Colfe's Grammar School
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Colfe's School, previously Colfe's Grammar School, is a
co-educational Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to ...
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day school in
Horn Park Horn Park is an area of south east London south west of Eltham. It is located southeast of Charing Cross on the southwest edge of the Royal Borough of Greenwich and borders both the London Borough of Lewisham and the London Borough of Bromle ...
in the
Royal Borough of Greenwich The Royal Borough of Greenwich (, , or ) is a London borough in southeast Greater London, England. The London Borough of Greenwich was formed in 1965 by the London Government Act 1963. The new borough covered the former area of the Metropolita ...
, in southeast London, England, and one of the oldest schools in London. The school is a member of the
Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference The Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference (HMC), formerly known as the Headmasters' Conference and now branded HMC (The Heads' Conference), is an association of the head teachers of 351 private fee-charging schools (both boarding schools ...
. The official
Visitor A visitor, in English and Welsh law and history, is an overseer of an autonomous ecclesiastical or eleemosynary institution, often a charitable institution set up for the perpetual distribution of the founder's alms and bounty, who can interve ...
to the school is
Prince Michael of Kent Prince Michael of Kent (Michael George Charles Franklin; born 4 July 1942) is a member of the British royal family who is 53rd in line to the British throne as of 2025. The younger son of Prince George, Duke of Kent, and Princess Marina of Gr ...
.


History

Colfe's is one of the oldest schools in London. The parish priest of
Lewisham Lewisham ( ) is an area of southeast London, England, south of Charing Cross. It is the principal area of the London Borough of Lewisham, and was within the Historic counties of England, historic county of Kent until 1889. It is identified in ...
taught the local children from the time of Richard Walker's
chantry A chantry is an ecclesiastical term that may have either of two related meanings: # a chantry service, a set of Christian liturgical celebrations for the dead (made up of the Requiem Mass and the Office of the Dead), or # a chantry chapel, a b ...
, founded in 1494, until the dissolution of the monasteries 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 known for his Wives of Henry VIII, six marriages and his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. ...
. Rev. John Glyn re-established the school in 1568 and it was granted a charter by
Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was List of English monarchs, Queen of England and List of Irish monarchs, Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. She was the last and longest reigning monarch of the House of Tudo ...
in 1574.
Abraham Colfe Abraham Colfe (7 Aug 1580 – 5 Dec 1657) was vicar of Lewisham from 1610 to 1657 and a notable English philanthropist, founding Colfe's School, a reading (primary) or Latin school and five almshouses for the inhabitants of Lewisham (today, par ...
became a governor in 1613 and the school was re-founded bearing his name in 1652. Colfe declared that the aim of the school was to provide an education for the boys from "the Hundred of Blackheath". He invited the Leathersellers' Company, one of London's
livery companies A livery company is a type of guild or professional association that originated in medieval times in London, England. Livery companies comprise London's ancient and modern trade associations and guilds, almost all of which are Style (form of a ...
, to be the trustee of his will. Links between the school and the Leathersellers remain strong. The school was originally built around Colfe's house with an entrance in Lewisham Hill. The site was progressively developed and extended until 1890, when it was completely rebuilt on the same site with its entrance now in Granville Park. During the Second World War the school was first evacuated to Tunbridge Wells, Kent, and then to Frome in Somerset. A period of inactivity on the Western front led about 100 boys to return to London, so the school was split for a few years. In 1944 a V2 (flying bomb) almost totally destroyed the school. At the end of the War, with no school buildings and the pupil roll having halved, it was uncertain if the school would continue. In London the school was split between two sites – Beacon Road School in Hither Green and Ennersdale Road School, about a quarter of a mile away. Temporary buildings (rows of pre-fabricated concrete construction) were erected and the school came together again in 1947 under the headmastership of Herbert Beardwood MSc. The "temporary" buildings were still being used until the move to the new site in 1963. Herbert Beardwood updated Leland Duncan's ''History of Colfe's Grammar School'' in 1952, in celebration of the school's tercentenary under Colfe's name. The book was further updated by Beardwood in 1972, to reflect both the move to the present campus at the east end of the playing fields, and the impact on the school of the machinations of early 1970s UK politics. The school moved to its current site in 1963 and since then there has been much change: improved facilities have been provided, such as an all-weather sports pitch, a performing arts centre, and new classroom facilities. The Leathersellers' sports ground has been renovated to make it the home of senior sport (rugby, football and cricket). Having been a
voluntary aided A voluntary aided school (VA school) is a state-funded school in England and Wales in which a foundation or trust (usually a religious organisation) contributes to building costs and has a substantial influence in the running of the school. In m ...
grammar school, Colfe's became independent again in 1977. Although founded as a school for boys, girls have been admitted to the Sixth Form since 1977. In 1997, it was decided to allow girls throughout the school, and today the school is fully co-educational.


Current organisation

The school admits pupils at the age of 3 into the Nursery, from which they progress to the Junior School aged 4. From here pupils make the transition to the Senior school at the age of 11.


Senior School (ages 1118)

The Senior School is at the top of the main school site. An all-weather playing field (funded in part by donations from parents and former pupils) was opened in 2006. The school has a
performing arts centre Performing arts center/centre (see American and British English spelling differences, spelling differences), often abbreviated as PAC, is usually a complex housing performance spaces for various performing arts, including dance, music, and theat ...
, a sports complex complete with a 25m swimming pool, two gyms and a sports hall, IT and music facilities and over of playing fields. Many of the facilities are shared with the junior school. There are 5 buildings in the Senior School: the Main Teaching Block and the Stewart Building create the central "ring", with the Modern Languages Building (N Block), Beardwood Theatre (Art / Music block) and the Laurel Building (L Block). A new building is under construction.


Junior School (ages 311)

The Junior School is at the bottom of the school site, in two self-contained buildings.


Notable alumni

*
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, journalist and musician *
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Further reading

* Leland L. Duncan, ''The History of Colfe's Grammar School and a life of its founder'', 1910 * Vivian Anthony, ''Good Wit and Capacity: The History of Colfe's School 1972-2002'', 2012 pub, Spiegl Press,


References


External links

* {{Authority control 1652 establishments in England Educational institutions established in the 1650s Buildings and structures in Eltham Private co-educational schools in London Private schools in the Royal Borough of Greenwich Lee, London Member schools of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference