Rutlish School

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Rutlish School is a single-sex boys comprehensive school located in Watery Lane, Merton Park, south-west London.

It is primarily noted for caning its most famous alumnus, British Prime Minister Sir John Major.

Contents

[edit] School faculty

The school has five year groups (years 7 to 11) and an intake of approximately 240 pupils in the first year. The school roll totals approximately 1050 pupils.

The school specialises in mathematics and ICT. The local education authority is the London Borough of Merton.

The current Headteacher in Rutlish School is Mr. Preece

[edit] History

The school is named after William Rutlish embroderier to Charles II. Rutlish was a resident of the parish of Merton and is buried in the churchyard of the parish church of St. Mary. Rutlish died in 1697 and left a bequest of 400 pounds (about £38,000 in 2006) for the education of poor children of the parish.

By the 1890s the charity had accumulated a considerable excess of funds and John Innes, local landowner and chairman of the board of trustees , used some of the excess to establish a school.

The first school building, established as a grammar school, was located in what is now Rutlish Road off Kingston Road. After World War II the school was overflowing its building and in the early 1950s a new school was built on the present site south of Watery Lane on land that had belonged to John Innes and which had been occupied until 1945 by the John Innes Horticultural Institution (now the John Innes Centre in Norwich).

Among the existing school buildings are two which have ties to Innes. The Manor House adjacent to the school entrance on Watery Lane was Innes's home (a blue plaque records his association) and the oldest of the buildings next to the playing field was once the library and offices of the Institution and had ranges of greenhouses attached to it. A number of additional buildings have been constructed over the years to supplement the facilities of the 1950s buildings.

Following the education reforms of the late 1960s, the school became a comprehensive although it retained many of its grammar school traditions long after the conversion - school houses (named after ancient warrior nations or groups), uniforms with house and school colours, a Combined Cadet Force, and prefects. For many years the school maintained a croquet lawn for the use of the headmaster and the prefects. The school also operated an exchange programme with Eton College for a number of years.

In the 1970s the education system in Merton was altered to use a three tier structure (primary, middle and high school) in place of the former two tier structure and Rutlish lost the first three of its years. The school still retained the old year names; however, so that pupils starting at the school began as "fourth" years. The following years were named "remove", "fifth", "transitus" and "sixth" (actually a pupil's fifth year at the school if he remained that long).

Following the conversion back to a two tier system in the 1990s, the school closed its a sixth form as it was uneconomic. Students wishing to take A-levels now go to the Sixth form college.

[edit] Old Rutlishians

Since 1906 the Old Rutlishians Association ("Old Ruts") has existed as an Old Boys sports and social club linked to the school which former pupils of the school were eligible to join. With the loss of the sixth forms the number of former pupils joining the association fell and membership has been opened to all comers.

The club fields a large number of football, rugby and cricket teams and has a ground and clubhouse in Poplar Road, Merton Park.

[edit] Trivia

The school motto is: "Modeste Strenue Sancte".

The names of the school houses:

[edit] Notable alumni

[edit] External links

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