Canford School

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Canford School is a full boarding coeducational school with a significant minority of day pupils, in Merley, Wimborne Minster, Dorset. The school was founded in 1923. There are approximately 600 pupils at Canford, organised into houses and ranging in age from thirteen to eighteen. John Lever is currently the Headmaster; Richard Knott is currently the Second Master.


Contents

[edit] House system

Canford has seven boarding houses and three day houses. Each house has a married housemaster/mistress, three tutors (one resident in each boarding house) and at least one house matron. House year groups vary between ten and fifteen and each community numbers sixty to sixty-five.

Boys' boarding houses:

  • Court
  • Franklin
  • Monteacute
  • School

Girls' boarding houses:

  • Beaufort
  • de Lacy
  • Marriotts

Day houses:

  • Lancaster
  • Salisbury
  • Wimborne

[edit] Facilities

The school has its own 9-hole golf course run by Canford Golf Club which is a proprietary club owned by Canford School. The course is set within the school's 300 acres of mature parkland with many ancient trees and a rippling brook providing the context for some challenging holes of golf. There are tennis courts around the grounds, including during the summer months where one of the two astro-turf pitches is converted into tennis courts. Canford also has one of the few real tennis courts which are left in the United Kingdom, part of a complex which includes four squash courts. A large sports complex has recently been built which includes fitness gym, resident physiotherapist, double size sports hall with facilities for basketball, indoor football, netball and trampolining and facilities for the teaching of A-Level Physical Education.

  • School grounds 300 acres
  • 18-hole golf course
  • Tennis courts
  • One of the few real tennis courts left in the United Kingdom
  • Swimming pool
  • Sports centre
  • Theatre
  • Boathouse with direct access to river Stour

[edit] Canford Assyrian frieze

Canford Assyrian frieze

In 1992 a lost Assyrian frieze was rediscovered on the wall of "the Grubber" (the school tuck shop). The frieze was sold by Christies at auction in 1994 for £7 million ($12 million), by far the highest price ever paid for an antiquity. Although it is at first sight rather unlikely that such a valuable item should be found on the wall of a school tuck shop, the history of the school explains how the frieze came to be there. Prior to its being a school, Canford had been a country house and at that time the building now known as the Grubber had been used to display antiquities and was known as "Nineveh". The frieze had been brought back from Iraq by Sir Austen Henry Layard along with other antiquities which were displayed at Canford before it was a school. It was however thought by the school that the frieze was a plaster copy of an original which had been lost overboard during river transit and little attention was paid to it after the school was established. A dartboard was even hung in the Grubber close to where the frieze was displayed. It was John Russell of Columbia University who identified the frieze as an original, one of a set of three panels taken from the throne room of Assyrian King Assurnasirpal II (883–859 BC). A genuine plaster copy now stands in its place at Canford and a number of "Assyrian Scholarships" are available, funded by the proceeds of the sale.

[edit] Societies

Canford also has a number of prestigious and esteemed societies, some of which are almost as old as the school itself:

[edit] The Old Canfordian Society

Reserved for those pupils who have left the school, the "O.C.s" come back for frequent reunions and social events. Some O.C.s have later gone on to become school governors after forging successful careers, most notably Peter Lovell.

[edit] Heretics

The Heretics' Society is an invitation-only Sixth Form discussion group, comprising of about twenty members, where the emphasis is on the honing of analytical and discursive skills rather than on the rhetorical flourish and exhibitionist flair that might be found in a traditional debating society. The basis for a meeting is the reading of paper by a member of the society; recent topics have ranged from a probing enquiry into the nature and purpose of consciousness, through a hotly contested investigation into the possible justifications for torture, to an inconclusive stab at the proper purpose of education. Led by an appointed committee, comprising of three members led by the Chairman, the meetings are conducted in an atmosphere in which ideas can be presented and explored with an openness of mind while at the same time being challenged with benign rigour.

[edit] John o'Gaunt Debating Society

A society which is almost as old as the school itself, it is open to all members of the school who wish to engage in stimulating, articulate and intellectual discussion on topics ranging from politics to social and ethical issues. The society has an elected committee comprising of four members, led by the Chairman.

[edit] Ichthyans

A religious society for the school's Christians, it has grown in membership over the past few years and Ichythans is now a stimulating, warm environment for pupils to discuss their beliefs and thoughts. It is run by the Chaplain of Canford and other Christian teachers and often features talks from students or visiting christians.

[edit] The Layard Society

Named after Henry Layard, this society is for Sixth Form History students. Visitng speakers often attend and other meetings offer an opportunity for A-level Historians to prepare and deliver lectures themselves.

[edit] Politicos

A political society open to all those studying Politics in the Sixth Form, Politicos is named after the famous bookstore near Parliament. Guest speakers are frequently invited to give talks and answer questions from the students; recent guests have included Annette Brooke and Ann Widdecombe.

[edit] Notable Old Canfordians

[edit] External link

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org../../../c/a/n/Canford_School_085e.html"