St George's School, Windsor Castle

Last updated

St George's School, Windsor Castle
Armoiries Genes.svg
St George's school, Windsor Castle - geograph.org.uk - 2324034.jpg
Location
St George's School, Windsor Castle

, ,
SL4 1QF

Information
Type Private preparatory school
Choral foundation school
Religious affiliation(s) Church of England
Established1352;672 years ago (1352)
Founder Edward III
Local authority Windsor and Maidenhead
Department for Education URN 110131 Tables
Chairman of the Governors David Conner, Dean of Windsor
HeadmasterWilliam Goldsmith
Staff80 (approx.)
GenderCoeducational
Age3to 13
Enrolment410 (approx.)
HousesGarter, Clarence, Lancaster, Winchester
Website http://www.stgwindsor.co.uk

St George's School, Windsor Castle is a co-educational private preparatory school in Windsor, near London, England. Founded to provide choirboys for the Choir of St George's Chapel, it now educates over 400 boys and girls.

Contents

History

The school was established to provide six choristers for the Choir of St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle, which sings in St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle, which is the official country residence of the British Royal Family. St George's is one of the oldest schools in the country, and has provided an unbroken line of boy choristers to sing daily services in St George's Chapel since 1352.

As late as 1942 the school was reported by its headmaster as being "for the sons of Gentlemen only". [1]

The school's choristers have sung at events such as the wedding of Prince Edward and Sophie Rhys-Jones, now the Duchess of Edinburgh; the funeral of John Hunt, Baron Hunt; and also the blessing of the wedding of the now King Charles III and Queen Camilla.

Present day

The seventeen full choristers live at the school, with about seven 'probationers' who are mostly day pupils. The choristers attend lessons at the school with the other children and rehearse each day before and after school in the Song School by the Chapel, where they also sing seven services each week during term time. Their school fees are partly met by grants from the Dean and Canons of Windsor.

The school has a boarding community of 30 children, many of whom board on weekly or flexible arrangements. Most pupils have experienced some level of boarding before they leave at 13.

The school buildings are situated just below the north wall of Windsor Castle, with the school being divided into three distinct sections – the Pre-Prep (Nursery to Year 2) the Middle School (Years 3, 4 and 5) and the Senior School (Years 6, 7 and 8).

Nearly all pupils over the age of 7 learn an instrument, the majority of girls take part in ballet, tap or jazz dancing and a range of school choirs covers all age-groups.

Although the school is a town centre school, spacious playing fields are situated next door to the school site, within the King's private grounds. Boys play football, rugby and cricket and the girls play netball, hockey and rounders. Swimming takes place in the school's indoor pool.

In 2021, the house names were changed from Revenge, Rodney, Vindictive and Victory, to Garter, Clarence, Lancaster and Winchester. They are now named after the towers at Windsor Castle. The original houses were named after warships.

At the beginning of the 2024/25 school year, St George’s will welcome their first ever female headmistress, Emma Károlyi.

