Westminster School

Westminster School (in full, The Royal College of St. Peter at Westminster, but almost always referred to as Westminster School, or even just Westminster, for short) is an ancient English public school, located by Westminster Abbey in Westminster, in central London, and with a history stretching back to the 12th century. Its A-level results over many of the past 20 years, including both 2004 and 2005, have been the highest in the country. The Head Master up to July 2005 was Tristram Jones-Parry, who has been replaced by Dr. Stephen Spurr.

Westminster jargon

Year names

Westminster has an unusual system for naming the school years, which can cause confusion to those not familiar with the system. For this reason the Under School changed to the nationally standard year names in September 1997.

Related Topics:
School years - 1997

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:Under School (no longer in use)

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:*Year 3: Year not in existence until after names were dropped

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:*Year 4: Petty B

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:*Year 5: Petty A

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:*Year 6: Form 1

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:*Year 7: Form 2

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:*Year 8: Remove

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:Great School (still in use)

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:*Year 9: Vth Form

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:*Year 10: Lower Shell

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:*Year 11: Upper Shell

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:*Year 12: VIth Form

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:*Year 13: Remove

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When the above names were phased out, entrance to the Under School was at 'about' 8 (though in practice, many entrants were 7); now the cut-off is precise (pupils must be 7 on the first day of the school year to join Year 3), which means that while direct comparison is not possible, it has been speculated that Year 3 would have been called 'Petty C'.

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The Lower and Upper Shell years are named for the shell-like alcove up School where they were originally taught.

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Other jargon

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; Abbey

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: When used without an article refers to the compulsory morning service in the Abbey on Mondays and Fridays; "It's time for Abbey".

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; Brown

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: A cigarette. Also used as a verb; "He was caught browning.

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; The Challenge

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: The exam sat by pupils applying for scholarships. Wholly oral until 1855

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; Dignissima

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: Latin for "most worthy". An award given to a pupil for an outstanding piece of work. This is now called a Digniora, and the award given is a silver thrupenny piece.

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; Gating

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: Pupils are 'gated' as the worst form of punishment next to expulsion or suspension. A pupil who has been gated must attend detention every day (including SAP) for a week or more, depending on the severity of the teacher.

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; The Greaze

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: Annual pancake fight. See customs.

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; Green

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: Dean's Yard; "They played football on Green".

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; SAP

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: Saturday afternoon punishment; detention on a saturday afternoon.

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; Shag (Day)

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: Pupils may attend school wearing clothes not specified by the uniform code, but are expected to give to charity if they do so. This is only permitted on certain days; "It's Shag Day on Friday."

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; Station

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: Sports which are compulsory and held on Tuesday and Thursday afternoon from 2:00pm onwards; "He missed Station as he was sick".

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; Up house/school

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: "Smith was up Grant's", "You should be up house if you don't have a lesson", "Latin prayers take place up school".

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; Yard

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: Little Dean's Yard; "Smith was in Yard".

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