The Combermere School is located in Waterford, St Michael, and dates as far back as 1695, when it came into existence as a “Free School” as part of an endowment from the will of a former plantation owner by the name of Colonel Henry Drax. Constitution Hill was the first location on what was then known as the Free School Lands.
It was subsequently known as various names, such as, the Free School, the Drax(St. Michael) Parish School, the Parochial Charity School, the Colonial Charity School, the Boys’ Central School and then finally from 1880, The Combermere School.
Over the years, it was relocated several times, before being sited at the present location at Waterford, St. Michael from 1958.
The school which began as a co-educational institution in 1695, reverted fully to this status in September 1976 with the admission of thirty-eight (38) female students at the first form level and another thirty-one (31) between the fifth and sixth form.
The number of females today has grown, over five hundred (500) out of a present school population of just over eleven hundred (1,100 students).
Combermere is one of the oldest secondary schools in Barbados and is one of the oldest in the entire Commonwealth. The school was also the first to offer secondary education to lower class blacks on the island.
In 1946, Major Cecil Noot became Headmaster of the school and immediately spearheaded the creation of a sixth form for A Level studies, previously only available at the three first grade schools (Harrison College, The Lodge School and Queen’s College), who catered almost exclusively to the white elite. This seemingly insignificant change in the then current events proved very significant, as it pretty much ended all of the traditional distinction between first and second grade schools in Barbados. The Combermere School then went on to win its first Barbados Scholarship in 1967. The school’s original mandate, way back in the 17th century was to provide education to the children of poor white families. This initial goal has evolved, to say the least-over the years, and today, it plays the role of educator, social instructor and part time parent to more than 900 multi-racial, multi-class pupils, and is considered to be. and with good reason, one of the top secondary educational institutions in Barbados.
The school has always been, and continues to be, omni-present in most of the local sporting competitions including the local school football, basketball, Cricket where it can boast an international tradition perhaps equal to that of any other secondary school in the world. With West Indies entering the Test arena in 1928, it still boasts the youngest ever West Indies Test Debutant, as well as the singular distinction of having an alumnus who became in 1930/31 the first to bowl the indomitable Don Bradman for the dreaded cipher in a Test Match. Also, it has the enviable record for a local secondary school of producing three West Indies Test Captains as well as having an old scholar on each side in the same Test match. In this regard note is made of Sir Frank Worrell as the first Black West Indies Test Touring Captain and volleyball tournaments, as well as the annual inter-school athletic championships to name a few. The school also offers an excellent music program – one of the best on the island – and the school has won countless awards for music at the National Independence Festival for the Creative Arts (NIFCA). Combermere has a total of 54 trained teachers including one Guidance Counselor, and offers a very, dynamic, balanced and well-rounded curriculum, key to the development of many of Barbados’ most productive citizens.
The former Prime Minister the Rt. Honorable David Thompson, cricketing great Sir Wesley Hall, author Sir Frank Collymore, as well as the international pop star Robyn ‘Rihanna’ Fenty all attended this institution during their definitive years. Over its history the School has in general recorded several firsts and received notable accolades from alumni of distinction. In 1912 it became the birthplace of scouting in Barbados with one of the scouts achieving the distinction of becoming Barbados first Kings Scout in 1914. Incidentally this same scout two years hence became the first known Black Barbadian to be decorated with the Distinguished Conduct Medal, DCM, for Bravery Under Fire as a member of the British West Indies Regiment in World War One. Again, in connection with scouting, the School in 1963 became the birthplace of the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme in Barbados. The Combermere Mutual Improvement Association, the precursor to the present Combermere School Old Scholars' Association, was the first school alumni association in Barbados.
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