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Colchester Royal Grammar School
Established	1206
Type	State Grammar
Principal	Ken Jenkinson
Students	765
Grades	7-13
Location	Colchester, UK
Colours	Purple
Website	www.crgs.co.uk

Colchester Royal Grammar School (CRGS) is a grammar school in Colchester, Essex, founded in AD 1206 and granted two Royal Charters by Henry VIII (in 1539) and by Elizabeth I (in 1584)^{[citation needed]}. In the early 20th century the school moved from the town centre to its current site on Lexden Road^{[citation needed]}, in the Lexden residential area. The school's playing fields are located five minutes' walk away on Queen's Road.

The school is one of the United Kingdom's most academically successful schools, consistently achieving high results in national league tables 1, and regularly placing above public schools such as Eton^{[citation needed]}. The school has around 700 pupils aged 11-18, with girls admitted in the two upper years only. The school features extensive gardens, incorporating Gurney Benham House (named after a former Mayor of Colchester) and Elyanore House, as well as playing fields in Lexden. Until 2000 the headmaster traditionally had a house in the school grounds, but this has since been converted into extra classrooms and boarding facilities^{[citation needed]}. The school is officially a specialist science school, and has just recently built a new chemistry lab^{[citation needed]}.

Contents 1 Classics 2 The boarding house 2.1 Inspectors' feedback on the boarding house 3 Academic success 4 Admission 5 School houses 5.1 Awarding of points 6 Subjects 7 Uniform 8 Notable Old Boys 9 References 10 External links

CRGS is one of a very small number of British state schools which still offer Ancient Greek for GCSE and A-Level^{[citation needed]}. Between 1994 and 2004 the Greek government funded teaching of the subject, in an effort to halt its decline in the United Kingdom state sector, thanks to a pupil-led campaign^{[citation needed]}. The Classics department remains an integral and defining part of the school's ethos, especially given that all students take Latin lessons for their first three years, and have the option of Ancient Greek in the second. The school was also the first in the country to teach Classical Civilisation at A Level.^{[citation needed]}

One of CRGS's defining characteristics is its boarding house, which is home to 30 sixth form students predominantly from the Far East (most are from Hong Kong or elsewhere in China) and from the United Kingdom and occasionally from elsewhere in the European Union^{[citation needed]}.

The school is noted for the large number of overseas students, primarily from Asian countries, who come to the school in its sixth form and stay either at the boarding house or under the care of host families^{[citation needed]}.

It is felt by the school that as well as offering excellent opportunities for academic progress, life in the boarding house prepares the student for the future, when he or she is separated from their family and subject to the demands of university life^{[citation needed]}.

The following comments were made by Ofsted, the UK schools inspectorate^{[citation needed]}:

• "The School cares for its students very well and ensures their health and safety. It provides very high levels of support, advice and guidance, which are firmly based on the monitoring of progress. The school consults students and acts on their views."

• "Pastoral care for boarders is very good. Supervision is very good; it is appropriate to the age and maturity of the boarders. Boarding provides very well for students' personal and academic development, and prepares them well for adult life. Relationships between students, and between students and staff are very good. Boarders have good programme of trips and visits at weekends and a very good social space in the games hut."

As a grammar school, CRGS's main aim is to ensure the academic success of its pupils^{[citation needed]}. The school is consistently placed within the top few state schools in the country for A-level results and achieves similar success at GCSE 1. In 2004, it was named as the top state school in the country by the BBC^{[citation needed]}. Headmaster Ken Jenkinson has explains this success by saying that "although as a grammar school the academic success of our students is our principal priority, I tend to see the results as the by-product of an ethos where we encourage students to aim high in all that they do and approach challenges with confidence."^{[citation needed]}

The school's success was recognised by Prime Minister Tony Blair who in 1999 invited the then headmaster of CRGS, Stewart Francis, among other heads of the country's top schools, to a meeting to discuss the improvement of education in Britain.

The local area utilises the smallest percentage enforced by any eleven plus selection process. Critics might attribute the school's academic success to this rather than the school itself. Indeed, although its 'value added' score is higher than the national average, ^[1] it is marginally lower than that of the comparable King Edward VI Grammar School (Chelmsford)^[2]

As a grammar school, CRGS's main intake is at age 11, with the eleven plus exam. This takes in 96 students, arranged in three classes of 32, each using an initial of the school - C, R and G. The chance of making the 11+ varies greatly from 3% to 20% for the grammar school and Essex in general, with annually changing systems of whether all those entering member schools of the Consortium of Selective Schools in Essex are included in the figures or not^{[citation needed]}.

There is also a small intake of four students at age 13 (after Year 8) to make four classes of 25 (the fourth class taking the initial S)^{[citation needed]}.

The sixth form has a separate admissions policy.

The four school houses, named after past headmasters, are as follows^{[citation needed]}:

• Dugard's

Colour: Yellow
Named after William Dugard
Head of House: Mr A Livingston
Motto: Dieu Garde (May God protect us)

• Harsnett's

Colour: Green
Named after William Harsnett
Head of House: Dr P Jones
Motto: Perge (Forward)

• Parr's

Colour: Blue
Named after Samuel Parr.
Head of House: Mr R Heard
Motto: Tout Prêt (All Prepared)

• Shaw Jeffrey's (Jay's)

Colour: Red
Named after Peter Shaw Jeffrey
Head of House: Mrs K Livingston
Motto: Dex Aie (May God help us)

There is an annual house competition, in which points are scored by winning at^{[citation needed]}:

• House Quiz (Junior, Middle School and Senior)
• Sport (Including rugby, cross country running, football, swimming gala, year eight cricket day, sports day, tug-o-war and hockey)
• Commendations (awarded on behaviour and work)
• Song Competition (a recent event that has been running for the past few years)
• 24 hour famine (a recent event which has only been running for a few years and won by the house donating the most money)

At the end of the year the house with the most points wins the house trophy.

Subjects studied at the school are:

• Ancient Greek (From Year 8, choice between Greek and German)
• Art
• Biology (From Year 8)
• Chemistry (From Year 8)
• Classical Civilisation (From A level)
• Computing/ICT
• Design & Technology
• Economics (From A level)
• English
• French
• Geography
• German (From Year 8, choice between Greek and German)
• History
• Latin
• Mathematics
• Music
• Physical Education (Years 7-11 only)
• Physics (From Year 8)
• Religious and Social Studies (Years 7-9 and GCSE only, yet possible extension to A-Level)
• Science (Year 7 only - replaced by Biology, Chemistry and Physics at Year 8)

Pupils in the main school wear a distinctive uniform comprising a purple blazer and tie with house badge, as well as a white shirt and black trousers and socks. Students in the Sixth Form do not wear the uniform, but must instead wear smart clothes, typically a suit^{[citation needed]}.

• Mike Baker - BBCi Education Correspondent^{[citation needed]}
• Giles Smith - Guardian Writer^{[citation needed]}
• George Biddell Airy

• League Tables from the BBC

• School website
• School intranet