Established 1840 | ||
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Motto Latin: Non Solum Ingenii Verum Etiam Virtutis("'Not Only the Intellect but also the Character'") Principal Hans van Mourik Broekman Location Queen's DriveLiverpoolMerseysideL18 8BGEngland | ||
Liverpool College is a mixed all-through school located in Mossley Hill, a suburb of Liverpool, England. It was one of the 13 founding members of the Headmasters' Conference (as it then was).
Contents
History
Liverpool College was the first of many public schools founded in the Victorian Era. The foundation stone of the original building was laid on 22 October 1840 by Edward Smith-Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby K.G. (then styled the Rt. Hon. Lord Stanley MP), the first patron of the College. A group of Christian Liverpool citizens, many of whose names are now famous in the annals of the city, then began the building of a school where education might be combined with ‘sound religious knowledge’. The original building in Shaw street (now apartments) is in the so-called Tudor-Gothic style. It was designed by Mr. Harvey Lonsdale Elmes, and was erected at a cost of £35,000.
The College was opened on 6 January 1843 by the Right Hon. William Ewart Gladstone (afterwards four time Prime Minister of the United Kingdom) and the same distinguished son of Liverpool showed his interest in the College by delivering a second great speech in the hall on founders’ day in 1857. The College consisted of 3 institutions – Upper, Middle and Lower Schools. While these schools were under the control of one and the same Principal, they were kept entirely separate. The Lower, or Commercial School, was intended for boys who were to go into business houses at an early age. The Middle School combined literary and scientific training, with special attention to modern languages for boys leaving for business or the professions. The Upper School was a first grade public school with leaving exhibitions for Oxford and Cambridge. Though the schools were distinct in theory and fact, the foundation was unique, in that the Principal was empowered to nominate a certain number of promising boys for entrance to a higher school on the terms of the lower.
The Liverpool College for Girls at Grove Street was established in 1856. The Liverpool College for Girls, Huyton, or Huyton College as it was popularly known, was started in 1894 and intended to be parallel to the Boys Upper School. The Liverpool College Preparatory School at Fairfield was also founded in 1898. The Council of Liverpool College was therefore one of the most important governing bodies in the kingdom, with 6 schools under its control.
Liverpool College has occupied 3 Sites since its foundation in 1840, which is unusual for a public school. The Upper School of what was then officially called ‘Liverpool Collegiate’ (since 1863), was moved from Shaw Street to Lodge Lane, Sefton Park in 1884 through the efforts of Rev. Selwyn. The erection of new school buildings started in 1887 and were completed in 1890. The first instance of a site in Mossley Hill occurred in 1896 where several acres were purchased as playing fields with the present pavilion being built in 1905. All ties with the Original building were severed in 1907 when it was sold to the Liverpool Corporation, and the masters and boys of the Middle and Lower schools remained to form the Liverpool Collegiate School. From 1917-36 more land and buildings were purchased at the Site in Mossley Hill. The Junior wing (presently Mossley Vale) was opened by Lord Stanley and the foundation stone of St.Peter’s chapel was laid by Mr. H. Sutton Timmis, Chairman of the governors.
The College has held land on the present 26 acre (105,000 m²) site since 1896. In 1993 the Liverpool College for Girls, Huyton or Huyton College merged with Liverpool College to become a coeducational day school.
The school is situated in Mossley Hill on North Mossley Hill Road and backing onto Queens Drive. Facilities on site include a fully equipped gymnasium and relaxation centre as well as AstroTurf courts and a Combined Cadet Force centre. It had been decided to proceed with plans to concentrate the whole school in what is currently the Lower School site, in a series of projects to construct newer and more up-to-date buildings. However, due to having planning permission rejected and also the financial situation, these plans were shelved indefinitely and instead a gradual programme of wholesale refurbishment of the school began in 2009.
In September 2013 the school formally became an Academy, an independent school that is funded by central government, and therefore non-fee paying.
Boarding and international school
In September 2010, Liverpool College became a boarding school once again. As a consequence, the College extended its provision to include international students. However, when the school became an academy in 2013, boarding places at the school are now only available for UK and EU nationals. The school has therefore become one of the few state boarding schools in England.
