St Lawrence College, Ramsgate
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St Lawrence College is a
co-educational Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to ...
independent 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 ...
situated in
Ramsgate Ramsgate is a seaside resort, seaside town and civil parish in the district of Thanet District, Thanet in eastern Kent, England. It was one of the great English seaside towns of the 19th century. In 2021 it had a population of 42,027. Ramsgate' ...
,
Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...
and has been established as a " public school" ever since it was founded.


History

The college was founded in 1879 as South Eastern College (colours: gold and black). The name was changed in September 1906 because of its location in the St Lawrence area of Ramsgate. New colours were also given: maroon and white. The school rapidly outgrew the single house, leading to the main building of the present day college by 1884. The chapel was completed in 1927. During the world wars, the school was evacuated to Chester (1915) and Courteenhall in Northamptonshire (1940), seat of Sir Herewood Wake, because of its position on the South-East coast. Later in the school's existence, girls were admitted, and the current mix of sexes is now roughly equal. There were initially four houses: Light Red, Dark Red, Light Blue and Dark Blue; these later became Grange, Tower, Manor and Lodge. During World War II a fifth house was added called Courtenay when a nearby school having failed to maintain numbers was incorporated into the school. Newlands was later added for day scholars and Deacon followed as the Junior end of this house. In 1930, Richard Maunsell designed for the Southern Railway a fleet of 40 "Schools Class" locomotives one of which was named St Lawrence. These locos were compact but particularly powerful, weighing over 100 tons with tender. As late as 1958 the St Lawrence Loco (BR 30934) was attached to the School Train departing from Ramsgate. Parts of the tender still exist on the Bluebell Railway.


Senior and middle school

The Senior School is divided into five separate houses. The oldest, Tower and Lodge, the two boys' boarding houses, were created in 1889. Newlands and Deacon are the boys' day house, while Clifford and Laing is the girls' day house. Boarding girls are part of Bellerby. All houses are located in the main school building except Bellerby, who have their own building which is situated in the site of the previous Taylor Hall. Cameron and Courtenay are mixed boarding and day sub-houses, respectively, for the Middle School (Kirby). They accommodate students from age 11 to 13. They are housed in the modern Kirby House Building, which opened in January 2007 by the Archbishop of Canterbury,
Rowan Williams Rowan Douglas Williams, Baron Williams of Oystermouth (born 14 June 1950) is a Welsh Anglican bishop, theologian and poet, who served as the 104th Archbishop of Canterbury from 2002 to 2012. Previously the Bishop of Monmouth and Archbishop of W ...
. In January 2013, Mark Aitken retired his post of Headmaster and was succeeded by Antony Spencer.


Junior school

St Lawrence College Junior School is located on the same site as the Middle and Senior schools and accommodates pupils from age 3 to 11. The Junior School pupils study in the Hamblen Block which includes classrooms for Years 3-6.


Performance

In 2009, the
Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was foun ...
placed the school 330 in its League Table of Independent School
A-level The A-level (Advanced Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education, as well as a school leaving qualification offered by the educational bodies in the United Kingdom and the educational ...
results, with 48.81% of pupils gaining A or B grades at A-level. In 2012, the school gained a pass rate of 92.9% with 18% of them being at grades of A and A* at A-level. The
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 ...
results had a pass rate of 86.5% and 15.5% being at grades of A*. In 2017, the school had 30% A*/A grades at A-level, and 33% A*/A at GCSE, despite the introduction of the new exams.


