- Archbishop Tenison's Church of England High School, Croydon
Infobox UK school
name = Tenison's School
size =
latitude = 51.36943
longitude = -0.08191
dms = dms
motto = "Tenaciter" : (Latin : "Tenaciously / Be Tenacious")
motto_pl =
established = 1714
approx =
closed =
c_approx =
type = Voluntary Aided, selective, day school
religion =Church of England
president =
head_label = Headmaster
head = Mr R Parrish, MA (Oxon)
r_head_label =
r_head =
chair_label = Chair of Governors
chair = Mr I Brown
founder =Thomas Tenison
founder_pl =
specialist =Maths and Computing College
specialist_pl =
street = Selborne Road
city =Croydon
county =Surrey
country =England
postcode = CR0 5JQ
LEA =Croydon
ofsted = 101811
staff =
enrollment = c. 800
gender =Coeducational
lower_age = 11
upper_age = 18
houses = Fisher, Ramsey, Temple
colours = Royal Blue and Red
publication = "The Tenisonian" (published annually)
free_label_1 = Principle Sports
free_1 = Association Football,Rugby Union , Netball,Cricket , Athletics
free_label_2 = Former Pupils
free_2 = Old Tenisonians
free_label_3 = Location
free_3 = [http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?hl=en&q=CR0%205JQ&oe=UTF-8&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=il]
website = http://www.archten.croydon.sch.uk
website_name = Tenison's SchoolArchbishop Tenison's Church of England High School, commonly known as Tenison's School, is an historic 11-18, voluntary aided, mixed comprehensive school in the
London Borough of Croydon ,England , part of the educational provision of theAnglican Diocese of Southwark and Croydon Council. It is a specialist Mathematics and Computing College. Its 11-18 year-old pupils are predominantly active in the Church of England, as selected by the Governors, with a minority of places available to members of other Christian denominations, exceptRoman Catholic s.History of the School
Several schools were founded by
Thomas Tenison , an educational evangelist, in the late 17th and early 18th century. In 1714, Tenison, by thenArchbishop of Canterbury , founded a school for some “ten poor boys and ten poor girls” on a site which is now close to the heart ofCroydon ’s shopping centre; almost 300 years and three sites later, Tenison's is one of the oldest co-educational establishments in Britain. It is a little known fact that Tenison's School is the oldest surviving mixed-gender school in the world.Due to the hostilities of the Second World War, the school was moved away from the dangers of the Blitz in
South London and relocated to Craigmore Hall in the countryside nearCrowborough ,East Sussex , with pupils being evacuated and billeted with the local populace. After the War, Tenison's returned to Croydon and Craigmore Hall returned to private use.The School now occupies a site established almost 50 years ago in a leafy residential area of Croydon - Park Hill, just ten minutes walk from
East Croydon station . It caters for around 770 pupils, of whom approximately 270 are in theSixth Form . Since 1959, the facilities have been augmented by the building of a Sixth Form Centre, an Art block, and Geography and Technology Centres.The school has just come to the end of a planned expansion from two forms of entry to three. This, of course, required additional accommodation, and a new wing was built which included a library with mezzanine level incorporating an educational resource area, a music suite, new technology rooms and science laboratories and several general-purpose classrooms.
Tenison's has recently become a Mathematics and Computing Specialist School and has received funding for the extra provision for ICT and Mathematics facilities. These have included interactive teaching whiteboards and tablet PCs across the school.
An essential part of the funding to gain the specialist status was donated by Lord Harris of Peckham who recently visited the School and opened a new IT suite. Lord Harris has also recently funded the School with the money to allow pupils to visit a school in
Singapore in order to further develop Tenison's international reputation.Tenison's has recently completed significant investment in its facilities, which includes 4 new mobile classrooms, mostly for the provision of English lessons, but including an UVIth study room as well. The School is also over half way to having interactive whiteboards in all classrooms, which has improved the quality of teaching immensely.
In its [http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/portal/site/Internet/menuitem.7c7b38b14d870c7bb1890a01637046a0/?event=getReport&urn=101811&inspectionNumber=286191&providerCategoryID=8192&fileName=\\school\\101\\s5_101811_20080318.xml|most recent Ofsted report] , from February 2008, the Lower School and Sixth Form were both described as being "Outstanding", receiving the highest inspection grades available.
