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 tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

, 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, developing later than the Italian Renaissance, and in most respects only beginning in the last years of the 15th century. It took different forms in the vari ...

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

terracotta Terracotta, also known as terra cotta or terra-cotta (; ; ), is a clay-based non-vitreous ceramic OED, "Terracotta""Terracotta" MFA Boston, "Cameo" database fired at relatively low temperatures. It is therefore a term used for earthenware obj ...

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, a battlefield, medieval castles, Roman forts, historic industrial sites, Lis ...

as a grade II

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

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, Atlantic slave trade, slave trader, philanthropy, philanthropist and Tories (British political party), Tory Member of Parliament. Colston followed his father in th ...

(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

private school A private school or independent school is a school not administered or funded by the government, unlike a State school, public school. Private schools are schools that are not dependent upon national or local government to finance their fina ...

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 The Society of Merchant Venturers is a charitable organisation in the English city of Bristol. The society can be traced back to a 13th-century guild which went on to fund the 15th-century voyage of John Cabot to Canada. In 1552, it gained a mono ...

. 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. The specific meaning and etymology of the term and its ...

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

arts The arts or creative arts are a vast range of human practices involving creativity, creative expression, storytelling, and cultural participation. The arts encompass diverse and plural modes of thought, deeds, and existence in an extensive ...

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), competitio ...

hockey ''Hockey'' is a family of List of stick sports, stick sports where two opposing teams use hockey sticks to propel a ball or disk into a goal. There are many types of hockey, and the individual sports vary in rules, numbers of players, apparel, ...

, and

netball Netball is a ball sport played on a rectangular court by two teams of seven players. The primary objective is to shoot a ball through the defender's goal ring while preventing the opposing team from shooting through their own. It is one of a ...

. An annual exhibition of the girls' art work is also displayed at Bristol Guild of Applied Art. 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

. On 6 November 2020, after the toppling of the

Statue of Edward Colston A statue is a free-standing sculpture in which the realistic, full-length figures of persons or animals are carved or cast in a durable material such as wood, metal or stone. Typical statues are life-sized or close to life-size. A sculpture ...

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. Then principal, Kerry McCullagh, was described as 'disappointed' and 'shocked' with the result, understanding that parents were noticeably going to feel 'let down' by the report. In response she 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 range of subjects taken in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, having been introduced in September 1986 and its first exams taken in 1988. State schools ...

scores in 2011, the table below shows the percentage of students hitting the key measure of 5 A*-C including English and Mathematics.

Notable former pupils

* Joan Barton, poet *

Florrie Florence Ellen Arnold (born 28 December 1988), better known as Florrie, is an English pop music, pop singer-songwriter, drummer and model. Closely associated with the Xenomania production house, since joining as their in-house drummer in 2008 ...

, singer-songwriter *

Philippa Gregory Philippa Gregory (born 9 January 1954) is an English historical novelist who has been publishing since 1987. The best known of her works is ''The Other Boleyn Girl'' (2001), which in 2002 won the Romantic Novel of the Year Award from the Roman ...

, 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 () 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 – the university was the first universit ...

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, biochemist and principal (Girton College) * Audrey Stuckes, material scientist and lecturer at the

University of Salford The University of Salford is a Public university, public research university in Salford, Greater Manchester, Salford, Greater Manchester, England, west of Manchester city centre. The Royal Technical Institute, Salford, which opened in 1896, be ...

* Mary Tanner, 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