Royal Russell School

Royal Russell School
File:RRSlogo1.png
Address
Coombe Lane Croydon , Surrey , CR9 5BX England
Information
Type	Independent school
Motto	Non Sibi Sed Omnibus
Established	1853
Local authority	Croydon
Headmaster	Dr John R Jennings BSc PhD MI Biol FRSA
Gender	Mixed
Age	3 to 18
Enrollment	850 (approx)
Houses	Madden, Cambridge, Oxford, St Andrews, Keable, Hollenden, Buchannan, Reade & Queens
Colour(s)	Maroon
Publication	The Russellian
Former pupils	Old Russellians
Website	http://www.royalrussell.co.uk

Royal Russell School is a independent school in Coombe near Croydon, South London. The Royal Russell School is a co-educational day and boarding school. The motto of the school is "Non sibi sed omnibus" meaning "Not for self but for all". The School is a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference. The patron of the school is Queen Elizabeth II.

There are currently 850 pupils at the Royal Russell School, aged between 3-18. The school occupies a site of 100 acres (0.40 km2), where it stands in beautiful gardens in a delightful rural, wooded estate 2 miles south-east of Croydon. The School moved the boys part of the school from Russell Hill in Purley to the Ballards site in 1924, then moving the girls section of the school completely to the Ballards site in 1961, and selling the original school site on Russell Hill in Purley in 1961. The Junior and Lower Junior schools are in separate buildings from the Senior School, but are still on the same site.

In 2003, the school held celebrations to mark its sesquicentennial year, being commemorated by Queen Elizabeth II visiting the school again.

History

Lord John Russell the schools first president

1853-1866

In 1853 a group of clerks from the wholesale warehouses in the City of London put their heads together to see what could be done to help the widow and young family of one of their colleagues who had just died. They met in The George Hotel in Aldermansbury and set up a charity to look after orphan children from the families of their trade. It was founded by a committee of textile workers to provide free education for the sons and daughters of ‘necessitous’ employees in the trade. Almost from the outset it was under the patronage of the royal family.

Within a year they had more than a thousand subscribers and a school was purchased in New Cross. Lord John Russell the youngest son of the Duke of Bedford and ex Prime Minister, consented to be President of the new school founded by subscriptions. The school was established in 1853 as the Warehousemen, Drapers and Haberdashers school, and opened by Edward, Prince of Wales with John Russell, Lord Russell as its president.

Charles Dickens who published his book ‘Bleak House' in 1853, made the following comment about those who supported the school in a speech he made at the London Tavern in 1857. ‘This is a school which can provide such a home as their own dear children might find happy refuge in, if they themselves were taken early away. And I fearlessly ask you, is this not a design which has claim to your sympathy? Is it not the sort of school which is deserving of your support?'

1866-1970

By 1866 the school had grown considerably and moved to Purley to new buildings which were opened by The Prince of Wales. The demand for more places for children orphaned by the First World War saw the school need to expand to a new campus. In the 1920s, the estate of Charles Hermann Goschen, Lord Lieutenant of the City of London, was donated to the trustees of the school. The school remained in site at Purley and, in 1924, Edward, Prince of Wales, laid the foundation stone for the current Chapel on the Ballards site. Initially it was only the boys who moved up to the Ballards site, the girls remaining at Purley. During the second world war, the boys and girls changed venues as it was thought safer to have the girls further away from Croydon Airport. The school operated on two sites until it was decided to sell the Russell Hill site and combine girls and boys in 1961. It is very important that we recognise that until that time, most of the pupils who had attended the school had been paid for by generous contributions from members of the Drapery trade through a cycle of annual appeals.

The current school that was built on the Ballards estate was, in part, a memorial to the former student war dead. The original mansion stood at the top of what we know as Cambridge slope and the current Headmaster's house is all that remains of it today. The Ballards mansion did not provide sufficient accommodation to house both teaching and boarding facilities so Sir Aston Webb was asked to design the new buildings. Sir Aston Webb was President of The Royal Academy and is famous for designing the front of Buckingham Palace, architect of Imperial College, Admiralty Arch as well as other well known landmarks in London. Parts of the new buildings were due to the fact that various benefactors of the school raised large sums of money. Other funds were sponsored by the large drapery stores.

1970's-present

Sadly early in the 1970's the school fell upon hard times and the governors decided that it should close. This, for staff and pupils concerned was devastating news and immediately prompted a new group, that eventually formed the new board of governors, to be set up. This group soon established that the school could survive and so started the new era. Before the threatened closure, the Junior School had been phased out and there were very few fee paying day students. This soon changed as it was necessary to create more income for the school. The Junior School reopened, this time without boarders and many more day students were taken into the senior department.

