Montpelier High School (formerly Colston's Girls' School) is a girls secondary

Academy An academy ( Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy ...

, located in the Montpelier area of Bristol, England. The school building was designed by

William Venn Gough William Venn Gough (1842–1918) was an architect responsible for a number of prominent buildings in Bristol. His works include the Cabot Tower, Colston's Girls' School (now Montpelier High School), Trinity Road Library, St Aldhelm's church ...

and dates from 1891. It uses a polychrome mix of various

Northern Renaissance The Northern Renaissance was the Renaissance that occurred in Europe north of the Alps. From the last years of the 15th century, its Renaissance spread around Europe. Called the Northern Renaissance because it occurred north of the Italian Renais ...

styles, built in red Cattybrook brick with yellow brick and buff

terracotta Terracotta, terra cotta, or terra-cotta (; ; ), in its material sense as an earthenware substrate, is a clay-based ceramic glaze, unglazed or glazed ceramic where the pottery firing, fired body is porous. In applied art, craft, construction, a ...

dressings, and 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 ...

History

Colston's Girls' School opened in 1891. It was founded with endowments left by the Bristol-born merchant, philanthropist, slave trader and Member of Parliament,

Edward Colston Edward Colston (2 November 1636 – 11 October 1721) was an English merchant, slave trader, philanthropist, and Tory Member of Parliament. Colston followed his father in the family business becoming a sea merchant, initially trading in wine, ...

(1636–1721), and named after him. From 1945 to 1966 the school was a

direct grant grammar 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 ...

with an entrance exam. In 1947 Colston's Girls Junior School became a state school, named Colston's Primary School. In 1966 it chose to become a selective

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 ...

until in September 2008 voluntarily converting to a state-funded Academy specialising in languages. This agreement was announced in July 2007 and sponsored by the Society of Merchant Venturers. In accord with the funding agreement, the admissions criteria are not based on how close pupils live to the school. Priority is given to looked after/previously looked after children, and 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). 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 In most contexts, the concept of good denotes the conduct that should be preferred when posed with a choice between possible actions. Good is generally considered to be the opposite of evil and is of interest in the study of ethics, morality, ph ...

. It is a multi-faith school. The school encourages the

arts The arts are a very wide range of human practices of creative expression, storytelling and cultural participation. They encompass multiple diverse and plural modes of thinking, doing and being, in an extremely broad range of media. Both hi ...

and sports, with teams entering competitions and tournaments across the country in sports such as

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competi ...

hockey Hockey is a term used to denote a family of various types of both summer and winter team sports which originated on either an outdoor field, sheet of ice, or dry floor such as in a gymnasium. While these sports vary in specific rules, numbers o ...

, and

netball Netball is a ball sport played on a court by two teams of seven players. It is among a rare number of sports which have been created exclusively for female competitors. The sport is played on indoor and outdoor netball courts and is specifical ...

. An annual exhibition of the girls' art work is also displayed at

Bristol Guild of Applied Art The Bristol Guild of Applied Art, more commonly referred to within Bristol as simply The Guild, is a privately held department store on Bristol's Park Street in the UK. Founded in 1908, the Guild was inspired by the philosophy of William Morri ...

. 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. The headteacher until 2017, Alistair Perry, was convicted in 2018 of indecently assaulting a 16-year old girl in 2000, while he was Head of History at the school. 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. The headteacher, John Whitehead, later stated that he was overruled on this matter by the Society of Merchant Venturers. On 6 November 2020, after the toppling of the

Statue of Edward Colston The statue of Edward Colston is a bronze statue of Bristol-born merchant and trans-Atlantic slave trader, Edward Colston (1636–1721). It was created in 1895 by the Irish sculptor John Cassidy and was formerly erected on a plinth of Portland ...

in Bristol and a consultation with staff and students, the name of the school was changed to Montpelier High School with effect from September 2021. The school is situated in the Montpelier area of the city. On 10 June 2022 Ofsted rated the school as 'Inadequate' – the lowest possible rating – after being rated 'Outstanding' 12 years prior. Whilst the diversity and enrichment clubs were commended, the main issues highlighted were surrounding safeguarding of the pupils, with comments made in reference to how the students did not feel safe at the school and as though they did not have an appropriate adult to confide in, as well as bullying issues with inconsistent responses from staff. The curriculum was also highlighted as something in need of improvement, citing a lack of ambition in particular for the Sixth Form and a lack of support for disabled children, those who struggle with reading and those with special needs. The principal, Kerry McCullagh, has been described as 'disappointed' and 'shocked' with the result, understanding that parents were noticeably going to feel 'let down' by the report. In response she has outlined a 20-point plan which involves higher focus on phonics and reinforcement of staff being safety support for the pupils.

Academic achievement

The school has improved its results almost year on year 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 hitting the key measure of 5 A*-C including English and Mathematics.

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. Female pupils of the school had admissions priority over the normal random admission tier to Colston's Girls' School, but this is no longer the case.

Notable former pupils

* Joan Barton, poet * Florrie, singer-songwriter * Philippa Gregory, novelist *

Lily Newton Lily Newton (26 January 1893 – 26 March 1981) was professor of botany and vice-principal at the University of Wales. Early life and education Newton was born at Pensford in Somerset in 1893, the daughter of George and Melinda Batten. She a ...

, professor of botany and former vice-principal at the

University of Wales The University of Wales (Welsh language, Welsh: ''Prifysgol Cymru'') is a confederal university based in Cardiff, Wales. Founded by royal charter in 1893 as a federal university with three constituent colleges – Aberystwyth, Bangor and Cardiff � ...

April Pearson April Janet Pearson (born 23 January 1989) is an English actress. Born and brought up in Bristol, Pearson was drawn to acting from a young age and appeared in local theatre productions as a child. She made her acting debut in 1998 at the age of ...

, actress *

Brenda Ryman Brenda Edith Ryman (6 December 1922 – 20 November 1983) was a biochemist and Mistress of Girton College, Cambridge. Ryman was educated at Colston's Girls' School and Girton College, Cambridge. She was on the staff of the Royal Free Hospital f ...

, biochemist and principal (Girton College) *

Audrey Stuckes Audrey Doris Jones ( ; 15 September 192326 September 2006) was an English material scientist and a senior lecturer in the department of applied acoustics at the University of Salford. She made important contributions to the theory of the John ...

, material scientist and lecturer at the

University of Salford , caption = Coat of ArmsUniversity of Salford , mottoeng = "Let us seek higher things" , established = 1850 - Pendleton Mechanics Institute 1896 – Royal Technical Institute, Salford 1967 – gained ...

Mary Tanner Dame Mary Elizabeth Tanner, Order of the British Empire, DBE (née Fussell; born 23 July 1938) is a British academic specialising in the Old Testament. She was European President of the World Council of Churches (WCC) from 2006 to 2013 and has b ...

, academic

Notable former staff

* Mary Green, former headteacher

References

External links

School website
{{authority control Secondary schools in Bristol Educational institutions established in 1891 Girls' schools in Bristol Grade II listed buildings in Bristol 1891 establishments in England Academies in Bristol Grade II* listed educational buildings