Colston’s School to launch consultation over name

One of the last remaining Bristol institutions to bear the Colston moniker is set to launch a “full and open” consultation over its future name.

Colston’s School will be asking students, parents, teachers and the general public to give their views as part of a process that could potentially mean a big change for the eponymous private school founded by the slave trader in 1710.

The school announced in June last year that it would look again at changing its name, but the consultation that was due to launch in January was suspended when lockdown restrictions came into play and governors felt that it would be unfair to ask pupils to consider the survey questions without the daily support of teachers and friends.

Headteacher Jeremy McCullough has now written to parents to confirm the formal consultation on whether or not the name should be changed will go ahead during the summer term.

“While we cannot yet meet for assemblies or engage in the cut and thrust of face-to-face debate in quite the way we would like, we do believe that a full and open consultation will now be possible,” said McCullough.

Colston’s School is set to launch a consultation on its future name – photo courtesy of Colston’s School

The Stapleton-based school founded by Colston is one of a number of institutions in the city to bear his name, with the former Colston’s Girls School announcing its new moniker, Montpelier High School, in November. It follows the renaming of Bristol’s flagship music venue now known as Bristol Beacon in September and the newly-named Beacon Tower opposite.

Founded in 1710 as an all-boys boarding school, Colston’s permitted girls to attend the sixth form in 1984 and became fully mixed in 1991. Today, fees for the upper school stand at £4,875 per term.

In the letter announcing the consultation, McCullough said the school’s name is “just one of the issues faced”.

He continued: “As a place of education, we should not neglect the very important societal issues of racism and, indeed, of discrimination and inequality of all kinds. Despite the challenges that we have faced managing Covid-19 and all the time spent away from school, we have been moving forward to address this.

“We have committed to examine what we teach our students and how we run our school so that we work towards a more just, equitable and fair future for all. We want to ensure that our community, including our pupils, staff and governing body, is accessible to all, regardless of race, religious beliefs, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, etc.”

Colston’s statue was toppled in June 2020 – photo by Harry Pugsley

The school says preparations for the consultation began back in the autumn term, with an extensive programme of external speakers invited to address students and staff and initiate discussions.

Speakers included Dr Madge Dresser from Bristol University; Dr Onyeka Nubia from the University of Nottingham; MP Kerry McCarthy; UWE’s Dr Shawn Sobers and novelist and journalist Adaobi Tricia Nwanubani.

McCullough added: “We intend to launch the formal survey in the second half of the summer term and will seek the views of students, parents, former students and teachers, in addition to those of the wider general public who wish to comment.”

Details on how the survey can be accessed by stakeholders and the public, along with resources to promote consideration, will be available on the school’s website ahead of the survey launch in June.

It is expected that a decision will be reached on the future of the school’s name by Colston’s Board of Governors in September. If a decision were reached to change the name of the school, a further consultation will be conducted.

Main photo courtesy of Colston’s School

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