Headmasters

Notable pupils

See also

Notes

  1. 1 2 The Spectator , vol. 168 (1942), pp. 266 & 298: "St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle — The Choir School is a first-class Preparatory School for the Public Schools, for the sons of Gentlemen only... G. S. Fowler, MA, St George's School, Windsor Castle"
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Wridgway, Neville (1980). The Choristers of St George's Chapel. Chas. Luff & Co. p. 132.
  3. The Journal of Education, vol. 54 (W. Stewart & Company, 1922), p. 90: "Mr. HFW Deane, Chairman of the Year Book Press, Ltd., whose death was reported late in December last, was well known in educational circles. He was educated at Repton and Trinity College, Cambridge. For fourteen years he was a master at St. Ninian's School, Moffat, and in 1885 became head master of St. George's School, Windsor. He retired from this post in 1904, being appointed Chapter Clerk and Librarian to the Dean and Canons of St. George's Chapel, Windsor. Later he established, with his sons, the publishing firm now known as The Year Book Press."
  4. College, Lancing; Esdaile, Arundell James Kennedy (1913). The Lancing Register. Lancing Club. p. 153. Retrieved 10 June 2024.
  5. "WEBB-JONES, James William (1904 - 1965)". Who's Who, Oxford Index. Oxford University Press.
  6. Headmaster, R. H. E. Russell (Creed & Co, Dorset, 1986)
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 In High Remembrance, Ed. R. H. E. Russell & P. A. F. Thomas (2007)
  8. The Church of England year book, vol. 116 (Church of England National Assembly, 2000) p. 244: "Headmaster, St George's School: Mr Roger Jones, St George's School, Windsor"
  9. Hugh Chisholm, ed. The Encyclopædia Britannica: The New Volumes, Volume 1 (1922): "After a preliminary private education he became a chorister at St. George's chapel, Windsor, in 1882..."
  10. ‘CHANCE, Michael Edward Ferguson’ in Who's Who 2012 (London: A. & C. Black, 2012); online edition (subscription site) by Oxford University Press, December 2011, accessed 22 April 2012

51°29′08″N0°36′20″W / 51.4855°N 0.6056°W / 51.4855; -0.6056

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Walford Davies</span> British composer (1869-1941)

Sir Henry Walford Davies was an English composer, organist, and educator who held the title Master of the King's Music from 1934 until 1941. He served with the Royal Air Force during the First World War, during which he composed the Royal Air Force March Past, and was music adviser to the British Broadcasting Corporation, for whom he gave commended talks on music between 1924 and 1941.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lancing College</span> Public school in Lancing near Worthing, West Sussex, England

Lancing College is a public school for pupils aged 13–18 in southern England, UK. The school is located in West Sussex, east of Worthing near the village of Lancing, on the south coast of England. Lancing was founded in 1848 by Nathaniel Woodard and educates c. 600 pupils between the ages of 13 and 18; the co-educational ratio is c. 60:40 boys to girls. Girls were admitted beginning in 1971. The first co-ed, Saints’ House, was established in September 2018, bringing the total number of Houses to 10. There are 5 male houses and 4 female houses.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bedford School</span> Public school in Bedford, England

Bedford School is a 7–18 boys public school in the county town of Bedford in England. Founded in 1552, it is the oldest of four independent schools in Bedford run by the Harpur Trust. Bedford School is one of the oldest boys' schools in the United Kingdom, and was the winner of the Independent Boys School of the Year Award at the Independent Schools of the Year Awards in 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">King's School, Worcester</span> Private school in Worcester, England

The King's School, Worcester is a private co-educational day school refounded by Henry VIII in 1541. It occupies a site adjacent to Worcester Cathedral on the banks of the River Severn in the centre of the city of Worcester. It offers mixed-sex mainstream education that follows the UK National Curriculum to around 1,465 pupils aged 2 to 18. At age 11, approximately two thirds of pupils join the senior school from its two prep schools, King's Hawford and King's St Albans, while others come from maintained schools in the city of Worcester and the surrounding areas that include Malvern, Redditch, Kidderminster, Evesham and Pershore.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Henry Harris</span> English organist and composer

Sir William Henry Harris was an English organist, choral trainer and composer.

Wells Cathedral School is a co-educational independent day and boarding school located in Wells, Somerset, England. The school is one of the five specialist musical schools for school-age children in the United Kingdom, along with Chetham's School of Music, the Yehudi Menuhin School, the Purcell School and St. Mary's Music School, Edinburgh. The Head Master, Alastair Tighe, is a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference. The latest fees for day students are £9,336 – £24,558, while boarders pay £24,828 – £40,029 pa.

