| Motto | Ad Summa Nitimur (Strive For The Highest), previously "Be Of Good Courage" |
|---|---|
| Established | 1977 |
| Type | Independent Day and Boarding School |
| Principal | James Sinclair |
| Location | Finborough Hall Great Finborough Suffolk IP14 3EF England |
| Students | c.220 pupils |
| Gender | Coeducational |
| Ages | 2–18 |
| Houses | 3 (Churchill, Nelson and Marlborough) |
| Colours | Maroon and Navy and White |
| Publication | Highlights (no longer running) |
| Website | www.finboroughschool.co.uk |
Finborough School (previously St. George's School) is a small co-educational independent school, owned by the Sinclair family. It is situated in and around Finborough Hall, in the village of Great Finborough, near Stowmarket, Suffolk, England.
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The original school, named St. George's School, was founded in 1977 by Derek Slade, with the financial support of various others, in Wicklewood near Wymondham, Norfolk[1] and was set up as a military boarding school for boys whose parents were in the armed forces. After failed efforts to purchase the facilities of the HMS Ganges establishment, the school was moved to the current site at Great Finborough in 1980. Slade's use of corporal punishment came under close scrutiny after a BBC Radio 4 Checkpoint investigation in 1982[2] and, although he escaped charges at the time, Slade left in 1983. The case resurfaced in 2010 after former pupils had started a campaign on Facebook. Slade was convicted of over 50 offences relating to physical and sexual abuse, sexual assault and child pornography and sentenced to 21 years in jail[3].
John and Sue Sinclair eventually took over ownership of the school following Slade's departure, and it was renamed Finborough School. The school has changed dramatically in recent years, with the contingent of boarders becoming less dominant. Contrary to its beginnings as a strict and harsh boarding school, the school now prides itself on the friendly, polite, respectful 'family atmosphere' between pupils and staff. In 2008, the Principal John Sinclair retired and his son James Sinclair took over as Principal. The school recently purchased Hillcroft Preparatory School.
The school includes Nursery, Pre-Prep, Prep School, Senior School and Sixth Form[4]. This means that the school has pupils ranging from ages 2 to 18. The Nursery, Pre-Prep and Prep School are all based in the old Finborough Hall building. The Senior School uses some parts of that building, but mainly uses a classroom block located nearby. Assemblies and prizegiving ceremonies are often held in the nearby Great Finborough church.
The school offers a number leadership positions to older pupils, including Head of School, Deputy Head of School, School Council Chair, Prefects and House Captains.
Three school houses form the basis of many events throughout the academic year. Annual events include Sports Day and the Cross Country Run. A House Singing Competition also took place recently.
The whole school uses extensive sports fields for both sport and other events. Girls play netball, hockey, athletics, tennis and rounders. Boys play football, rugby, athletics, cricket and tennis. Most age groups play matches against other local independent schools.
Finborough School has made a number of notable links with local sports clubs. It has successful partnerships with Stowmarket Tennis Club and the Stowmarket Golf Centre[5]. The school also sponsor Bury Rugby Club[6].
Rugby has always been an important part of school sport, since the 1980s, when the rugby team was under the leadership of Simon Warr.
The school has a choir and various ensembles, with regular performance nights being held in the drama studio. The school regularly participates in both the Sudbury Festival[7] and the Suffolk Festival of Music, Dance and Speech[8]. Although drama is not available as a GCSE option[9], the drama club remains popular.
Finborough School holds a regular (normally annual) talent show. The 2003/04 competition was won by a band consisting of Pete Baird, Scott Hancocks and Australian gap-year student Ward Sims. In 2004, it was won by Edward Payne and Jake McNaughton with their rendition of "I Heard It Through The Grapevine". In 2005, the competition was won by a band consisting of James Clarke (lead guitar), Tom Reed (bass) and Josh McMullan (drums), who played "Sunshine of Your Love" and "Summer of '69". Korrell Holley won the competition in 2006. Payne and McNaughton reclaimed the title in the autumn of 2007, singing "In the Sun". The audience vote system was scrapped in favour of a judging panel of 3 for the 2010 edition. However, the event ended in controversy when Arnold & George (Tenacious D medley, guitar & drums) were crowned winners, despite allegations that Edward Payne & Jake McNaughton (Candy/Now My Feet Won't Touch The Ground, singing & piano), competing for the third and final time, had actually won according to the judges' marks, but were instead given 5th place. It was however found that Edward Payne had no life and wrote this all himself and his poor singing made him loose the competition.
There are three school houses: Churchill, Marlborough and Nelson named after Winston Churchill, the John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough and Horatio Nelson respectively.
| House | House Colours |
|---|---|
| Churchill | White |
| Marlborough | Red |
| Nelson | Navy blue |
Originally, the school was primarily for boarders and a large percentage of pupils came from military families, hence the names of the houses. The original plan for the houses was to put children of army families into Marlborough house, children of air force families into Churchill house and children from naval families into Nelson house. However, so few children came from naval or air force backgrounds that many of the army children filled in the spaces in the other houses. This plan is no longer used today; pupils are assigned a random house as soon as they join the school.
• After an inspection by the Independent Schools Inspectorate in 2005, the school was described as 'a gem of a school'[10].
• In December 2005, Finborough School was awarded the title of the friendliest school in Suffolk, and the 6th friendliest in the country. This was based on former pupils' activities on the Friends Reunited website - the average number of e-mails sent by each former pupil to classmates, and the average number of pupils who sent messages on the Friends Reunited website.
• Finborough Hall, once owned by the Pettiward family, subsequently gave its name to Finborough Road in London, through Roger Pettiward. This led to the name of Finborough Theatre.
• The school has strong ties with the Kids Klub organisation, which also operates on the Finborough Hall site and was actually founded there[11].
• Finborough School was the basis of the comic strip TTS.
Alex 'Bear' Rosedale, bass guitarist in the band Walkway[12]
Simon Warr, former resident house master and rugby coach, who is now Head of Drama at the Royal Hospital School and has made numerous appearances on TV, including 'That'll Teach 'Em'.