Notable former pupils

Old Lawrentians (OLs) of note include: * Alfred Bellerby, Olympic long jumper * Hubert Broad, World War I aviator and test pilot * John Russell Carlisle, Director of the Tobacco Manufacturers' Association * John Carr, first-class cricketer and British Army officer * Sir Conrad Corfield KCIE, CSI, MC and Chief Advisor in India * Professor Durward Cruickshank FRS, crystallographer * Michael Curtis, newspaper editor *
General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...
Richard Dannatt, Baron Dannatt General Francis Richard Dannatt, Baron Dannatt, (born 23 December 1950) is a retired senior British Army officer and member of the House of Lords. He was Chief of the General Staff (head of the British Army) from 2006 to 2009. Dannatt was c ...
GCB,
CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...
, MC, DL, former
Chief of the General Staff The Chief of the General Staff (CGS) is a post in many armed forces (militaries), the head of the military staff. List * Chief of the General Staff (Abkhazia) * Chief of General Staff (Afghanistan) * Chief of the General Staff (Albania) * C ...
, defence advisor to the Conservative party * Gordon Edington, CBE, chair NCHGordon Edington profile at Debretts Online
/ref> * Captain David Hart Dyke CBE, LVO, ADC, Captain of HMS Coventry during the
Falklands War The Falklands War () was a ten-week undeclared war between Argentina and the United Kingdom in 1982 over two British Overseas Territories, British dependent territories in the South Atlantic: the Falkland Islands and Falkland Islands Dependenci ...
* Ted Fillary, cricketer * Humphrey Hawksley, BBC World Affairs Correspondent (
BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broad ...
) * John Ironmonger, novelist * Sir
Maurice Laing Sir John Maurice Laing (1 February 1918 – 22 February 2008) was a senior executive of British construction company John Laing. He was the first president of the Confederation of British Industry in 1965–66. Early life Laing was born in Car ...
CBE, DL, FRICS, construction industry entrepreneur, first president of the CBI * Herbert Linnell, cricketer * Eric Mansfield, Aeronautical Engineer, won the Royal Medal in 1994 * Sir George Middleton, diplomat * Major Claude Myburgh, cricketer and soldier * Denis Oswald (codebreaker), Bletchley Park, first-class cricketer, linguist, housemaster Meadhurst, Uppingham. * Major General
Frank Crowther Roberts Major-General Frank Crowther Roberts, (2 June 1891 – 12 January 1982) was a British Army officer and an English recipient of the Victoria Cross (VC), the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and ...
VC, DSO,
OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...
, MC *
John Ruddock John Ruddock (20 May 1897 – 24 September 1981) was a Peruvian-born British film and television actor. Biography John Ruddock was born on 20 May 1897 in Lima, Peru as John Reynolds Ruddock. He was the first of seven children of his British fat ...
, actor * Clifford Dyce Sharp, journalist and editor * Herbert Sharp, cricketer and soldier *
Alexander Siddig Siddig el-Fadil (born 21 November 1965) is a British actor and director, known professionally as Alexander Siddig. Siddig is best known for his roles as Dr. Julian Bashir in the television series '' Star Trek: Deep Space Nine'', former terrori ...
, actor * John Smyth QC, barrister and child abuser *
Michael Steed Michael Steed (25 January 1940 – 30 August 2023) was a British psephologist, political scientist, broadcaster, activist and Liberal Democrat politician. He wrote extensively on political parties and elections. Education and early life Mich ...
, political scientist * The Right Honourable
John Stevens, Baron Stevens of Kirkwhelpington John Arthur Stevens, Baron Stevens of Kirkwhelpington, (born 21 October 1942) is a former Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis (head of the Metropolitan Police Service), having served from 2000 until 2005. From 1991 to 1996, he was Chief ...
, former commissioner of the Metropolitan Police * Robert Summerhayes, cricketer *
John Vernon Taylor John Vernon Taylor (11 September 191430 January 2001) was an English bishop and theologian who was the Bishop of Winchester from 1974 to 1985. Education and family Taylor was born in Cambridge – while his father (John) was Vice Principal at ...
, Bishop of Winchester * Colin Tilsley, missionary


References


External links


St Lawrence College website

Old Lawrentian Society

Profile
on the ISC website
Profile
on the HMC website {{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Lawrence College, Ramsgate Private schools in Kent Boarding schools in Kent Ramsgate Educational institutions established in 1879 1879 establishments in England Member schools of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference