Kingsmead School
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| Kingsmead School | |
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| Motto | Dominus Vitae Robur (The Lord is the Strength of my Life) |
| Established | 1904 |
| Type | Independent |
| Religious affiliation | Christian |
| Headmaster | Jonathan F. Perry |
| Chair of Governors | Rev Michael D A Hepworth, MA, PGCE |
| Founder | Arthur Watts |
| Location | Bertram Drive Hoylake Wirral CH47 0LL England |
| Gender | Boys & Girls |
| Ages | 2 to 16 years |
| Houses | Hilbre Ness Royden |
| School colours | Green, Yellow (From 2009, blue will replace yellow as one of the school colours) |
| Website | www.kingsmeadschool.com |
Contents |
[edit] Introduction
Kingsmead School is a Co-educational Independent Day and Boarding School for Boys and Girls aged 2 - 16 located in Hoylake on the Wirral Peninsula. The school was founded in 1904 by Arthur Watts, a Baptist minister and mathematician. In 1911 the school motto was selected, “Dominus Vitae Robur” – The Lord is the Strength of my Life. Kingsmead is under the Independant Association of Prep Schools (IAPS) and the current headteacher is Jonathan Perry.
[edit] History
In 1904 Arthur Watts, one of six sons of a Baptist minister and a gifted mathematician, founded Kingsmead School. His dream was to establish a Christian school in which ‘the environment would be ideal for learning well, for playing good games and keeping physically fit’. All but one of the brothers became involved in the school’s early years; three of them were Cambridge scholars.
The Great War claimed the lives of 13 old boys, each one was a personal bereavement to Arthur Watts. Two Kingsmeadians won the Military Cross – a master, Lieutenant Lavery and old boy F W Atherton who was just 19.
The years between the wars were ones of economy and survival as the Depression took the world in its grip. It would take until 1944 for numbers to return to their 1921 levels. By 1939 Kingsmead was 35 years old and Arthur Watts, aged 68, had just two short years in which he shared the running of the school with his son before Gordon was called up to the RAF. At 70, Arthur was left to steer Kingsmead alone through another war.
After the Second World War, another son, David, returned to Kingsmead in 1949 to run the school in partnership with Gordon. He soon became the sole Head and during his 30-year leadership the school continued to expand, becoming co-educational in the mid-1960s. New facilities followed each other rapidly: an indoor pool, woodland plantation, the Memorial Hall and new science labs. In 1966 an Educational Trust was set up to secure the school for the future.
The 1990s saw more expansion, firstly to include children from the age of two in a new Kindergarten. This was followed shortly afterwards by the extension of the leaving age; the school now educates children up to the age of 16, offering a wide range of GCSEs.
The school still occupies the original site, although Arthur would be astounded and delighted by the changes and developments which have taken place over the years. The long awaited Music Block opened in 1984 and the Centenary Building, which is the flagship of the Senior Department, was opened in 2004, rapidly becoming the centre-piece of the newly-extended 11-16 Kingsmead campus.
Over 100 years after it first opened its doors to offer its own very special brand of education, Kingsmead is now the only school in the Merseyside region to offer 21st century-style boarding as well as day education.
[edit] Ethos
Although Kingsmead is a Christian School, it welcomes children of all beliefs and none. The school day is started with an assembley which includes a bible reading, an address, a hymn and prayers.
The school is made up by small classes of no more than twenty which allow pupils to get optimum attention and there is also caring pastoral support for the personal and social wellbeing of the children.
[edit] Departments
[edit] Infants
The Infant Departmenmt is for pupils aged 2-7 and is housed in the Verulam Building. Children can arrive from 8.10am and after-school care is available from the end of the school day at 3.30pm until 6pm.
[edit] Juniors
Pupils move up to the Junior Department situated in Watts House at the age of eleven.
[edit] Seniors
The Senior Department is based in the Centenary Building and at the end of year nine, pupils chose their GCSE Options.
[edit] Headteachers
- 1904-1945 Arthur Watts
- 1939-1941, 1945-1953 Gordon Watts
- 1949-1962, 1963-1979 David Watts
- 1962-1963 John Mayor
- 1962-1963 Stanley Payne
- 1979-1986 Nicholas Bawtree
- 1986-1992 John Eadie
- 1992-2006 Edward Hugh Bradby
- 2006- Jonathan Perry
