The RFU Website Report - Colston’s England’s top school again after Daily Mail triumph

Having won a first prize last year, Colston’s again entered the Salters Festival of Chemistry at Bristol University.

Four Year 7 Science Club members Isaac Palmer, Kristian Joslin, Duncan Windsor and Tom Pearce tackled unseen tests.

They were not among the trophies this year, but achieved a high standard in their subjects – forensic science and the chemical clock.

David Marsh, one of Bristol’s leading corporate finance lawyers, takes over at the beginning of the summer term as Chairman of the Governors of Colston’s School during one of the most successful periods in its 294-year history.
By the start of the autumn term in September pupil numbers will have edged over the 600-mark for the first time as a result of four-form entry working its way through the school.

“We went from three-form to four-form entry five years ago” said Mr Marsh, “and from September we will be at full capacity within our existing facilities.

“Demand is rising, and a record 220 young people sat the Upper School entrance examinations in January. But we retain our policy of keeping class sizes at a maximum of 23 in the core subjects from Years 7 to 11.”

Mr Marsh succeeds Roger Smedley who took over a year ago from Brigadier Hugh Pye, the Chairman at Colston’s for nine years.

“We’re concerned with driving up standards in all aspects of school life, and that’s where I aim to continue the work of Hugh Pye and Roger Smedley,” Mr Marsh continued. “Solid academic achievement provides the foundation and impetus for an ever-widening range of activities at Colston’s.

“This rising level of interest is a tribute to an enthusiastic and sustained performance by the entire staff at the Upper and Lower Schools. The Governors recognise the coherence and continuity which David Crawford has achieved during his nine years as Headmaster.

“As Head, David has laid very solid foundations for the school’s continued growth and development over the coming years.”

Mr Marsh comes from a Bristol family which moved to Yorkshire. He went to Oxford University, and after working for five years in law in the City of London he joined Bristol’s Burges Salmon in 1971.

He became a partner there the following year, and has advised on the structure and financing mechanisms for many different types of businesses. He is a member of the Association of Partnership Practitioners.

He is President of Bristol Chamber of Commerce, Chairman of Business West and a Member of the Society of Merchant Venturers.

He is also a director of a number of trading companies and of @Bristol Limited.

“I actually retire from Burges Salmon at the end of April,” he added, “and this will enable me to spend more time on this important role at Colston’s, building on the valuable work done by predecessors like Hugh Pye and Roger Smedley over recent years.

“As it approaches its 300th anniversary Colston’s faces an exciting future - and excitement is running high at the moment as the school prepares for its next trip to Twickenham for another Daily Mail Cup Final next Saturday.

“I shall be with the hundreds of Colston’s pupils, parents and supporters who will be there on the day. For all of us who love sport, the school’s record over recent years has been an inspiration.”

Now it’s getting serious – Colston’s Lower School are into the quarter-finals of Bristol’s Coronation Cup seven-a-side competition, following an excellent 2-0 home win over St Mary Redcliffe.

The Upper School adapted one of the rugby pitches for the junior encounter. Colston’s scorers were Ian Clark, whose swivel and shot deceived the visiting defence, and captain George Lloyd whose solo effort clinched the tie.

Team coach Geoff Stock said: “We are grateful to the Upper School for adapting Pitch 4 for our needs, and the boys are now waiting to see who they play in the last eight.

“We reached the semi-finals in 1999, so there’s a real incentive for this team to go at least one step further.”

The results of this survey were incorporated into the programme designed for a group of 75 from Colston’s sixth form when they went to Cardiff University for a one-day higher education conference.

They attended lectures on ‘An introduction to higher education’ and ‘UCAS and applying to university’, and also toured the university and students union.

“This is the first time we have set up a group session of this type at a university, and we were very pleased with the results,” said Gill Dann.

“Cardiff did not approach it in any sense as a recruitment exercise. They don’t need to recruit.

“They offered the conference as a genuine introduction to HE. In fact they would have come to us to do it, but we felt it would be of much greater benefit to go to them.

“They would have liked more contact with university students during the day, so we will remember that next time.”

The same group from Colston’s sixth form attended a higher education fair at Bath University on March 18th.

Alan Martinovic, Kyran Bracken, Andy Robinson, Martin Bayfield and 1st XV Captain Ryan Davis at the Colston's Rugby Tour Dinner
(Acknowledgements to Bristol Evening Post for the photo)

The staff at Colston’s Lower have thrown down a challenge to their ‘hobbily challenged’ pupils.

Last year’s prototype Hobbies Day was a great success, with more than a quarter of all pupils exhibiting, and as a result a second – and hopefully bigger – ‘Hobbiday’ has been fixed for March 11th.

Event organisers Will Barber and Naomi Whitaker have come up with a range of helpful suggestions for those struggling to switch off the TV – including the range on show last year:

• Models – kits and radio-controlled
• Craft work – stamps, coins, rocks, sticks, cards, dolls
• Cookery – cakes or biscuits “and method of construction”
• Pets – small herbivores favoured; large carnivores discouraged
• Photos – of activities like horse riding, jousting, hill walking, canoeing, lumberjacking (bring equipment too)
• Other – woodwork, sketching, painting, computers, gardening, West African miniature aquatic figurine painting (where did that come from?)

“I have a feeling this is quickly building momentum,” said Will. “Nobody would really want to be left out, and I want the place filled to overflowing on the day with favourite creations and collectables. Come on you hobboids!”

Plans are well under way for ‘School in Action’, an open morning at Colston’s Lower on March 19th when prospective parents are invited to see exactly what happens on a typical day.

“Staff will teach their normal timetable,” School Head Caroline Aspden said, “and Year 6 pupils will be given the task of acting as guides – showing visitors the Nursery School, Pre-Prep Department and Junior Department.

“We will be open to visitors from 9.30 – 11.30, and we hope parents can stop for a coffee and a chat at the end of their tour.

“Traditionally the Lower School has had a Saturday Open Day in September along with the Upper School, but ‘School in Action’ is a new venture for us.”

Fifty-one pupils from the Junior Department at Colston’s Lower School and Year 7 in the Upper School will spend half term on the ski slopes. Six staff will supervise the party in the Italian resort of Aprica.

Pam Webley, who will be on her 11th successive Colston’s ski trip, heads the group.

“We do the whole thing by bus,” she said. “We drive off from the school at mid-day on Saturday (February 14th) and are due back about mid afternoon the following Sunday (February 22nd).”

Please note that the closing date for entries is now 28th February 2004. The answers to this round together with the round 2 questions will be posted on the website shortly after. It is intended to publish the third and final round of questions on the website at the end of March with the closing date for the Challenge being around the end of April.

The Headmaster comments on them:

"The Government GCSE performance tables published yesterday continue to be flawed, as the figures include all pupils in a school who are 15 years of age regardless of whether they sat the GCSE examinations or not. 3% of pupils in Year 11 last year were ‘out of age’ and they were recorded as having sat and failed every subject at GCSE! What a nonsense; this could only happen in England. The same distortion affects the value added figures too.
Despite this bias, we were very pleased with the performance of last year’s Year 11 and Upper Sixth pupils. They had worked hard throughout the year and deserved the high grades they achieved as shown in ‘archived news’ on the web site."