Gresham's School

Gresham's School is an independent co-educational Headmasters' Conference boarding school located at Holt in North Norfolk.

History and Structure

The Senior School of Gresham's, established at Holt by Sir John Gresham in 1555, during the reign of Queen Mary I, has approximately 520 pupils. The School's founder endowed the school generously, placing its property in trust with the Worshipful Company of Fishmongers of London. Close links with the Company continue to this day.

For three hundred and fifty years, the School was based in what is now called the Old School House, or 'Osh', the former manor house of Holt in the town centre. The Old School was rebuilt and converted in 1859. In the early 1900s, under an ambitious headmaster called Dr George Howson, the school expanded onto a campus of some two hundred acres at the eastern edge of the town, while retaining the Old School as one of its houses. Since 1984, the former Manor House has housed the Gresham's pre-preparatory school.

There are now four boarding houses for boys and three for girls, as well as a wide range of buildings. These include Big School, the School Chapel, the Auden Theatre, the Cairns Centre, the School Library, and so forth.

Gresham's operates a Preparatory School on a separate site at Holt, with its own Headmaster and staff. Like the Senior School, it is fully co-educational and takes full and weekly boarders as well as day pupils. The children, of whom there are over two hundred in the Preparatory School, are taken from the age of eight and normally leave at thirteen, many continuing into the Senior School.

The Gresham's Pre-Preparatory School, now based in the Old School House, is a day school catering for one hundred boys and girls between the ages of three and eight.

Gresham's is a Church of England foundation, but the school is open to all denominations and religions. The School Chaplain is always available to the pupils, and Chapel is a focal point of School life. Boys and girls may be prepared at the School for Confirmation into the Church of England.

Houses

Most Gresham's students are boarders and live in seven houses. Four of these are for boys (Howson's, Farfield, Woodlands, and Tallis) and three for girls (Edinburgh, Britten, and Oakeley).

Eash house has a house-master or house-mistress and a house-tutor. There are house teams for team sports, as well as other house activities.

Curriculum

The school teaches most subjects of the mainstream humanistic curriculum. While only limited choices between courses need to be made for GCSE, at A-level pupils choose three or four subjects, and most combinations are possible.
* Classical Civilization, Latin and Greek
* Modern Languages: French, German, Russian, Spanish, Italian, and Japanese
* English language and literature
* Mathematics
* Physics, Chemistry, Biology
* Electronics, Computing, Graphical Communication, Design & Technology
* History, Geography, Politics, Economics, Business Studies
* Religious Studies
* Art, Theatre Studies, Music

The aim of the school is to give a good all-round education and to prepare pupils for university entry and for other careers, such as the armed forces. Most Greshamians move on to top British universities, such as Oxford, Cambridge, St Andrews, Bristol, Durham and Edinburgh.

School Sports

Apart from its sports grounds for cricket, rugby football, hockey, and soccer, the school has its own Olympic-size indoor swimming pool, squash, tennis and badminton courts, gymnasium and extensive school woods. It owns a boat-house at Barton Broad and a shooting lodge at Bisley.

An Old Greshamian was a member of the gold-medal winning British hockey squad at the 1988 Summer Olympics, while another OG was for many years the British number one squash player and now heads the world Professional Squash Association. In the field of rifle-shooting, Gresham's has been one of the top ten schools in England for about forty years, and an OG won a shooting Gold Medal in the 2006 Commonwealth Games at Melbourne.

The principal school sports for boys are rugby football (Michaelmas Term), hockey (Lent Term), and cricket (Summer Term). There is a wide range of other school sports, including tennis, badminton, golf, soccer, squash, martial arts, swimming, riding, sailing, cross-country running, shooting and canoeing. As an alternative to formal sports, Gresham's students may take part in 'School Works', chiefly forestry activities in the extensive woodland attached to the main school campus.

Out of School Activities

There is a School Orchestra, a Duke of Edinburgh's Award Scheme, and a range of school clubs, such as a Debating Club and a Chess Club. Participation in school and house plays is a voluntary but popular activity. Military training is provided by the Gresham's School contingent of the Combined Cadet Force.

Scholarships

A range of scholarships is available, giving a reduction in school fees. These include Open Academic Scholarships, Music, Art and Drama Scholarships, Lockhart Academic Scholarships, Edinburgh Scholarships, Fishmongers' Company Open Scholarships and Fishmongers' Art Scholarships, Sports Scholarships and All Rounder Scholarships. There is also an award called the 450th Anniversary Boarding Award.

Fees

The school's annual fees for the academic year 2005-06 are:
* Senior School boarders: £20,670

* Senior School non-boarders: £16,020

* Preparatory School boarders: £15,075

* Preparatory School non-boarders: £11,565

* Pre-preparatory School Year 3: £6,345

* Pre-preparatory School Year 2: £6,030

* Pre-preparatory School Year 1: £5,715

Governing Body

The school's Governing Body seeks to include distinguished Old Greshamians as well as representatives of the Worshipful Company of Fishmongers, who are the school's trustees. The Chairman of Governors (currently Mr A.N.G. Duckworth-Chad, D.L., a Norfolk landowner) is always a past or present Prime Warden of the Fishmongers' Company. The previous Chairman was the late Admiral Earl Cairns. Meetings are held at Fish House in the City of London.

Development and External Relations

During the celebrations of the school's 450th Year in 2005, the establishment was announced of a Foundation to focus on encouraging legacies and donations for scholarships, bursaries and specific major projects. A Director of Development and External Relations has since been appointed, as part of a programme of reaching out to Old Greshamians, and gatherings are planned around the UK and overseas.