Cotham School

Cotham School is a secondary school with academy status in Cotham, a suburb of Bristol, England. The catchment area for this school is Cotham, Clifton, Kingsdown, Southern Redland, Bishopston, St Paul's and Easton.

Cotham School
Cotham School's entrance on es = 51.4636°N 2.6020°W / 51.4636; -2.6020
Address
Cotham Drive Bristol , BS6 6DT England
Information
Type	Secondary Academy
Established	1856; 168 years ago (1856) (as the Merchant Venturers' School)
Local authority	Bristol City Council
Department for Education URN	137440 Tables
Ofsted	Reports
Head teacher	Joanne Butler
Gender	Mixed
Age	11 to 18
Enrolment	1487 (data from April 2018)
Capacity	1480 (data from April 2018)
Houses	Delta, Gamma, Sigma, Omega
Website	www.cotham.bristol.sch.uk

The school shares a sixth form, the North Bristol Post 16 Centre, with nearby Redland Green School. The Cotham campus is situated in Charnwood House, although sixth form lessons also take place at the main school site. Construction on a new teaching and dining block was finished in 2018 and increased the school's capacity significantly.^[1]

Cotham School is one of the few schools in the UK to have educated two Nobel laureates: Paul Dirac, who received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1933, and Peter Higgs, who received the same award in 2013.

History

Cotham School was established in 1856. Its predecessor was the Merchant Venturers' School.^[2] Until the academic year 2000/01, Cotham was a grammar school. It became a comprehensive in 2001, and an academy in September 2011. A £20m redevelopment and expansion was completed in 2012, using funding from the Building Schools for the Future programme.^[3]

The BBC drama Thirteen was filmed here in 2015.

Notable alumni

• Tony Badger, Master of Clare College, Cambridge, 2003–14; Paul Mellon Professor of American History, University of Cambridge, 1992–2014.
• Paul Dirac, Lucasian Professor of Mathematics from 1932 to 1969 at the University of Cambridge, who won the 1933 Nobel Prize in Physics with Erwin Schrödinger for work on quantum mechanics.^[4]
• Wallace Fox, Professor of Community Therapeutics from 1979 to 1986 at the Cardiothoracic Institute, Royal Brompton Hospital; did important work on tuberculosis^[5]
• David Garmston, journalist^[6]
• Peter Higgs, Professor of Theoretical Physics from 1980 to 1996 at the University of Edinburgh; received the 2013 Nobel Prize in Physics with François Englert for his work on subatomic particles including the Higgs boson;^[7]
• Maya Jama, TV presenter
• Martyn Jarrett, Bishop of Beverley 2000–2012; Bishop of Burnley from 1994 to 2000^[8]
• Laya Lewis, actress
• Gary Mabbutt, professional footballer for Bristol Rovers F.C., Tottenham Hotspur F.C. and England
• Arthur Milton, cricketer and footballer^[9]
• John Mortimore, cricketer^[10]
• Michael Parsons, designer of bridges including the Severn and Humber Bridges^[11]
• John Perry, musician and author. Guitarist The Only Ones^{[12][circular reference][13]}
• Greg Poole, artist^[14]
• Derek Robinson, novelist^[15]
• John Saxbee, Bishop of Lincoln 2001–2011; Bishop of Ludlow from 1994 to 2001^[16]
• Julian Sedgwick, actor
• John Tidmarsh, journalist^[17]
• Amy Willerton, contestant on I'm a Celebrity 2013 and contestant in Miss Universe^[18]
• Russell Wood, cricketer^[10]

See also

• Education in England

References

1. "Cotham School Expansion". Cotham School. Retrieved 4 June 2018.
2. Griffiths, Jon (March 2006). "Cotham Old Boys". Bristol. BBC. Retrieved 15 June 2010.
3. Weale, Sally (29 January 2015). "Bristol's Cotham school scores exam results to outshine famous alumni". Guardian. Retrieved 4 June 2018.
4. "Professor's visit thrills his old school". Bristol Post. No. 17 May 2012. Archived from the original on 10 January 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
5. "Professor Wallace Fox". Telegraph. 7 May 2010. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
6. "Dave Garmston". Radio West. Retrieved 17 October 2015.^{[permanent dead link‍]}
7. "Look at why we loves Bristol". AccessMyLibrary - Europe Intelligence Wire (From Bristol Evening Post). Gale. 17 November 2004. Retrieved 15 June 2010.
8. "The clergy". Worksop Priory. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
9. "Arthur Milton". ESPN Cricinfo. 4 June 2008. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
10. "Bristol school "reunion" in Gloucestershire team". Yorkshire Evening Post. 9 August 1951. p. 9. Retrieved 25 March 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
11. "Michael Parsons", The Times, p. 44, 1 June 2021
12. John Perry (musician)
13. "The Only Ones". 10 July 2014.
14. Dee, Tim (11 January 2019). "Greg Poole obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved 10 May 2019.
15. "Derek Robinson". Good Reads. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
16. "Bristol church organist's 60 years of service marked". BBC News. 20 November 2011. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
17. "A man of the World Service". Bristol Post. 7 March 2011. Retrieved 17 October 2015.^{[permanent dead link‍]}
18. ""I was bullied at school": Bristol I'm a Celebrity contestant Amy Willerton on her time at school". Bristol Post. 19 November 2013. Archived from the original on 18 July 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.

External links

• Official website