Chigwell School

Chigwell School
Location
Chigwell , Essex England
Information
Type	Public school
Motto	aut viam inveniam aut faciam
Religious affiliation(s)	Church of England
Established	1629
Founder	Samuel Harsnett
Headmaster	Michael Punty
Age	7 to 18
Enrollment	730
Houses	(Senior School): Caswall's  , Lambourne  , Penn's   and Swallow's   (Junior School) Windsors, Stuarts, Tudors, Hanovers.
Website	http://www.chigwell-school.org/

Chigwell School is an English co-educational public school in Chigwell, in the Epping Forest district of Essex. It was founded in 1629 by Samuel Harsnett, a former Archbishop of York (even though G. Stott suggests it more likely founded around 1620-3). There are around 730 pupils aged between 7 and 18 years.

The school is situated between Epping Forest and Hainault Forest, ten miles from London. It is represented on the Headmasters’ and Headmistresses’ Conference (HMC), the Incorporated Association of Preparatory Schools (IAPS), and the Haileybury Group of independent schools.

The school motto is aut viam inveniam aut faciam, a Latin phrase which translates literally as Either I shall find a way or I shall make one, but is usually rendered as Find a way or make a way.

There are four day houses, named Caswalls', Lambourne, Penn's, and Swallow's. The boarding houses are Grange Court, Sandon Lodge, and Hainault House, although all boarders are members of one of the day houses. In the junior school there are another four houses, named Windsors, Hanovers, Stuarts, and Tudors.

Senior House System

The senior school is primarily built around the four day houses. All students and most teachers are in one of the four houses. Each house will have a Housemaster/mistress with different year groups organised split into form groups tutors arranged from the teachers assigned to the House. Each House has a main common room, with most Houses having a separate Sixth Form room. Penn's and Swallow's have several separate rooms. Pupils will attend Call Over in their House's main common room every morning, and will sit in Chapel, Church and School Assemblies in their House groups. Each House has a budget, which usually is spent on things such as entertainment (e.g. pool tables), maintenance (e.g. mending damaged furniture) and House Music (coordinated costumes).

Futhermore, pupils wear ties which note their House and age group. The senior school tie has a black background with diagonal stripes of the House's colour. In the senior school these diagonal lines are thick but become thinner in the Sixth Form, and for House Prefects (in the Middle Sixth) are thin lines on a black background.

However, the House system is not inflexible. During breaks and lunch, pupils will frequently spend their time in other Houses. Groups inside years will often socialise in a particular place in a particular House - e.g. a Pennians group may usually congregate in Penn's, but many will be from houses other than Penn's.

School Buildings

View from Penn's to New Hall and the Chapel. Winter/Spring 2008

• Main School Building; containing
  • Lambourne, Caswalls' and Swallow's Houses
  • Burford Room
  • Dining Hall
  • Swallow Room
  • Swallow Library
  • Most school offices and reception
• Penn's House
• Economics Block
• History and RS Block
• New Hall Building; containing
  • New Hall (main school hall, used for important events and assemblies)
  • Most academic subject classrooms for senior school
• Science Block
• Sports Hall
• Gym
• Radley's Yard; Politics and Classics Block
• Walde Music School
• Drama Centre
• Two junior school blocks containing most junior school classrooms
• ICT block
• Art and Design block
• Two Cricket Pavilions
• Swimming Pool
• Chapel
• School Shop
• Medical Centre
• Grange Court (boys boarding house)
• Two girls boarding houses (Sandon Lodge and Hainault House)
• Headmasters House

Some Famous Old Chigwellians

• Eric Bailey OBE, journalist, broadcaster and colonial administrator.
• George Baker OBE CBE, High Commissioner of Papua New Guinea (1974-1977).
• John Boardman (b. 1927), classical archaeologist.
• Ken Campbell, actor
• Edward Caswall, classical scholar and writer of hymns, music master at Chigwell.
• Tim Collins, Conservative politician.
• William Cotton, Governor of the Bank of England, who famously set fire to the Headmaster’s garden.
• Frank Goodhart DSO, First World War submarine commander whose submarine bore the Chigwell crest and motto.
• Sir Arthur Grimble, colonial governor.
• Sir Austin Bradford Hill, pioneering medical researcher who discovered the link between smoking and cancer.
• Sir Ian Holm, actor.
• Anthony Hossack (1882-1886) England footballer of the 1890s.
• William Penn, Quaker leader and founder of the American state of Pennsylvania.
• Horace Smith, nineteenth-century poet.
• Michael Marshall Smith, novelist.
• Ben Shephard, television presenter.
• Ronnie Tyler, celebrity and icon.
• Michael Thomas, former Attorney General of Hong Kong.
• Sir Bernard Williams, philosopher and Provost of King's College, Cambridge.
• Harry Salmon, WWE Pro-Wrestler.
• Nicholas Williams, scholar of the Irish and Cornish languages.
• Timothy Williams, crime novelist.

Notable masters

• Robert James, headmaster 1939–1946, later High Master of St Paul's School and headmaster of Harrow School
• Anthony Little, headmaster 1990-1997, now headmaster of Eton College.
• William Henry Monk, music master, and author of the lyrics to Abide With Me.

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External links

• Chigwell School website
• Old Chigwellians' website
• archive mentioning tunnel