Christ's School is a

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britai ...

secondary school, located in

Richmond, London Richmond is a town in south-west London,The London Government Act 1963 (c.33) (as amended) categorises the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames as an Outer London borough. Although it is on both sides of the River Thames, the Boundary Commiss ...

. It has the distinction of being the only Church of England secondary school in Richmond upon Thames. Around 670 pupils, between the ages of 11 and 19, attend the school. Christ's is located very near

Richmond Park Richmond Park, in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, is the largest of London's Royal Parks, and is of national and international importance for wildlife conservation. It was created by Charles I in the 17th century as a deer pa ...

, one of London's largest parks.

Performance

As with other schools, latest exam results and related data are published in the Department for Education's national tables.

History

The school's origins date back to 1658 when John Frederick Bentley, a local business man and justice of the peace, offered to build a school at his own expense. However, the school was not formally established until 25 May 1713, when a number of well-intentioned citizens of Richmond, headed by Queen Anne, agreed to subscribe towards "The setting up of a

Charity School Charity schools, sometimes called blue coat schools, or simply the Blue School, were significant in the history of education in England. They were built and maintained in various parishes by the voluntary contributions of the inhabitants to ...

in the Parish of Richmond, for teaching poor children to read, and instructing them in the knowledge and practice of Christian religion as professed and taught in the Church of England." The original school building was located at the corner of George Street and Brewer's Lane and was attached to the local parish church of St Mary Magdalene. It was informally known as a

bluecoat school A bluecoat school is a type of charity school in England, the first of which was founded in the 16th century. Most of them have closed; some remain open as schools, often on different sites, and some of the original buildings have been adapted ...

as the pupils were then provided with blue gowns – a tradition carried on with the current uniform of blue blazers. In 1854, the school moved to a bigger building at the junction of Eton Street and Paradise road. A century later this was considered too small and ill-equipped by the standards of the

1944 Education Act Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 2 – WWII: ** Free French General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny is appointed to command French Army B, part of the Sixth United States Army Group in No ...

, so the school moved to new buildings in 1960 and was then known as St Mary Magdalene Church of England School. The school had links with St Edward the Confessor RC school which had opened in 1954. The two schools ran a joint sixth form during the late 1960s but this proved to be a short-lived experiment. In 1978, St Edward the Confessor RC School merged with the St Mary Magdalene School to form Christs School under the headship of Mr Baker. This was one of the first

ecumenical Ecumenism (), also spelled oecumenism, is the concept and principle that Christians Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The wo ...

(RC and C of E) maintained church schools in England. In 1997, by mutual agreement, the Roman Catholic Church withdrew from the management arrangement and Christ's School returned to being a Church of England maintained secondary school. The school was re-launched in September 2000 on the old East side building (the original St Mary's site), which was considerably refurbished and expanded with art and textile rooms technical block housing science laboratories, design and technology workshops and food tech room, as well as a full-size sports hall. The West side building (the original St Edward's site) was sold off and is now a gated housing development and a primary school. Notable students include Grammy Award-winner, singer/rapper Estelle Swaray, three Premiership football players ( Jason Roberts,

Nathan Ellington Nathan Levi Fontaine Ellington (born 2 July 1981) is an English retired professional footballer who played as a striker. Ellington started his playing career with non-League side Tooting & Mitcham United. Having played once for the club, he swi ...

and

Jody Morris Jody Steven Morris (born 22 December 1978) is an English professional football coach and former player. As a midfielder, Morris played for Chelsea, Leeds United, Rotherham United, Millwall, St Johnstone and Bristol City. He won several troph ...

), and Professor

John Alcolado John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...

(Head of Division of Medical Sciences and Graduate Entry Medicine,

University of Nottingham The University of Nottingham is a public university, public research university in Nottingham, United Kingdom. It was founded as University College Nottingham in 1881, and was granted a royal charter in 1948. The University of Nottingham belongs t ...

References

https://web.archive.org/web/20091115083739/http://www.christs.richmond.sch.uk/page.php?pageID=7 {{authority control Educational institutions established in 1713 Secondary schools in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames Church of England secondary schools in the Diocese of Southwark 1713 establishments in England Richmond, London Voluntary aided schools in London