Liverpool Blue Coat School

Liverpool Blue Coat School
Motto Non Sibi Sed Omnibus
(Not for Oneself but for All)
Established 1708
Type Grammar school
Headmaster Mr. M.A. Pennington
Chaplain Revd. Canon Janet Eastwood
Deputy Headmasters S.R. Cox
N. Roberts
Chair of Governors Provost J.M. Shaw
S.W. Elliott
Founders Bryan Blundell and Rev. Robert Styth
Location Church Road
Wavertree
Liverpool
L15 9EE
England
Coordinates: 53°23′35″N 2°54′58″W / 53.393°N 2.916°W / 53.393; -2.916
DfE number 341/5404
DfE URN 137916 Tables
Ofsted Reports
Students 963
Gender Coeducational (since 2002)
Ages 11–18
Colours                     
Publication The Squirrel
Houses      Bingham
     Blundell
     Graham
     Shirley
     Stythe
Former pupils Old Blues
School Song Praise to the Lord, the Almighty
Website Liverpool Blue Coat School

The Liverpool Blue Coat School is a grammar school located in Wavertree, Liverpool, England. It is the only grammar school in the city and was founded in 1708 by Bryan Blundell and the Reverend Robert Stythe as 'The Liverpool Bluecoat Hospital'. The school was for many years a boys' boarding school but as of September 2002 it reverted to its original coeducational remit.

The Blue Coat School holds a long-standing academic tradition; examination results consistently place the school top of the local, and national GCSE and A-level league tables. In 2016 Blue Coat was ranked as the best school in the country based on GCSEresults.[1] Blue Coat was also named as The Sunday Times State School of the year in 2015.[2] The acceptance rate for admissions into Year 7 is usually around 15 - 20%.

In 2004 the school received a government grant of almost £8 million, together with more than £1 million from the school's foundation governors, facilitating a major expansion and redevelopment of the school site.[3]

History

Foundation

An engraving of the original school in the city centre

The school was founded in 1708 by Bryan Blundell and the Rev Robert Styth, a theology graduate of Brasenose College, Oxford[4] as "a school for teaching poor children to read, write and cast accounts".[5] The original charity school expanded rapidly and a new building, the present Bluecoat Arts Centre, opened in 1718. By the time of Blundell’s death in 1756 there were 70 boys and 30 girls at the school, many apprenticed to local trades, especially maritime ones connected to the port. Some Old Blues became mates or masters of their ships, many emigrating to the colonies. After Blundell’s death his sons further expanded the building to accommodate 200 pupils, with a new workroom, sick room, chapel and refectory. A reminder of the building’s school days is some graffiti dating from the 18th century, carved into cornerstones in a secluded part of the front courtyard.[6]

Relocation to Wavertree

At the start of the 20th century it was decided that the school needed to move from the polluted town centre to somewhere quieter, and the village of Wavertree was the site chosen.[5] The architects chosen for the design of the new building were Briggs, Wolstenholme & Thornely,[7] most notable for the design of the Port of Liverpool Building.[8] In 1906 the school took possession of the building[5] and was later designated a Grade II* listed building.[9] Later additions include a clock tower and the Fenwick Memorial Chapel: used for assemblies by the school.[5]

Redevelopment

In 2004, work commenced on a substantial redevelopment of the Wavertree site. The original buildings remained intact, but the southern wing of the school was converted into private accommodation and sold to part-fund the development. The school chapel, clock tower, board room, and former music room, together with administrative rooms and the formal entrance to the original building, were transferred to a new school foundation and made available to hire for weddings and other private functions.

A number of buildings that had been added to the northern side of the site during the second half of the 20th century - including the swimming pool, sixth form centre, sports hall and squash courts - were demolished to make way for new facilities. The North Wing of the original school was renovated, and a new building extended the wing into the area previously known as the North Yard. New facilities within this redevelopment included modern laboratories, a new school entrance and administration block, music rooms, a recording studio and dance studio, plus dining and sports halls. The remainder of the former North Yard was upgraded to provide improved outdoor sports facilities.

