Colston's Girls' School

Colston's Girls' School is a girls secondary Academy, located in the Montpelier area of Bristol, England.

Colston's Girls' School
Address
Cheltenham Road

Bristol
,
BS6 5RD

England
Coordinates51.467643°N 2.591189°W / 51.467643; -2.591189
Information
TypeSecondary Academy
Established2008 (2008)
Local authorityBristol City Council
TrustVenturers Trust
Department for Education URN135581 Tables
OfstedReports
PrincipalMiss McCullagh
GenderGirls
Age11 to 18
Enrolment801 (Data from January 2016)
Capacity720 (Data from January 2016)
Websitewww.colstonsgirls.org

History

The school opened in 1891. It was founded with endowments left by the Bristol-born slave trader, merchant, philanthropist, and Member of Parliament, Edward Colston (1636 – 1721), and named after him.[1][2]

From 1945 to 1966 the school was a direct grant grammar school with an entrance exam.[3] In 1966 it chose to become a selective independent school until in September 2008 voluntarily converting to a state-funded Academy specialising in languages.[4] This agreement was announced in July 2007 and sponsored by the Society of Merchant Venturers.[4][5] In accord with the funding agreement, the admissions criteria are not based on how close pupils live to the school.[5] A tenth of admissions are based on aptitude in a foreign language, and then priority is given to siblings of existing pupils. Most of the remaining places are allocated on a random basis to children who live in Bristol, with a quarter of places randomly allocated to applicants in the districts surrounding Bristol (approximating to the former county of Avon).[6]

The school mottos are; We cherish our history but look to the future, and Go and do thou likewise taken from the biblical story of the Good Samaritan. It is a multi-faith school.

The school encourages the arts and sports, with teams entering competitions and tournaments across the country in sports such as athletics, hockey, and netball. An annual exhibition of the girls' art work is also displayed at Bristol Guild of Applied Art.

In 2013 the agreed intake increased to 140 pupils, with a sixth form maximum of 180 pupils, from an original academy intake of 112 pupils with a 160 pupil sixth form.[7]

The school building was designed by William Venn Gough and dates from 1891. It has been designated by English Heritage as a grade II listed building.[8]

In November 2017, after decades of debates, Colston's Girls' School announced that it was not going to drop the name of Colston because it was of “no benefit” to the school to do so.[9]

Academic achievement

The school has improved its results almost year on year and achieved its best ever GCSE scores in 2011, the table below shows the percentage of students hitting the key measure of 5 A*-C including English and Mathematics.[10]

2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
N/A 85% 91% 94% 84%

The Dolphin School

In September 2012, a primary school known as the Dolphin School opened near the main site. It has around 30 pupils in each class from reception to Year 6.

References
  1. Turner, Camilla (2 November 2017). "Headteacher of school founded by slave trader Edward Colston says he refuses to 'obscure history' by changing its name". The Daily Telegraph.
  2. "Slave trader Edward Colston cut out of school service in his honour". The Daily Telegraph. 19 October 2017.
  3. "Do you think the school should keep its name or change it?". Colston's Primary School. Retrieved 25 July 2018.
  4. Lipsett, Anthea (4 July 2007). "Bristol private school in switch to state academy". The Guardian.
  5. Colston's Girls' School Academy, BSF Funding Agreement, Department for Children, Schools and Families, 11 March 2008, archived from the original on 3 June 2012, retrieved 2009-02-04
  6. "Admissions Policy" (PDF). Colston's Girls' School. Retrieved 28 November 2015.
  7. "Approved Admission Arrangements for Colston's Girls' School (2013/14)". Colston's Girls' School. February 2012. Archived from the original on 18 June 2012. Retrieved 3 February 2012. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  8. Historic England. "Colston's Girl School (1205072)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 2007-03-16.
  9. Yong, Michael (2017-11-02). "One of Bristol's oldest schools is not changing its name". bristolpost. Retrieved 2018-12-10.
  10. "Colston's Girls' School - GOV.UK". Education.gov.uk. Retrieved 2017-03-13.
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