Talk:Dr Challoner's Grammar School

Book

The article lists the following book under "Further reading":

• F. R. Treadgold, B.A (1974). "Challoner's" 1624 - 1974. ISBN 0852360517.

I can find no trace of any book with this ISBN anywhere (with the obvious exception of a multitude of mirrors of Wikipedia. Actually I can so far find no trace of the alleged author. We need some confirmation of the book's details, or we will have to pull it. HTH HAND —Phil | Talk 07:04, 20 October 2005 (UTC)

I have found a site which mentions a similarly titled book by the same author, described as:

Treadgold, F.R (1974). "Challoner's 1624-1974, The story of Dr. Challoner's Grammar School Amersham". The Leagrave Press Ltd, Luton.

No ISBN listed, however. As a current member of staff at the school I will make enquiries to elicit further details of such a book. — Jay Schlackman 18:35, 9 August 2006 (UTC)

I have finally found the book listed above in COPAC. This shows that a copy is held by Kings College Library so it seems the book discussed here does indeed exist. Interestingly, the book referenced here was replaced in December 2005 with a reference to an even more elusive book: F. R. Treadgold, B.A. "Dr Challoner and his school". (Amersham), 1973. {{cite book}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help). I have enquired about such books with some long time staff members who informed me that a book on the subject was published locally that never received an ISBN number. Clearly, if true, this is not the book that originally sparked discussion here but may be the book currently referenced in the article. I have been given a couple of names of staff who may possess a copy which I will endeavour to get a look at to find out if there are indeed 2 books, or if the current reference is incorrect. For now, I am adding the original reference back with the publisher information found on my earlier search as in my view its existence has now been verified independently of Wikipedia. — Jay Schlackman 21:25, 1 September 2006 (UTC)

School closed for smog + water problems..

Is this kind of trivial information really necessary? Since it would be overly detailed to include (arguably more important) details regarding teacher arrivals/departures, sporting results, etc there is surely no case to know that the school closed a few years ago for some reason? I've removed it for now...feel free to re-add if you think there's a good reason to include it I guess.

Dr Challoners closure story premature

I can categorically state that Challoners is alive and well; still supplying first class education in the Amersham area. Stories of it's closure due to smog (!!??!!) and water must be fictional. How do I know? I am an Amersham resident and a Challoners Old Boy

You're also an idiot; they didn't mean it had shut down, merely that it closed for the day. The Bucks Free Press confirms this.

Specialty vs. Speciality vs. Specialism

I didn't actually spot this until the recent edit by User:ScribbleMonkey to change 'specialty' to 'speciality'. Personally I would have gone with the former, but dictionaries I have consulted differ on whether these are actual different words or simply US/UK variations on the same word. To resolve this, I visited the the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust website to see what they call them, and they always use the term 'specialism' to refer to the area(s) in which a specialist school as been accredited. I verified this with staff at the school who are involved with the Specialist Science College and they agree the correct term should be 'specialism'. Jay Schlackman 09:06, 22 November 2006 (UTC)

House system

Can we add something about the old house system then? I'm aware there was a precedent in it, but I don't know anything more about itUser:cometh now as

School Motto

Is "Excellence With Integrity" supposed to be a translation of "Ad Astra Per Aspera", or is it an additional motto? "Ad Astra Per Aspera " translates as something more like "To the stars through difficulties". Unless someone objects, I'll change it in a couple of weeks. GoldenTorc 16:55, 27 December 2006 (UTC)

Excellence With Integrity is a second motto, introduced a few years ago, to augment the school's traditional 'Ad Astra'. Bastin 17:41, 27 December 2006 (UTC)

Ok -thanks for letting me know - should the entry in the information box be called 'Mottos', instead of Motto then, to clarify? GoldenTorc 19:46, 27 December 2006 (UTC)

Unfortunately, it can't be, as it's a generic infobox. The only way to change that would be to have the mottos below the location, which really isn't ideal. I see three options: leave as it is, hoping that people don't assume that Excellence with Integrity is a translation; keep both, but add the translation of the Latin in parentheses; or remove 'Excellence with Integrity' (which is really a slogan, rather than a motto; 'Ad Astra' remains on the school's crest, etc). Bastin 14:06, 28 December 2006 (UTC)

It makes sense to add the latin in parentheses, it's not really a slogan it's on every bit of school stationery perhaps someone should email the school and ask them their position on it. If not i say stick a little white fence around the english translation.

