St George's School, Harpenden


St George's School, Harpenden is a day and boarding school in Harpenden, Hertfordshire, England, educating students of both sexes between the ages of eleven and eighteen, with an emphasis on its Christian ethos. It was founded in 1907 as one of Britain's first mixed-sex boarding schools. The school has International School status. The School is one of the United Kingdom's top 100 state-funded institutions, and was named as the Sunday Times' 'Comprehensive School of the Year' in 2019.

History

The school was founded in 1907 by Reverend Cecil Grant, having relocated his school southwards from Keswick, Cumbria in the Lake District to the site of previous school.
In 1898 Grant, who was interested in co-education, was appointed the first headmaster of the newly reopened Keswick School. Along with Bedales School the school was the first co-educational day/boarding school in England. After a number of years, difficulties with the local authority and lack of a chapel prompted a move. The Harpenden site was discovered by one of the masters, a new limited company formed and Grant together with 59 boys and girls and many of the staff moved there. The new school where pupils could live in an atmosphere closely related to family life, based on sound Christian principles was officially opened in 21st June, 1907.
The Harpenden site had previously been home to a boarding school for 100 boys founded by Rev. Wix in 1887. A chapel was added in 1891 and a swimming pool in 1894. The school experienced a drop in numbers, with several masters and pupils leaving, and closed in 1904. The site was briefly leased to a branch of the United Services College.
In 1916 Grant founded a separate Montessori unit for pupils from 2 to 8 years of age. The initial location is unclear, but in 1924 moved to Kingston Lodge, adjacent to the school grounds. In 1932 the school was renamed to St George's Children's House to attract larger numbers. Its business interests were formally merged with the main school from 1949. In 1955 it broke ties with St George's and moved to Gorselands near Harpenden common.
Grant retired in 1936 and A. H. Watts took over as headmaster, leading the school through the war years. Houses of the school were named after both men as well as Monk and Goddard, old Georgians who had died in the First World War. Names of the boarding houses: Crosthwaite, Keswick
and Skiddaw come from locations near the Cumbrian school.
In 1967 the school became a voluntary aided school under Hertfordshire County Council, initially as a Grammar School and
then as a Comprehensive School in the mid 1970's. This period saw a large expansion of the school with many new buildings and numbers expanding to 800. On 1 July 2012 St George's became an academy, funded by the new St George's School Harpenden Academy Trust. It continues to be supported by the Cecil Grant Founder's Trust, a charity set up after Grant's death in 1946.
The St. George's motto Levavi Oculos appears on the uniform badges. It derives from their School Hymn, Assurgit, which is sung in Latin. Levavi Oculos means "I have lifted up mine eyes" and alludes to Psalm 121, beginning "I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help; my help cometh even from the Lord, who hath made Heaven and Earth." In the sense of "I have raised my sights" this is equivalent to the English motto Aim Higher, which appears over one archway at the front entrance of Keswick House.

Christian ethos

Admission to the school for day students is based mainly on location of students' homes, with students coming from many of the surrounding towns and villages. Regular attendance at a local church is required; however, the school itself is non-denominational and does not receive funding from any religious group or church.
The School is centred around a late-nineteenth-century chapel, which is lead by a resident Chaplin and supported by a part-time Organist.

House system

The school is split into four houses: Watts Grant, Monk and Goddard named after Rev. Arthur Watts, a former headmaster, Rev. Cecil Grant, the founder of the school and Bertram Monk and Lister Goddard, two young men who died in the Great War.

Academics

St George's is ranked third in examination results in the country for state schools and rivals some of the private schools. Its academic Sixth Form has the third highest progress score in the county, beating almost all local Independent Schools .

