King William's College

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King William's College
Colleish Ree Illiam

Motto	Assiduitate Non Desidia
Established	1833
Type	Independent school
Founder	Bishop Isaac Barrow
Principal	Philip John BA
Students	Circa 650
Location	Castletown, Isle of Man
Accreditation	World School
Colours	Purple, Black, White
Website	www.kwc.sch.im

King William's College (Colleish Ree Illiam in Manx) is an independent school for ages 3 to 18, situated near Castletown on the Isle of Man. The College, fondly known as "'KWC'" and to other locals as "King Bill's", widened entry from boys-only to co-educational in the 1980s. It was founded with financing from the Bishop Barrow Trust set up in 1668, but the College did not open its doors until 1833, with only 46 boys. Today there are roughly 500 pupils. The College was named after King William IV who is said to have offered the founders "my most valuable possession, my name" when asked for a financial contribution. King William's College attracts a high number of international students, and offers the International Baccalaureate to Sixth Formers. The College is located on two sites in Castletown; the main estate which takes pride of place on the shore of Castletown Bay, and The Buchan School which is the College's junior school, located in the Westhill part of Castletown, some two miles from the main campus. The school runs an ancient praefectoral system, with the Principal appointing members of the Upper Sixth Form to the role of Præpositors – a post known only to the College. The head Praepositor is also the Head of School.

The coat of arms in the centre of the College's crest is that of Bishop Isaac Barrow who in 1668 set up a trust to fund education in the Isle of Man. This was later used to found the College in 1833. Its name reportedly comes from King William IV who, when asked for a contribution to establish the school, replied that he would give the school his most valuable possession, his name. The school features, thinly disguised, in the Victorian schoolboy book Eric, or, Little by Little by Dean Farrar.

1 General Knowledge Paper (GKP)
2 Houses
3 Præpositors
4 Combined Cadet Force
5 Notable alumni
- 5.1 Victoria Cross Holders
6 References
7 See also
8 External links

[edit] General Knowledge Paper (GKP)

Since 1904, the College has set an annual general knowledge test, known as the General Knowledge Paper (GKP). The pupils sit the test twice; once unseen on the day before the Christmas holidays, and again when they return to school in the New Year, after having spent the holiday researching the answers. However, the test is now voluntary. It is well-known to be highly difficult, a common score being just two correct answers from the list of several hundred. The best scores are 40 to 50 for the unseen test and about 270 out of 360 for the second sitting. Traditionally, the best scorers were given a free half day off school, while anyone doing particularly badly was given a detention.

The quiz is always introduced with the following Latin motto: "Scire ubi aliquid invenire possis, ea demum maxima pars eruditionis est", which translates as: "To know where you can find anything is, after all, the greatest part of erudition."

The quiz is popular with non-pupils, and has been published in The Guardian since 1951.

The current quizmaster is Dr. Pat Cullen, a retired GP, who has been setting the quiz since 1997. He reports that he now checks questions by typing them into Google and changing them if necessary to make sure the answers cannot be found immediately.

Today the GKP is sent home to parents, there being a prize of £100 for the winning family. There is great competition between the local Manx families over this competition.

[edit] Houses

Colbourne House - Mixed Boarding House
Dickson House - Mixed Day House
Walters House - Mixed Day House

Colbourne House used to be just the Boys' Boarding House with School House being the Girls' Boarding House. They merged together a few years ago to form one boarding community and have thrived because of this. School House is the name of the place where the girl boarders reside and are still referred to as the 'School House Girls', but are now a part of Colbourne House.

[edit] Præpositors

A Præpositor is an equivalent of a Prefect; a member of the Upper Sixth Form who has considerable responsibility within the school. The title Head of School is the title given to the most senior Præpositor. The Head of School can either be male or female. Depending on the gender of the Head of School their subordinate colleague will be known as either the Head Boy or the Head Girl. The Head of School is a long-established post, with the first recorded appointment in 1846.

[edit] Combined Cadet Force

King William's College Combined Cadet Force consists of three sections: Army, Royal Navy and Royal Air Force. This historical youth organisation, which evolved in 1911 from the Officer Training Corps, continues to uphold the school's strong military traditions and is an integral part of school life. Since September 2005, membership into the CCF has been completely voluntary and this has, therefore, allowed the achievement of benchmark standards. High levels of commitment from the cadets and officers have created new and exciting opportunities. This CCF prides itself on the brilliant training it delivers to cadets on leadership, responsibility, self-discipline and teamwork. The aim of all cadets in this contingent is to take pride in everything that they do by setting themselves the highest of standards so that they may become an example to everyone around them.