However Liverpool College International is a separate fee-paying international school located on the Liverpool College campus which is primarily for international students. The international school is set in its own buildings at the campus, but leases some of Liverpool College's facilities.
Constitution
Liverpool College is a registered charity and its objects are "to provide for the inhabitants of Liverpool and others, by the establishment and maintenance of Lectures, School, and other like means, an education suited to their wants upon the most moderate terms; and for this purpose instruction in the doctrines and duties of Christianity, as taught by the Church of England, shall be forever communicated, in combination with literary, scientific, and commercial information."
In 2006-7 it had a gross annual income of £6,803,367.
Coat of arms
The Coat of Arms has been in use since 1840 and reflects The College's mission and values: "A shield bisected horizontally, with a bishop’s mitre as crest- in the shield, a royal crown on a cushion, backed by crossed crook and sceptre, and an open book". Thus the arms are symbolic of Church, State and Education.
Motto
The motto (taken from the writing of Cicero) means 'Not only the intellect but also the character'. This reflects the aim of the College to educate the whole person, combining the traditional values of honesty, integrity and citizenship with a determination to meet the individual needs of pupils so they may realise their full potential.
Grace
There was a long tradition of saying grace at the college. It is no longer in active use in the college, but the wording was:
Oculi omnium in te sperant, domine, et tu das escam illorum in tempore opportuno. Tui sunt caeli et tua est terra, orbem terrae et plenitudinem eius tu fundasti. Confitemini, domino, quoniam bonus quoniam in aeternam, misericordia eius.
The translation is as follows:
The eyes of all men wait upon thee, O Lord, for thou givest them their meat in due season. The heavens are thine, the earth also is thine, as for the world and the fullness thereof thou has founded them. O confess unto the Lord that he is good, that his mercy endureth for ever.
So be it [Amen]
Houses
Until 1992 the school was organised under a clearly defined house system, as in most public schools. In the same year two of the previous houses were removed and the school was re-organised into year groups in lieu of the traditional house structure that had existed: School House (the college’s boarding house since 1917) and Howard were removed while Brook, Butler, Howson and Selwyn Houses remained.
The Six Houses that existed until 1992:
In addition, the Lower School had its own house system for many years, named for some of the notable alumni such as Chavasse and Glazebrook. There was also a section of the school named David House for younger pupils aged 5 to 9 years old.
In 2009, the College returned to its old (Upper School) House System. The four remaining houses were re-instated and gave the school a new lease of life. Each house now has its own large house room in which Lerpoolians can socialise, study and leave their belongings. House activities have once again become a daily occurrence and pupils are registered in house groups meaning that the year system brought about in 1992 has almost vanished.
Combined Cadet Force
Liverpool College has an active Combined Cadet Force (CCF) Contingent. Through the Cadet Vocational Qualifications Organisation (CVQO) the College CCF offers cadets (aged 13–18) and above the opportunity to gain internationally recognised BTEC First Diploma qualifications in Public Services. Each BTEC First Diploma is the equivalent of 4 GCSEs, grade C - A*. Liverpool College CCF also offers the Duke of Edinburgh Award from Bronze to Gold and sees a number of cadets successfully complete the awards every year. Currently, the CCF boasts a strong contingent and offers opportunities that would not be available to many cadets elsewhere, for example, leadership opportunities and qualifications through the Cadet Centre for Adventurous Training.
Old Lerpoolians
The alumni has its own unique title, Old Lerpoolians. Pupils upon graduation from Liverpool College are automatically granted Old Lerpoolian status and are invited to join the Old Lerpoolian Society, a registered company and charity.
The Society, with a large branch in London, holds regular events throughout the year for its members, of which two are most significant: the Civic Dinner in Liverpool in the autumn, at the famous Adelphi Britannia Hotel, and the London Dinner, in recent years held at the RAF Club in Piccadilly, late winter. There are other notable annual events such as the golf competitions, annual graduation drinks in the summer to coincide with the society AGM, and decadal reunions, which with consensus have been thoroughly enjoyable.
The Old Lerpoolian Society is currently presided over by the Rt Hon the Lord Hunt of Wirral. The incumbent chairman is J Swift, who in the previous term was President himself. The London Branch is currently presided over by P Firth and the secretary is N Moss.