Colchester Royal Grammar School

The main school building in about 1908.

Despite the paucity of mediaeval documentation, there is evidence to suggest that the school's origins can traced back to 1206, and indeed earlier to 1132.[3]

Several centuries later, following the dissolution of the monasteries by King Henry VIII, the royal charter of 1539 ensured that revenues were granted to the bailiffs and commonality of Colchester on condition that they founded a school; this was then enacted by the charter of Elizabeth I in 1585, on condition that at least £13 6s 8d be set aside annually for the schoolmaster. Revenue from other property was also granted, but this was later challenged in court during the reign of William III, and the arrangements were legally reconfirmed. By 1750, under the stewardship of Philip Morant, these revenues were worth £45 per annum and provided scholarships for two boys to study at the University of Cambridge.

For most of its history, the school was small and run mainly out of the headmaster's house, with only minor changes until 1852 when the "big school" was built. At this time there was very little secondary education in northern Essex, and difficulties were exacerbated through friction between the headmaster of the school and the town's Corporation. Pupil numbers dropped, although the school took in a few "parlour boarders" to prepare for entry into the army or university.

Percy Shaw Jeffrey in 1916.

The school's situation changed in 1900 with the appointment of Percy Shaw Jeffrey as headmaster.[6] He took over a school with 29 boarders and barely any staff, but his reforms rapidly turned the school around. He introduced day boys and established a preparatory school, a cadet corps, an orchestra, a bugle band, school entertainments and theatrical performances. He was a pioneer of the teaching of modern European languages through phonetics, employing language teachers from France and Germany and setting up arrangements for foreign study during holidays.

The school's cadet corps, July 1914.

The resulting academic success, scholarships and local goodwill enabled Shaw Jeffrey to expand the school buildings, inspired by the designs of local rivals, such as Ipswich School and Earls Colne Grammar School. First, Mansfield House was purchased in 1903 and renamed Gilberd House. In 1908 Shaw Jeffrey convinced the governors and local education board to build a new school building for £4,000 on land previously used as kitchen gardens. The new buildings were designed by architects Newman, Jacques and Round and were opened by Lord Rosebery, the former Prime Minister, in May 1910. In 1911 the school was given 12 acres (49,000 m²) of playing fields and opened tennis courts and a small rifle range.

Until 1908 the school blazer was green, but other schools in the area had adopted the same colour. Wanting the school to be distinct and recognisable, Shaw Jeffrey approached the a tailor and asked what the most expensive dye was. Told that it was purple, he chose it as the new colour for the school's blazer, which it remains to this day.[7]

By 1912 numbers had grown to 144 pupils in the main school, split into four houses (School House, Parr's House (formerly North Town), Harsnett's House (formerly South Town) and Dugard's House),[6] and 169 younger boys in the preparatory school.

Growth continued through the world wars, with 700 boys by 1947 and five scholarships for pupils to pursue university education. An outdoor swimming pool was constructed in the 1920s[6] and remains in use. In 1966 Labour-controlled Colchester Borough Council put forward proposals to close Colchester Royal Grammar School and Colchester County High School and move to a comprehensive system,[8] but this was rejected by Essex County Council.[9] The educational expansion of the 1960s allowed the construction of new classrooms and a gymnasium.

Expansion continued into the 21st century, with a new art building opened in 2003 and the technology block upgraded. In 2006 a new extension to the science building was completed and two new chemistry laboratories were opened.

The school became grant-maintained in the 1980s and converted into an academy in 2012.

Following the launch of the Everyone's Invited website in 2020, allegations of misconduct were made by a former student of the school, which led to an inspection by Ofsted.[10] The inspection found safeguarding to be ineffective and graded the school as "inadequate" overall.[11][12] In February 2022, however, an Ofsted monitoring visit found that significant improvements had been made to the safeguarding and reporting processes, concluding that "safeguarding is effective" and that "pupils say school is a safe and enjoyable place to be".[13]

The teaching of Classical Greek is offered to pupils, in addition to studying Latin, up to A-level. Between 1994 and 2004 the Government of Greece funded teaching of the subject in an effort to halt its decline in the United Kingdom state sector. This was the result of a pupil-led campaign following a decision by the governors to cease teaching of the subject following financial difficulties caused by becoming a grant-maintained school.[19][20]

Colchester Royal Grammar School was also the first in the country to teach Classical Civilisation at A-Level. The subject "arose from a conversation between Arthur Brown, Head of Classics, and the Headmaster one afternoon in 1970."[21]