Queen's Royal College
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Queen's Royal College ( St.Clair, Trinidad), referred to for short as QRC, or "The College" by alumni, is a
secondary school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., b ...
in
Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago, officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean, comprising the main islands of Trinidad and Tobago, along with several List of islands of Trinidad and Tobago, smaller i ...
. Originally a
boarding school A boarding school is a school where pupils live within premises while being given formal instruction. The word "boarding" is used in the sense of "room and board", i.e. lodging and meals. They have existed for many centuries, and now extend acr ...
and
grammar school A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a Latin school, school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented Se ...
, the
secular Secularity, also the secular or secularness (from Latin , or or ), is the state of being unrelated or neutral in regards to religion. The origins of secularity can be traced to the Bible itself. The concept was fleshed out through Christian hi ...
college is selective and noted for its
German Renaissance The German Renaissance, part of the Northern Renaissance, was a cultural and artistic movement that spread among German thinkers in the 15th and 16th centuries, which developed from the Italian Renaissance. Many areas of the arts and sciences ...
architecture, academic performance and alumni representation in sports, politics and science in
Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago, officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean, comprising the main islands of Trinidad and Tobago, along with several List of islands of Trinidad and Tobago, smaller i ...
and globally.


History

The origin of QRC goes back to the Stuart
Grammar School A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a Latin school, school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented Se ...
, at the corner of Duke and Edward Street in
Port of Spain Port of Spain ( ; Trinidadian and Tobagonian English, Trinidadian English: ''Port ah Spain'' ) is the capital and chief port of Trinidad and Tobago. With a municipal population of 49,867 (2017), an urban population of 81,142 and a transient dail ...
, whose Principal was Edward Stuart. In 1859, when a new "collegiate school" was being contemplated, Stuart was invited by the colonial government to be part of the enterprise. The Queen's Collegiate School opened later that year opposite what is now Lord Harris Square, then known as Billiards Orchard. QRC was originally a fee paying (British public school American private) school and was expressly secular. The intention was, as Governor Arthur Hamilton-Gordon told the Legislative Council in 1870, "that its advantages should be open to those of every race and every religion, and that the education given should be of a decidedly superior character." In 1870, the school became the Queen's Royal College and was housed in the supper room of the Prince's Building. When the Government Farm moved from St Clair in 1899, part of the land was reserved as a new home for QRC through the intervention of acting Governor Sir Micah Fields. The school, referred to in those days as Royal College, had 120 pupils, who did not wear a uniform but had to wear a hat or cap bearing the college crest. They learned algebra, geometry, arithmetic,
Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
, French, English, geography, history and
Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...
or Spanish. Today in Queen's Royal College uniforms are worn, and QRC projects and involvements usually involve a blue theme, due to the uniform of blue shirt jack and long khaki pants. In 2009, the school implemented a new
dress uniform Full dress uniform, also known as a ceremonial dress uniform or parade dress uniform, is among the most formal wear, formal type of uniform used by military, police, firefighter, fire and other public uniformed services for official parade (mili ...
for formal occasions. Its principal is David Simon.


Architecture and history of the main block

The foundation stone was laid on 11 November 1902 by Courtney Knollys, who was the acting Governor of the day. The structure was designed by Daniel M. Hahn, who was Chief Draughtsman of the Public Work Department and an Old Boy of Queen's Royal College, during the period when the school was housed at the Princess Building. He is also noted for designing the nations
Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
building the Red House. The architecture of the building is German Renaissance in style, evident by the solid appearance. Constructed at a cost of 15000 British pounds, 1,845,000.00 British pounds adjusted for inflation, the original building accommodated six classes for 30 boys each. The lecture hall could hold over five hundred persons at a time.


