St. George's School, Harpenden
Encyclopedia
St George's VA School, Harpenden (commonly St George's School or St George's) is a traditional day
and boarding school
in Harpenden, Hertfordshire, United Kingdom
, serving students of both genders from ages 11 to 18 with emphasis on a Christian
ethos. Founded in 1907 by Reverend Cecil Grant
, it was one of the first public school's in Britain to provide mixed-sex boarding education. This history was continued in September of 2010 when a mixed-sex boarding house was opened.
St. George's School is in the top 10% of British School's for Academic results
The School motto Levavi Oculos — Schola Georgiana appears on the uniform badges. It derives from the Keswick 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. In 1917 a Montessori
unit was opened.
basis in most aspects of school life. However, the school community contains Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist and Jewish students as well. The chapel is used daily for worship and assemblies. In addition to weekly chapels, students in the years 7–11 are required to attend three chapels per term on either a Sunday morning or evening. The school offers special carol services at Christmas for both the lower school (years 7-8) and upper school years 9-13) students. As the school has many ex-pupils who fought, died and were wounded in the first and second world wars, there is also a special Remembrance Sunday
service.
Chapels are generally taken by the current preacher, Rev. Manning but are often taken by guest speakers (or Norman Hoare).
: Watts (yellow), Grant (green), Monk (blue) and Goddard (red) named after Rev. Arthur Watts, a former headmaster, Rev. Cecil Grant, the founder of the school and Bertram Monk and Lister Goddard, two pupils who died in action in the Great War. Each academic year the House cup, or the 'Chapman Cup' is contested between the houses in a variety of events such as sports, drama and music.
Each house is made up of approximately 400 pupils from all years, a team of 14 tutors, a head of house and a deputy head of house, two house captains, chosen from the sixth form and a team of sixth form prefects. Every year, a boy and a girl are chosen from the lower sixth to represent their school as School Captains. They continue their posts into year 13.
St George's is reputed to have some of the highest examination results in the country for state schools and rivals some of the private schools. The school performs particularly highly in Mathematics and Art, and is also good in Sports, Technology and Sciences. As well as classroom teaching, the school has a number of extracurricular clubs, teams and educational visits both residential and abroad. It is currently applying for status as a modern languages college.
The school music department offers peripatetic instrumental tuition for many woodwind
, string
, and brass
instruments as well as classical and jazz piano
, guitar
, drum
s and voice. David Harvey
(former bassist for acts such as Percy Sledge
, Alisha's Attic
and The Tornados
) teaches guitar and bass guitar through the school. Many of the students take private music lessons on site. Regular concerts take place in the chapel and the old library.
for girls and rugby union
for boys. The school also has netball, cricket, tennis, gymnastics, Football, rounders, basketball and athletics teams who compete in Hertfordshire and sometimes further afield.
In 1939 St George's School won the first National Schools Sevens tournement and has continued this Rugby success producing Rugby Sevens and Rugby Union internationals.
Day school
A day school—as opposed to a boarding school—is an institution where children are given educational instruction during the day and after which children/teens return to their homes...
and boarding school
Boarding school
A boarding school is a school where some or all pupils study and live during the school year with their fellow students and possibly teachers and/or administrators. The word 'boarding' is used in the sense of "bed and board," i.e., lodging and meals...
in Harpenden, Hertfordshire, United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, serving students of both genders from ages 11 to 18 with emphasis on a Christian
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
ethos. Founded in 1907 by Reverend Cecil Grant
Cecil Grant
Cecil Grant was the founder of St George's School, Harpenden. Originally, a headmaster at Keswick School in Cumbria, Grant moved to Harpenden to establish the school in 1907.-References:*...
, it was one of the first public school's in Britain to provide mixed-sex boarding education. This history was continued in September of 2010 when a mixed-sex boarding house was opened.
St. George's School is in the top 10% of British School's for Academic results
History
Keswick School and founding (1907)The School motto Levavi Oculos — Schola Georgiana appears on the uniform badges. It derives from the Keswick School Hymn, Assurgit, which is sung in Latin. Levavi Oculos means "I have lifted up mine eyes" and alludes to Psalm
Psalms
The Book of Psalms , commonly referred to simply as Psalms, is a book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Bible...
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. In 1917 a Montessori
Montessori method
Montessori education is an educational approach developed by Italian physician and educator Maria Montessori. Montessori education is practiced in an estimated 20,000 schools worldwide, serving children from birth to eighteen years old.-Overview:...
unit was opened.
Christian ethos
The school maintains what it sees as a ChristianChristian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
basis in most aspects of school life. However, the school community contains Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist and Jewish students as well. The chapel is used daily for worship and assemblies. In addition to weekly chapels, students in the years 7–11 are required to attend three chapels per term on either a Sunday morning or evening. The school offers special carol services at Christmas for both the lower school (years 7-8) and upper school years 9-13) students. As the school has many ex-pupils who fought, died and were wounded in the first and second world wars, there is also a special Remembrance Sunday
Remembrance Sunday
In the United Kingdom, 'Remembrance Sunday' is held on the second Sunday in November, which is the Sunday nearest to 11 November Armistice Day. It is the anniversary of the end of hostilities in the First World War at 11 a.m...
service.
