Highgate School

Infobox Secondary school
name = Highgate School

motto = Altiora In Votis ("Latin: I pray for the higher things")
"set your heart on higher things"
type = Independent (British Public School)
affiliations = Eton Group, HMC
city = Highgate, London
country = England
established = 1565
founder = Sir Roger Cholmeley
head_label = Headmaster
head = Mr Adam Pettitt MA
faculty = 125 full-time
students = 1,313
grades = Reception - Year 13
website = [http://www.highgateschool.org.uk/ http://www.highgateschool.org.uk/]

Sir Roger Cholmeley's School at Highgate (Highgate School) is a British Independent School in London, England. It is a member of both the Headmaster's Conference and the Eton Group. Highgate recently made the move towards co-education ending over 400 years of single sex education. According to the "Good Schools Guide", "Its decision to go co-ed has helped to put its popularity and academic standards on upward trajectories." [http://www.goodschoolsguide.co.uk/school/highgate-school.html]

When founded the school was legally documented as the Free Grammar School of Sir Roger Cholmeley, Knight at Highgate in letters patent of Queen Elizabeth I in 1565. In this period up to 1871 it was known commonly as The Free Grammar School at Highgate, the Highgate Grammar School or the Cholmeley School, when not referred to legally. By the 1870s the school was by no means free anymore and provided to gentlemen esquire and the upper middle classes. For this reason the name was changed to "Sir Roger Cholmeley's School at Highgate", which it is still known by today in the charitable status list. In the later part of the 19th Century the school's current title Highgate School developed, as it competed with better-known public schools with area names like Eton College, Harrow School and Winchester College.

Three separate schools now come under the Highgate Foundation, which manages not only the Senior School but also a prep school and a pre-prep school.

History

The school was established in 1565 by a Royal Charter of Elizabeth I giving permission for Sir Roger Cholmeley to erect a free grammar school for boys. A significant expansion of the school occurred under Headmaster The Revd Dr John Bradley Dyne (Fellow of Wadham College, Oxford) between 1838-1874. During this period the current chapel and main buildings were erected, designed by Reginald Blomfield (who had also designed Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford). A fragment of the older school building, a gateway with a rusted bell mechanism above between the porter's lodge and the main school building, remained intact until 2006 when the bell was refurbished and the old entrance itself rebuilt in a more modern style.

During the Second World War the school's buildings were commandeered by the British government and the school was evacuated to Westward Ho! in Devon, returning to Highgate in 1943. This return was maybe slightly premature because one afternoon in 1944 a V-1 Doodlebug flying bomb landed and exploded in the field behind the Junior School. Luckily, the only serious casualty was a cricket scorebox.

By 1965 the school occupied a large site in Highgate Village, as well as extensive sports fields and several boarding houses in the surrounding area.

The poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge was buried in the school chapel, his grandson an Old Cholmeleian. However, in 1965 after a row with the council there was a ceremonial disinterring of Coleridge at which the then Poet Laureate John Masefield spoke and the remains were reburied at St Michael's parish church just a few hundred yards away.

Highgate School is also home to the oldest school freemasons lodge in the world, Cholmeley Lodge No 1731, formed in 1878.

In 2003, the school took the decision to become fully co-educational ending over four hundred years of single-sex education.

Administration

Due to the Foundation's significant ownership of land and properties around the school, it has been able to invest greatly in the school's facilities; the relatively recent conversion from boarding to day school has increased the space available for this to continue. The Foundation's governing body consists of 12 members; 5 are nominated (one each by the Universities of Oxford, Cambridge, and London, by the Bishop of London, and by the Lord Chief Justice), and the rest are co-opted. The school is a member of the Eton Group of leading independent schools.

