- The College of Richard Collyer
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The College of Richard Collyer Motto Honor Deo Established 1532 Type Sixth Form College Principal J Johnston BA, MA, DPhil Founder Richard Collyer Location Hurst Road
Horsham
West Sussex
RH12 2EJ
United KingdomLocal authority West Sussex County Council DfE number ???/8602 DfE URN 130847 Ofsted Reports Students 1600 Gender Mixed Ages 16–18 Former pupils Old Collyerians Website Collyer's Coordinates: 51°04′16″N 0°19′26″W / 51.0710°N 0.3238°W
The College of Richard Collyer, or Collyer's, is a coeducational sixth form college in Horsham, West Sussex, England.
Contents
Admissions
Collyer's serves about 1600 students between 16 and 19 years of age. It offers AS and A-level courses in 45 different subjects, including a selection not taught at other local colleges. 20 further subjects are offered towards AVCE, BTEC, GNVQ and vocational certifications and GCSE examinations.
A wide variety of adult education classes are offered at Collyer's in the evenings. It is situated on the B2180 opposite Horsham Community Hospital, and not far from the fire and police stations.
History
The College was founded in 1532 under the terms of the will of Richard Collyer, a member of The Mercers' Company of the City of London. The Mercers' Company are still the school's trustees, and have a close relationship with the school.
The current building was erected in 1892 by Arthur Vernon and is grade II listed by English Heritage. Above the entrance is a stone engraved with 'Grammar School, Founded by Richard Collier AD 1532' This is the only instance where Collyer is spelled as Collier. The new building replaced the school that was on the site of the current St Mary's Church of England Primary School. Part of the original building remains in structure of Arun House in Denne Road.
Grammar school
Collyer's evolved slowly from an exclusive, all-male boarding school to the institution it is today. In 1944 it became a voluntary-aided grammar school. In the 1960s it had around 600 boys.
Sixth form college
It was effectively disbanded in its previous form when in 1976 it became a voluntary-aided sixth form college, instead of the expected comprehensive school. Later in 1993 it became a designated sixth form college.
In the early 2000s, annual reports from the Office for Standards in Education have deemed the school outstanding. On the strength of a recent Ofsted Grade One for Science provision, the college was awarded Beacon Status for Science in 2005 by the Department for Education and Skills. In the same year, it achieved the status of Centre of Vocational Excellence (CoVE) for sport and recreation. A new £2 million Learning Resources Centre was unveiled during this period. In 2006, work began to extend the Sports Hall, or Cowley Building to provide more teaching and social space.
Headmasters
- Rev Canon Wilfrid Peacock 1922-6
Academic performance
It is considered one of the best sixth form colleges in England. Academically it is a very strong school; the students regularly achieve good results and a significant number progress to the most prestigious universities.
It gets about the best A-level results in West Sussex for state-run institutions, with The Weald School, Billingshurst.
Notable alumni
- See Category:Old Collyerians.
- Harry Enfield - contemporary British entertainer
- Chris Nash - Sussex cricketer
Collyer's School
- Saint Thomas Garnet (c.1575-1608), Jesuit Priest and martyr
- Wilfred Brown, tenor
- William Brown, President from 1951-2 of the British Psychological Society, and Director from 1936-45 of the Institute of Experimental Psychology at the University of Oxford
- John Curtis OBE, Keeper since 1989 of the Department of the Middle East at the British Museum, and Chairman from 1996-2001 of the British Association for Near Eastern Archaeology
- Rt Rev Brian John Masters, Bishop of Edmonton from 1985-98, and Bishop of Fulham from 1982-4
- Simon Nye - writer of Men Behaving Badly
- Paul Parker, Sussex cricketer
- Prof Christopher Platt, Professor of the History of Latin America from 1972-89 at the University of Oxford, and Chairman from 1973-5 of the Society for Latin American Studies
- Prof Colin Platt, Professor of History from 1983-99 at the University of Southampton, twin brother of Christopher
- Prof Vernon Reynolds, Professor of Biological Anthropology from 1996-2001 at the University of Oxford, and expert on chimpanzees in the Budongo Forest
- Major Alan Schaefer
- Lawrence Smith, Keeper from 1987-97 of Japanese Antiquities at the British Museum
- Lt-Col George Styles GC, commanded the 28th Commonwealth Brigade from 1958-61, and bomb disposal expert in Northern Ireland in the 1970s
- Eric Thompson - actor, and voice of The Magic Roundabout
- Dr David Westwood, Chief Constable from 1999-2005 of Humberside Police
- Prof Roy Worskett, architect, Professor of Urban Conservation from 1974-9 at the University of Bath
External links
- The College of Richard Collyer
- The Old Collyerians' Association (Association for alumni)
- Press release announcing 2005 OFSTED school inspection results
- A Brief History of Richard Collyer's School 1532-1964
- The Mercers' Company
- Collyers today with up to date photographs
- Contemporary photographs and text of English Heritage's Grade II listing
- Edubase
Categories:- Horsham
- Schools with Combined Cadet Forces
- Educational institutions established in the 1530s
- Sixth form colleges in West Sussex
- Learning and Skills Beacons
- 1532 establishments in England
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