Chapels are generally taken by the current preacher, Rev. Manning but are often taken by guest speakers (or Norman Hoare).
House system
The school is split into four housesHouse system
The house system is a traditional feature of British schools, and schools in the Commonwealth. Historically, it was associated with established public schools, where a 'house' refers to a boarding house or dormitory of a boarding school...
: Watts (yellow), Grant (green), Monk (blue) and Goddard (red) named after Rev. Arthur Watts, a former headmaster, Rev. Cecil Grant, the founder of the school and Bertram Monk and Lister Goddard, two pupils who died in action in the Great War. Each academic year the House cup, or the 'Chapman Cup' is contested between the houses in a variety of events such as sports, drama and music.
Each house is made up of approximately 400 pupils from all years, a team of 14 tutors, a head of house and a deputy head of house, two house captains, chosen from the sixth form and a team of sixth form prefects. Every year, a boy and a girl are chosen from the lower sixth to represent their school as School Captains. They continue their posts into year 13.
Academics
St George's operates on a 8:40 a.m. to 3:40 p.m. schedule, which includes five periods, with a 20 minute break at 10:50 a.m. and a one hour break for lunch at 13:15 p.m. Students may leave the campus for lunch if they are in the sixth form or have registered their absence with the school office. There are two tutor base sessions per day: 8:40 a.m. to 8:50 a.m. and 2:10 p.m. to 2:50 p.m. There is no fifth period on Friday afternoons; students are allowed to leave after 2:55 p.m.St George's is reputed to have some of the highest examination results in the country for state schools and rivals some of the private schools. The school performs particularly highly in Mathematics and Art, and is also good in Sports, Technology and Sciences. As well as classroom teaching, the school has a number of extracurricular clubs, teams and educational visits both residential and abroad. It is currently applying for status as a modern languages college.
The school music department offers peripatetic instrumental tuition for many woodwind
Woodwind instrument
A woodwind instrument is a musical instrument which produces sound when the player blows air against a sharp edge or through a reed, causing the air within its resonator to vibrate...
, string
String instrument
A string instrument is a musical instrument that produces sound by means of vibrating strings. In the Hornbostel-Sachs scheme of musical instrument classification, used in organology, they are called chordophones...
, and brass
Brass instrument
A brass instrument is a musical instrument whose sound is produced by sympathetic vibration of air in a tubular resonator in sympathy with the vibration of the player's lips...
instruments as well as classical and jazz piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
, guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
, drum
Drum
The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments, which is technically classified as the membranophones. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a shell and struck, either directly with the player's hands, or with a...
s and voice. David Harvey
David Harvey
David Harvey is the name of:*David Harvey *David Harvey , geographer and social theorist*David Harvey , American luthier...
(former bassist for acts such as Percy Sledge
Percy Sledge
Percy Sledge is an American R&B and soul performer who recorded the hit "When a Man Loves a Woman" in 1966.-Early career:...
, Alisha's Attic
Alisha's Attic
Alisha's Attic were an English duo of the 1990s and early 2000s. The two members were sisters Shelly McErlaine and Karen Poole, born in Barking and Chadwell Heath respectively. Their father is Brian Poole of 1960s group Brian Poole and the Tremeloes...
and The Tornados
The Tornados
The Tornados were an English instrumental group of the 1960s that acted as backing group for many of record producer Joe Meek's productions and also for singer Billy Fury. They enjoyed several chart hits in their own right, including the UK and U.S. Number One "Telstar" , the first U.S...
) teaches guitar and bass guitar through the school. Many of the students take private music lessons on site. Regular concerts take place in the chapel and the old library.
Extra-curricular activities
St George's has a longstanding history of sport. The two main sports played are lacrosseLacrosse
Lacrosse is a team sport of Native American origin played using a small rubber ball and a long-handled stick called a crosse or lacrosse stick, mainly played in the United States and Canada. It is a contact sport which requires padding. The head of the lacrosse stick is strung with loose mesh...
for girls and rugby union
Rugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
for boys. The school also has netball, cricket, tennis, gymnastics, Football, rounders, basketball and athletics teams who compete in Hertfordshire and sometimes further afield.
In 1939 St George's School won the first National Schools Sevens tournement and has continued this Rugby success producing Rugby Sevens and Rugby Union internationals.
Facilities
The school has a brand new State of the Art Sports Hall with an extensive fitness area and two new PE teaching classrooms. There are also four hard tennis courts, three netball courts and extensive pitches for rugby and lacrosse in Winter, and cricket, athletics and rounders in Summer.Boarding
Keswick and Crosthwaite House are currently home to boy and girl boarders. Often, children from abroad come to St George's to board and often spend seven years of their education in Hertfordshire before going on to university or careers. Every year a head boy and head girl are elected exclusively for the boarding house. These two students from the upper sixth help to run the boarding house effectively and aid relationships between matrons and students.Old Georgians
- Sacha BennettSacha BennettSacha Bennett is a British actor, writer, producer and director for film and television. He was born in Harpenden, Hertfordshire where he attended St. George's School.-Devilwood:...