Notable members of staff

* T. S. Eliot OM (1888–1965), American-born British poet, dramatist, and literary critic, winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1948
* The Right Hon Sir Robert Stopford KCVO, CBE, Bishop of London, Chaplain to The Queen
* Rev Kenneth Hunt, footballer who was instrumental in taking Wolverhampton Wanderers to FA Cup victory
* Jon Ingold, author
* Sir Kyffin Williams RA - award-winning Welsh artist
* Dr Andrew Zbigniew Szydlo - Dr Szydlo made a name for himself by appearing on Channel 4 TV Show "That'll Teach Them"/ BBC FOUR "Absolute Zero"
* Albert Knight, England cricketer
* Graham Wallas, socialist and founder of the Fabian Society

Houses

The school operates a house system like many other public schools and on entering, pupils are placed in a house according to where they live (although the system does appear inaccurate, on occasions). These houses are Northgate, Southgate, Westgate, Eastgate, Queensgate, Kingsgate, Midgate, Fargate, Heathgate, The Lodge, School House and Grindal. Each house has a Housemaster in charge of the pastoral, as well as academic well-being of house-members, and tutors for each year group. This system was established to create 'house spirit' among the students, allowing for both academic and sporting competitions among the houses. Some of these, like School House, Grindal, Cordell and The Lodge used to be boarding houses. Grindal is the only house to have its own old boys club, The Mitre Club. However, other houses, such as Kingsgate, are newer, having been created by a dissaffected group of Westgateans in the 1970s.

Alumni

Former pupils are known as "Old Cholmeleians" - current pupils are "Cholmeleians" - after the school's founder, Sir Roger Cholmeley, and Highgate has a diverse range of well-known old boys, most notably in the arts and literature. All former pupils are inducted into the Old Cholmeleians' Society upon leaving; the society has several events at the school and elsewhere for old pupils. Members past and present include:

Politics

* Peter Beazley (politician)
* David Burrowes (politician)
* The Rt Hon Charles Clarke (politician - Secretary of State for Education (2002-2004) Home Secretary (2004-2006)
* Sir John Cockburn (Australian politician - Premier of South Australia)
* The Rt Hon Anthony Crosland (politician- Secretary of State for Education and Science (1965-1967) President of the Board of Trade (1967-1969) Foreign Secretary (1976-1977)
* The Rt Hon Bernard Jenkin (politician and Vice Chairman of the Conservative Party)
* Sir Geoffrey Shakespeare Bt (politician, Chief Whip of the Liberal Party, Private Secretary to David Lloyd George and Minister for Overseas Trade)
* Christopher Wright (founder of Single's Club)
* Sir Martin Furnival Jones KCB (Director General of MI5 1965-1972)
* The Rt Hon Sir Robert Atkins MEP
* Frank,Lord Bowles (MP and Deputy Chairman of the Labour Party)
* Rupert Mitford, Lord Redesdale (Liberal Democrats Spokesman)
* Anthony Howard (political journalist)
* Sir Colin Turner MP
* Sir Charles Thomas-Stanford Bt. MP (politician and author. Donated Lewes Castle to the Nation)

Law

* Sir Maurice Gwyer KCB, KCSI (Chief Justice of India and Vice Chancellor of Delhi University)
* Ernest Greenwood (Attorney-General of Northern Nigeria)
* Michael Mansfield QC
* Sir Peter Crane (High Court Judge)
* Sir Anthony Lincoln (High Court Judge)
* Lord Ackner (Law Lord)
* Lord Neill of Bladen QC (Barrister, Vice Chancellor of Oxford University, Warden of All Souls College, Oxford)
* Sir Brian Neill (Court of Appeal Judge)
* Professor Sir Roy Goode QC (academic, Professor of English Law, Oxford University)
* Sir Anthony Plowman (Vice-Chancellor of the Chancery Division and High Court Judge)
* Thomas Sargant OBE (Law Reformer and Human Rights Campaigner)
* Sir Frank Douglas MacKinnon (Court of Appeal Judge)
* Sir Archibald Bodkin (Director of Public Prosecutions 1920-1930)
* Nicholas Strauss QC

Popular music

* John Leyton
* Johnny Borrell of Razorlight
* Zak Starkey of Oasis and The Who (son of Ringo Starr)
* John Hassall of The Libertines/Yeti
* Crispian Mills of Kula Shaker
* Jon Moss of (Culture Club)
* Orlando Weeks of The Maccabees
* Christian Smith of Stony Sleep and Razorlight
* DJ Yoda

