Bristol Cathedral Choir School is a mixed gender non-selective musical Secondary Academy, located in the

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area of Bristol, England. Until 2008 it was known as Bristol Cathedral School. It is situated next to Bristol Cathedral, in the centre of the city. The choristers at Bristol Cathedral are educated at the school, which has a strong musical tradition. The school is a day school and has no boarders. The school admits some pupils each year based on musical aptitude, as well as admitting probationary choristers. That is the school's only form of selection, all other pupils are chosen at random via a lottery system.

History

Founded in 1140 as part of what was then Bristol Abbey, Bristol Cathedral School was refounded by

Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disa ...

in 1542 after he had dissolved the monastery. A fee-paying school up until the Second World War, from 1944 to 1975 the school was a

direct grant school A direct grant grammar school was a type of selective secondary school in the United Kingdom that existed between 1945 and 1976. One quarter of the places in these schools were directly funded by central government, while the remainder attracted ...

. When direct grant schools were abolished, the school had to become an

independent school An independent school is independent in its finances and governance. Also known as private schools, non-governmental, privately funded, or non-state schools, they are not administered by local, state or national governments. In British Eng ...

once more to maintain its policy of selection by academic ability. It began accepting girls into the sixth form in 1982 and became fully co-educational in 2005. In April 2007, the school appointed a new headmaster, Hugh Monro. In July of that year, the school moved towards ending a 30-year period as an independent, fee-paying institution by applying to change its status to a publicly funded city academy with specialities in music and maths – the first choir school in the country to make such a move. The formal agreement clearing the way for the school to become an Academy in September 2008 was signed on 3 March 2008. The school also changed its name to Bristol Cathedral Choir School. In January 2009, the school appointed a new headmaster, Neil Blundell.

External facilities

Weekly assemblies, occasional services and school concerts are held in Bristol Cathedral. The school has playing fields near Beggar Bush Lane in Failand. Games sessions for all years take place here, as well as forest school sessions for the primary school.

Future

The school site is undergoing a period of development. In 2008 the school completed a £3.5 million new building in College Square, and is currently building a new block, in an expansion of the School's facilities that will enable pupil numbers to grow from 400 to over 700. In 2013, a primary school opened under the city library. It is known as Cathedral Primary School (CPS).

Buildings

Cathedral School, Bristol, detail of entrance

The main school building is part of St Augustine's Abbey, which was founded in 1140. This contains the refectory and a 13th-century right-hand archway, with upper walls from the early 16th century. It was extensively altered and partly refaced in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. It has been designated by

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses. The charity states that i ...

as a grade II*

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

. The Abbey House and Deanery are also II* listed. Newer buildings include the Cresswell Centre and the Parsonage, which was opened in 2008. These buildings are located on the west side of College Square.

Academic achievement

The school has improved its results over the period from 2009 to 2011 and achieved its best ever

GCSE The General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) is an academic qualification in a particular subject, taken in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. State schools in Scotland use the Scottish Qualifications Certificate instead. Private sc ...

scores in 2011 The table below shows the percentage of students achieving the key measure of 5 GCSEs at grades A*-C including English Language and Mathematics.

Uganda link

Since 1987, Bristol Cathedral Choir School has been linked with St. James's School, an independent co-educational secondary school in the centre of

Jinja, Uganda Jinja is a city in the Eastern Region of Uganda, located on the North shores of Lake Victoria. Location Jinja is in Jinja District, Busoga sub-region, in the Eastern Region of Uganda. It is approximately , by road, east of Kampala, the capita ...

. Each year a teacher from St. James's visits BCCS for two or three weeks, getting involved in School activities including expeditions, observing lessons and also giving lessons on topics such as

AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual m ...

, agriculture or African economics. In addition two gap year students from BCCS go to Jinja for six months each year. They act as classroom assistants at St. James's, as well as helping in a local primary school and in an orphanage or a street children's centre.

Notable Old Cathedralians

* Sophie Anderton (born 1977), lingerie model and reality television personality *

James Averis James Maxwell Michael Averis (born 28 May 1974 in Bristol, England) is a retired English cricket player who played for the cricket teams of Oxford University and Gloucestershire. He also played professional rugby for Harlequins and Bristol. Ea ...

(born 1974), cricketer *

Raymond L. Brett Raymond Laurence Brett (10 January 1917 – 6 December 1996) was Professor of English at University of Hull and a friend of Philip Larkin. He produced an edition of Wordsworth and Coleridge's ''Lyrical Ballads'' which went through two further ed ...

