Davenant Foundation School

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Davenant Foundation School
File:Davenant Foundation School Badge Logo.jpg
Address
Map
Chester Road

Loughton
,
Essex
,
IG10 2LD

England
Information
Religious affiliation(s)Christian
Local authorityEssex
SpecialistSports College
OfstedReports
HeadteacherMr Chris Seward
GenderCoeducational
Age11 to 18
Enrollment1078
Websitehttp://www.davenant.essex.sch.uk/

Davenant Foundation School is a coeducational, Christian Ecumenical School, founded in 1680, currently located in Loughton, Essex, England. The school is a specialist Sports College.

History

In February 1680 the Reverend Ralph Davenant drew up his will leaving all of his household goods and plate to his wife with the provision that it should eventually be sold and that the monies raised should be used to build a school for 40 poor boys of Whitechapel.

Ralph Davenant was the son of the Rector of Gillingham in Dorset. Mr Davenant became Rector of Whitechapel (St.Mary's) and was awarded the degree of M.A. by Cambridge University as a result of a directive from King Charles II. It is not known what the connection between Ralph Davenant and the King, but the King was clearly impressed.

In addition to the monies raised from the sale of plate and goods, a number of properties were also given over to the school so that rents and capital could be raised. These consisted of a farm at Sandon near Chelmsford, the site where Tilbury Fort is built and much of the land upon which the London, Tilbury and Southend Railway is built. Funds raised thereby went towards the additional educating of 34 poor girls. Boys were to learn reading, writing and arithmetic whilst the girls were to learn reading, writing and sewing.

A site for the proposed school was found in the Whitechapel Road on the Lower Burial Ground, the site is still occupied by the old school buildings and can be clearly seen when passing along the Whitechapel Road.

In 1813, a dramatic change took place when Davenant earned itself the title of 'Cradle of the National Schools of England'.

Dr Andrew Bell invented a system for educating hundreds of children with only one Master assisted by senior boys. This became known as the monitorial system. 1,000 children (600 boys and 400 girls) were educated by this system in a new building which was erected in Davenant Street.

The Charity School continued to function in the original buildings which were eventually enlarged in 1818 to accommodate 100 boys and 100 girls. The school by now maintained two institutions educating 1,200 children — extraordinarily large for 1818. The third strand of the school came into being in 1858 when a Commercial or Grammar School was built in Leman Street under the direction of the Reverend Welden Champneys, the then Rector of Whitechapel. In 1888 the two charities of Whitechapel and Davenant merged to become 'The Foundation School'.

In 1896, the new Renaissance Building was erected behind the 1818 building providing additional up to date classroom space and a magnificent assembly hall which remains to this day. In 1939 the school was evacuated and the buildings were taken over by the Heavy Rescue Service who did irreparable damage to the buildings and destroyed many of the documents and honours boards - which were used to board up broken shop windows. In 1944 the school became Davenant Foundation Grammar School for Boys, a title which it retained until 1980. By now it educated only some 200 boys.

In 1966, at the invitation of the Essex County Council, the school moved to the leafy suburb of Loughton. Many East End families had in any case moved out to the suburbs by this time. The population in London was in decline and there was a need for grammar school provision for boys in Loughton. There were, in 1966, many fine grammar schools in the East End including Raine's, George Green, Coopers Coburn and Parmiter's. Davenant's best chance of survival was to move.

The new buildings at Loughton are on a beautiful site and were opened in 1966 by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother.

The school continued as a two form entry boys' grammar school until 1980. It was then that, after much deliberation, the Governors and Trustees decided that the time was right to further develop the work which Ralph Davenant had put into motion some 300 years before and so it was that Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother made her second visit to the school to mark the restoration of the co-educational nature of the school and its ongoing development as a Christian Ecumenical School for 1,000 girls and boys.

House system

A House System was introduced in 2005 with the school being divided up into six houses, one for each form in each year. The houses are named after places in the surrounding area of the school.

The houses are:

  • Debden - Mascot: Dragons - Colour: Red
  • Abbey (after Waltham Abbey) - Mascot: - - Colour: Blue
  • Valley (after Roding Valley) - Mascot: Lions - Colour: Yellow
  • Epping - Mascot: Tigers - Colour: Orange
  • Nazeing - Mascot: Shark - Colour: Purple
  • Theydon (after Theydon Bois) - Mascot: Phoenix - Colour: Green

The first initials of each house spell out D, A, V, E, N, T; which are the letters that make up the school's name - Davenant (minus the repeated letters). Each house has a member of staff as head of house, a house colour and mascot. They also all have sixth form house prefects. However, the House system is rarely taken seriously by students (some of which don't even know there is a house system in place), and the only thing separating the houses are the tutor groups the students are assigned.

Rugby

The school has been on 3 rugby tours so far; Canada, New Zealand and South Africa. The tour to South Africa was a successful tour where the team won 3 matches out of 5 - while on this tour Davenant played a team which came from the local townships; future tours include trips to Belgium and Argentina. The Canada tour in 1994 was more successful as all 5 tour games were won. The school have had many players who have represented at county level (Mainly Essex but also Middlesex). Every year the school is entered for the Daily Mail cup at both Under 18 and Under 15 levels.

The current Davenant 1st XV squad has recently taken on a new coach in the form of notable Blackheath Flanker and head of business studies Dave Brown. He suceeds long time servant Richard Vaughn who left after the 2007/2008 season after 9 glory-filled years as head coach at the school. The current 1st XV captain is year 13 and former Woodford and Middlesex luminary Stevie Price who plays at no. 8 and he is supported by capable vice captain and fly-half Brad Hogg.

In the past years the school 1sts have consistently reached the 3rd or 4th round of the daily mail schools cup and last year was knocked out by eventual winners St Benedicts school, Ealing. There is a great rivalry between Davenant and schools close by in the area such as West Hatch and Debden Park. However these matches are often very one sided and in many such matches the oppositions only points would come from tries made by Davenant players. This year the school first team have also entered the Essex cup competition.

Current first team squad

Front Row -(Props and Hookers) Alex Mearsy, Victor Falola, Josh Scott, Tyler Lawrence, Sam Andrews, Matt Harvey

Second Row - James Harold, Ben Hiscoke, James Fleming, Peter Hutchinson

Back Row - (Flankers and No.8) Andy Lovell, Greg Walsh, Stevie Price (C), Matthew Booth, Tom Metcalfe

Half Backs - (Scrum Halfs and Fly Halves) Matt Kinder, Jacob Farley, Brad Hogg (VC)

Center - Ben Hayden, Joel Lawrence (overage),

Back Three - (Wingers and Full Backs) Tom Hollis, Ben Studham, Sena Dzotsi, Connor Atkinson, Alistair Fuller, James Hardcastle

Members of the First XV also hold various positions of authority within the management of the team, these include;

Captain - Stevie Price

Chairman - Greg Walsh

Social Secretary - James Harold

Social Secretary - Ben Hiscoke

Treasurer - Victor Falola

Internet Co-ordinator - Andy Lovell

Tactician - Josh Scott

Notable former players

Jack Cadman - Rower

Dom Sweeting - Retired

John Elman - Statisticion

Jason Ampodu - N/A

John North - Professional Footballer

Xaniel Doku - Harlow College

Matt Williams - Retired

James Bailey - England U21 Hockey

Matt Hallam - Retired

William Beavers - Retired

Matt Di Salvo - Musician

Lewis Foley - Pursuing Career in Law

Chris Toumazos - Retired

Aaron Jaques - Retired

Matt Smith - Retired

Sam Sosina - Running off the pitch

Notable alumni

See also

External links

References

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