page_title: Colchester Royal Grammar School
section_title: Since 1900: new school buildings, uniform and other developments
hierarchical_section_title: Colchester Royal Grammar School / History / Since 1900: new school buildings, uniform and other developments
caption_attribution_description: English: A painting of Percy Shaw Jeffrey, headmaster and academic, presented to him on his retirement; it shows him sitting in his robes, with the badge of the borough of Colchester in the background. Originally, a replica was to be hung in the school hall;it was, however, the replica that was taken by Shaw Jeffrey and the original hung in the school, where it remains.
context_page_description: Colchester Royal Grammar School is a state-funded grammar school in Colchester, Essex. It was founded in 1128 and was later granted two royal charters - by Henry VIII in 1539 and by Elizabeth I in 1584.
  The school's main buildings and playing fields are located in the Lexden area of Colchester and there are around 950 pupils aged 11–18. Historically a boys' school, it has admitted girls to the sixth form since 1998 and specialises in science and languages. The school regularly tops national A-level league tables and many of its pupils continue their education at leading universities.
context_section_description: The school's situation changed in 1900 with the appointment of Percy Shaw Jeffrey as headmaster. He took over a school with 29 boarders and barely any staff, but his reforms rapidly turned the school around. He introduced day boys and established a preparatory school, a cadet corps, an orchestra, a bugle band, school entertainments and theatrical performances. He was a national pioneer of the teaching of modern European languages through phonetics, employing language teachers from France and Germany and setting up arrangements for foreign study during holidays. He also founded the Old Colcestrian Society to reconnect former pupils with the school.
  The resulting academic success, scholarships and local goodwill enabled Shaw Jeffrey to expand the school buildings, inspired by the designs of local rivals, such as Ipswich School and Earls Colne Grammar School. First, Mansfield House was purchased in 1903 and renamed Gilberd House. In 1908 Shaw Jeffrey convinced the governors and local education board to build a new school building for £4,000 on land previously used as kitchen gardens. The new buildings were designed by architects Newman, Jaques and Round and were opened by Lord Rosebery, the former Prime Minister, in May 1910. In 1911 the school was given 12 acres (49,000 m²) of playing fields and opened tennis courts and a small rifle range.
  Until 1908 the school blazer was green, but other schools in the area had adopted the same colour. Wanting the school to be distinct and recognisable, Shaw Jeffrey approached the a tailor and asked what the most expensive dye was. Told that it was purple, he chose it as the new colour for the school's blazer, which it remains to this day.
  By 1912 numbers had grown to 144 pupils in the main school, split into four houses (School House, Parr's House (formerly North Town), Harsnett's House (formerly South Town) and Dugard's House), and 169 younger boys in the preparatory school. 
  Growth continued through the world wars, with 700 boys by 1947 and five scholarships for pupils to pursue university education. An outdoor swimming pool was constructed in the 1920s and remains in use. In 1966 Labour-controlled Colchester Borough Council put forward proposals to close Colchester Royal Grammar School and Colchester County High School and move to a comprehensive system, but this was rejected by Essex County Council. The educational expansion of the 1960s allowed the construction of new classrooms and a gymnasium.
  Expansion continued into the 21st century, with a new art building opened in 2003 and the technology block upgraded. In 2006 a new extension to the science building was completed and two new chemistry laboratories were opened.
  The school became grant-maintained in the 1980s and converted into an academy in 2012.
caption: Percy Shaw Jeffrey in 1916.
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