Classical music

* John Rutter CBE (composer)
* Sir John Tavener (composer)
* Alan Bush (composer)
* Jan Latham-Koenig (conductor)
* Anthony Camden (oboeist and conductor)
* Howard Shelley (pianist)
* Gerard Hoffnung (tubist)
* Daniel Hope (violinist)
* Brian Chapple (composer)
* Simon Bainbridge (composer and Professor of Composition at the Royal Academy of Music)
* Gerard Delrez (singer)

Film and television

* Richard Bebb (actor)
* John Box OBE (Academy Award-winning ("Oscar") production designer and art director)
* Robin Ellis (actor)
* John Leyton (actor and singer)
* Adrian Lyne (film director, "Flashdance", "9 1/2 Weeks", "Fatal Attraction", "Jacobs Ladder")
* Barry Norman CBE (film critic)
* Lloyd Owen (actor)
* Geoffrey Palmer OBE (actor)
* Robin Ray (broadcaster)
* Harry Thompson (television producer)
* Murray Walker OBE (motorsport commentator)
* Vivian White (TV Journalist)
* Philip Harben (TV Chef)
* Paul Rotha (Film Maker)
* Matthew Garber, actor
* Christopher Morahan (Theatre, television and film Director, directed "Clockwise (film)")
* Freddie Highmore (actor)
* Gregg Sulkin (actor) "Sixty Six" (film)

port

* R.G. Warton (England Cricket team manager)
* W.R. Seagrove (Olympic athlete)
* David Hays (cricketer)
* Douglas Lowe QC (Olympic athlete, President of the Bar Council)
* Walter Robins (Captain of the English Cricket Team)
* Phil Tufnell (England Cricket Team, TV Personality)
* Colin Dryborough (Captain of Middlesex CCC)
* R.D Robertson (Rugby Union, Scottish International)
* Gordon Crole-Rees (Davis Cup tennis player)
* Amin Zahir (fencing, Olympic team)

cience

* David Keynes Hill (biophysicist)
* Rev John Venn (created Venn Diagrams and was President of Gonville & Caius College, Cambridge)
* Alan Blumlein (inventor of stereo and much of the equipment used for the world's first high-definition television service at Alexandra Palace)
* Sir Clive Sinclair (inventor of the 'slim-line' electronic pocket calculator]
* Dr Alex Comfort (author of "The Joy of Sex")
* Professor John Zarnecki (Space Scientist)
* D.G. Sadler (inventor of the Magnetic Mine Sweep)
* Sir Christopher Andrewes FRS (isolated the first human influenza virus)
* Sir Arthur George Tansley FRS (botanist, founder of the British Ecological Society)
* Thomas Heffernan
* Warwick W Sawyer, mathematician. Author of "Mathematician's Delight"
* Paul Weindling, Wellcome Trust Research Professor in the History of Medicine at Oxford Brookes University

Arts

* Sir Reginald Blomfield (architect; designed the school)
* Gerard Hoffnung, (cartoonist and musician)
* Anthony Green RA, (artist)
* Patrick Procktor, (artist)
* Nigel Williams, (author, screenwriter and playwright)
* Allan G. Wyon, (sculptor)
* Marcus Clarke, (author)
* Hussein Chalayan MBE, (designer)
* Peter Kingsley, (writer on ancient Greek culture)
* Mike Ockrent (theatre director)
* Freddie Highmore (actor)
* H. G. Pelissier (actor)

