Combermere School

{{Short description|First level school in Barbados, founded 1695}}

Combermere School is a school in Barbados, notable as one of the oldest schools in the Caribbean, established in 1695.{{Cite web |title=Combermere School |url=https://www.totallybarbados.com/articles/education-and-training/education/combermere-school/ |access-date=2022-03-29 |website=Totally Barbados (Education) |language=en}} Its alumni include several leading cricketers, David Thompson, sixth prime minister of Barbados and other politicians, several authors and the singer Rihanna. In its first 75 years, the school "provided the Barbadian community with the vast bulk of its business leaders and civil servants" and it is "perhaps the first school anywhere to offer secondary education to black children".{{cite book | last =Sandiford| first = Keith A. P.| authorlink = | title =Cricket Nurseries of Colonial Barbados: The Elite Schools, 1865-1966| publisher =Press University of the West Indies| series = | volume = | edition = | date = 1998| location = | pages =106 | language = | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IcxYwq0sB_8C&q=Combermere+School+and+the+Barbadian+Society | doi = | id = | isbn =9789766400460 | quote=}}

History

The school was established in 1695 as the Drax Parish School, under the 1682 will of plantation owner Colonel Henry Drax (great-uncle of the Whig politician Henry Drax), who had left 2000 pounds sterling for the establishment and endowment of a "free school or Colledge" "to continue forever".{{Cite book |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/53920419 |title=A-Z of Barbados Heritage |publisher=Macmillan Caribbean |others=Sean Carrington, Henry Fraser, John Gilmore, G. Addinton Forde |year=2003 |isbn=0-333-92068-6 |edition=2nd |location=Oxford |language=EN |oclc=53920419}}{{Rp|page=52}} The executors not having acted in a timely manner, the parish authorities eventually did. The oldest secondary school on Barbados and one of the oldest schools in the Caribbean, it underwent several name changes and relocations before settling within the Parish of St Michael, at Waterford, on the outskirts of the capital of Barbados, Bridgetown, in 1819.{{cite web |last1=Ray |first1=Michael |title=A point of clarity on location of Combermere |url=https://www.nationnews.com/2016/03/09/a-point-of-clarity-on-location-of-combermere/ |publisher=Nation News |access-date=March 29, 2022 |date=March 9, 2016}}

The school, named after a colonial governor of Barbados, Stapleton Cotton, 1st Viscount Combermere, bears tribute to some of the school forefathers through the naming of areas such as the Drax Square, the De Vere Moore Gardens, and the Major Noot Hall. It was the first school to offer secondary education to poorer coloured students on the island. Having started as a co-educational institution, it returned to a mixed approach in the 1970s, eventually reaching a gender ratio of around 50%.{{Cite web |title=Combermere School (MRD {{!}} Secondary Schools) |url=https://mrd.gov.bb/combermere-school.php |access-date=2022-03-29 |website=Government of Barbados (Media Resource Department)}}

In 1995, Barbados issued a set of postage stamps commemorating the school's 300 years.{{Cite web|url=https://www.phildom.com/en/stamp-300th-ANNIVERSARY-OF-COMBERMERE-SCHOOL-37965.html|title = Phildom Philatelly}}

In 2016, the school was closed due to environmental concerns. The remediation efforts were slowed by alleged sabotage, but the school eventually reopened in 2017.{{Cite web|url=https://www.nationnews.com/2017/03/21/problems-still-at-combermere/|title = Problems still at Combermere|date = 21 March 2017}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.nationnews.com/2017/02/07/jones-gives-details-of-combermere-sabotage/|title=Jones gives details of Combermere 'sabotage'|date=7 February 2017}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.nationnews.com/2017/01/06/school-to-start-next-week-at-combermere/|title=School to start next week at Combermere|date=6 January 2017}}

== Staff and structure ==

Combermere is led by a principal, assisted by a deputy principal; there are also six year heads for first form through to the upper sixth. There are over 70 staff in total, including a guidance counsellor.

= Departments and subjects =

The school has 12 departments, each headed by a senior teacher. The departments are: chemistry, mathematics, geography/social studies and environmental science, physics, biology and home economics, English, music and fine arts, physical education, technical and vocational studies, history, foreign languages, and business studies. There are dedicated labs and rooms for chemistry, biology, geography, physics, languages, music, computer science, and food and nutrition.{{Cite news |date=28 January 2017 |title=More Combermere Drama (Ministry and BSTU's reports differ on environmental situation) |work=Barbados Advocate |url=https://www.barbadosadvocate.com/news/more-combermere-drama |access-date=29 March 2022 |quote=...the Food and Nutrition Lab, the Art Room, ... the Physics Labs, ... the Media Centre}} The school has a pavilion equipped with a gym and changing rooms. There are two playing fields, a cricket pitch, shooting range, basketball/netball and tennis/volleyball courts. Also included on the premises are a library and an auditorium — the Major Noot Hall — and it one of the few secondary schools on Barbados, if not the only one, with a meteorological station.

