Sir John Deane's Sixth Form College Prospectus 2019/20 SJD Prospectus 2019-20 | Page 16
16
A History of Excellence
A History of Excellence
For as much as God's glory, his honour, and the wealth
public, is advanced and maintained by no means more
than by virtuous education and bringing up of Youth under
such as be learned and virtuous Schoolmasters, whose
good examples may as well instruct them to live well as
their doctrine and learning may furnish their minds with
knowledge and cunning, [I] have thought it good, not only
to erect the said Free Grammar School, and to provide a
reasonable and competent Stypend for the Schoolmaster of
the same, and that in respect of the zeal that I have to God's
glory, and for the love that I bear to my native country...
Extract: Sir John Deane, Statutes, 1557
Sir John Deane’s has a long and proud
history that dates back 460 years. A local
clergyman, Sir John Deane rose through the
church ranks and later became a rector at
St Bartholomew the Great in London.
Never forgetting his roots, and keen to
provide the inhabitants of his native area
with the means of self-improvement through
education, he set up a charitable trust and
gifted the land on which the first school was
built in 1557.
In 1907, the school, then a boys’ grammar,
moved to its current riverside site thanks to
the generosity of another local benefactor,
Sir John Brunner. Brunner, alongside Ludwig
Mond, developed the wealthiest British
chemical company of the late nineteenth
century, which became the biggest employer
in the area for decades after.
Brunner’s kind donation, which marked the
350th anniversary of the school, laid the
foundations for the next 100 years, and
inspired a new generation of young learners.
The environment has since advanced with a
£28 million regeneration of the site, however,
the College campus is still firmly rooted in its
proud history and heritage, which is evident
in our flourishing boat club, distinctive crest
and historic buildings.
A portrait of Sir John Brunner hangs in the
Brunner Hall, looking over new generations
of students and reminding us all of the
importance our history plays in underpinning
the success of our future and our core
principles of ambition, excellence, resilience
and loyalty.