The King's School, Peterborough
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The King's School, Peterborough is a Voluntary Aided Church of England comprehensive secondary school in Peterborough, England. It 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 boys".
The school became comprehensive and coeducational in 1976.
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[edit] History
The King's School is a secondary school, with a large sixth form. It was founded as the Cathedral School to educate the cathedral choristers and this close link with the cathedral is still valued and maintained today.
Over 900 pupils attend The King's School, of whom approximately 300 are in the sixth form, for which there is a minimum examination qualification for entry of five C grades at GCSE level.
The King's School's strong record of success since 1976 was recognised in June 1999 with the award of Beacon status. Pupils of all abilities are encouraged to achieve their highest academic potential - bringing claims from some students that the highly pressured atmosphere may bring academic success at a significant price. The school also has specialist Science status, which means that the school gets a grant of a certain amount of money from the Government for expansion of the sciences in the school.
Other aspects of development are not neglected: there is plenty of opportunity for participation in music, drama, outdoor activities, sport and social events, as well as a range of clubs and societies, catering for leisure pursuits. Pupils are expected to develop a sense of responsibility for their conduct and behaviour and to become aware of the needs and rights of others. The size of the school, it is claimed, enables each pupil to find a sense of both identity and security: new pupils soon settle in and become part of the school's 'extended family'.
In spite of its traditional trappings, the school considers itself very much up-to-date, and tries to offer pupils a thorough preparation for life in the 21st century.
A plaque commemorating the King's School students who died in action during World War I was placed in Flanders during an annual GCSE class trip to the Flanders battlefields in 2005.
The people at King's (perhaps more specifically, the teachers who have been at the school for a while, and those who have been at King's since the first year of secondary school) are generally proud of the school's good reputation and work to maintain it. There is some historic rivalry between King's students and other students throughout Peterborough. There is a strong rivalry with Deacon's School in Peterborough, also - this could in part be due to the fact that the two are less than ten minutes' walk from one another.
The school claims to be 'comprehensive' - however, twelve places are given away according to an entry examination and three are allocated according to ability in music. The other places are allocated to students going down a list of criteria, including religion and siblings already attending the school. Competition for places is fierce and this has led to some suspicions that lower-achieving students, particularly those from working class or ethnic minority backgrounds are much less likely to gain places at the school than those from middle class backgrounds.
[edit] Houses
The school is divided into four houses: St. Chad's House, St. Oswald's House, St. Peter's House and School House. Originally there were six houses in total, with Tudor House and Thompson House both closing in 1976. Allocation is supposedly random however siblings generally follow through the same House. The Houses are led by a male and female House Captain and House Vice Captain, along with House Master and House Mistress being teachers. Teachers are allocated to houses and play the role as "House Staff." The Houses compete in several events over the year, including "inter-house" events in all games sports, an annual Sports Day, and House Music. Points are allocated for house success in all of these competitions and, the house with the most points at the end of the curricular year is awarded the House Cup.
[edit] House Music
House Music is an event which occurs annually in the Autumn term. All of the houses present four pieces of modern or traditional music. The programme for the evening has changed over the post years and now consists of the following items in order of appearance:[1]
- A Lower School Choir piece (Years 7-9)
- An Orchestral piece
- A Senior Choir piece (Years 10-13 and for which there is a separate trophy)
- Finale. (In which the entire house takes part)
It was originally held in the school hall, but numbers attending the competition grew and the a new home had to be found. The competition is now held each year at The Broadway Theatreas Peter Boizot[2], the ex-owner of the Broadway Theatre has a long association with the King's School. The staff at the theatre provide the sound and lighting for the event, with some help from pupils. - A DVD is produced by the school's 'Video Film Unit' to allow students, House Captains and the audience to enjoy their performance and hard work in the future.