Combermere offers a music programme. It is also home to the Number 3 Cadet Company.

Notable alumni

Carlos Brathwaite – current West Indian cricketer, unrelated to Kraigg
Kraigg Brathwaite – current West Indian cricketer, unrelated to Carlos
Ron Buckmire – mathematician and LGBT activist
Austin Clarke – Commonwealth award-winning author{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/98626784/growing-up-stupid-by-one-who-didnt/|title = Growing up stupid: By one who didn't|newspaper = Red Deer Advocate|date = 11 June 1980|page = 30}}
Frank Collymore – author, editor, and artist
Sir Wesley Winfield Hall – former Barbadian, West Indian cricketer, Chairman of the West Indies Board of Control, Minister for Sports and Tourism
John Holder – cricketer and umpire
Kerryann Ifill – first blind graduate of the University of the West Indies, President of the Senate of Barbados since 2012
Chris Jordan – current English cricketer
Anthony Kellman – poet, novelist and musician
George Lamming – author and public intellectual
Frank Marshall – former Anglican Dean of Barbados, based at the Cathedral Church of Saint Michael and All Angels
Rihanna (Robyn Rihanna Fenty) – recording artist{{Cite web|title = Kraigg Brathwaite: Short balls in the nets was my welcome|url = http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/video_audio/957357.html|website = Cricinfo|access-date = 2016-01-03}}{{Cite news|url=https://stlucia.loopnews.com/content/barbadian-x-factor-winner-and-rihanna-went-same-school-1|title=Barbadian X Factor winner and Rihanna went to the same school|work=Loop News|accessdate=4 December 2023}}
Keith A. P. Sandiford – social historian
Owen Alik Shahadah – African historian, filmmaker - 500 Years Later{{citation needed|date=September 2015}}
Charles Skeete – economist and former Ambassador to the United States (1981–1983){{cite news|first=Tony|last=Best |title=Economist Charles Skeete passes away |url=http://www.nationnews.com/nationnews/news/108916/economist-charles-skeete-passes-away |work=The Daily Nation (Barbados) |date=2017-12-10 |access-date=2018-01-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171211160837/http://www.nationnews.com/nationnews/news/108916/economist-charles-skeete-passes-away |archive-date=2017-12-11 |url-status=live}}
Arturo Tappin – saxophonist
The Hon. David J. H Thompson – sixth Prime Minister of Barbados
Sir Clyde Walcott, KA, GCM – former West Indies cricketer, former chairman of the International Cricket Council
Arden Warner, particle physicist, inventor and Barbadian Golden Jubilee awardee{{cite news |last1=Carter |first1=Gercine |title=Bajan's wand ready for next oil spill |url=https://www.nationnews.com/2017/04/09/bajans-wand-ready-for-next-oil-spill/ |access-date=15 August 2021 |work=NationNews.com |date=9 April 2017 |location=St Michael, Barbados}}
Jomel Warrican – current West Indian cricketer
Sir Frank Worrell – West Indies batsman and captain
Larry Worrell – cricketer{{cite book|title=Cricket Nurseries of Colonial Barbados|first=Keith A. P.|last=Sandiford|publisher=Press University of the West Indies|page=136|year=1998|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IcxYwq0sB_8C|language=English|isbn=9789766400460}}
Right Excellent Errol Barrow, PC, QC, LLD – First Prime Minister of Barbados{{cite web |url=http://www.caribbeanelections.com/knowledge/biography/bios/barrow_errol.asp |title=Errol Walton Barrow |work=Caribbean Elections Biography |accessdate=2023-01-28}}

References

{{cite book |last1=Carrington |first1=Sean |last2=Fraser |first2=Henry |title=A~Z of Barbados Heritage |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aSccAQAAIAAJ&q=A~Z+of+Barbados+Heritage |access-date=2010-07-25 |year=2003 |publisher=Macmillan Caribbean |isbn=0-333-92068-6 |pages=51–52 |chapter=Combermere School |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aSccAQAAIAAJ&q=Combermere }}

External links

[https://mrd.gov.bb/combermere-school.php Official website]

Category:Schools in Barbados

Category:Educational institutions established in the 1690s

Category:Saint Michael, Barbados