1. History

2. Grounds

3. Admissions

4. Uniform

5. Education

6. Co-curricular activities
    Combined Cadet Force  Sport 

7. Headmasters

8. Notable alumni

9. Notable staff

10. Southern Railway Schools Class

11. References

12. External links

History

Whitgift School was founded in 1596 by the Archbishop of Canterbury John Whitgift and opened in 1600.^[6] It was founded as part of the Whitgift Foundation which had the aim of building a hospital and school in Croydon for the "poor, needy and impotent people" from the parishes of Croydon and Lambeth.^[7] It is Croydon's oldest school.{{citation needed|date=June 2018}}

The school was originally located in North End, Croydon. In 1931 the school moved to its current site, Haling Park, which was once home to Lord Howard of Effingham, the Lord High Admiral of the Fleet sent against the Spanish Armada.^[8] Between 1871 and 1946 the school was known as Whitgift Grammar School, after which it relinquished its direct grant and became a fully independent school known as 'Whitgift School'.^[9]

There are approximately 650 boys in the Lower School and 650 boys in the Upper School. Haling Park retains the appearance of an attractive country estate with a large copse, many specimen trees, Prevost's Squirrels, maras, peafowl (peacocks), crowned and demoiselle cranes, flamingos and other exotic birds. The Founder's Garden, Water Gardens and Andrew Quadrangle provide reflective spaces as well as venues for plays, concerts and celebrations. The Whitgift Rose, created to mark the 400th Anniversary of the School, is widely planted throughout the grounds.

The original buildings have been supplemented by many additions and improvements including a Music School and Concert Hall, an integrated facility for science, technology, art and design together with library and resource centres, a separate Lower School building, and a major new Sports and Conference Centre which was opened in February 2005. A new Art Department, Performing Arts Centre and a new Sixth Form Centre were completed in the middle of 2011.

Originally a day school, boarding was introduced in 1992,^[10] but a new boarding house was opened for the 2013–14 school year.^[11]

Grounds

Whitgift is located in a {{convert|45|acre|adj=on}} parkland site. The ship (a model of HMS Ark Royal, the flagship of Lord Howard of Effingham against the Spanish Armada) that features prominently on the top of "Big School" (the school hall) is a reminder of the history of the site. Additions since the 400th anniversary of the school have been a maze in the founder's garden, an aviary, an enclosure for Prevost's squirrels, ponds and a multimillion-pound sports complex.

Whitgift has a wide variety of animals, including peacocks on the grounds since the 1930s, and flamingos.^[12] In 2005 Sir David Attenborough visited the school to open the ponds, the enclosure of which also houses various waterfowl,^[13] including Hawaiian geese, which the zoo successfully bred.

Admissions

Most boys are admitted to the school at the ages of 10 or 11. Smaller numbers of boys enter the school at 12, 13, 14 and 16. Entry is based on performance in entrance exams and interviews, and an assessment of a boy's ability to contribute to wider school life and to benefit from the co-curricular activities offered.^[14] Scholarships are awarded, offering a remission of up to 50% of the school fees. Aside from academic scholarships, they may be awarded for particular talent in music, art, design technology or sport, or as an all-rounder. A substantial number of bursaries are also awarded up to the value of the full fees.^[15]

Uniform

The school uniform up to year 11 is a dark blue blazer bearing the school crest paired with grey trousers, in the sixth form a suit is worn. Boys in years 6 to 9 wear a blue shirt, other years a white one. There are a variety of school ties denoting the pupil's seniority and sports colours.

Education

In year 7, boys must choose three languages to study; one Romance (French/Spanish), one inflected (German/Latin) and one Oriental (Japanese/Mandarin). In year 9, boys can drop a language, but can also take up either Italian or Ancient Greek^[16] which is studied off-timetable. In the Fifth Form, boys undertake a broad curriculum in a mixture of GCSE and IGCSE subjects.

Since 2005, Whitgift has offered the International Baccalaureate^[17] Diploma Programme to the Sixth Form as an optional alternative to A-Levels, as well as BTEC qualifications in sport and business studies.

The school has eight houses and their colours are Andrew's (purple), Brodie's (pink), Cross's (red), Dodd's (silver), Ellis's (light blue), Mason's (royal blue), Smith's (gold) and Tate's (green). The Houses are named after former headmasters, headboys and founding Housemasters.

Co-curricular activities

Whitgift School offers co-curricular activities within the school. This is reflected in the sporting facilities as well as an array of musical activities.

Combined Cadet Force

Whitgift has a combined cadet force. The school has partnerships with two local state schools St. Andrews C of E High School and Thomas More School, allowing their students to take part in CCF activities.^[18] Each year an annual inspection takes place conducted by a senior figure of the armed forces, often a former student of the school. Although not designed to recruit for the armed forces, some students go on to win service scholarships{{cn|date=March 2019}}.