Technically, "Ad Astra per Aspera" is the school's motto, whilst "Excellence with Integrity" is its Mission Statement, if that makes any difference. Batmanand | Talk 23:34, 28 December 2006 (UTC)

"A mission statement defines the core purpose of the organization" or "A motto is a phrase or collection of words intended to describe the motivation or intention". Intention and purpose aren't very far removed and that was true in 2001, I'll have a chat to Fenton when we go back.

Alumni

Matt Allwright deleted. He is not a former pupil of the school. He attended Reading Blue Coat School in Sonning on Thames.Milton25 08:05, 8 March 2007 (UTC)

Copyright

A large proportion of this article seems to be a direct copy and paste from the school website. I don't see any permission to copy this material here, either; anyone care to comment? njan 21:24, 27 May 2007 (UTC)

I am currently an IT technician at the school. The content in question was submitted by the school employee who wrote the school website. Although no formal permission has been given, we are well aware of the content and have no problems with its reproduction here. Jay Schlackman 08:44, 6 June 2007 (UTC)

Full disclosure regarding recent removal of criticism

This morning I reverted 2 paragraphs that were added to the article, but forgot to log in before doing so, which I realised could be construed as an attempt to hide the fact that I am an employee of the school and was removing the content simply because it was unfavourable.

I have no mandate from the school to edit the page; it is not part of my duties, and I do so only to try and keep the content relevant and accurate. In deciding to revert the content I made a conscious and dispassionate effort to consider whether a contributor with no ties to the school would reach the same decision. The content appeared to be derisory in tone and in violation of the NPOV policy. Furthermore, some of the content did not appear to be verifiable and no references were cited, causing it to probably fall under the definition of original research. I hope that my decision to therefore revert the edit is supported by other contributors, and I welcome any feedback more experienced contributors could give me on this. Jay Schlackman 08:31, 19 July 2007 (UTC)

I wouldn't claim to be a more experienced contributor, but I agree with the revert and respect the fact that you have made this disclosure. If the criticisms are genuine, however, then with some rewording and a reference, it would be acceptable IMHO. - Scribble Monkey 09:30, 24 July 2007 (UTC)

Spelling of Chaloner

Please standardise as is correct. Not entirely consistent.martianlostinspace 16:18, 23 July 2007 (UTC)

Unfortunately spelling wasn't always consistent. Robert Chaloner is usually spelt with one "l", but the school has been spelt "Challoner" since 1624 according to his entry in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. The article appears to consistently apply the two different spellings, so I believe that it is as correct as it can be. - Scribble Monkey 09:25, 24 July 2007 (UTC)

I agree. And I believe Dr. Chaloner (one 'l') was descended from the Chaloners of Sussex (generally spelled with one 'l'). MarmadukePercy (talk) 20:16, 19 February 2010 (UTC)

Deletion Of Alumni

I have Removed Margaret Mee's Name fro the list of alumni as she did not attend the Grammar school as she is a Woman, she may have attended the High School But I have No Evidence to that either. Nickcolledge (talk) 18:20, 20 April 2010 (UTC)

I am afraid you are incorrect Margaret Mee did attend Dr Challoners Grammar School in the 1920s. I will revert your deletion accordingly.Tmol42 (talk) 22:35, 20 April 2010 (UTC)

Nickcolledge - the High School didn't exist in the 1920s... Dr. Challoner's Grammar School was previously mixed. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 92.2.205.143 (talk) 16:49, 20 July 2010 (UTC)

COI tag added

A Conflict of Interest tag has been added to this page on the basis that a major contributor to this page has a connection with the school. Having reviewed the more recent edit history I cannot see to whom or what the editor who added this tag is refering to. There seems to have been a wide range of editors adding to the page recently as well as some editors such as myself removing frequent vanadalism by anon IPs. As it is customary for the proposor of the tag to come to the talk page to clarify the reason for the tagging perhaps they could draw attention to which of the editor(s) who have been major contributors to the page who also appear to have a connection to the school. In the absense of any such evidence I propose the tag be removed.Tmol42 (talk) 16:25, 4 July 2012 (UTC)

It is also good practice to notify the editor who added the tag to come and discuss it at the talk page, rather than just assuming they actually watch talk pages - Mdann52 (talk) 15:56, 9 July 2012 (UTC)

Richard Elsey added to notable alumni

I have added James Elsey to the notable pupils section. He is a convicted murderer who attended the school in the 1990's and it seemed notable, especially as there was some small press coverage of his release a few years back. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Mattpatt (talk • contribs) 09:36, 24 February 2016 (UTC)