King Edward's School, Witley

King Edward's School, Witley
Motto "A foundation for life"
Established 1553
Type Independent day and boarding school
Religion Church of England
President The Duchess of Gloucester
Headmaster John Attwater
Chaplain The Rev'd Dr. David Standen
Deputy Headmasters/mistress Stephen Pugh, James Hole, and Delvin Poulter
Founder King Edward VI
Location Petworth Road
Wormley
Surrey
GU8 5SG
England
Coordinates: 51°08′15″N 0°38′40″W / 51.137365°N 0.644500°W / 51.137365; -0.644500
Local authority Surrey
DfE number 936/6103
Staff c.60 teaching
Students c.400
Gender Mixed
Ages 11–18
Houses 8 boarding houses
Colours Blue and Navy          
Publication Kestrel
Former pupils Old Witleians
Website www.kesw.org

King Edward's School, Witley is an independent co-educational boarding and day school, founded in 1553 by King Edward VI and Nicholas Ridley. The School is located in the village of Wormley (near Witley), Surrey, England, having moved to its present location in 1867.[1] The School became fully co-educational in 1952.[1] As of September 2010, the school has joined the small number of independent schools in the UK which offer the IB Diploma Programme in place of A-Levels in the Sixth form. The School is re-introducing A-Levels as part of the curriculum from September 2015.

History

King Edward VI, the school's founder awarding the charter

The School was originally founded as Bridewell Royal Hospital, after Nicholas Ridley preached to Edward VI to give some of his empty palaces over to the City of London (governed by the City of London Corporation) to house homeless women and children.

The school was commandeered by the Royal Navy during the Second World War to test and develop the use of radar. The school still remembers this with a plaque in the central area, a junction of corridors known as 'Piccadilly'. The President of Bridewell Royal Hospital (the title was kept after the move of location) is now The Duchess of Gloucester, appointed from 1 January 2006. The Queen Mother held the title from 1953 to 2002. The school's creation was sanctioned by the same charter as that of Christ's Hospital and St Thomas' Hospital. The school maintains strong links with the City of London, and is still supported by it, with some students on bursaries funded by the City. As of the academic year 2013/14 Senior School day fees are £19,470 per year, with Senior School boarding fees £27,825 per year, though a number of bursaries and scholarships are available.[2]

Boarding houses

There are eight functioning houses in total, four male and four female. The boarding houses at the school are paired, and, in the case of the senior pupils, conjoined in the centre of the buildings. This central area (known as the 'Accy Area', from activity area) allows the boys and girls from the paired houses to meet in the evenings and during spare time; to chat, watch television or a DVD, or play pool or table football. The right-hand half of the iconic front building of the school is used as Copeland House, the junior girls boarding house, while Queen Mary House was formerly a care home for the mentally ill and then the school sanatorium, until later becoming the junior boys boarding house.

The senior houses were built in the 1970s, and the plans can be seen in the School Museum, housed in the History Department. Boarders moved into these new buildings in Autumn 1976 and the inauguration was commemorated by a visit from HM Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother.

The houses, in their pairs, are:

Juniors

Seniors

King Edward's School, as viewed from Petworth Road

The school has a very competitive atmosphere between all of the houses. They compete in different competitions and challenges such as House Drama, House Music, Sports Day and other various sporting and academic events. These all allow the winning houses to accumulate points for the Cock House Cup, which is awarded to the house with the most points at the end of the School Year.

The current holders of the Cock House Cup are Wakefield House and Tudor House.

School publications

The school has its own magazine, The Edwardian, which it publishes yearly. There is a short school newsletter, KEStrel, published bi-annually, that incorporates recent school events and news.

Notable Old Witleians

Former students of King Edward's are referred to as Old Witleians.

Headmasters

Notable associations

Aerial view of King Edward's School

References

  1. 1 2 "History of King Edward's School, Witley". Retrieved 5 August 2008.
  2. ↑ "King Edward's School, Witley Fees 08/09" (PDF). Retrieved 16 March 2009.
  3. ↑ Goldgar, Anne; et al. (2004). Anne Goldgar, Robert I. Frost, ed. Institutional Culture in early modern Society. Brill Academic Publishers. p. 116.

Further reading

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