Whitgift School

For the comprehensive school, see Whitgift School, Grimsby

Whitgift School

Motto	Vincit qui patitur ("He who endures, wins")
Established	1596
Type	Independent school
Head Master	Christopher Barnett
Founder	John Whitgift
Location	South Croydon Greater London England
Local authority	Croydon
DfE number	306/6014
Staff	128 (approx.)
Students	1,400
Gender	Boys
Ages	10–18
Houses	Andrews, Brodies, Crosses, Dodds, Ellis's, Masons, Smiths, Tates
Website	www.whitgift.co.uk

Coordinates: 51°21′36″N 0°06′05″W / 51.36°N 0.101389°W / 51.36; -0.101389

Whitgift School is an independent day school educating approximately 1,400 boys aged 10 to 18 in South Croydon, London in a 45-acre (18 ha) parkland site.

History and grounds

It was founded in 1596 by the Archbishop of Canterbury John Whitgift and is part of the Whitgift Foundation along with Trinity School of John Whitgift and Old Palace School of John Whitgift. 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.^[1] The ship (a model of HMS Ark Royal) 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 multi-million-pound sports complex.

Whitgift is renowned locally for its wide variety of animals, most notably the peacocks which have graced the grounds since the 1930s, and the flamingos. ^[2] In 2005 Sir David Attenborough visited the school to open the ponds, the enclosure of which also houses two albino wallabies (a gift from the Queen, given in 2002 after the school's ponds re-opened^[3]), and various waterfowl,^[4] including Hawaiian geese, which the zoo successfully bred.^[3]

Cricket ground

The first recorded match held on the school ground occurred in 1898 when the school played University College School.^[5] In recent years the school ground has 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.^[6] In 2003, the ground held its first first-class match when Surrey played Nottinghamshire. From 2003 to present, the ground has held 9 first-class matches.^[7] The cricket ground can cope with up to 5,000 spectators.

Education

Since 2005, Whitgift has offered International Baccalaureate^[8] to the sixth form as an optional alternative to A-Levels, as well as BTEC qualifications in sport and music.

Co-curricular activities

While Whitgift School has one the finest academic results in the country,^[9] it also pays substantial importance to co-curricular activities within the school life. This is reflected in the sporting facilities as well as an array of musical activities. The school also has highly developed Design Technology and Art suites, more than six computer rooms, and two libraries.

The houses at Whitgift play an important role in the co-curricular activities of the students. The 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. Each House has a Housemaster or Housemistress, house captain and vice-captain and House Prefects. Some of the Houses have form representatives. All the House representatives have a special House-tie with the house colour on it.

Rugby Union

The school has strong Rugby Football teams:

Under 15

• In 1999 and 2003 it won the National Daily Mail Cup for English Schools at Under 15 level. In the 2010 season, the School also reached the semi-finals of the competition.

Under 18

• 2010 - Whitgift beat RGS Newcastle 34-10 to win the Daily Mail Cup for English Schools at Under 18 level.
• 2011 - The school successfully defended its title by beating Oakham School by 45-24.^[10]

Cricket

Former Surrey cricketer, David Ward is cricket coach at the school. There has also been other famous sportsmen who have taught and coached at Whitgift. Those currently working at the school include John Humphrey, who played football for Charlton Athletic and Crystal Palace, Colin Pates, the former Chelsea and Arsenal defender, and Neil Kendrick, the former Surrey spin bowler.

In 2003 the School won the U13 National Calypso Cup

Through a connection with the youth academy at Crystal Palace, Steve Kember, the former Palace and Chelsea midfielder and manager at Selhurst Park, also coaches at the school^{[citation needed]}.

Senior staff

• Headmaster Dr Christopher A. Barnett
• Second Master Mr John D.C. Pitt
• Deputy Headmaster Mr Peter J. Yeo
• Assistant Head (Academic) Mr D. William Munks
• Assistant Head (Pastoral) Mr Stewart D. Cook
• Assistant Head (Proctor) Mr David Elvin

Notable alumni

Former pupils are known as Old Whitgiftians. The following are a selection of notable alumni

Academia

• Stafford Beer, cybernetics expert, businessman and author^[11]
• Sir Robert Boyd, space research scientist^[12]
• Sir Bernard Crick, academic, British political theorist, author^[13]
• Dalziel Hammick, research chemist^[14]
• Liam Hudson, social psychologist and author^[15]
• Michael Posner, economist^[16]