, actor, writer, producer and director for film and television. Attended 1982–1987. - Lennox BerkeleyLennox BerkeleySir Lennox Randal Francis Berkeley was an English composer.- Biography :He was born in Oxford, England, and educated at the Dragon School, Gresham's School and Merton College, Oxford...
, British composer of French influence, moving towards serialism in later life. Attended 1919–1921. - Donald Coxeter, one of the great geometers of the 20th century.
- Hilary EvansHilary EvansHilary Agard Evans was a British pictorial archivist, author, and researcher into UFOs and other paranormal phenomena.Evans was born in Shrewsbury, United Kingdom. and educated at St George’s School at Harpenden. After National Service in Palestine he went up to King’s College, Cambridge, to read...
, British pictorial archivist, author, and researcher into UFOs and other paranormal phenomena - Owen FarrellOwen FarrellOwen Farrell is a rugby union player currently playing for Guinness Premiership side Saracens. He is Andy Farrell's son.His primary position is centre, but he often plays flyhalf/centre...
, Rugby Union player. - Joe FordJoe FordJoseph or Joe Ford may refer to:*Joseph Ford*Joseph Dillon Ford*Joe Ford *Joe Ford *Joe Ford *Joe T. Ford, CEO and co-founder of Alltel...
, Rugby Union player. - Air Marshall Sir Victor GoddardVictor GoddardAir Marshal Sir Robert Victor Goddard KCB, CBE usually Victor Goddard, was a senior commander in the Royal Air Force during World War II. He is best known as a protagonist in the 1946 aviation incident immortalized in the 1955 film The Night My Number Came Up.-Early life:Goddard was born at...
, a senior commander in the Royal Air Force during World War II. - Patrick HeronPatrick HeronPatrick Heron , was an English painter, writer and designer, based in St. Ives, Cornwall.- Early life :...
, English abstract artist with work currently hanging in the Tate Gallery, St Ives. - George HoggGeorge Hogg (adventurer)George Aylwin Hogg was an English adventurer. He was a graduate of Oxford University in economics. He is known as a hero in China for saving 60 orphaned boys during the Second Sino-Japanese War, including leading them through dangerous mountain passes, escaping the approaching Japanese secret...
, British journalist who rescued 50 orphaned children in China during the Japanese occupation. He was played by Jonathan Rhys Meyers in The Children of Huang ShiThe Children of Huang ShiThe Children of Huang Shi is a Chinese 2008 film...
, a film released in May 2008. - Laura HaddockLaura HaddockLaura Jane Haddock is an English actress, known for portraying Kacie Carter in Honest, Bethan in The Colour of Magic, Natasha in Monday Monday, Sam in How Not To Live Your Life and Alison in The Inbetweeners Movie.-Background:...
, actress - played Alison in The Inbetweeners Movie. Attended 1996-2003. - Francis HollisFrancis HollisFrancis Septimus Hollis was a British clergyman in the Anglican Church. He held the position of Bishop of Labuan and Sarawak from 1938 until 1948....
, Bishop of Labuan and Sarawak from 1938—1948. - Kenneth HorneKenneth HorneKenneth Horne was an English comedian and businessman. The son of a clergyman and politician, he combined a successful business career with regular broadcasting for the BBC. His first hit series Much-Binding-in-the-Marsh written with his co-star Richard Murdoch arose out of his wartime service as...
, comedian. - Andrew HunterAndrew Hunter (British politician)Andrew Robert Frederick Ebenezer Hunter is a United Kingdom politician and a member of the Orange Order. He was Member of Parliament for Basingstoke from 1983 until 2005...
, former MP. - Frances LincolnFrances LincolnFrances Elisabeth Rosemary Lincoln was an English independent publisher of illustrated books. She won a Woman of the Year award in 1995.-Education:...
, publisher and founder of Frances Lincoln PublishersFrances Lincoln PublishersFrances Lincoln Publishers is a British book publishing company based in London, founded by Frances Lincoln.The company was founded in 1977. It produces illustrated books, especially on art, architecture, design, gardening, landscape, and walking. In 1983, Francis Lincoln also started to publish...
. - Kate Mullins, one of the The Puppini SistersThe Puppini SistersThe Puppini Sisters are a vocal trio. Arion Berger described them as part of "Retro's futuristic vanguard" and described their sound as "swing-punk". The group has sought to be associated with a burlesque revival....
. - Michael OakeshottMichael OakeshottMichael Joseph Oakeshott was an English philosopher and political theorist who wrote about philosophy of history, philosophy of religion, aesthetics, and philosophy of law...
, an English philosopher with particular interests in political thought. Attended 1912–1920. - Peter Alan RaynerPeter Alan RaynerPeter Alan Rayner was a British author of numismatic books. He was known by his second name Alan, rather than his first to avoid confusion with Peter Seaby, also a popular author, whose family firm Rayner joined at the age of 24.Rayner lived in Harpenden, Hertfordshire where he attended St...
, a British coin-book author having written English Silver Coinage 1649 to date.