At that time the senior school had three boys' houses and just one girls' house. It quickly became apparent that this situation need to be changed with greater numbers in the school and new day houses were created. Boarding house life was considered a more friendly and personal environment than the basic class system and this was the reason for maintaining the house system for the day students.

Since the 1970's, the school has gone from strength to strength. New and better facilities have been built, numbers of girls have increased and the academic record is one to be proud of. The status of being a HMC school is one to be proud of and is testament to the dedication of all those concerned with the running of the school. The school has enjoyed Royal Patronage from its early days and The Queen has visited the school on four occasions. Her first visit was in 1950 as Princess Elizabeth; in 1963 she opened Cambridge House and the Practical Block: she joined the celebrations of 125 years in 1979, and most recently the sesquicentenary in 2003.

The school is now independent of The Warehousemen, Clerks and Drapers Livery companies and operates as a charity under the direction of its own Board of Governors. The sale of the site at Russell Hill in 1961 concentrated the junior and senior education at the Ballards site. In 1968 the school became a fully independent fee-paying school with a separate Trust undertaking the fees for the foundationers. Extensive changes have taken place in recent years and today there is a thriving IAPS Junior School and HMC Senior School on the magnificent one hundred acre estate.

School Information

In 1924 the school moved to its present site two miles (3 km) south-east of Croydon where it stands in beautiful gardens in a delightful 100-acre (0.40 km²) rural, wooded estate. Its elegant and well-appointed buildings include a fine chapel and excellent modern facilities. The school is affiliated to the Church of England, and the approach to daily life is founded on Christian principles, but pupils of all persuasions are welcome.

A good all-round education is provided to pupils, and examination results are consistently high.

Academic

The recent ISI report assessed the school in 10 specific areas on a 3 point scale: unsatisfactory, satisfactory and good. In certain circumstances if the lead inspector decides that the standard exceeds those set nationally then an 'excellent' grading can be given. The inspection lasted a full school week (5 days), and in 5 of the 10 categories tested Royal Russell School achieved an 'excellent' grading, and in all others the school was 'Good'- often with comments relating to 'outstanding features'. The ISI report can be found on the Royal Russell school site ore here [[1]]. Royal Russell's Boarding provision was inspected too, as part of a 3 year cycle by Ofsted in which inpectors spent 3 days reviewing the Boarding provision. The inspectors were very impressed by all that is done for the schools boarding community and thus obtained a 'Good' classification in each of the 6 categories inspected. The Ofsted report can be found on the Royal Russell School site or here[[2]].

GCSE is taught from years 10 and 11, though it is possible to study maths a year early, starting in year 9 and completing the course in year 10. Required GCSE subjects include Triple Science (or Double Award Science), English Language, English Literature, Maths, and a language, (French, Spanish or English as a Foreign Language). GCSE choices include: French, Spanish, Geography, History, Business Studies, Drama, Art, Music, Design Technology, Food Technology, Religious Studies, Physical Education, and ICT. There are a choice of 19 subjects at GCSE including the compulsory subjects. Students undertake the required 5 subjects (if studying Triple Award Science this equates to 6), plus 4 of their choice.

The sixth form at Royal Russell follows the A Level Course. Sixth formers are able to undertake 4 AS levels (occasionally 5 if the time table allows for this) during their first year. Some carry on with 4 A2's, but many carry on in upper sixth with 3 of these as A Levels, or 3 A2's picking up another AS. There are 23 subjects available. 34% of sixth form students take science A-levels; 25% arts/humanities; 41% both.

School Structure

The school is based on a house system having two boarding houses for boys (Oxford and Cambridge), whilst there is one boarding house for girls (Queens). There are three day houses for boys (Keable, Madden and St Andrews), and three day houses for girls (Buchanan, Reade, and Hollenden). Each house has its own Head of House and House Sports Captain. The school elects prefects each year, and has a Head Boy, Head Girl, and a Deputy Head Boy and Deputy Head Girl, along with a Girl's Head of Sports and Boy's Head of Sports as the senior prefects of the school. Each house has its own prefects that help aid the school during day to day running and school functions.

Each year the schools boys houses compete in sports competitions in the annual house football (outdoor and indoor), hockey, basketball, badminton, table tennis, tennis, cricket, sports day activities and the cross country event. The girls houses participate in many of the same activities with the odd exception in a few of the sports listed earlier as they participate in competitions in netball as well, amongst others. The house points are added up at the end of the year and are announced on Royal Russell Day, where the house shields and trophies are awarded.