Business

• Sir Bernard Ashley, businessman, husband of Laura Ashley^[17]
• Andy Duncan, former Chief Executive, Channel 4^[18]

Law, Government and Politics

• Lord Bowness, Conservative politician^[19]
• Lord Diplock, judge and Law Lord^[20]
• Lord Freeman, Conservative politician^[21]
• Sir David Freud, senior government advisor on welfare reform^[22]
• David Kerr, Labour politician^[23]
• Lord Prentice, politician^[24]

Media, Music and the Arts

• Leonard Barden, chess columnist^[25]
• Derren Brown, illusionist^[26]
• Robert Dougall, BBC newsreader and President of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB)^[27]
• Sir Newman Flower, publisher and author^[28]
• Neil Gaiman, author^[29]
• Jonathan "JB" Gill, member of the band JLS^[30]
• Martin Jarvis, actor^[31]
• Michael Legat, author, publisher^[32]
• Conrad Leonard, composer and pianist^[33]
• Peter Ling, creator of TV soap Crossroads^[34]
• Tarik O'Regan, composer^[35]
• Steve Punt, writer, comedian and actor^[36]
• Mark Shivas, film and television producer ^[37]
• Alan Truscott, bridge player, columnist, author^[38]
• William Waterhouse, bassoonist and musicologist^[39]
• Guy Woolfenden, conductor and composer with around 150 scores for the Royal Shakespeare Company^[40]

Military

• John "Cats Eyes" Cunningham, RAF ace pilot^[41]
• Captain Alex Eida RHA, army officer, killed in action in Afghanistan, August 1, 2006^[42]
• Captain Kenneth Lockwood, prisoner at Colditz, honorary secretary of Colditz Association ^[43]
• Lt Col Colin "Mad Mitch" Mitchell, Commanding Officer 1st Battalion The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, politician, founder of the Halo Trust^[44]
• Sir Arthur Tedder, 1st Baron Tedder, Marshal of the Royal Air Force, Deputy Supreme Commander of D-Day^[45]
• General Sir Peter Wall, current head of the British Army as Chief of the General Staff^[46]

Sport

• Troy Brown, footballer, Rotherham United and Wales under-21^[47]
• Danny Cipriani, rugby union player, England Saxons and Melbourne Rebels^[48]
• Laurie Evans, cricketer, Warwickshire CCC^[49]
• Mark Foster, rugby union player, Exeter Chiefs^[50]
• Lee Hills, footballer, Crystal Palace
• Tom Lancefield, cricketer, Surrey CCC^[51]
• Tosh Masson, rugby union player, Harlequins^[52]
• Victor Moses, footballer, Wigan Athletic and England Youth^[53]
• Lawrence Okoye, British discus record holder^[54]
• Jason Roy, cricketer, Surrey CCC^[55]
• Matthew Spriegel, cricketer, Surrey CCC^[56]
• Raman Subba Row, cricketer, England, Surrey and Northamptonshire^[57]
• Richard Thorpe, rugby union player, London Irish^[58]
• Dudley Tredger, British Épée fencer^[59]
• Freddie van den Bergh, cricketer, Surrey CCC^[60]

Other

• Peter Bourne, physician, anthropologist, biographer, author and international civil servant^[61]
• Harold Davidson, "The Prostitute's Padre", killed by a lion^[62]
• Michael Manktelow, priest, former Bishop of Basingstoke^[63]
• Francis Skeat, church stained glass designer^[64]
• Graham Smith, priest, current Dean of Norwich^[65]

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", no. 916, was built in 1934 and withdrawn in 1962.

