# Chorister School

The Chorister School is a co-educational independent school for the 3 to 11 age range. It is part of the Durham Cathedral Schools Foundation, in Durham, England. It consists of a Pre-School, a Pre-preparatory school based on the site of the former Bow School, and a preparatory day and boarding school at the Cathedral Site.
The majority of the pupils at the school attend on a 'day' basis, with about 20 boarders of both sexes making up the balance. Pupils do not have to be Cathedral choristers, but those boys and girls who are choristers could be either boarders or day pupils. Pupils are taught in small classes in a collection of historic buildings all of which formed part of the college, or cathedral close.
The Chorister School merged with nearby Durham School, 28 September 2021 to become part of Durham Cathedral Schools Foundation.

## History

Its creation dates back to 1416 as a school for the cathedral's choirboys. Whilst historically the school had fewer pupils, from 5 to 24, ages 8 to 20, expansion began in 1948 to reach the numbers of today. This necessitated a number of moves of building in the cathedral area. The school became co-educational in 1994. On 28 September 2021 the school merged with Durham School to become part of Durham Cathedral Schools Foundation.

## Choristers

All Durham Cathedral choristers attend The Chorister School.
The Durham Cathedral Choir consists of 20 girl choristers and 20 boy choristers who sing separately alongside the 12 adults of the choir. Choristers typically join the choir between the ages of 7 and 9 and remain until the age of 13.
The choristers receive a discounted education as boarding or day pupils. Further means tested financial support can be provided. Choristers are able to participate fully in all of the extra-curricular activities that the school offers, including drama and sport.
The majority of the choir's singing takes place during the daily worship of Durham Cathedral. The choir also takes part in concerts, recordings, live broadcasts on the radio and tours.

## Academic studies

The curriculum includes the national curriculum subjects as well as French and Latin, and, from Year 7, Critical Thinking and Mandarin. Pupils work towards reaching Common Entrance level by the end of Year 8.

## Sport

A major year in the school's history for sport was from 2005-2006, when the boys' 1st teams went unbeaten for the whole academic year. The year started with rugby, and under head coach Jon Bland the team went 10 games unbeaten (Played 10 Won 10, Points for 486, Points Against 0) and had no points scored against them. This led to the award of 2006 School Sports Matters Team of the year. They also won the Northern Sevens Tournament held at Durham School. This led into the football term, where the 1st XI won all four games as well as a five-a-side competition at Newcastle School for Boys under coach Gary Brown, before heading into cricket term where they went seven games unbeaten, only drawing one and winning the majority by 150 runs or more, once again under the coaching of Jon Bland.

## Head teachers

* Henry Madden: 1876–?
* F. S. Dennett: 1914–1929
* Henry Yorke Ganderton: 1929–1957
* John M. Grove: 1957–1978
* Raymond G Lawrence: 1978–1994
* Stephen Drew: 1994–2003
* Ian Hawksby: 2003–2010
* Lin Lawrence (interim): 2010
* Yvette Day: 2011–2017
* Ian Wicks: 2018—2021

## Notable former pupils

* Francis Habgood (born 1964), chief constable
* Rowan Atkinson (born 1955), comedian and actor known for Blackadder and "Mr. Bean"
* Tony Blair (born 1953), former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
* James Fenton (born 1949), poet, journalist and literary critic
* Christopher Hancock (1928–2004), actor
* Stephen Hancock (younger brother of Christopher), actor, who played Ernest Bishop in Coronation Street
* Sir John Laws (born 1945), The Rt Hon Lord Justice Laws, High Court Judge between 1992 and 1999, when he came to the Court of Appeal
* Paddy MacDee (Patrick McDermott) (born c. 1950), radio programme host
* Sir Peter Vardy (born 1947), businessman
* James Wood (born 1965), Professor of the Practice of Literary Criticism at Harvard University and contributor to The New Yorker
* Ralph Woodward (born 1971), musician
* Hall Charlton (born 1979), scrum half for Newcastle Falcons