History
The licence to found the school, as "The Grammar School of Antony Browne, Serjeant at the Law, in Brentwood" was granted by Queen Mary to Sir Antony Browne on 5 July 1558, and the first Schoolmaster, George Otway, was appointed on 28 July 1558.
In 1568 the school moved to a purpose built school room, which still remains, the commemoration stone of which was laid by Browne's stepdaughter Dorothy Huddleston, and her husband Edward, Browne having died in 1567.
The school room was next to the site where nineteen-year-old William Hunter was burned to death for refusing to accept the transubstantiation of bread and wine into the body and blood of Jesus Christ. The Martyr's Elm grew on the spot of his incineration.
Browne had sentenced Hunter when Justice of the Peace for the area under Queen Mary and, although she also issued the licence, some mistakenly believe the school was founded as penance for Hunter's martyrdom when Queen Elizabeth I came to the throne.
Although Browne drew up the school statutes, these were never legally adopted, so were re-drawn by his descendants and John Donne, Dean of St Paul's, in 1622.
In the 1960s and early 1970s the school was a direct grant grammar school, until the abolition of the scheme in the mid-1970s.
The FoBS (Friends of Brentwood School) was founded in 1982 to help raise funds within the school, mainly via large events and excursions for pupils.
In 2009 it was reported that only 22 students out of 37 taking the International Baccalaureate at the school gained a place at university. However, the headmaster confirmed at the Annual General Meeting of the Society of Old Brentwoods held on September 19, 2009 that ultimately only one of the pupils had failed to get a university place. Accusations were made against the headmaster for attending a Wimbledon final rather than results day, however, this was an irrelevant and "unpleasant dig" and he spent the entire next week in meetings with pupils. It was later proven that Brentwood School came placed 23rd in the UK and was the top school in Essex for its IB results in 2009. Brentwood School are now placed at 21st in the UK and remain the top school in Essex to teach the IB.
Read more about this topic: Brentwood School (Essex)
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