St. Edward's College
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| St. Edward's College | |
| Courage Through Faith (formerly Viriliter Age) (Act Manly) | |
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| School type | Voluntary Aided |
|---|---|
| Established | 1853 |
| Principal | John Waszek |
| Students | over 1276 |
| Colours | Purple, Black |
| Location | Liverpool, England, United Kingdom |
| Website | http://www.st-edwards.co.uk |
St. Edward's College is top rated voluntary aided, Catholic school in the UK located in the West Derby suburb of Liverpool, formerly a boys grammar school run by the Congregation of Christian Brothers. The school pupils are identifiable by the bright purple blazer that is part of the uniform (though 4th years and up wear a black blazer).
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[edit] History
In 1853 the Catholic Institute was founded by Father James Nugent, at a time when barely 5% of Catholic children received any education at all.
An early visitor to the CI, based in Hope Street near the Liverpool Philharmonic Hall, was Cardinal Wiseman, who formally opened the school.
The Institute progressed through the nineteenth century, but by the beginning of the twentieth century the school was in decline. In 1909 Bishop Whiteside approached the Irish Congregation of Christian Brothers to invite them to take over the running of the school.
The original St Edward's College had been established as a boarding school in 1848 in a large mansion called St Domingo House; named after the Isle of San Domingo, where one George Campbell, a privateer and subsequently Mayor of Liverpool, had captured a rich prize.
The change of name from the Catholic Institute to St. Edward's College was fairly unpopular, especially amongst former pupils who had lost friends during the First World War. To this day, the Association of former pupils is called the CIEA (Catholic Institute Edwardian Association).
The school was boys only until 1982, when girls were admitted into the 6th form. In 1991 girls were admitted into year 7, and by 1996 the school was completely co-educational.
[edit] Sandfield Park
The school relocated from St. Domingo Road, Everton to Sandfield Park, West Derby on 19 September 1938, an event which was marked by every pupil walking the 3 miles from Everton to West Derby.
The site at Sandfield Park consisted of two Victorian mansions, Runnymede and St. Clare's, each of which had substantial grounds. Runnymede became a preparatory school, whilst St. Clare's became the home of the Congregation of Christian Brothers teaching at the school. A new school building, consisting of four wings around a large quadrangle, was erected, along with a gymnasium. Laboratories were built in the 1950s and a swimming pool and running track in the 1960s. A Sixth Form Centre and Sports Hall were added in the 1970s. A Design Centre was built in the 1980s. The John Morgan Sports Complex and Dining Hall and Performing Arts facilities were added in the 1990s. The turn of the century saw the complete refurbishment of one of the original properties, St Clare's, into the new Upper School Centre.
[edit] Cathedral choir
St Edward's has been Choir School to Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral since the early 1970s, and there are usually about 18 Cathedral Senior Choristers amongst the pupils of the College. It therefore has the honour of being the only voluntarily aided Roman Catholic Cathedral School in the country.
The junior choristers are educated at St Edward's Junior School, Runnymede, which is a Catholic independent school for boys and girls between the ages of three and eleven years. It became wholly separate from St Edward's College in 1999.
[edit] Masters of the Music
- Terence Duffy : March 2005 - Present
- Richard Lea & Terence Duffy : November 2004 - March 2005
- Keith Orrell : January 2004 - October 2004
- Richard Lea: September 2003 - January 2004
- Mervyn Cousins : 1997 - 2003
- Katherine Dienes : 1996 - 1997
- Philip Duffy : 1966 - 1996
- Christopher Symons : 1960 - 1966
Philip Duffy and Terence Duffy are brothers. During Philip's tenure as Master Of The Music, Terence was the organist. Richard Lea is the current organist of the cathedral and was asked to act as choir director during September 2003 - January 2004 while a permanent replacement for Mervyn Cousins was found.
Keith Orrell was the most recent appointment as Director of Music from open competition however his tenure was short lived - just 10 months. Following his departure, Terence Duffy was asked to return from retirement to be the Director of Music. In doing so, he has cemented the link between the Cathedral musical tradition and the Duffy family.
Terence Duffy is to leave the choir at the end of the current school year (July 2007). Timothy Noon (currently Director of Music of St David's Cathedral, Pembrokeshire) has been appointed the new Director of Music.
[edit] Motto
The school's traditional motto is the Latin Viriliter Age, taken from Psalm 27. This is generally translated as either 'act manfully' or 'act courageously'. It is still used by Runnymede.
St. Edward's College took a decision to replace this with 'Courage Through Faith', based on the spirit, rather than the letter of Psalm 27, two years after it became fully co-educational.
[edit] Rugby tradition
During the Second World War the pupils were evacuated to Llanelli, Wales. The game of rugby was already played before the war but when the pupils returned from Llanelli the tradition of playing rugby began in earnest. In particular, this period established the tradition of St. Edward's playing Union, rather than League, rugby. Since then, the school has produced rugby stars such as England internationals Mike Slemen,Ted Rudd and Kyran Bracken.
The school has a fine track record in both the fifteen and seven man game, with tournament wins at Ampleforth and Rosslyn Park[citation needed].
The team had its finest hours during the mid-1960s, when the 1st XV side went unbeaten for 3 years and won many sevens competitions [1].
The u-16 team of 2004-2005 won the North Of England U16 Floodlit Cup and recently embarked on a tour of New Zealand where it became the first team to score against Auckland Grammar School in almost two years.
[edit] Rankings
The school is ranked as one of the better schools in the North West of England. It is consistently ranked as one of the top three schools in Liverpool on both GCSE and A-Level performance[citation needed].
[edit] Alumni
Former pupils are referred to as Old Edwardians. Noted Old Edwardians include:
- Stephen Baxter, author
- Kyran Bracken, member of England Rugby Union World Cup Winning Squad
- Jennifer Ellison, "actress"/pop singer/glamour model; winner of reality television show Hell's Kitchen
- Richard A. Flinton, Chairman/CEO of Fluor Constructors International
- Peter Kilfoyle, British Member of Parliament
- Sir Terry Leahy, CEO Tesco
- Alan Mottram, Chief Marketing Officer, Alcatel
- Sir Brian Pearce, former Chairman of Midland Bank and HSBC UK
- William Basil Whalley, British chemist
- Michael Williams, actor; late husband of Dame Judi Dench