(1917–1996), university professor * Julian Close of Red Box (born c.1960), musician and music industry professional *

Chris Chivers Christopher Mark "Chris" Chivers (born 16 July 1967) is an Anglican priest, composer, and author. From 2015 until 2019, he was the Principal of Westcott House, Cambridge, an Anglican theological college in the Liberal Catholic tradition. Ear ...

(1967-), Anglican priest *

Russ Conway Russ Conway, DSM (born Trevor Herbert Stanford; 2 September 1925 – 16 November 2000) was an English popular music pianist and composer. Conway had 20 piano instrumentals in the UK Singles Chart between 1957 and 1963, including two number one ...

(1925–2000), pianist and composerLarkin C (1997) ''Virgin Encyclopedia of Sixties Music'', Muze UK Ltd, p. 125 *

Reginald Croom-Johnson Sir Reginald Powell Croom-Johnson (27 July 1879 – 29 December 1957) was a British barrister, judge, and Conservative Member of Parliament for Bridgwater. He was a noted philatelist with a specialist collection of the stamps of the British Solo ...

(1879-1957) *Lieutenant-General Sir William Draper (1721–1787), army officerPitt's 'Gallant Conqueror': The Turbulent Life of Lieutenant-General Sir William Draper
James Dreaper, 2006, * John Fortune (1939-2013), comic and writer *

Tom Dascombe Thomas Geoffrey Dascombe (born 30 April 1973) is an English Group 1 winning racehorse trainer currently operating from Uplands Stables, Lambourn, United Kingdom. He trained Classic Blade and Firth of Fifth to win the G2 July Stakes and G2 Sup ...

(Born 1973), jockey and racehorse trainer *

Racey Helps Angus Clifford Racey Helps (1913–1970) was an English children's author and illustrator. His books were written in a simple style and feature woodland creatures and birds, with illustrations by the author. He is known also for illustrating po ...

, (1913–1970), children's writer and illustrator * David Hulin, (born 1975), director and animation director *

Andrew Ibrahim Andrew Philip Michael Ibrahim (born 25 January 1989) is a British Muslim convert, also known as Isa Ibrahim after his conversion to Islam. Ibrahim was arrested by Bristol police on suspicion of terrorism, and on 17 July 2009 convicted of prepari ...

(born 1989), terrorist suspect convicted of preparing terrorist acts * Dan Jones (born 1969), composer * David Jones (1941–2010), Flavelle Medal–winning biologist * Chris McNab (born 1980), author and computer hacker *

Mark Newman Mark Newman is an English-American physicist and Anatol Rapoport Distinguished University Professor of Physics at the University of Michigan, as well as an external faculty member of the Santa Fe Institute. He is known for his fundamental contri ...

(born c.1967), physicist *

Tom Spilsbury Tom Spilsbury (born 1976) is a British writer, magazine editor and journalist. As of 2021, he is a feature writer for ''TV Choice'' and '' Total TV Guide'' magazines. A former pupil of Bristol Cathedral School, he was, for ten years, editor of ' ...

(born 1976), journalist, ''

Doctor Who Magazine ''Doctor Who Magazine'' (abbreviated as ''DWM'') is a magazine devoted to the long-running British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. Launched in 1979 as ''Doctor Who Weekly'', the magazine became a monthly publication the followi ...

'' editor *

Reece Winstone Reece Winstone FRPS (1909–1991) was an English photographer from Bristol. He edited and self-published the 'Bristol As It Was' books of photographs of Bristol, covering in detail the period from the dawn of photography to 1962. Career Frank Ree ...

(1909–1991), photographer and local historian * Alan Geoffrey Woods (born 1942),

Dean of Gibraltar The Dean of Gibraltar is the head (''primus inter pares'' – first among equals) and chair of the chapter of canons, the ruling body of the Cathedral of the Holy Trinity, Gibraltar. The cathedral is the mother church of the Diocese in Europe and ...

2003–2008 It has been alleged that the influential pseudonymous graffiti artist Banksy, whose identity is a closely guarded secret, is in fact a former pupil of Bristol Cathedral School named Robin Gunningham."BBC News online Paper 'reveals Banksy's identity'"
/ref> Banksy himself has declined to either confirm or deny the allegation.

Former teachers

* David Jewell, headmaster *

Alastair Hignell Alastair James Hignell (born 4 September 1955) is an English former rugby union international, first–class cricketer, and broadcaster. Education Hignell was born at Ely, Cambridgeshire and educated at Denstone College, an independent school ...

, history and sport

References

External links

Official school website
*
Old Boys website
{{Authority control Secondary schools in Bristol Educational institutions established in the 12th century Grade II* listed educational buildings Grade II* listed churches in Bristol * 1140 establishments in England

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

Choir schools in England Church of England secondary schools in the Diocese of Bristol Academies in Bristol Bristol Cathedral