All of the music in organised entirely by the House Captains, without the help of the house staff (although they try and encourage house members to attend rehearsals and help with the logistics of moving year 7's around). Because there is such rivalry between the houses tensions can get very high, particularly at the moment when the results are announced. This has lead to a number of chants being sung which are often stolen from one house to 'out-shout' members of the house who started that chant first. For example, that of St. Oswalds house:
(House Captain) Ozzy, Ozzy, Ozzy! (reply) Oi! Oi! Oi!
The winners are decided by a panel of judges including the music teachers and an outside, impartial judge. The winners of the competition receive a trophy which has the names of previous winners on it. There is also a separate cup, aptly named the 'Senior Choir Cup' which is awarded to the best senior choir of the night. This has shown to be a reflection of who might also win the main trophy.
[edit] Scholae Regiae Carmen
The Scholae Regiae Carmen is the song of the school. It was written by W.C.C. Cooke who was an assistant master of music from 1903 to 1907 when he left to join the staff of Calday Grange Grammar School, later to become Headmaster of Northampton Grammar School. The music was composed by A.E. Armstrong whose son, Sir Thomas Armstrong was once principal of the Royal Academy of Music. A.E. Armstrong joined the staff of the school as a part time music master when E.J. Cunningham was Headmaster and continued to serve until the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939. The song has since fallen into disuse as it was written when the school was still boys only, and the vast proportion were choristers. The lyrics are as follows:
'Schola Regia! he, thy founder, monarch of the bye gone so they sing his royal foresight, and they sing thy might and They have shown thy lessons master'd, where the green-sward calls to days, Founded thee that wit and wisdom thro' the years might tell his worth; He who framed the noble project, thou who gav'st their knowledge play, and the world's wide field has proved them worthy fighters in life's praise. That thy sons might write their titles, clearly on the scroll of birth. Wistful thoughts of long-past boyhood, careless joys that school days fray. They have learnt the worth of honour, learnt to choose the good and fame. Known for learning and for valour. Bringing honour to his name. Know, link thee closer to their memories as the seasons come and go. Pure, Rules thou gavest ne'er for, got ten are their heritage secure'
(Chorus) 'Schola Regia! from the nations, from the counties scatter'd wide: Hear thy sons, for ever loyal, tho' the sundering seas divide. Hear thy sons now, past and present, raise the loving paean high; Home, abroad, they still must praise thee, Schola Regia, till they die.'
[edit] Literature
W.D. Larrett, a former deputy headmaster of the school published, with the aid of the old Petriburgian Association 'A History of The King's School Peterborough' in 1966. The book covers the schools beginnings in the cathedral precincts, through the war period culminating after the school received much needed extensions which house the science and geography departments. In 2005, the 1966 edition was restored and updated by Denham Larrett. A much earlier history of the King's School was published in 1905 by A.F. Leach, a distinguished historian who spent several months in Peterborough examining the cathedral records and documents, this history ends in 1904 when E.S.T Badger becomes Headmaster.
The school retains a vast archive of documents charting the history of the King's School, most notably recent extensive research into the lives of King's School students who served in the first and second world wars. This research culminated in placing a war memorial plaque in Flanders.
[edit] Scandals
Timothy Coldwell was the Head of Physics at The King's School for a period, but was arrested on charges of making indecent images of a child and admitted, in 2003, to having done so. [1]
In 2005, Gavin Lister, another teacher (this time in PE) was charged with engaging in sexual activity with a girl between the ages of 13 and 15, and later pleaded guilty on those charges. [2]
[edit] Notable Alumni
- Sir Thomas Armstrong, Principal of the Royal Academy of Music
- Peter Boizot, entrepreneur and founder of Pizza Express
- David Lammy, MP for Tottenham since 2000
- Brian J. Ford, scientist and writer
- Andy Bell, member of the pop group Erasure
- Gray Jolliffe, 'Wicked Willie' cartoonist
[edit] See also
- Peterborough Cathedral
- The King's School, Canterbury
- The King's School, Chester
- The King's School, Ely
- The King's School, Gloucester
- The King's School, Rochester
- The King's School, Worcester
