History
Mr. John A S Jackson founded the Grange School on 4th June 1928. He was Chilean born, in the port of Valparaiso, to a family of British origin. After his secondary studies at Cheltenham College in England, he went on to Cambridge University and then came back to Chile intent on founding a school based on the educational principles he had experienced firsthand in the UK, in particular the concept of fair play and the notion of all-rounder. The Grange School started with 12 boys in a private house of Santiago called “Villa Angela” in the Avenida Pedro de Valdivia 1150.
The original plan of the Founder was to run a small school, which would prepare English-speaking boys for Common Entrance in order to attend Public Schools in England. However, the world financial crisis of 1929 affected many parents who were forced to let their sons continue their education in Chile. The acceptance of Chilean and Anglo–Chilean pupils then forced John Jackson to include elements of the local curriculum and a model was created. The School was divided into two Colour: the Blues and the Greys, and the Colours Competition was started. Mr. and Mrs. George McKay donated a magnificent silver cup to be competed for annually and which even today is the most important trophy the School awards.
In the year 1928 cricket and football were played in the afternoon; it was a few years before rugby was brought in. In 1932, extra-curricular activities included athletics, boxing, swimming, diving, hockey, rugby and cross country.
By 1937, the School had grown beyond private ownership, so a limited liability company was formed to raise the capital for new buildings. In 1938, with 300 pupils on the roll (including 120 boarders), the School moved to its present site next to the Prince of Wales Country Club. In 1967, The Grange ceased to be a boarding school and, in 1971, it became co-educational, accepting girls mostly from Dunalastair.
Today, The Grange School has 1800 pupils on roll, with 60 boys and girls per year group and about 25 per class. During the first four years of schooling the number of pupils per class does not exceed 22. For the Upper Prep and Senior School there may be smaller sets depending on the options and programmes being followed. The Board of Directors is an active advisory group, meeting weekly with the Headmaster.
Headmaster´s Message
Our Past
We want to form young people who will be useful to the country and
are trustworthy.
This is how our Founder articulated his ideal of a new school in Santiago. John Jackson was a man of vision, a porteño of English origin who, on 4th June 1928, achieved his dream of founding a Chilean institution broadly based on traditional British educational principles.
The Grange started with only 12 boys, all of whom became boarders and this number grew steadily following the extraordinary success of John Jackson`s vision. In the early ‘70s, our School experienced its greatest change ever - it no longer was a boarding school, we welcomed girls for the first time and the roll reached a record number of pupils.
Throughout its history, The Grange has faithfully adhered to our Founder´s educational philosophy, based on developing the potential of every pupil through a commitment to discipline and good manners. This all-rounder concept is linked to the renaissance ideal of an integrated, holistic education, where the mental, physical, social and moral coalesce to give balance and enhance individual growth. Furthermore, the spirit of fair play underpins all aspects of life at school and encourages respect for universal values.
We have just celebrated our 80th Anniversary; eight decades of tradition, commitment and dedication to an institution, which has greatly contributed to positive changes within Chilean society.
The present
After eighty years and with 1800 pupils on roll, our school is synonymous with quality and excellence. Leavers are thoroughly prepared to embark upon university courses and to become trustworthy leaders in the future.
The Grange has provided us with strong values, a relentless search for knowledge, access to vanguard technology and great facilities. The ten hectare site incorporates the necessary infrastructure in order to provide us with every tool needed to help our pupils reach the highest standards, both academically and beyond the classroom.
The Grange is a fully bilingual institution, enjoying strong bonds with Britain and the Commonwealth. Our Preparatory School education encourages total immersion in English from Pre-Kinder. The Senior School curriculum is a blend of national and international programmes, which aims to prepare our pupils for further studies at the university of their choice, anywhere in the world. We are involved in on-going programmes of teacher and pupil exchanges between Chile, the UK and the rest of the world, in order to encourage the sharing of ideas, methodology and experience.
All of these efforts have placed us amongst the best independent schools in Chile, and bestowed on The Grange School an outstanding reputation amongst the top schools in Latin America.