cholars and poets

* Owen Barfield (influenced both C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien)
* Sir John Betjeman (Poet Laureate, taught by T. S. Eliot)
* Ernest Hartley Coleridge (literary scholar, grandson of Samuel Taylor Coleridge)
* John Bradley Dyne (President of Gonville & Caius College, Cambridge)
* Professor Vivian Hunter Galbraith (historian, Regius Professor of Modern History, Oxford University)
* Sir Martin Gilbert CBE (Historian and official biographer of Sir Winston Churchill)
* Gerard Manley Hopkins (poet)
* James Augustus Cotter Morison, essayist and historian* Howard Hayes Scullard (historian, editor of the Oxford Classical Dictionary
* Sir Charles Grant Robertson academic historian and Vice Chancellor of Birmingham University
* Nicholas Rowe (1674–1718, Poet Laureate and dramatist)
* Martin Seymour-Smith (poet and biographer)
* Walter William Skeat (philologist)
* Philip Stanhope Worsley (first published translations of the Odyssey and Iliad)
* Edmund Yates (novelist and chose Lewis Carroll as pen name for Charles Dodgson)

Business and commerce

* Sir Edward Beauchamp (MP and Chairman of Lloyds)
* Sir Percy Mackinnon (Chairman of Lloyds)
* Sir Alexander Valentine (Chairman of Transport for London)
* Sir Arthur Hetherington (Chairman of British Gas)
* Sir James Lindsay (Industrialist and management consultant)
* Sir Malcolm Field (Chairman of the Civil Aviation Authority and managing director of WH Smith)
* Piers Adam (nightclub and restaurant owner, KBar, CLICK, Capisce, ROCK, Mahiki)

The Church

* Mgr Ralph Brown (Papal Chamberlain and Canon law expert)
* Stanley Booth-Clibborn (Bishop of Manchester)
* Kenneth Clements (Bishop of Canberra and Goulburn)
* Ernest H. Thorold (Chaplain to Kings George V, Edward VII, and George VI).
* Norman Tubbs (Bishop of Rangoon and Dean of Chester)
* Arthur Kitching (Bishop of Uganda)
* William G Hardie (Archbishop of the West Indies)
* Edward Waller (Bishop of Madras)
* Henry Durrant (Bishop of Lahore)
* Samuel Bickersteth (Chaplain to HM the King and Canon of Canterbury)
* Edward Bickersteth (Bishop of South Tokyo, Japan)
* Charles Turner (Bishop of Islington)
* Henry Venn (Canon of Canterbury)

The Armed Forces

* Anthony Rogers (Major-General, Director of Army Legal Services)
* Neil Carlier CB OBE (Major-General, Royal Engineers, Commander of British Forces in The Falklands)
* Barry Newton (Air Vice Marshal, Gentleman Usher to HM Queen Elizabeth II)
* Henry Wood (Major-General)
* Donald Titford (Rear Admiral)
* Bob Baylis (Rear Admiral)
* Joyanta N. Chaudhuri (General; Commander in Chief, Indian Army; Military Governor of Hyderabad)
* Sir Anthony Selway (Air Marshal)
* Sir Guy Sayer (Vice Admiral)
* Sir William Horwood GBE KCB DSO (Brigadier General; Chief Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police)
* William Alderson (Vice Admiral)
* Sir Frederic Gordon (Major General)
* Frank Rowley (Brigadier General)
* Sir Michael Rimington (Lieutenant General, HQ Staff, Indian Cavalry Corp)
* Thomas Cole Porter (Brigadier General)
* Harold Pemberton Leach (Brigadier General)
* Sir John Leach (General)
* Sir Edward Pemberton Leach VC KCB KCVO General, awarded the Victoria Cross in the 2nd Afghan War)
* John Richardson (Major-General)
* Robert Robertson (Major-General. Indian Mutiny)
* Sir John Donnelly (Major-General; Permanent Secretary to the Department of Education and Science)

Other

* Richard Attree formerly with the BBC Radiophonic Workshop and now a freelance independent composer
* Rufus Barnes (erstwhile Chief Executive of London TravelWatch)
* Christopher Vezey erstwhile BBC Radio 3 producer
* Stephen Ward (of the Profumo affair)

External links

* [http://www.highgateschool.org.uk The school's website]
* [http://www.ocs.org.uk The Old Cholmeleian Society]
* [http://www.goodschoolsguide.co.uk/school/highgate-school.html Profile at the Good Schools Guide]

ee also