Richard Hale School

Infobox UK school
name = Richard Hale School


size =
latitude = 51.79246
longitude = -0.07769
dms = dms
motto = Doctrina cvm virtvte
motto_pl =
established = April 24, 1617
approx =
closed =
c_approx =
type = State, community
religion = N/A
president =
head_label = Headteacher
head = Mr Stephen Neate
r_head_label =
r_head =
chair_label = Chair of governors
chair = Mr A Mansfield
founder =
founder_pl =
specialist = Science College
specialist_pl =
street = Hale Road
city = Hertford
county = Hertfordshire
country = England
postcode = SG13 8EN
LEA = Hertfordshire
ofsted = 117501
staff =
enrollment = c.1000
gender = Male (and Coeducational 6th form)
lower_age = 11
upper_age = 18
houses = Cowper, Croft, Hale, Kinman, Page, Wallace,
colours =
publication = Hale News
free_label_1 =
free_1 =
free_label_2 =
free_2 =
free_label_3 =
free_3 =
website = http://www.richardhale.herts.sch.uk/
website_name =

Richard Hale School is an all-boys' school located in Hertford, Hertfordshire, in the south east of England. In the 2007-2008 academic year the school had a pupil count of over 1,000 including students attending the optional sixth form.

The school was founded on 16 April 1617 by the affluent merchant Richard Hale, eldest son of Thomas Hales of Codicote (a likely descendant of the Kentish Hales) who wished to "erect a grammar school for the instruction of children in the Latin tongue and other literature in the town of Hertford"." The original school building was in use for 313 years from 1617 to 1930, and still stands near to All Saints Church.

Hale gave his name to one of the five houses of the school. Recently a new house called "Kinman" has been added to the growing school, named after the headteacher who organised the school's move in 1930. This house is for the boys who were previously in an overflow form, and not grouped together with their other housemates. The remaining five were named after the school benefactors Francis Thomas de Grey Cowper, 7th Earl Cowper KG and Richard Benyon Croft; and former pupils Lieutenant-Colonel Frank Page, DSO and bar, and the evolutionary biologist Alfred Russel Wallace. House competition is an integral part of school life at Richard Hale, with competitions taking part not only on the sports fields but on the stage in both music and drama.

The school has a long tradition of rugby football and recently received planning permission for a new sports hall to further its sporting activities. The school's current headteacher is Stephen M Neate, who was appointed headteacher in 2005 on a temporary basis following the retirement of the previous incumbent, Michael James, but whose position as headmaster has been made permanent.

Notable alumni

Alfred Wallace is Richard Hale's most famous former pupil, but the school has produced other notable alumni:
*Michael Dobbs, author and screenwriter
*Captain W. E. Johns, author of the Biggles series
*Brian Wilde, actor
*Rupert Grint, actor (Harry Potter)
*Billy Lunn, musician
*Geoff Hamilton, television presenter
*John Gladwin, Bishop of Chelmsford
*John Flack (Bishop), Bishop and Anglican representative to the Holy See
*Richard Chartres, Bishop of London
*John Fincham, former emeritus professor at Cambridge University
*Richard Eden, emeritus professor of energy at Cambridge University
*Mark Williams, Member of Parliament for Ceredigion (Wales)
*Des de Moor, singer, songwriter and performer
*Rob Playford, drum and bass DJ, and record producer

External links

* [http://www.richardhale.herts.sch.uk/index.htm Official website]
* [http://www.richard-hale-association.org.uk/ Richard Hale Association]