The old dining hall, beneath Shirley Hall in the centre of the original building, was converted into a new library, with a mezzanine ICT suite. The previous library space, itself a former dormitory, was refurbished as a sixth form facility.

Uniform

The school uniform consists of:[10]

Ties

The school is also known for its wide variety of school ties, the most common of which is the royal blue tie with an embroidered school coat of arms (fig. 1). Sixth Form Prefects may wear a navy blue tie with alternating blue and gold stripes (fig. 2), and those who are in the first XI may wear the school sports tie, a navy blue tie with gold school coats of arms criss-crossing it (fig. 3). The Old Blues tie, a navy blue tie with alternating squirrels (the school's crest) and blue stripes, is worn by those pupils whose father was once a student at the school (and therefore members of the Old Blues Society)(Fig. 4). Other ties occasionally seen include a navy blue with two gold stripes (Fig. 5), and a navy blue tie with stripes in the four school form colours (awarded for being in the first XI for 3 separate sports teams)(Fig. 6).

Fig.1- Royal Blue Tie
Fig. 2- Sixth Form Prefect Tie
Fig. 3- First XI Tie
Fig. 4- Old Blues Tie
Fig. 5- Navy Blue Tie with Two Gold Stripes
Fig 6. Tie for Members of the First XI in Three Sports

House system

The school currently has four houses, soon to be expanded to five in September 2015. Upon entrance in Year 7, pupils are allocated a form which they will be a member of throughout their time at The Blue Coat School. As well as the students, teachers at the school are often members of a house. There are approximately thirty students in a form and approximately 250 students per house. The houses are governed by a House Council which are composed of Heads of House, House Deputies, Form Captains and a member of staff. There are regular inter-house competitions, ranging from the inter-house hockey competition to inter-house debating competitions, in which the houses can gain house points which are then added to a running total and published in league tables, culminating in the annual inter-house league table. The newest house is Stythe which was founded in September 2015 to accommodate the 30 new additional first year students, and named after one of the founders Reverend Robert Stythe, and there will be another house created at the start of the 2016-2017 academic year. There are also a number of boarding houses that were discontinued when the school ceased to be a boarding school in the late 20th century.[11]

School Houses

Boarding Houses

Brotherly Society

The school's alumni association is the Brotherly Society, founded in 1838. Alumni are known as "Old Blues".[12] The society was set up to provide help, advice and in some cases financial assistance to students for at least two years after leaving the school.[13] Since the Second World War there has been less need for such assistance so the Society has turned its efforts towards objects that would benefit the School in general.

The generosity of the Society can be found throughout the Blue Coat School’s history. In 1938, to celebrate the Society’s centenary, the Society provided the oak pews in the chapel. In 1963 the Society provided the stained glass south window of the Chapel to celebrate its 125th anniversary, and in 1952 the Old Blues’ Memorial Library was presented in remembrance of the Old Blues who gave their lives in the two World Wars.[13]

Headmasters and Headmistress

Headmaster/HeadmistressStart yearEnd year
Rev Robert Styth, MA (Oxon)17081713
Mr William Trenton 1717 1723
Mr Theophilus Price 1723 1725
Mr Horton 1725 1775
Rev John Shakleton1776 1779
Mr John Smith (Old Blue)17791799
Mr Robert Parkes18001800
Mr George Chambers 1801 1811
Mr John Fallows 1812 1816
Mr R.W. Bamford 1817 1819
Mr William Forster 1820 1848
Mr Thomas Wood, BA (Cantab)1849 1862
Mr Thomas Haughton 1863 1867
Mr George Tinker 1868 1869
Mr Thomas Haughton 1870 1888
Mr Arthur Mercer 1889 1920
Mr Harry C. Hughes 1920 1926
Rev R. Bruce Wilson, BA (Oxon)1927 1944
Rev T.C. Heritage, MA (Oxon)1944 1945
Mr G.G. Watcyn, BA 1945 1968
Mr H.P. Arnold-Craft JP, MA (Oxon)1968 1989
Mr John C. Speller BA, MA (Ed), FRSA1989 1997
Mr Michael R. Bell BA (Hons) FIMgt1997 2001
Mr Michael George 'Sandy' Tittershill CertEd. NPQH 2001 2008
Mrs Debbie Silcock BSc PGCE NPQH 2008 2015
Mr Michael Pennington BSc Hons PGCE NPQH2015

