Chorister School, Durham

The Chorister School

Established	c. 1400
Type	Preparatory School, Co-Educational
Religion	Church of England
Headteacher	Mrs Yvette Day
Chair Of Governors	The Dean of Durham, the Very Revd Michael Sadgrove
Location	Durham County Durham DH1 3EL England
Staff	35 approx.
Students	195 approx.
Gender	Mixed
Ages	2–13
Houses	4: Flambard Langley Pudsey Skirlaw
Colours	Purple and gold
Website	www.thechoristerschool.com

Coordinates: 54°46′20″N 1°34′40″W / 54.772096°N 1.577786°W / 54.772096; -1.577786

The Chorister School is a co-educational independent school for the 2 to 13 age range. It consists of a nursery (opened in September 2008), a pre-preparatory and preparatory day and boarding school in Durham, England. It is located at 9 The College, a Grade I listed building adjacent to Durham Cathedral. The majority of the pupils at the school attend on a "day" basis, with about 45 boarders of both sexes making up the balance. Boys who are Choristers all board. Girls will start as choristers in September 2009. Pupils are taught in small classes in a collection of historic buildings all of which form part of the College, or Cathedral Close.

History

Its creation dates back to 1416 as a school for the cathedral's choirboys. Whilst historically the school had fewer pupils, from 5 to 24, ages 8 to 20, expansion began in 1948 to reach the numbers of today. This necessitated a number of moves of building in the Cathedral area. The school became co-educational in 1994.

Sport

The school is not noted for major sporting success, as it is only a Preparatory school, but they have had some years of note. A major year in the schools history for sport was from 2005-2006 when the boys 1st teams went unbeaten for the whole academic year. The year started with rugby and under Head Coach Jon Bland the team went 10 games unbeaten (Played - 10 Won - 10 Points for - 486 Points Against - 0 ) and had no points scored against them. This led to the award of 2006 School Sports Matters Team of the year.^{[citation needed]} They also won the Northern sevens Tournament held at Durham School. This led into the football term where the 1st XI won all 4 games, and a 5 a side competition at Newcastle School for Boys under coach Gary Brown before heading into cricket term where they went 7 games unbeaten only drawing 1 and winning the majority by 150 runs or more, once again under the Coaching of Jon Bland.

Head teachers

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

• Henry Madden: 1876-
• F S Dennett: 1914-1929^[1]
• Henry Yorke Ganderton: 1929-1957
• John M Grove: 1957-1978
• Raymond G Lawrence: 1978-1994
• Stephen Drew: 1994-2003
• Ian Hawksby: 2003-2010
• Lin Lawrence (interim): 2010
• Yvette Day: 2011

Notable former pupils

See also: Category:People educated at the Chorister School, Durham

• Rowan Atkinson (born 1955), comedian, "Mr Bean"^[2]
• Tony Blair (born 1953), former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom^[2]
• James Fenton (born 1949), poet, journalist and literary critic^[2]
• Christopher Hancock (1928–2004), actor ^[3]
• Stephen Hancock (younger brother of Christopher), actor, who played Ernest Bishop in Coronation Street^[3]
• Sir John Laws (born 1945), The Rt Hon Lord Justice Laws, High Court Judge between 1992 and 1999, when he came to the Court of Appeal^[2]
• Paddy MacDee, (Patrick McDermott) (born c. 1950) radio programme host^[2]
• Sir Peter Vardy (born 1947), businessman^[2]
• James Wood (born 1965), Professor of the Practice of Literary Criticism at Harvard University and contributor to The New Yorker^[2]

References

1. ^ Of Choristers, ancient and modern: Durham
2. ^ ^{a b c d e f g} School Alumni Roll Call
3. ^ ^{a b} obituary of C Hancock in Independent

External links

• http://www.choristers.durham.sch.uk