General information

The main building itself is one of the Magnificent Seven, a group of historic buildings built in the early 1900s. The North and South buildings, known as the North Block and Science Block respectively, were built during the late 1930s. The school has its own
pavilion In architecture, ''pavilion'' has several meanings; * It may be a subsidiary building that is either positioned separately or as an attachment to a main building. Often it is associated with pleasure. In palaces and traditional mansions of Asia ...
and canteen, both located on the edge of its field, used in all seasons for various sports.


Classes

Queen's Royal College, as a
secondary school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., b ...
in Trinidad & Tobago consists of classes from Form One through Form Six. The school can be termed a "seven-year" school but qualification into Form Six is based on the student's performance at the CSEC (Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate) examinations. Classes are categorized by name according to the word "ROYAL" but now excludes the letter "A", which was used for an accelerated class to what was then the GCE O-Level that students sat after four years rather than the usual five. Form One consists of three classes, 1R, 1O and 1Y whereas, Forms 2 through 5 consists of xR, xO, xY and xL where x represents the class number. All students in each class from forms 2–upper 6 are in the same school house. External students can also gain access into the Sixth Form Level based on their qualifications and other academic factors. On average, up to ten external students enter the Sixth Form level per year.


Subjects offered at Form Six level

The following subjects apply to both Lower Six (year one) and Upper Six (year two). Subjects are usually divided into Unit 1 and Unit 2 with the exclusion of Caribbean Studies which is usually assigned to the first year in Form Six or Lower Six and Communication Studies to the second year in Form Six or Upper Six. All subjects are of the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE) format and students are allowed to do a minimum of four subjects, but exceptions are sometimes accepted. As of July 2012 ;BUSINESS STUDIES *
Accounting Accounting, also known as accountancy, is the process of recording and processing information about economic entity, economic entities, such as businesses and corporations. Accounting measures the results of an organization's economic activit ...
*
Economics Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interac ...
* Management of Business (Business Studies or M.O.B) ;MODERN STUDIES * Art and Design * French *
History History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...
* Literature in English *
Sociology Sociology is the scientific study of human society that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. The term sociol ...
(offered as a Modern subject although it is a Science) * Spanish ;SCIENCE STUDIES *
Biology Biology is the scientific study of life and living organisms. It is a broad natural science that encompasses a wide range of fields and unifying principles that explain the structure, function, growth, History of life, origin, evolution, and ...
*
Chemistry Chemistry is the scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a physical science within the natural sciences that studies the chemical elements that make up matter and chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules a ...
*
Geography Geography (from Ancient Greek ; combining 'Earth' and 'write', literally 'Earth writing') is the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. Geography is an all-encompassing discipline that seeks an understanding o ...
*
Physics Physics is the scientific study of matter, its Elementary particle, fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge whi ...
* Pure Mathematics * Applied Mathematics ;COMPULSORY SUBJECTS * Caribbean Studies * Communication Studies