Provosts

ProvostStart yearEnd year
Rev. Robert Stythe, M.A.17091713
The Rt. Hon. Bryan Blundell17131756
Richard Blundell17561760
Jonathan Blundell17601796
Nicholas Ashton17961797
The Rt. Hon. Clayton Tarleton17971798
John Bolton17981799
Edward Houghton17991800
James Gerrard, M.D.18001802
William Cubbin18021805
John Keay18051808
William Leigh18081809
George Brown18091811
Edward Sephton18111812
William Beckwith18121813
Matthew Gregson18131814
Bryan Blundell18141815
The Rt. Hon. Henry Blundell-Hollinshead18151817
James Bourne18171818
Rev. William Blundell B.A.18181819
Richard Dobson18191835
The Rt. Hon. James Aspinall18351838
Anthony Swainson18381848
Joseph Langton18481849
Richard Gibson18491854
Edward Guy Deane18541857
William Langton18571870
Hugh Perkins18701885
John Ernest Tinne18851926
Louis Cappel19261928
John J. Verdin-Cooke19281932
John A. Tinne19321933
John Bingham19331950
F.J. Williams19501955
Sir Alan Todd, C.B.E., L.L.D.19551968
J. Malcolm Harrison19681976
T.I.F. Tod, F.C.A.19761991
Peter Healey, J.P., B.A.19912006
Rodney V. McDermott20062007
Gerard A. Jolliffe20072014
Stephen W. Elliott2014

Notable former pupils

Notable people associated with the school

References

  1. ↑ http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/leaguetables/12109955/Top-100-secondary-schools-by-GCSE-results-2015.html
  2. ↑ http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/Parent_Power/
  3. ↑ Salmon, Tony (2007). "Save the Liverpool Blue Coat School". www.savethebluecoat.webeden.co.uk. Retrieved 2009-06-24.
  4. ↑ "Stermont-Synge". British History Online. Retrieved 28 November 2015.
  5. 1 2 3 4 "A brief history of the school". The Liverpool Blue Coat School. Retrieved 2010-01-06.
  6. ↑ "Bluecoat Heritage" (PDF). Bluecoat Chambers. Retrieved 24 May 2015.
  7. ↑ Pollard, Pevsner, Joseph, Richard, Nikolaus, Sharples (2006). Lancashire: Liverpool and the southwest. Retrieved 27 June 2009.
  8. ↑ "The Port of Liverpool Building". www.liverpoolworldheritage.com. Archived from the original on 29 April 2009. Retrieved 29 June 2009.
  9. ↑ "The Liverpool Blue Coat School General information". Schools Net. Retrieved 29 June 2009.
  10. ↑ "Prospectus: Uniform". The Blue Coat School. Retrieved 23 January 2016.
  11. ↑ "Boarding House Rules (1969)". Liverpool Old Blues. Retrieved 28 November 2015.
  12. ↑ Kelly, Andy (19 January 2006). "Million-Pound Target for Historic Blue Coat". Liverpool Daily Post (Liverpool). Retrieved 30 January 2016 – via HighBeam Research.
  13. 1 2 "Brotherly Society". The Blue Coat School. Retrieved 28 November 2015.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Wednesday, April 20, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.