Dr Challoner's Grammar School
Dr Challoner's Grammar School is a selective grammar school for boys, with a co-educational Sixth Form, in Amersham, Buckinghamshire, England. It was given academy status in January 2011.
It was founded in 1624 in accordance with the last will and testament of Robert Chaloner. Chaloner, a Doctor of Divinity, was Rector of Amersham from 1576 to 1584, when he took up office as a Canon of Windsor, Berkshire, a post he held until his death in 1621.
History
In his will, Robert Chaloner left money to establish a grammar school in Amersham. The school was situated in Old Amersham for almost three centuries before moving, with the support of Buckinghamshire County Council, to its present position in Amersham-on-the Hill in 1905. At this time, the school embraced the principle of co-education for the first time which, according to the school’s first prospectus in 1906, was "practically universal in America". Each year the boys at Challoner's celebrate Founder's Day where they attend St Mary's Church in Old Amersham where Robert Chaloner was rector.By 1937, Challoner's was incorporated into the state system of education and by the early 1950s, the school had about 350 boys and girls on roll. However, plans for expansion to 550 pupils were overtaken by rapid population growth in the area and the decision was made to establish a separate school for girls in Little Chalfont: Dr. Challoner's High School, which opened in 1962. The two schools continue to maintain relatively close links, collaborating especially in music and drama productions, whilst Dr Challoner's Debating Society has staged numerous collaborative events.
The continued expansion of the grammar school to its present size of over 1,200 boys saw major building projects in the 1950s, 1980s, and 1990s, followed by the construction of a large astroturf pitch and improvements to the sports fields. Another floor has been added on top of the old library and the new library was reopened in early 2013.
In 2002, Challoner's became one of the first Science Colleges in the United Kingdom. The school started a second special focus as a Language College in April 2007. In 2005, the school celebrated the 100th anniversary of the move to the current site on Chesham Road, also building the Centenary Sports Pitch. The school was commended by the 2007 Ofsted inspection team and rated outstanding in all 51 criteria.
On 1 September 2008, the school officially changed its status from a Voluntary Controlled school to a Foundation school, on the basis that "the additional autonomy which foundation status offers will enabled the school to provide an even better standard of education in the future". In January 2011 the school became an Academy.
Extracurricular
Robotics
Since the school founded its robotics team in 2015, Challoner's has competed in national and international competitions. In 2017, the school competed in the Student Robotics competition led by University of Southampton and won two awards. In 2018, a team entered into PiWars, a competition involving Raspberry Pi computers hosted at the University of Cambridge. The competition consisted of autonomous and remote controlled challenges with tasks requiring computer vision. The team came out winning the whole competition and having podium finishes on the majority of the challenges.Model United Nations
The school has had large amounts of success with its Model United Nations society. Almost entirely student-led, teams have traveled to attend multiple international conferences including HABSMUN and LIMUN. The teams have been successful: at LIMUN 2017 over half of the 16 Year 12 students attending won awards and the Challoner's team won the conference overall. In March 2018 the society competed at SPIMUN where five students won awards. In 2017, the society won the 'We Made a Difference Award' in the 2017 Speaker's Schools Council Awards.In January 2018, the school hosted its first conference, Challoner's MUN. With over 130 students from 11 schools, the conference was one of the largest student-led activities to have ever been undertaken, having been organized by an executive team of 13 students.
Houses
The house system was re-established in 2004. An earlier house system with four houses named for those listed in the original school song as "Buckinghamshire's four mighty men"—Challoner, Hampden, Milton and Penn —was abandoned in 1976. The chorus of that song appears below.England of shires has a good two score
Each of them brags of her mighty men
Bucks she can boast of her famous four
Challoner, Hampden, Milton and Penn
There are currently six houses, each named after a previous headmaster:
| House | Colour |
| Foxell | |
| Holman | |
| Newman | |
| Pearson | |
| Rayner | |
| Thorne |
Academics
Dr Challoner's has a strong reputation as one of the country's top performing schools. It was one of two schools named by the Department of Education as the best performing schools nationwide in the 2003 GCSEs and named the country's best grammar school in 2011. In the 2011 GCSEs, boys achieved a 100% pass rate with 50 of the 183 candidates earning all A*-A grades.School buildings
The school accommodation comprises a number of major buildings. The West Court area. 'A' Block. Admin Block, Loarridge Centre and Language Block. 'Q' Block. New Court.The Tower Block and Science Block. The School Hall and Drama Studio is directly above the canteen. Finally, there is a sports hall with PE classrooms. Work on a new sixth form centre and library in 'Q' Block began in January 2012 and was finished in February 2013. The three storey building houses a new sixth form centre, study room and library.
Notable former pupils
Notable former students include:- Peter Atkins – physical chemist and textbook author
- Tom Blomfield – Founder, Monzo Bank Ltd
- Chris Cleave – author
- Dame Sandra Dawson – Master of Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge University
- Graham Fitch – concert pianist
- Roger Hammond – professional cyclist
- Greg Hands – Conservative MP for Chelsea & Fulham and former Minister of State for International Trade
- Elizabeth Laverick – engineer
- Dave Legeno – actor
- Margaret Mee – botanical artist
- Roger Moore – actor
- John Mousinho – footballer
- Kenneth Page Oakley – anthropologist
- Alexis Petridis – music critic
- Dominic Raab – Conservative MP for Esher & Walton, and Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs
- Arthur Reynolds – missionary and author
- Justin Robertson – DJ and remixer
- Steve Chandra Savale – guitarist with Asian Dub Foundation
- John Shepherd – scientist
- David Wands – academic and educator
- Rick Warden – actor
- Matt Watson – cricketer
- Mark Watson-Gandy – barrister
- Sam Westaway – cricketer
Headmasters
- Mr Edward Rayner 1624–1640
- Dr Angell 1640–1650
- Mr Humphrey Gardiner 1650–1676
- Mr John Hughes 1676–1697
- Mr Crowfoot 1697–1702
- Rev Benjamin Robertshaw, MA 1702–1706
- Not Known 1706–1790
- Rev Richard Thorne, BA 1790–1822
- Rev Henry Foyster 1822–1826
- Rev Matthew Stalker, BA 1826–1849
- Rev W.S. Newman, BA 1849–1850
- Rev Edmund J Luce, BA 1850–1862
- Rev W. H. Williams, BA 1862–1880
- Rev Frederick Weller, MA 1881–1883
- Rev W.J. Foxell 1883–1886
- Rev Colin J. Creed 1886–1888
- Rev Lewis H. Pearson, BA 1888–1889
- Rev E.P. Cooper, BA 1889–1897
- Mr E.H. Wainwright, BA 1897–1908
- Mr R.E. Yates, BA 1908–1935
- Mr J.E. Simpson, BSc 1935–1937
- Mr T.P. Oakley, BSc 1937–1938
- Mr Neville Harrow, MA 1938–1956
- Mr R. Simm, BA 1941–1945
- Mr W.C. Porter, BSc 1956–1964
- Mr D Holman, MA 1965–1972
- Mr J.A. Loarridge, RD, BA, OBE 1972–1992
- Mr G.C. Hill, MA 1993–2001
- Dr Mark A. Fenton, MA, MSc, 2001–16
- Mr David Atkinson 2016–