Tiffin School
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| Tiffin School | |
| Details | |
|---|---|
| Location | Kingston upon Thames |
| LEA | Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames |
| Region | London |
| Founded | 1880 |
| Ofsted | |
| Type | Grammar school (selective) |
| Category | Voluntary aided |
| Reference | 102605 |
| Students | |
| Total | 1050 |
| Age range | 11–19 |
| Gender | Boys |
| Other | |
| Motto | faire sans dire |
| Website | www.tiffin.kingston.sch.uk |
Tiffin School is a selective boys' grammar school in Kingston upon Thames, southwest London, England, with Specialist Performing Arts College status. The school is mainly voluntarily aided but raises additional funds through special events.
The school colours - red and blue - date from the time of its original foundation. The school's crest with three salmon is based on that of the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames.
The school motto is Faire Sans Dire which, literally translated from French, means 'do without speaking', or 'actions not words'.
Contents |
[edit] History
Two prosperous brewers from Kingston, John and Thomas Tiffin, left money in their wills in 1638 for the education of the locals. At first the money was used for scholarships to attend local schools, but the fund grew through astute investment and additional donations, so by the 1820s nearly 110 children were benefiting from the fund.
By 1869, when the charity schools had closed and the money was no longer needed by the Public Secondary School, the charity's trustees proposed to support Kingston Grammar School. There was a great debate until 1872 when it was decided that Kingston Grammar School should receive no more than a quarter of the income from the charity. Plans were therefore drawn up in 1874 for two new schools: Tiffin Boys' School and Tiffin Girls' School, each taking 150 pupils. A single building by the Fairfield housing both schools was opened in January 1880. In 2005 the schools celebrated their 125th anniversaries.
In 1929 the Boys' School moved to its present site, near the centre of Kingston. It became a grammar school in 1943 and changed from being voluntary-controlled to being grant-maintained in 1992.
[edit] Present day
There are around 150 boys in each year and about 360 in the Sixth Form. The present headmaster is Sean Heslop who was appointed after the previous head, Dr Tony Dempsey, retired in 2004.
A Learning Resources Centre, named The Dempsey Centre after the previous headmaster, was opened in September 2004 for ICT, a lecture theatre, a library, and a new careers office.
The school has a choir and swing band, the former performing, among other places, at the Royal Opera House, the Royal Festival Hall and the Barbican with London Orchestras, and it regularly goes on tour. The Swing Band also joined it on its last tour of Poland in Summer 2005. Amongst many other musical ensembles, the Thames Youth Orchestra is also based in Tiffin.
In the year 2007, the choir will celebrate it's 50th anniversary.
[edit] Extract from Ofsted Report
The Ofsted Report in 2002 stated that "the school is very popular; annually, it receives around 1200 applications for the 140 available places. Very nearly all 16-year-olds continue into the Sixth Form and around 40 more join the Sixth Form each year from other schools. On entry, the pupils’ and Sixth Form students’ attainment is very high compared with the national average."
[edit] Notable alumni
- Dennis Lindley, statistician
- Alec Stewart, professional cricketer and one-time England cricket captain
- Chris Heaton-Harris, Conservative MEP
- Jonny Lee Miller, actor and ex-husband of Angelina Jolie
