St Clement Danes School
 | |
| Motto |
Loyauté M'Oblige (Loyalty has its Obligations) |
|---|---|
| Established | 1862 |
| Type | Academy |
| Headteacher | Toby Sutherland MA, MEd (Camb) |
| Location |
Chenies Road Chorleywood Hertfordshire WD3 6EW England 51°39′49″N 0°30′50″W / 51.6637°N 0.514°WCoordinates: 51°39′49″N 0°30′50″W / 51.6637°N 0.514°W |
| DfE URN | 136901 Tables |
| Ofsted | Reports |
| Students | 1,285 pupils |
| Gender | Mixed |
| Ages | 11–18 |
| Houses | 8 houses |
| Website | St Clement Danes |
St Clement Danes School is a mixed academy school in Chorleywood, Hertfordshire.
Admissions
It takes students aged 11 (Year 7) through to 18 (Year 13).
The school occupies a large site to the northwest of Rickmansworth in Chorleywood. It is about a mile (1.6 km) from Chorleywood station but there are buses from the station and Watford. It is situated on Chenies Road (A404), which at that point occupies the boundary of Hertfordshire and Buckinghamshire for a half-mile, adjacent to the north side of the school. The school is less than a mile west of junction 18 of the M25.
History
The school was founded in 1862 by the church wardens of St Clement Danes Parish in Aldwych, London and opened in Houghton Street. It was funded from income from the St Clement Danes Holborn Estate,[1] a charity founded in 1551 which owned a piece of land on the north side of Holborn.[2]
Grammar school
The St Clement Danes Holborn Estate Grammar School for Boys remained in Houghton Street until 1928, when it transferred to a new site on Du Cane Road in Hammersmith, where it flourished as a grammar school until 1975. The school had a well-known choir which featured in a 1975 EMI recording (ASD 3117) of Carl Orff's Carmina Burana, conducted by André Previn with the LSO (and chorus). The site was next to Hammersmith Hospital, and is now occupied by St Clement's House, a block of flats and Wood Lane High School.
On 29 June 1973, 13-year-old Nicholas St Clair from Fulham was killed on the school playing fields at Shepherd's Bush, when he was struck in the chest by a javelin.
Comprehensive
In 1975, under an agreement between the Governing Board of the School and Hertfordshire County Council, it was re-established in its new premises in Chorleywood, as a Voluntary-Aided Mixed Comprehensive School. In April 1994 the school was incorporated as a grant-maintained school. The Du Cane Road buildings were taken over by Burlington Danes Church of England School, sold to Hammersmith Hospital in 2002 and demolished in 2004.[2]
The school receives additional financial support from the St Clement Danes School Charitable Foundation,[3] one of the beneficiaries of the historic St Clement Danes Holborn Estate.
Academy
The school converted to academy status in July 2011.
Houses
The house system was started in 1908 with four houses: Clare, Temple, Clement and Dane. By 1938 the school had grown and two new houses were added: Burleigh and Lincoln. Essex and Exeter were subsequently introduced in 1952. On the move to Hertfordshire, the school reverted to six houses, with Clare and Essex not being reintroduced until 2005.
Commemoration
Every year a commemoration service is held in St Clement Danes Church in London to commemorate the beginning of the school. It is a large celebration, in which the orchestra and choir play a big part.
Notable former pupils
Boys' grammar school in London:
- Sir John Barbirolli, conductor & cellist
- Maj-Gen Eric Barton CB MBE, Colonel Commandant from 1982–7 of the Royal Engineers
- Geoffrey Davies, developed pacemakers with Aubrey Leatham in the 1950s[4]
- Professor Tony Dornhorst CBE, FRCP, physician
- Wally Downes, Wimbledon football player
- Frank Field, politician
- Martin Fitzmaurice, darts master of ceremonies
- Andy Fraser, bass guitarist, songwriter and sometimes studio piano player with Free: famous for "All Right Now" (co-writer).
- John Jackson, Crystal Palace goalkeeper
- Ben Levene, artist
- Hugh Lindsay (born 1938), English amateur footballer who played for Southampton and appeared in the 1960 Summer Olympics[5]
- Glen Matlock, bass guitarist and songwriter with the Sex Pistols
- Mikey Craig, bass player with Culture Club
- Michael Oliver, broadcaster on Radio 3 and on Radio 4's Kaleidoscope
- Dennis Potter, television playwright, director, novelist
- John Slater, actor
- David Stoddart, Baron Stoddart of Swindon, Labour MP from 1970 to 1983 for Swindon
- Michael Ward, economist who developed international economic statistics
- Alan Wilder, former keyboard player for Depeche Mode
Mixed comprehensive in Hertfordshire:
- Katy Brand, comedienne
- Dee Caffari, record-breaking sailor
- Natasha Khan, singer and musician, Bat For Lashes
- Tim Lovejoy, TV presenter
- Rob Kiernan, professional footballer
- Lee Canoville, professional footballer
- Jack Garratt, Singer and multi-Instrumental
Notable former staff
- Andrew Davies (screenwriter) taught English 1958–61.
- Bill Ashton (jazz musician and founder of the National Youth Jazz Orchestra) taught French 1971–73.
- Roland Mathias, poet
- Jonathon Porritt (eco-politician) taught English and directed drama 1974–77[6]
References
- ↑ Charity Commission. Holborn Estate Charity (known as St Clement Danes Holborn Estate Charity), registered charity no. 206754.
- 1 2 School History Archived 29 April 2014 at the Wayback Machine., St Clement Danes School.
- ↑ Charity Commission. St Clement Danes School Charitable Foundation, registered charity no. 312757.
- ↑
- ↑ Holley, Duncan; Chalk, Gary (1992). The Alphabet of the Saints. ACL & Polar Publishing. p. 209. ISBN 0-9514862-3-3.
- ↑ "Hot 100 burning issues" (PDF). Resource: 24. January–February 2008.