Tiffin School
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| Tiffin School | |
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| Motto | Faire sans dire (To do without speaking) |
| Established | 1880 |
| Type | Grammar voluntary aided school |
| Headteacher | Sean Heslop |
| Founders | John and Thomas Tiffin |
| Location | Queen Elizabeth Road Kingston upon Thames Surrey KT2 6RL England  |
| LEA | Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames |
| Ofsted number | 102605 |
| Staff | approx. 80 |
| Students | 1,050 |
| Gender | Boys |
| Ages | 11 to 19 |
| School colours | Red, blue |
| Former pupils | Old Tiffinians |
| Website | The Tiffin School Website |
| Coordinates: | |
Tiffin School is a selective boys' grammar school, situated in Kingston upon Thames, southwest London, England, with specialist Performing Arts College status. The school is mainly voluntary aided but raises additional funds through special events. Founded in 1880, the school educates over 1,000 students.
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[edit] Identity
The school colours - red and blue - date from the time of its original foundation in the 17th century. 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 'to do without speaking', or 'actions not words'. The vision statement is A leading creative community; an enduring love of learning.
[edit] History
Two prosperous brewers from Kingston, John and Thomas Tiffin, left money in their wills in 1638 for the education of local people. At first the money was used for scholarships to attend local schools. However, the fund grew through investment returns 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 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.[1]
In 1929 the Boys' School moved to its present site, near the centre of Kingston.[1] It became a grammar school in 1943 and changed from being voluntary-controlled to being grant-maintained in 1992.
In 2005 the schools celebrated their 125th anniversaries.
[edit] Present day
There are around 140 boys in each year and about 340 in the Sixth Form. The headmaster is Sean Heslop who was appointed after the previous head, Dr Tony Dempsey, retired in 2004. There are 65 teaching staff.[2]
A Learning Resources Centre, named The Dempsey Centre after the previous headmaster, was opened in September 2004, and contains ICT suites, a lecture theatre, a library, and a new careers office.[3][4]
[edit] Ofsted report
The Ofsted report in 2002 stated that "the school is very popular; annually, it receives around 1,200 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." In 2007, Tiffin got grade 1, outstanding, for every area.[5]
[edit] The house system
There were originally four houses. Churchill and Montgomery were added after the Second World War. Every pupil at the school is a member of a house throughout their education at the school.
Each house has a House Master, with House Captains elected from the Upper VI each September, responsible for overall control and discipline of the house. Houses compete annually for the House Trophy which is awarded to the winning house at the end of the competition, which consists of academic and sporting events, and is usually presented on Sport's Day.
| House | House Colour | Tie Colours |
|---|---|---|
| Raleigh | Maroon and White | |
| Drake | Black and Red | |
| Kingsley-Montgomery | Black and Green | |
| Churchill-Gordon | Black and White | |
| Livingstone | Blue and Marigold (Formerly Brown and Marigold) | |
| Scott | Prussian Blue and White |
[edit] Music
The school has a choir and several musical ensembles, including a swing band and the Thames Youth Orchestra.[6] Every year, the school performs an oratorio, which consists of students, parents, staff and friends and is accompanied by either the Brandenburg Symphony Orchestra, the London Mozart Players or the Sinfonia Britannica.[7]
[edit] Tiffin Boys' Choir
The Tiffin Boys' Choir, which celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2007, performs at notable venues including the Royal Opera House, the Royal Festival Hall, and the Barbican with London orchestras, and it regularly goes on tour.[8] The choir has also recorded CDs, such as 'Rejoice in the Lamb' and 'Christmas at Tiffin'. It has also appeared on recordings of Mahler with Klaus Tennstedt, Puccini's Tosca with Antonio Pappano and Britten's War Requiem with Kurt Masur.[9] In addition to this, the choir has featured on the last ever episode of TFI Friday, on the soundtrack of A Christmas Carol, starring Kate Winslet, and on the subsequently released top-ten Kate Winslet Single 'What If'.[9] The choir has made tours to Germany, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Poland and China.
[edit] Drama
Drama has been a long-standing Tiffin tradition and, with the status of Performing Arts College granted in 2003, this continues. The main school production is put on in the first week of December and there is usually a smaller production in the summer. Previous productions have included School for Scandal, Macbeth, The Odyssey, The Government Inspector, Playing the Victim and Hit the Gold Trail (in collaboration with NYMT).
[edit] Sports
Tiffin School is active in all the main sports.[10] It has facilities for rugby, football, cricket and tennis at a large area of ground near Hampton Court, that it owns, known as Grists (after it was donated by a former headmaster of the same name).[11] The school also has a boathouse along the Thames at Canbury Gardens.[12]
[edit] Tiffin shop
The Tiffin shop is a business, connected to the school which gets all profits, that sells school uniform, stationery and textbooks.[13]
[edit] Old Tiffinians
Former pupils are known as Old Tiffinians.[14] The Old Tiffinians' Association seeks to arrange reunion events such as dinners and sports fixtures.[15] [16]
Notable alumni of the school include Johnny Lee Miller and Alec Stewart.
[edit] References
- ^ a b Tiffin School.
- ^ Staff List.
- ^ Learning Resource Centre.
- ^ Serota Library Furniture.
- ^ Ofsted Report: Tiffin School.
- ^ Tiffin School Performing Arts College.
- ^ Tiffin Oratorio.
- ^ Tiffin Boys Choir.
- ^ a b Tiffin Boys Choir.
- ^ Tiffin School Sport.
- ^ Grists Sports Ground.
- ^ Tiffin Small Boats Head.
- ^ School Shop.
- ^ "Old Tiffinians' Association"
- ^ Old Tiffinians RFC.
- ^ Old Tiffinians CC.