Founder’s Day
A school tradition is that once a year, usually the morning of the first Friday in May, the entire School gathers to celebrate the anniversary of its foundation in 1714, the life of the founder Thomas Tenison and the achievements of the past academic year. The event is attended by pupils, the Governors and representatives from the Diocese of
Southwark .The annual report is read by the Headmaster and a short speech is given. After the service pupils do not have to return to lessons. It is also a longstanding custom for girls in the Lower Sixth to dress in 18th Century school uniform and greet visitors to the church, in reference to the historic origins of the school.
The School Crest
The badges of both the schools founded by Thomas Tenison are based on his personal
coat of arms described as: 'Gules , a bend engrailed argent voided azure, between threeleopard s' faces or jessant-de-lys azure.'In standard English: a red field bearing a white (or silver) diagonal band with scalloped edges, and a narrower blue band running down its centre. This lies between three gold leopards' faces, each of which is pierced by afleur-de-lys entering through the mouth.Uniform
All pupils wear a distinctive blue blazer with the school crest embroidered to the left breast. Ties must be worn at all times and are dark navy blue with bishop's mitres embroidered in house colours. Boys wear white shirts with black trousers with an optional royal blue pullover with Tenison's crest, girls wear light blue blouses and grey skirts, and are allowed to wear trousers, however this is not widely practised. During the warmer summer months, at the discretion of the Headmaster, blazers may be removed and ties need not be worn. Sixth Formers do not have to wear school uniform however boys are expected to wear a dark suit, shirt and tie, and girls are expected to wear similarly formal clothing.
The Houses
Pupils at Tenison's are organised in a manner typical of historic British schools - they are sorted into a
House system . These Houses determine the colour of a pupil's sports kit and the colour of the mitres on their school tie. Pupils are actively a part of the house system from years 7 to 9, and compete annually for the House Points Cup and the Inter-House Cup (a sporting competition). Involvement within the house system lessens in years 10 and 11; however, there have been calls to put greater emphasis on the house system, and inter-house competitions, for all year groups.The houses at Tenison's are named after famous Archbishops of Canterbury, and include:
*Fisher
*Ramsey
*TempleSport at Tenison's
Despite its inner Borough, urban location and comparatively small intake, Tenison's does very well in local and
Surrey Schools sporting competitions, and pupil involvement is high. There are very successful association football and netball teams in every year, 7 - UVIth, entry into various local athletic events, as well as rugby. The football 1st XI regularly reach the final of the Surrey Cup, most recently in 2008, losing on penalties toRichmond upon Thames College . In 2006, Tenison's 1st XV rugby team hosted a touring side from a Canadian school,St. Mary's Catholic Secondary School, Cobourg , winning 33-22.The school has no on-site grass playing fields but does enjoy the use of excellent facilities at nearby Coombe Lodge, providing pitches for both football and cricket, and a recently constructed all-weather surface on the school site enables the provision of tennis, basketball, netball and five-a-side football, as well as four other on-site tennis courts. Cross-country runs are also regularly held, with routes through Lloyd Park and the surrounding woodlands. Tenison's holds its annual summer Sports Day at
Croydon Sports Arena in nearbySouth Norwood .The Sixth Form
There is a widely sought after, heavily over-subscribed Sixth Form, offering a variety of subjects to pupils who have finished their GCSEs. Tenison's School Sixth Form is regularly the top performing, non-independent Sixth Form in Croydon, with a pupil going up to
Oxbridge most years, as well as other top British universities (approximately 80% of Upper Sixth leavers immediately enter university, with more entering after taking agap year ).Old Tenisonians
Current pupils are known as Tenisonians and all former pupils are known as "Old Tenisonians", often referred to as "OTs". Ex-pupils, along with former teachers and friends of the School automatically become members of the Old Tenisonians Society.
The Society has existed for many years and it's main objectives are:
* To allow former pupils and staff to maintain contact and to keep in touch with the School
* To support the School, both financially and non-financially OTs are to be found worldwide, both staff and pupils, and there are regular events including dinners and reunions, as well as a Society newsletter.Famous Old Tenisonians include
Surrey CCC and England cricketer,Mark Butcher .ee also
External links
* [http://www.archten.croydon.sch.uk Tenison's School]
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