St Christopher School, Letchworth


St Christopher School is a boarding and day co-educational independent school in Letchworth Garden City, Hertfordshire, England.
Established in 1915, shortly after Ebenezer Howard founded Letchworth Garden City, the school is a long-time proponent of progressive education.

Characteristics

St Christopher is noted for a lack of any formal school uniform and the freedom and encouragement to address teachers by their first names. The school has entirely vegetarian diet for both boarders and day pupils.
The school established a system of self-governance with Major Officials being nominated and elected by their student peers. School meetings allow students and staff alike to propose, vote and implement new and amended rules and policy, but with the headmaster reserving the right to veto any he deems unworkable or unacceptable. The system was temporarily in turmoil during the mid-2000s, but a move back towards this ethos has recently been restored under the leadership of current Head Richard Palmer who has held the post since 2006.
The school offers a number of annual trips including Ladakh, Kosovo and Rajasthan, along with some DoE expeditions. These are generally taken as part of a short programme of activities at the end of the Summer Term known as the Late Summer Programme.

History

The school was founded in 1915 by Dr. Armstrong Smith. In 1919, Beatrice Ensor and Isabel King assumed joint headship following Smith's retirement the previous year, but both women left to found Frensham Heights in Surrey in 1925. The School in its present form developed under the guidance of Lyn and Eleanor Harris and their son Nicholas. Following Nicholas's death in a road accident on the Maltese island of Gozo, the governors hired Colin Reid, essentially to carry on his work.
Colin Reid was Head Master from 1981 to 2004. The headmaster for the next two years was Donald Wilkinson, made many changes to the running of the school during his short spell. He announced his resignation from the post on 28 September 2006, citing personal reasons. The Chairman of Governors thanked him for his contribution to the development of the school and in particular for the raising of exam results both at GCSE and A level. The current head as at 2014 is Richard Palmer.

Old Scholars

The Old Scholars club runs an annual meeting in July open to all former St Christopher pupils and staff no matter what year they left the school. The Old Scholars club also puts on Matches Day for sports in the Spring.

Headships