References

1. ^ Whitgift History
2. ^ "Whitgift School in Croydon". Great British Life - Surrey Life. November 2007. http://surrey.greatbritishlife.co.uk/article/whitgift-school-in-croydon-9818/. Retrieved 13 August 2011. 
3. ^ ^{a b} "Wallaby my friend?". The Croydon Guardian (Newsquest Media Group): p. 5. 9 December 2009. 
4. ^ RHS^{[dead link]}
5. ^ "Other matches played on Whitgift School". Cricketarchive.com. http://www.cricketarchive.com/Archive/Grounds/11/444_misc.html. Retrieved 2011-08-07. 
6. ^ "List A cricket matches played at Whitgift School". Cricketarchive.com. http://www.cricketarchive.com/Archive/Grounds/11/444_a.html. Retrieved 2011-08-07. 
7. ^ "First-class matches played at Whitgift School". Cricketarchive.com. http://www.cricketarchive.com/Archive/Grounds/11/444_f.html. Retrieved 2011-08-07. 
8. ^ "Whitgift School IB page". Ibo.org. http://www.ibo.org/school/002095/. Retrieved 2011-08-07. 
9. ^ "School results including comparison with rest of England". Dfes.gov.uk. http://www.dfes.gov.uk/cgi-bin/performancetables/school_06.pl?No=3066014&Mode=Z&Type=SC&Phase=1&Year=06&Base=b&Num=306. Retrieved 2011-08-07. 
10. ^ "Schools Rugby Daily Mail Cup". Schoolsrugby.co.uk. http://www.schoolsrugby.co.uk/tnt_DailyMail.asp. Retrieved 2011-08-07. 
11. ^ "Stafford Beer". Telegraph. 2002-08-28. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1405557/Stafford-Beer.html. Retrieved 2011-08-07. 
12. ^ http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1453867/Sir-Robert-Boyd.html
13. ^ http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2008/dec/19/past?INTCMP=SRCH
14. ^ http://www2.royalsociety.org/DServe/dserve.exe?dsqIni=Dserve.ini&dsqApp=Archive&dsqDb=Persons&dsqSearch=Code=='NA1280'&dsqCmd=Show.tcl
15. ^ http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/2005/mar/17/guardianobituaries.science?INTCMP=SRCH
16. ^ http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/2006/mar/17/guardianobituaries.highereducation?INTCMP=SRCH
17. ^ "Sir Bernard Ashley Obituary". London: The Daily Telegraph. 15 Feb 2009. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/4632812/Sir-Bernard-Ashley.html. "Bernard Albert Ashley was born on August 11, 1926 and educated at Whitgift School, Croydon, developing an interest in engineering. He held a commission in the Royal Fusiliers from 1944 to 1946 and was seconded to the Gurkha Rifles in 1944-45. After the war he got a job in the City." 
18. ^ "Andy Duncan: Channel 4's chief writing the script for what's next on TV - Business Analysis & Features, Business". The Independent. 2008-06-28. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/analysis-and-features/andy-duncan-channel-4s-chief-writing-the-script-for-whats-next-on-tv-856183.html. Retrieved 2011-08-07. 
19. ^ Charles Mosley, editor, Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition, 3 volumes (Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.A.: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 2003), volume 1, page 461. Hereinafter cited as Burke's Peerage and Baronetage, 107th edition.
20. ^ "The Contribution of Lord Diplock to the General Law of Contract". Ojls.oxfordjournals.org. 1989-12-21. http://ojls.oxfordjournals.org/content/9/4/441.extract. Retrieved 2011-08-07. 
21. ^ http://thepeerage.com/p19128.htm
22. ^ "Government advisor Sir David Freud to work for Tories". http://www.croydonguardian.co.uk/news/4131460.Government_advisor_to_work_for_Tories/. "Sir David said that he first knew he wanted to be a journalist when he was a 14-year-old boy at the Whitgift School, Croydon. After he completed his degree at Oxford he ended up at the Financial Times "almost by accident"." 
23. ^ http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2009/feb/13/david-kerr-obituary?INTCMP=SRCH
24. ^ Michael White. "Obituary: Lord Prentice of Daventry | Politics". The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/2001/jan/22/guardianobituaries.obituaries. Retrieved 2011-08-07. 
25. ^ http://www.panaceapress.net/barden.htm
26. ^ "Telegraph « Derren Brown". Derrenbrown.co.uk. http://derrenbrown.co.uk/interviews/telegraph/. Retrieved 2011-08-07. 
27. ^ http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/obituary-robert-dougall-1133861.html
28. ^ "Story - Fontmell Magna Village Archive". Fontmellmagna.net. 1964-03-12. http://www.fontmellmagna.net/story.html?id=71. Retrieved 2011-08-07. 