Edmund Horace Fellowes, was a Church of England clergyman and musical scholar who became well known for his work in promoting the revival of sixteenth and seventeenth century English music.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">King's Ely</span> Private school in Ely, Cambridgeshire, England

King's Ely is a cathedral school and now an all through co-educational fee-charging day and boarding school in the city of Ely in England. It was founded in 970 AD, making it one of the oldest schools in the world. It was given its first royal charter by King Henry VIII in 1541, its second by Queen Elizabeth I in 1562, and its third by King Charles II in 1666. The school consists of a nursery, a pre-preparatory school, a prep school, a senior school, a sixth form, and an international school. King's Ely is a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference. In 2021, The Independent Schools Inspectorate published their report writing that "King's Ely achieved the highest grading possible in every category inspected and was judged to meet or exceed all regulatory standards for independent day and boarding schools."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The King's (The Cathedral) School</span> School in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England

Founded by King Henry VIII in 1541, The King's School is a state-funded Church of England Cathedral Chorister School located in Peterborough, England. It is the Chorister School for Peterborough Cathedral. Former pupils are known as Old Petriburgians.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saint Thomas Choir School</span> School in New York City

Saint Thomas Choir School is a boarding school located in Manhattan, New York, one of three world-wide that exclusively educate boy treble choristers, while requiring them to board at the school.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St Edmund's School Canterbury</span> Public school in Canterbury, Kent, England

St Edmund's School Canterbury is a private day and boarding school located in Canterbury, Kent, England and established in 1749. The extensive school grounds were acquired in 1855. The school currently caters for girls and boys aged 3–18, including the Choristers of Canterbury Cathedral.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dean Close School</span> Public school in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England

Dean Close School is a co-educational private boarding and day school for pupils aged 3–18) in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, South West England, UK. The school is divided into pre-prep, preparatory and senior schools located on separate but adjacent sites outside Cheltenham town centre, occupying the largest single private area of land within the town, at some 50 acres.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Choir of St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle</span>

The Choir of St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle exists to sing services in St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Choir of St John's College, Cambridge</span> Collegiate choir

The Choir of St John's College, Cambridge is part of the English cathedral tradition, having been founded to sing the daily liturgy in the College Chapel, though it is set apart from other English choirs of this tradition by the frequent inclusion of Continental works in its repertoire and its emphasis on polyphonic interpretations. Alongside the choir of King's College, Cambridge, it is one of the two most famous collegiate choirs in Cambridge, having had over 90 recordings published. The choir consists of fifteen Choral Scholars and twenty Choristers and Probationers, all of whom are members of St John's College, many of whom have proceeded to become distinguished musicians.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christ Church Cathedral School</span> Private day and boarding school in Oxford, England

Christ Church Cathedral School is an independent preparatory school for boys in Oxford, England. It is one of three choral foundation schools in the city and educates choristers of Christ Church Cathedral, and the Chapels of Worcester College and Pembroke College. It is a member of the IAPS and the Choir Schools Association.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">King's College School, Cambridge</span> Private preparatory day and boarding school in Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England

King's College School is a coeducational private preparatory school for pupils aged 4 to 13 in Cambridge, England, situated on West Road off Grange Road, west of the city centre. It was founded to educate the choristers in the King's College Choir during the 15th century. Although no longer located on College grounds, it remains an integral part of the Chapel's musical tradition and is still governed by and receives some funding from the College. The school is part of the same historic foundation as Eton College. The most recent full integrated Independent Schools Inspectorate (ISI) inspection awarded the grade "excellent" in all 9 categories.

The S.F.X. Boys' Choir was a Catholic boys' choir that existed from 1994 to 2007. The choir received nationwide fame when the choir sang on the reworked version of The Farm's 1990 hit "Alltogethernow" and for gaining its place in the Guinness Book of World Records in 1998 for being the first choir to sing in all 49 cathedrals and abbeys in England and Wales.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Historical monographs relating to St. George's Chapel, Windsor Castle</span>

The historical monographs relating to St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle are a series of scholarly publications supported by the Dean and Canons of Windsor. Much of the scholarship is based on the material held in the archives at St. George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle.

James William Webb-Jones (1904–1965) was a Welsh choral conductor, educator, and cricketer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Reigate St Mary's School</span> Private day school in Reigate, Surrey, England

Reigate St Mary's Preparatory and Choir School is a mixed private prep and choir school in Reigate, Surrey, England.