Extra-curricular activities

The school music department offer peripatetic instrumental tuition for all woodwind, string and brass instruments as well as classical and jazz piano, guitar, drums and voice. Regular concerts take place in the chapel and the old library. During the autumn term each year, the Music Department collaborate with the Drama and Performing Arts Department to produce a whole school production. The Drama Department also host an 'Inter-House Drama Festival', which is adjudicated by a professional actor, and a lower-school drama production.
In 1939 St George's School won the first National Schools Sevens tournament and has continued this Rugby success producing Rugby Sevens and Rugby Union internationals. The Rugby teams continue this legacy today producing many England Under-18 and Under-16 Rugby Players.
The school is notable for having first fielded the English national players Owen Farrell and Maro Itoje, alongside two other members of England's rugby union team.
Until September 2019, house points cumulated via means of various events would form an overall tally and the winning house be awarded the Chapman Cup.
The Chapman Cup has since been re-named.

Boarding

Keswick and Crosthwaite House provide boarding accommodation for girl and boy boarders respectively.
St George's was one of the first schools in Britain to provide mixed-sex boarding education.

Old Georgians

Distinguished members of the schools alumni, known as 'Old Georgians' include;
NameDescription
Sir Christopher BallAcademic. Warden of Keble College, Oxford from 1980 to 1988. The first Chancellor of the University of Derby.
Sacha BennettActor, writer, producer and director for film and television.
Lennox BerkeleyBritish composer of French influence, moving towards serialism in later life.
Donald CoxeterOne of the great geometers of the 20th century.
Sir Maurice Drake DFCHigh Court Judge of England and Wales, in charge of the jury list from 1991 to retirement in 1995. Appointed Treasurer of Lincoln's Inn in 1997. Officer in the RAF and awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross during World War II.
Hilary EvansBritish pictorial archivist, author, and researcher into UFOs and other paranormal phenomena
Owen FarrellRugby Union player for Saracens and England - Triple Crown, Calcutta Cup, Six Nations, Grand Slam Winner 2016 and 2019 Rugby World Cup runner-up.
George FordRugby Union player for Leicester Tigers and England - Triple Crown, Calcutta Cup, Six Nations, Grand Slam Winner 2016 and 2019 Rugby World Cup runner up.
Victor GoddardAir Marshall. A senior commander in the Royal Air Force during World War II.
Laura HaddockActress – played Alison in The Inbetweeners Movie, Meredith Quill in the Guardians of the Galaxy series, and Lucrezia Donati in Da Vinci's Demons.
Patrick HeronEnglish abstract artist with work currently hanging in the Tate Gallery, St Ives.
George HoggBritish journalist who rescued 60 Chinese orphans during the Japanese occupation, as portrayed in the 2008 film The Children of Huang Shi. A biography Blades of Grass – The Story of George Aylwin Hogg was published in January 2017
Francis HollisBishop of Labuan and Sarawak from 1938 to 1948.
Francis HouseArchdeacon of Macclesfield from 1967 to 1978
Kenneth HorneComedian.
Andrew HunterMember of Parliament, 1983-2005.
Maro ItojeEngland and Saracens, Rugby Union player- Debuted for England 14/2/16, Six Nations - . Triple Crown, Calcutta Cup, Six Nations and Grand Slam Winner 2016 and 2019 Rugby World Cup runner-up.
Wanda JablonskiLeading journalist of the oil industry from 1948 to 1988.
Paul LiebrandtAmerican Celebrity Chef
Frances LincolnPublisher and founder of Frances Lincoln Publishers.
Edward Martell Politician and Libertarian activist.
Varoon NesarasaOne of The Puppini Sisters.
Frederick MooreCricketer for Cambridge University and Schoolmaster.
Athol MurrayFirst-class cricketer for Warwickshire.
Peter Alan RaynerBritish coin-book author having written English Silver Coinage 1649 to date.
Jack SingletonEngland and Saracens, Rugby Union player- Debuted for England 11/8/19, at Twickenham, appeared as a substitute in the 2019 Rugby World Cup vs United States
Michael OakeshottEnglish philosopher with particular interests in political thought.
Dr Denis WrightComposer and conductor of brass band music.