("He who perseveres, conquers") , established = , closed = , type =

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 ...

, religious_affiliation = Church of England , president = , head_label = Head Master , head = Christopher Ramsey , chair_label = , chair = , founder =

John Whitgift John Whitgift (c. 1530 – 29 February 1604) was the Archbishop of Canterbury from 1583 to his death. Noted for his hospitality, he was somewhat ostentatious in his habits, sometimes visiting Canterbury and other towns attended by a retinue of 8 ...

Archbishop of Canterbury The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. The current archbishop is Justi ...

, specialist = , address = Haling Park , city = South Croydon , county =

Greater London Greater may refer to: *Greatness, the state of being great *Greater than, in inequality (mathematics), inequality *Greater (film), ''Greater'' (film), a 2016 American film *Greater (flamingo), the oldest flamingo on record *Greater (song), "Greate ...

, country = England , postcode = CR2 6YT , local_authority = Croydon , urn = 101837 , staff = 200 , enrolment = 1,478 , gender = Boys , lower_age = 10 , upper_age = 18 , houses = Andrew's
Brodie's
Cross'
Dodds
Ellis'
Mason's
Smith's
Tate's , colours = Gold and Navy
, publication = ''Whitgift Life Magazine'' , free_label_2 = Former pupils , free_2 = Old Whitgiftians , website = http://www.whitgift.co.uk/ Whitgift School is an independent day school with limited boarding in South Croydon, London. Along with Trinity School of John Whitgift and

Old Palace School The Old Palace of John Whitgift School is a selective independent school for girls in Croydon, London. The Old Palace is protected as a Grade I listed building. It consists of a pre-school for the ages of 3-4, a preparatory department for the ag ...

it is owned by the Whitgift Foundation, a charitable trust. The school was previously a grammar school and

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 ...

, but the school's headmaster is now a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference.

History

Whitgift School was founded in 1596 by the

and opened in 1600 as part of the Whitgift Foundation which had the aim of building a hospital and school in Croydon for the "poor, needy and impotent people" from the parishes of Croydon and

Lambeth Lambeth () is a district in South London, England, in the London Borough of Lambeth, historically in the County of Surrey. It is situated south of Charing Cross. The population of the London Borough of Lambeth was 303,086 in 2011. The area expe ...

. Originally located in North End, Croydon in 1931 it moved to its current site, Haling Park, which was once home to Lord Howard of Effingham, the Lord High Admiral of the Fleet sent against the

Spanish Armada The Spanish Armada (a.k.a. the Enterprise of England, es, Grande y Felicísima Armada, links=no, lit=Great and Most Fortunate Navy) was a Spanish fleet that sailed from Lisbon in late May 1588, commanded by the Duke of Medina Sidonia, an aris ...

. Originally a day school, boarding was introduced in 1992, and a boarding house was opened for the 2013–14 school year. Between 1871 and 1946 the school was known as Whitgift Grammar School, after which it relinquished its

direct grant A direct grant grammar school was a type of Selective school, 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 rem ...

and became a fully independent school known as 'Whitgift School'.

Grounds and buildings

Whitgift School; view from main entrance April 2020

Whitgift is located in a parkland site. The ship (a model of HMS ''Ark Royal'', the flagship of Lord Howard of Effingham against the

) that features prominently on the top of the school hall is a reminder of the history of the site. Additions since the 400th anniversary of the school have been a maze in the founder's garden, an aviary, an enclosure for Prevost's squirrels, ponds and a sports complex. The original buildings have been supplemented by many additions and improvements including a Music School and Concert Hall, an integrated facility for science, technology, art and design together with library and resource centres, a separate Lower School building, and a major new Sports and Conference Centre which was opened in February 2005. A new Art Department, Performing Arts Centre and a new Sixth Form Centre were completed in the middle of 2011. Whitgift has a wide variety of animals, including peacocks on the grounds since the 1930s, and flamingos. In 2005 Sir David Attenborough visited the school to open the ponds, the enclosure of which also houses various waterfowl, including Hawaiian geese.

Admissions

Most boys are admitted to the school at the ages of 10 or 11 with smaller numbers of boys enter the school at 12, 13, 14 and 16. Entry is based on performance in entrance exams and interviews.

Education

Since 2005, Whitgift has offered the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme to the Sixth Form as an optional alternative to A-Levels, as well as BTEC qualifications in sport and business studies.

Co-curricular activities

Whitgift School offers co-curricular activities within the school. This is reflected in the sporting facilities as well as an array of musical activities.

Combined Cadet Force

Whitgift has a combined cadet force. The school has partnerships with two local state schools

St. Andrews C of E High School St Andrew's Church of England High School was a Church of England voluntary aided school in Central Croydon, Greater London. First opened in 1862, The school was part of the educational provision of the Diocese of Southwark and later, the London ...

and Thomas More School, allowing their students to take part in CCF activities.

Sport

The school fields teams in a range of sports and has a sports and conference centre which hosts competitionsWhitgift and the Community
Whitgift School the Health & Fitness Centre, a 55 station gym and group exercise studio are open to students and their families. The Women's GB Handball team has trained on occasions at the School as has the England Korfball steam. In hockey Whitgift won the National Indoor Hockey Championships at Under 15 and Under 18 levels in 2011. The school also become national Under 18 golf champions for the first time in 2014 at Carnoustie. The first recorded cricket match held on the school ground occurred in 1898 when the school played University College School. From 2003 to 2011 the school ground hosted 12 List-A matches for county club

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

Headmasters

Notable alumni

Former pupils of Whitgift are known as "Old Whitgiftians".

Notable staff

* Anthony Seldon, Head of Politics at Whitgift in the 1980s, head of Brighton College and

Wellington College Wellington College may refer to: *Wellington College, Berkshire, an independent school in Crowthorne, Berkshire, England ** Wellington College International Shanghai ** Wellington College International Tianjin *Wellington College, Wellington, New Z ...

, biographer of contemporary British political figures. * David Ward, cricket coach who, having retired from playing for Surrey, produced a stream of cricketers for the England team. *

Sir Dick White Sir Dick Goldsmith White, (20 December 1906 – 21 February 1993) was a British intelligence officer. He was Director General (DG) of MI5 from 1953 to 1956, and Head of the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) from 1956 to 1968. Early life White ...

, Assistant Master in the 1930s, former

Director General A director general or director-general (plural: ''directors general'', ''directors-general'', ''director generals'' or ''director-generals'' ) or general director is a senior executive (government), executive officer, often the chief executive offi ...

of MI5 and

Head A head is the part of an organism which usually includes the ears, brain, forehead, cheeks, chin, eyes, nose, and mouth, each of which aid in various sensory functions such as sight, hearing, smell, and taste. Some very simple animals may ...

of MI6.

Southern Railway Schools Class

The Southern Railway V Class was known as the Schools Class because all 40 locomotives were named after public schools. "Whitgift", SR no. 916 and BR no. 30916, was built in 1934 and withdrawn in 1962. The Whitgift nameplate that was formerly mounted on the front driving wheel-splasher of the locomotive is now on display in the Raeburn Library in the school. Hornby Models created an OO gauge replica of the 916 Whitgift Schools Class locomotive. Whitgift has one on display in the Raeburn Library underneath the Whitgift nameplate from the 4–4–0 train.