Notable alumni

* Clive Abdulah (b. 1927), former Bishop of Trinidad * Lloyd Best (1934–2007), economist, essayist, politician, scholar. Founder of the "Plantation school" of economics * Ralph de Boissière (1907–2008), novelist *
Marc Burns __NOTOC__ Marc Burns (born 7 January 1983) is an athlete from Trinidad and Tobago specializing in the 100 metres and the 4 x 100 metres relay. Participating in the 2004 Summer Olympics, he was disqualified from his 100 metres heat due to a false ...
(born 1983), athlete and 2008 Olympic medallist – relay * Rudranath Capildeo (1920–1970), mathematician, politician * Stephen Cumberbatch (1909-2011), archdeacon * Dr E. F. Gordon (1895–1955), physician, civil-rights activist and labour leader in
Bermuda Bermuda is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. The closest land outside the territory is in the American state of North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. Bermuda is an ...
* Jehue Gordon (b. 1991), track and field athlete * Boscoe Holder (1921–2007), artist, dancer and choreographer * Geoffrey Holder (1930–2014), actor, dancer and choreographer *
Darcus Howe Leighton Rhett Radford "Darcus" Howe (26 February 1943 – 1 April 2017)"Civil ...
(1943–2017), broadcaster, writer and civil liberties campaigner * Karl Hudson-Phillips (1933–2014), jurist, politician; former judge of the
International Criminal Court The International Criminal Court (ICC) is an intergovernmental organization and International court, international tribunal seated in The Hague, Netherlands. It is the first and only permanent international court with jurisdiction to prosecute ...
and former Attorney General of Trinidad and Tobago * C. L. R. James (1901–1989), pre-eminent Caribbean philosopher, historian, novelist, essayist, political theorist and cricket writer. James writes about his schooldays at QRC in his classic cricket memoir '' Beyond a Boundary'' (1963) * Nathaniel James (b. 2004), professional footballer ( Portland Hearts of Pine,
Trinidad and Tobago national football team The Trinidad and Tobago national football team, nicknamed the "Soca music, Soca Warriors", represents the twin-island Republic of Trinidad and Tobago in international Association football, football. It is controlled by the Trinidad and Tobago F ...
) * Ian McDonald (b. 1933), Guyana-based writer * Kynaston McShine (1935–2018), museum curator; recognized as the first person of colour at a major American museum * Peter Minshall (b. 1941), artist, Trinidad carnival masman, designer of opening ceremony for the Olympic Games of Atlanta 1996,
Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...
-winner * Wendell Mottley (b. 1941), 1964 Olympic silver medallist and politician; former Minister of Finance * Deryck Murray (b. 1943), West Indian wicket-keeper in cricket * Shiva Naipaul (1945–1985), novelist and journalist * Sir V. S. NaipaulClint Chan Tack
"Sir Vidia cherishes school days"
''Trinidad and Tobago Newsday'', 16 April 2007.
(1932–2018), Nobel Prize–winning author. QRC is memorialised in his masterpiece novel '' A House for Mr. Biswas'' (1961) * George Maxwell Richards (1931–2018), engineer, academician, former President of Trinidad and Tobago * Richard Thompson (b. 1985), athlete and 2008 Olympic medallist – 100m; relay * Air Vice-Marshal Claude McClean Vincent (1896–1967), Royal Air Force officer * Eric A. Williams, geologist, former politician and Minister of Energy * Eric Eustace Williams (1911–1981), historian, first Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago regarded as the Father of the nation.


School House and related activities system

All students in each class from forms 2 to upper 6 are in the same school house. The Houses are named after the most notable alumni of the college. For example, House Naipaul Murray is named after Sir Vidia Naipaul FRAS TC and Deryck Murray. Houses compete in internal Competitions Cross Country and "One Lap Savannah", to win points for their house leading up to Sports Day. Sports Day is a yearly series of competitive games in track and field, water polo, marathon and March Pass. Leading up to Sport Day, each house has designated days for bake sales to raise funds for march pass uniforms. House captains are appointed to organize athletes and train persons in marching. Teachers are also designated houses yearly based on the
house A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air c ...
of their form class. It is customary for all form one students to March, and for forms 2–upper 6 it is voluntary. Houses also compete in the yearly Royal Games that include Royal League (Soccer) and Royal Hoops (Basketball).


House Colours

House Naipaul Murray- Golden Yellow House James Phillip -
Prussian Blue Prussian blue (also known as Berlin blue, Brandenburg blue, Parisian and Paris blue) is a dark blue pigment produced by oxidation of ferrous ferrocyanide salts. It has the chemical formula . It consists of cations, where iron is in the oxidat ...
House Williams Mottley- Emerald
Green Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by a com ...
House Grant Gibbon - Vermillion


See also

* List of schools in Trinidad and Tobago * Royal college


References


External links


Queen's Royal College Online
{{coord, 10.6687, -61.5193, type:edu_region:TT, display=title Secondary schools in Trinidad and Tobago Buildings and structures in Port of Spain