The Future we see
The Grange is intent on retaining, rekindling and renewing the best of the past - we see ourselves as tradition in movement. Whilst being aware of 21st Century changes, our future challenge is to remain loyal to the educational ideals of our foundation. In this respect, we are committed to:
-reinforcing the traditions and values that have determined the seal of the School and of our former pupils. A pillar of our project is the formation of all-rounders, pupils who are interested in academic, sporting and artistic pursuits, yet also proving to be responsible and sensible citizens. Fair play should be the cornerstone of everything young Grangeonians do. From their earliest years, our pupils should be encouraged to discover the “Grange spirit” and learn to embody our rules and values;
-encouraging pupils to create strong bonds of friendship within the School and gain a sense of belonging to a community, allowing them to relate to generations of Old Grangeonians;
improving the infrastructure in order to deliver the best in educational resources. We are launching a Master Plan aimed at revising current facilities and updating them in order to keep our leadership amongst world-class schools. Educational resources and equipment need constant upgrading so as to provide the appropriate tools needed to deliver high standards of education;
-searching for and retaining the best professionals, both local and expatriate; high profile educators prepared to share our values and committed to educational excellence. The Grange is a privileged environment to work in and teachers should have the opportunity for continuous professional development, to learn from others and to share their own skills and expertise with colleagues.
We are delighted to report that today the Grange is in an excellent phase of its history and is perfectly placed to achieve all of these objectives and more. We aim to continue our proven eighty year old educational programme and keep on providing our pupils with the skills to grow and thrive in this century, which promises to be one full of challenge and change.
Mission
The Grange, to this day, places great importance on the idea of ‘fair play’, a concept with connotations of sportsmanship, obedience and honesty. But this notion can be applied beyond the playing fields and into areas of life such as self-improvement, team habits, healthy competition, active participation and respect for others in all areas of life. In summary, it is a way of expressing an ethical idea respecting and valuing personal dignity and respect.
The renaissance ideal of the ‘all-rounder’, an ideal that strongly influenced the development of boarding school ethics in Britain, emphasizes the overall and harmonic development of the individual, encompassing what are usually referred to separately as the ‘spiritual’ and the ‘corporeal’. The idea of an integrated education, as promoted by John Jackson, attempts to blur these boundaries, to acknowledge that there are links between the healthy mind and the healthy body, and to strive for excellence and integrity in areas of intellectual, moral, artistic, sporting and social endeavour. These are high ideals and of course not every member of the community will successfully meet them, but they give us all a common purpose and a target at which to aim.
Academic excellence, a strong sense of self-confidence and the good standards of spoken and written English in a range of contexts, enable our pupils to achieve excellence throughout our territorial boundaries.
School Facts
Rector:
Rachid Benammar
Board Members:
President: Juan Francisco Varela Noguera (OG 74)
Ana Claudia Amar Cadiz (OG 89)
Andrew Westcott Campbell (OG 81)
Carlos Vignau Martínez (OG 73)
María Angélica Sánchez (OG 67)
Enrique Cibié Bluth (OG 70)
John Scott Macnab (OG 69)
José Gerstle Martínez (OG 76)
Rafael Torres Barranechea (OG 75)
Paula Escobar (OG 86)
Victor Recart Haensel (OG 62)
The Grange counts over 300 Staff members of whom 70 are administrative, 170 are full time local teachers and 60 are expatriate teachers.
Pupils: 1800
Age Range: 4-18 years
Groups per Level: 6 per yeargroup throughout
Average size class: Pre-Kinder - Kinder: 24 pupils with 2 teachers per class.
1° Prep to 4° Medio: 24 pupils máximum per class
Facilities:
6 Computer Classrooms
10 Science Laboratories
5 Music rooms fully equipped
3 Auditoria
2 Gymnasia
2 Libraries
1 Examination Hall
1 Infirmary
1 Swimming
1 Pool
1 Assembly Hall
Membership:
Association of British Schools in Chile. www.absch.cl
Incorporated Association of Preparatory Schools (IAPS) www.iaps.org.uk The Headmasters and Headmistresses Conference www.hmc.org.uk
Latin American Heads Conference LAHC www.lahc.net
Para acceder a la septuagésima tercera memoria anual de The Grange School S.A., correspondiente al ejercicio terminado al 31 de dieciembre del año 2009, hacer click aquí.
Av. Principe de Gales # 6154 - La Reina - Tel: 02-5981500
