Dr Challoner's Grammar School
| Dr Challoner's Grammar School | |
|---|---|
| Location | |
 | |
Amersham , Buckinghamshire United Kingdom | |
| Information | |
| Type | Boys Grammar School |
| Motto | Ad Astera Per Aspera |
| Established | 1624 |
| Headteacher | Dr Mark Fenton |
| [email protected] | |
| Website | www.challoners.com |
Dr Challoner's Grammar School is a Voluntary Controlled Grammar School of approximately 1280 boys located in Amersham, Buckinghamshire, England.
It was founded in 1624 in accordance with the last will and testament of Dr. Robert Chaloner (spelt with only one ‘l’). Chaloner was Rector of Amersham from 1576 to 1584, when he took up office as a Canon of Windsor, Berkshire, England, a post he held until his death in 1621.
History
In his will, Robert Chaloner left money to establish "a free gramar scoole in Amersam", as well as £40 a year for a schoolmaster. The school was situated in Old Amersham for almost three centuries before moving, with the support of Buckinghamshire County Council, to its present buildings in Amersham-on-the Hill in 1905. At this time, the school embraced the principle of co-education for the first time which, according to the school’s first prospectus in 1906, was "practically universal in America".
By 1937, Challoner's was incorporated into the state system of education and by the early 1950s the school had about 350 boys and girls on roll. However, plans for expansion to 550 pupils were overtaken by rapid population growth in the area and the decision was made to establish a separate school for girls in Little Chalfont: Dr Challoner's High School, which opened in 1962. The two schools continue to maintain very close links.
The continued expansion of the Grammar School to its present size of over 1200 boys saw major building projects in the 1950s, 1980s and 1990s. The more recent of these developments have provided the school with some of the most attractive school buildings in the county, complementing the original "arts and crafts" style of the 1905 block which still forms the hub of the school. This is blighted somewhat by the earlier towerblock that rises from the school's center.
In 2002, Challoner's became one of the first Science Colleges in the United Kingdom, committed to continued excellence in the fields of Mathematics and Science alongside its other all round strengths.
In 2005, the school celebrated the 100th anniversary of the move to the current (Chesham Road) site, also building the Centenary Sports Pitch. The current headmaster is Dr. Mark Fenton, who attended Peterhouse College, Cambridge University as an undergraduate and Anglia Ruskin University (formally known as Anglia Polytechnic) as a graduate student.
Notable former students include actor Sir Roger Moore (although it is worth noting that he attended Challoner's only for a short period of time while an evacuee during the Second World War) and Greg Hands, Conservative MP for Hammersmith & Fulham.
Notable former students include:
James Wright (2005) - worked himself to death via a tragic library self-harm incident due to the stresses of his career at Oxford University. It is believed his unbalanced life-view was caused by his 7 year incarceration at Dr Challoner's asylum for the socially retarded.
Of equal note, his unfortunate widow:
Princess Kyriacos Peter Vassilas (2005) - The first beneficiary of an entirely Wikipedia-based education. The bereavement at the loss of her husband coupled with the trauma of incessant wallowing in a sea of self-pity has led her to a quasi-trogolydyte existence in her room (vis 18/7) and chronic trauling through Wikipedia in a fatuous quest to justify her existence.
Gone. But not forgotten.
Further reading
- F. R. Treadgold, B.A. "Dr. Challoner and his school". (Amersham), 1973.
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