29. ^ "Neil Gaiman | Books | guardian.co.uk". Guardian. 2008-07-22. http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2008/jun/12/neil.gaiman. Retrieved 2011-08-07. 
30. ^ http://www.thisiscroydontoday.co.uk/X-Factor-stars-charity-gig-South-Croydon-school/story-11358445-detail/story.html
31. ^ "Passed/Failed: Martin Jarvis - Profiles, People". The Independent. 1999-09-23. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/passedfailed-martin-jarvis-1121155.html. Retrieved 2011-08-07. 
32. ^ http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/michael-legat-editorial-director-of-corgi-books-and-prolific-author-of-writers-guides-2348453.html
33. ^ http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1429791/Conrad-Leonard.html
34. ^ Peter Ling's obituary^{[dead link]}
35. ^ http://sharemyplaylists.com/artists/Tarik+O'Regan
36. ^ http://www.themediabriefing.com/people/steve-punt
37. ^ "Mark Shivas". The Daily Telegraph (London). 2008-10-16. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/3211612/Mark-Shivas.html. 
38. ^ http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/05/nyregion/05truscott.html
39. ^ http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/2007/nov/09/guardianobituaries.obituaries?INTCMP=SRCH
40. ^ "A 105TH GARLAND OF BRITISH LIGHT MUSIC COMPOSERS". Musicweb-international.com. http://www.musicweb-international.com/garlands/105.htm. Retrieved 2011-08-07. 
41. ^ http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/gp-capt-john-cunningham-649999.html
42. ^ "The Old Whitgiftian Association Notices". http://www.owa.org/06/notices.php. 
43. ^ http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article2632431.ece
44. ^ http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituary--ltcol-colin-mitchell-1330247.html
45. ^ "Tedder: Quietly in Command". Airpower.au.af.mil. http://www.airpower.au.af.mil/AIRCHRONICLES/bookrev/orange.html. Retrieved 2011-08-07. 
46. ^ "Old Whitgifttian Association newsletter". http://www.owa.org/newsletters/OWAN269May.pdf. 
47. ^ http://www.whitgift.co.uk/life/sport/index.html
48. ^ http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/rugbyunion/international/england/2291001/My-sport-Danny-Cipriani.html
49. ^ http://www.whitgift.co.uk/life/sport/index.html
50. ^ http://www.whitgift.co.uk/life/sport/index.html
51. ^ http://www.whitgift.co.uk/life/sport/index.html
52. ^ http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/rugby/rugby-union/club-rugby/the-only-sikh-in-pro-rugby-ndash-get-a-load-of-tosh-1913111.html
53. ^ Paul Kelso. "14-year-old asylum seeker becomes school's football hero | UK news". The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2005/may/20/football.immigration. Retrieved 2011-08-07. 
54. ^ http://www.thisiscroydontoday.co.uk/Pair-hope-live-Whitgift-s-legacy/story-12860673-detail/story.html
55. ^ Posted '+ dateCreated +' (2011-07-04). "Davies stars in Surrey win | Sky Sports | Home | News". Sky Sports. http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,12040_7020907,00.html. Retrieved 2011-08-07. 
56. ^ http://www.espncricinfo.com/england/content/player/288772.html
57. ^ http://www.espncricinfo.com/england/content/player/20406.html
58. ^ http://www.whitgift.co.uk/life/sport/index.html
59. ^ http://www.whitgift.co.uk/docs/Whitgift%20Life.pdf
60. ^ "Player profile: Freddie van den Bergh". ESPNcricinfo. http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/player/404461.html. Retrieved 28 September 2011. 
61. ^ http://petergbourne.co.uk/resume.html
62. ^ 12:01AM BST 21 Jun 2007 Comments (2007-06-21). "He could have been vicar of Cockthorpe". Telegraph. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/3665981/He-could-have-been-vicar-of-Cockthorpe.html. Retrieved 2011-08-07. 
63. ^ ”Who's Who1992 “(London, A & C Black ISBN 0713635142)
64. ^ Fairweather, Peter (4 August1999). "Francis Skeat". Churchmouse. http://homepage.ntlworld.com/peter.fairweather/docs/fSkeat.htm. Retrieved 23 December 2010. 
65. ^ Who's Who 2008: London, A & C Black, 2008 ISBN 9780713672576

External links

• Whitgift School website
• A rendition of the school song, Carmen
• Old Whitgiftian Football Club
• Old Whitgiftian Association
• Old Whitgiftian Rugby Football Club
• Map sources
• Whitgift School Threatens Pupils