Wellington School, Somerset

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Wellington School, Somerset, is a co-educational public school catering for both boarders and day pupils. It should not be confused with the better-known Wellington College, or with a large number of schools worldwide which are also called "Wellington School", or those in other locations called "Wellington".

The school is the second largest employer in the town of Wellington, Somerset, where it is situated near the centre of the town. It was founded in the 19th century.

The school opened a new junior school in 2000, having previously only catered for pupils 10 and over. In 2003 the Princess Royal opened the Princess Royal Sports Complex[1], a £2.65 million indoor sports facility. Now they are raising funds for a new performing arts centre.

The school has its own marching band and active Combined Cadet Force.

September 2006 saw Alan Rogers replaced as headmaster by Martin Reader, after almost 18 years in charge.

1 Scandals
2 Alumni
3 External link
4 Schools in Somerset

[edit] Scandals

A maths teacher, Andrew Crozier, was forced to quit in March 2003 after starting a sexual relationship with the 18-year-old head girl. [2]
Another maths teacher, Ian Sarginson, was convicted of indecently assaulting an underage male pupil in March 2004 and sent to prison. [3]

[edit] Alumni

Despite being a relatively minor public school, it has produced several celebrity alumni, namely:

Author, politician and convicted fraudster Jeffrey Archer, who, it is alleged, falsely claimed as a young man that he had attended the more prestigious Wellington College;
Food critic Keith Floyd;
Actor David Suchet, known for playing Hercule Poirot;
Science author Simon Singh and brother Tom Singh, founder of the New Look chain of stores.