 | |||
| |!-align="center" bgcolor="#FFC0CB" style="color:black;"|William Langley | |||
| |!-align="center" bgcolor="#FFC0CB" style="color:black;"|RGS | |||
| |-align="center" bgcolor="#DF0000" style="color:black;" | |||
| !style="text-align: left"|Moore | |||
| |!-align="center" bgcolor="#DF0000" style="color:white;"|1963 | |||
| |!-align="center" bgcolor="#DF0000" style="color:white;"|John Moore | |||
| |!-align="center" bgcolor="#DF0000" style="color:white;"|RGS | |||
| |-align="center" bgcolor="#00FF00" style="color:black;" | |||
| !style="text-align: left"|Temple | |||
| |1909 | |||
| |Henry Temple | |||
| |!-align="center" bgcolor="#00FF00" style="color:black;"|RGS | |||
| |-align="center" bgcolor="#50007F" style="color:black;" | |||
| !style="text-align: left"|Tudor | |||
| |!-align="center" bgcolor="#50007F" style="color:white;"|1909 | |||
| |!-align="center" bgcolor="#50007F" style="color:white;"|Queen Elizabeth I | |||
| |!-align="center" bgcolor="#50007F" style="color:white;"|RGS | |||
| |-align="center" bgcolor="#FF8000" style="color:black;" | |||
| !style="text-align: left"|Woolfe | |||
| |!-align="center" bgcolor="#FFBF00" style="color:white;"|1909 | |||
| |!-align="center" bgcolor="#FFBF00" style="color:white;"|Richard Woolfe | |||
| |!-align="center" bgcolor="#FFBF00" style="color:white;"|RGS | |||
| |-align="center" bgcolor="#FFD700" style="color:black;" | |||
| !style="text-align: left"|Yewle | |||
| |1909 | |||
| |Richard Yewle | |||
| |!-align="center" bgcolor="#FFD700" style="color:black;"|RGS | |||
| |-align="center" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" style="color:black;" | |||
| !style="text-align: left"|Whiteladies | |||
| |!-align="center" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" style="color:black;"|1909 | |||
| |!-align="center" bgcolor="#000000" style="color:white;"|The RGS's old boarding house | |||
| |!-align="center" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" style="color:black;"|RGS | |||
| |-align="center" bgcolor="#0000FF" style="color:black;" | |||
| !style="text-align: left"|Wylde | |||
| |!-align="center" bgcolor="#0000FF" style="color:white;"|1909 | |||
| |!-align="center" bgcolor="#0000FF" style="color:white;"|Thomas Wylde | |||
| |!-align="center" bgcolor="#0000FF" style="color:white;"|RGS | |||
| |} | |||
| {{clear}} | |||
| ==See also== | |||
| *] | |||
| *] | |||
| ==References== | |||
| <div class="references-small"> | |||
| <references /> | |||
| </div> | |||
| ==External links== | |||
| * | |||
| {{coord|52.2006|-2.2247|display=title|region:GB_scale:2000}} | |||
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| ] | |||
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Latest revision as of 08:37, 6 March 2011
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