Sport

The school has a sporting tradition, and fields teams in a range of sports. Whitgift has a £9 million sports and conference centre which hosts competitions in a wide range of sports.^[19] The school also has a Health & Fitness Centre, a 55 station gym and group exercise studio open to students and their families.^[19] Whitgift has a number of former sporting professionals currently coaching at the school. These include the former Surrey cricketer David Ward, the former Chelsea and Arsenal defender Colin Pates, the former Surrey spin bowler Neil Kendrick, and the former Crystal Palace and Chelsea midfielder and manager at Selhurst Park Steve Kember{{cn|date=March 2019}}. The school was also once a training ground to Crystal Palace^[20]{{failed verification|date=March 2019}} The Women’s GB Handball team has trained on occasions at Whitgift School as has the England Korfball team.^[19]

Whitgift is the only British school to win national titles in the four major team sports, cricket, hockey, football and rugby.^[21]{{failed verification|date=March 2019}} In rugby, the school has twice won the National Daily Mail Cup at Under 15 level (1999, 2003) and at under 18 level (2010, 2011).^[22] In hockey Whitgift won the National Indoor Hockey Championships at Under 15 and Under 18 levels in 2011.^[21] The school also become national Under 18 golf champions for the first time in 2014 at Carnoustie. In 2011 The school had links to the academies of Charlton, Chelsea and Crystal Palace football clubs, to Surrey County Cricket Club, London Wasps rugby club and East Grinstead Hockey Club.^[23] The first recorded cricket match held on the school ground occurred in 1898 when the school played University College School.^[24] From 2003 to 2011 the school ground hosted several matches for county club Surrey. The ground hosted its first match for Surrey in 2000, when they played a List-A match against Warwickshire. From 2000 to present, the ground has hosted 12 List-A matches.^[25]

Headmasters

• 1600–1601 Ambrose Brygges^[26]
• 1601–1606 John Ireland^[26]
• 1606–1616 Robert Davies^[26]
• 1616–1629 William Nicolson^[26]
• 1629–1648 John Webb^[26]
• 1651–1662 Thomas Day^[26]
• 1668–1675 William Crowe^[26]
• 1675–1681 John Shepheard^[36]
• 1681–1712 John Caesar^[36]
• 1712–1742 Henry Mills^[27]
• 1742–1751 Samuel Staveley^[28]
• 1751–1774 John Taylor Lamb^[28]
• 1774–1801 James Hodgson^[29]
• 1801–1812 John Rose^[29]
• 1812–1843 John Bisset^[29]
• 1843–1865 George Coles^[30]
• 1865–1871 William Ingrams^[31]
• 1871–1902 Robert Brodie^[32]
• 1903–1927 Samuel Andrew^[33]
• 1928–1939 Stanley Gurner^[34]
• 1939–1946 Gerald Ellis^[35]
• 1946–1961 Edward Marlar^[36]
• 1961–1970 Michael Hugill^[37]
• 1970–1991 David Raeburn^[38]
• 1991–2017 Dr Christopher Barnett^[39]
• 2017– Christopher Ramsey

Notable alumni

Former pupils of Whitgift are known as "Old Whitgiftians".

Notable staff

• Anthony Seldon, Head of Politics at Whitgift in the 1980s, head of Brighton College and Wellington College, biographer of contemporary British political figures

Southern Railway Schools Class

The school lent its name to a locomotive in the Southern Railway V Class. This class was known as the Schools Class because all 40 locomotives were named after prominent English public schools. "Whitgift", SR no. 916 and BR no. 30916, was built in 1934 and withdrawn in 1962. The Whitgift nameplate that was formerly mounted on the front driving wheel-splasher of the locomotive is now on display in the Raeburn Library in the school. Hornby Models created an OO gauge replica of the 916 Whitgift Schools Class locomotive. Whitgift has one on display in the Raeburn Library underneath the Whitgift nameplate from the 4–4–0 train.

References

External links

• Whitgift School website
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20130613204432/http://www.isc.co.uk/schools/england/london-area/croydon/whitgift-school Whitgift School Profile] Independent Schools Council
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20070317210537/http://www.lgfl.net/lgfl/independentschools/whitgift/accounts/departments/archives/home/Carmen/ A rendition of the school song, Carmen]
• Old Whitgiftian Football Club
• Old Whitgiftian Association
• Old Whitgiftian Rugby Football Club
• {{mmukscaled|TQ323640|10|Map sources}}
• Whitgift School Threatens Pupils

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