The King's School, Ely

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The King's School, Ely
Established 970
School type Independent school
Headmistress Mrs Susan Freestone
Deputy Dr Graham Parry
Location Ely, Cambridgeshire, UK
Students Approx 900
Website The King's School

The King's School, a coeducational independent school in Ely was founded sometime before the Norman Conquest. It is a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference. The headmistress is Mrs Susan Freestone (formally of Sibford) who came to the school in 2004.

Contents

[edit] History

The King's School in Ely is one of seven schools established, or in some cases re-endowed and renamed, by King Henry VIII in 1541 during the Dissolution of the Monasteries for the education of 'poor friendless boys'.

The school keeps a strong link with the cathedral by which it is overshadowed. One notable school tradition is the "hoop trundle", an event where the Kings and Queens scholars beat sticks against a wooden ring along the lane up to the south door of the cathedral. The school has seven internal houses, into which the pupils are sorted: Hereward, School, Hill, Etheldreda [canonary], Osmond, Wilkinson, Withburga and Torfrida – the latter two being named after sisters of Etheldreda, the founder of Ely Cathedral.

The school also has an International Study Centre, a Junior School and a pre-prep school as well as Nursery. In its entirety, the school has over 900 pupils. Spread over a wide campus, different parts of the school occupy different buildings, distributed around the centre of the city. However, all the sections do make use of certain facilities, such as sports facilities and the Monastic Barn.

[edit] School Traditions

[edit] Scholars

Up to 12 of the top scholars in Year 12 are nominated as King’s Scholars (boys) or Queen’s Scholars (girls). They become members of the Cathedral Foundation and also qualify for other privileges. King’s Scholars were inaugurated by Henry VIII in 1541 and Queen’s Scholars at the request of Queen Elizabeth II in 1973. There is no application process for these honorary scholarships, the positions instead being awarded based on pupils' GCSE results.

[edit] Houses, Life And Facilities

The Houses have their own identities, born of community, whilst reflecting the ethos of the School community overall. Each House works like a large family home. Structure, standards of care and discipline are common to all. Independence is encouraged, diversity is celebrated, and caring attitudes are the norm.

Every weekend there is the opportunity to take part in a wide range of activities but there is no obligation to do so. As well as the sporting activities on offer, excursions to museums, galleries, the cinema and shopping centres are arranged.

[edit] Tutors And HouseMasters/Mistresses

Continuity of care is maintained with a system of resident House Masters/House Mistresses, Tutors and Matrons. Each House is allocated tutors and, once assigned to a year group, they follow the students as they progress through the school. Specialist Sixth Form tutors are the exception, since these are assigned according to academic interest.

Tutors have input to all aspects of the students’ lives and are there to advise and offer support in study, relationships with peers and staff and anything which may become a concern or worry. All students enjoy an environment of trust and confidence and this level of care creates a sense of security that ultimately feeds academic achievement.

The Senior School has eight houses - four boarding and four day houses.

[edit] Boarding Houses

Etheldreda Previously called Canonry, this is a girls boarding house, established in September 2006, for the Girls Choir of Ely Cathedral, all of whom are members of the school. The house is located very close to the Cathedral itself for ease of access to the Cathedral for practice and performance (in evensong, each Wednesday and every other Monday).

Hereward Hall is a boys boarding house, situated on Barton Square in Ely, on the site of an old Cambridge college. It contains about 55 boys, and is often considered the most competitive of all the houses, having consecutive wins in many school competitions, not least music.

Hill House is a girls boarding house, situated on the corner of Barton Square and Back Hill. It was, until September 2006, the only girls boarding house, until the girls choir house was formed. It is the largest of all the boarding houses. It was renamed Etheldreda House in the 1970's, following the introduction of girls into the school, but was renamed to Hill House recently.

School House is a boys boarding house based along the gallery, on the road up to the west tower of Ely Cathedral. It houses approximately 60 boys, and is a strong sporting house, rivalling Hereward House.

[edit] Day Houses

The day houses are as follows: Osmond (boys)HSM-Mr Tony Tooth, Wilkinson (boys) HSM-Mr Richard Emms, Withburga (girls)HSM-Mrs Jane Thomas, and Torfrida (girls)HSM-Dr Caroline Skeels,

[edit] Acremont House

Acremont House and Acremont House Nursery are the most junior parts of the school, with pupils starting from age 2. These parts of the school are located separately from the Senior School, being on Egremont Street, Ely. Thus it does not integrate a great deal with the Junior and Senior School, but only joins with them at major school events in Ely Cathedral.


[edit] Junior School

The school has its own Junior School, which is separate from the Senior School, although shares many of its facilities. It is for pupils from year 3 (approximately 7) to year 8 (aged 13). The Junior School has its own faculty of staff, own administration and management and a self contained block of classrooms. This was complemented in 2003 by a new building which contained classrooms and other facilities, primarily for year 8 pupils. A large amount of year 8 pupils continue onto the Senior School.

The Junior School has 4 day houses; Goodwin, Queen Philippa, Queen Emma and Saunders. There is also a boarding house, Priory. The boarders are all linked to a day house as well, which differs from the Senior School method.

The Headmaster of the Junior School is Tony Duncan.

[edit] Ely Cathedral Choir

The choristers of Ely Cathedral are all educated and are boarders at the King's School. The amount of choristers numbers between 18 to 22 boys, varying per year. The choristers perform evensong 4 nights during the week, evensong on Saturday and Sunday, as well as a Morning Service on Sundays. They practice in the mornings before school. The choristers are joint to day houses as well as their boarding house, Choir House.

The choristers are aged between 8 years old and 13 years. 2 members of the Gold Disc winning group, The Choirboys, are members of Ely Cathedral Choir.

NEW FOR 2006/2007 Ely Cathedral has started the girls choristers, which will now live in Etheldreda house (once Canonry). the girls sing Evensong on wednesdays and every other monday. some people do find this strange, as this has completely changed and divided the King's School. some root for the girls but some wish to stay with the ancient tradition. the amount of choristers numbers around 16 girls.

[edit] Notable Alumni

[edit] The King's School in the news

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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