At least once a week the senior school holds an assembly, which is split into one for the juniors and another for the seniors, and a chapel service which students attend.

Teachers and Staff

There is a large staff at RRS, which often means that subjects are taught by two or more teachers. An example is Biology, there are several teachers, and the curriculum is split between them. (It's really annoying when you realize you've forgotten your homework and you have the strict-ass teacher.)

It is not only the teachers that everyone loves at RSS. The rest of the staff (lunch ladies, techies, assistants e.t.c.) are pretty awesome - though they stop you printing stuff on the 'Holy Colour Printer' when it's not break. Which is a pisstake. I also like Johnny. He's awesome. He's the drama assistant. He tried to teach a lesson just now. He failed. =]

School Terms

All terms have a half-term holiday.

• Autumn Term - Early September to mid-December (most new boys join the school during this term)
• Spring Term - Early January to early April
• Summer Term - Late April to early July

Extra-Curricular Activities

Music, drama and art are strong at the school. The Drama department having their own drama studios as well as a purpose built theatre. The Drama department regularily holds school plays and nutures dramatic talent, with Old Russellians going on to participate in events such as the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. The music department have facilities including a recording studio and numerous practice rooms. The schools choir and Barbershop both actively participate far abroad and have sung on an occasion for the British Ambassador to Thailand. There are very good facilities for sports and games, including a large sports hall, gymnasium, indoor swimming pool, tennis courts, and flood lit pitches. Other facilities include a prep library, senior library and sixth form study centre and cafe. There is a plentiful range of clubs and societies. Full use is made of the estate and a good deal of enterprise is shown in cultural visits, and expeditions abroad such as the annual ski trip, various language department trips, expeditions to the Himalayas and Peru, and the various geography department trips. In 2008 the school held a trip for students allowing them to go to Kenya to help Magnet High School for a month. Royal Russell School had been helping to donate money to Magnet High School.

MUN

The school is greatly involved in the Model United Nations (MUN). The schools MUN holds regular meetings and debates at least once a week on numerous global issues. The school holds an annual international MUN conference in October, and was the first school in Britain to host one. It attracts schools from as far away as Japan and California with up to 500 delegates attending. The schools MUN participates in the largest conference in the world, The Hague international Model United Nations conference every year and is affiliated to them. The schools MUN attends conferences at St Andrews College MUN (Dublin), Haileybury MUN (Hertfordshire), City of London school MUN, Haberdasher Aske Boys school MUN (London), Reigate MUN (Reigate) to name a few.

CCF

The school has a contingent of the Combined Cadet Force with a large Army section (affiliated to the Kent and Sharpshooters Yeomanry) and a small RAF section. The CCF serves in teaching cadets the art of leadership, as well as an extensive variety of other skills and qualifications in first aid and radio using, of which the contingent has a signals arm. Formal qualifications include the BTEC Diploma in Public Services run via the Cadet Vocational Qualifications Organisation (CVQO). Cadets are able to attend the Nesscliff or Frimley cadet leadership courses, Blandford Signals courses and the Basic Infantry training course to name a few. The Royal Russell CCF contingent is also in partnership with a local school allowing their students to join the contingent. The corps has 3 camps a year, comprising of an Autumn, January and Summer camp, with a weekend exercise in April called Wild Bush, involving 3 days of outside manouvres. In the summer of 2010 the contingent went to Germany and spent time with the British Army there and the German Amoured corps.

Other

The school is also host to the Croydon Volunteer Police Cadets.

Queen Elizabeth II, the patron of the school

Old Russellians

Alumni are referred to as Old Russellians.

University & college entrance was at 95% for the 2003 alumni that went on to undergo a degree course (3% after a gap year). 32% took courses in science & engineering, 29% in humanities & social sciences, 3% in law, 15% in vocational subjects, 15% to art foundation courses and 5% to work related training. Others typically go on to improve their A-level grades.

Distinguished Old Russellians include:

• Martin Clunes - actor
• Elly Jackson - vocalist of the musical duo La Roux
• Tom Wright- architect and designer of the Burj al Arab hotel in Dubai UAE
• Naoko Mori- actor
• Ali Ansari- Professor in Modern History at St. Andrews University
• Jack Stanley - actor

Visits and Open Areas

In 2003, Tim Henman opened the schools new sports hall, including two gymnasiums and multiple locker rooms. The Senior School library was opened by Queen Elizabeth in 2003, along with the 6th form center. Michael Morpurgo opened the Junior School library.

Other visits by:

Sir Trevor McDonald, Brian Moses, Jeremy Strong

External links

• Official website