article

King Edward's School (KES) () is an independent secondary school in Birmingham, England, founded by King Edward VI in 1552. It is part of the Foundation of the Schools of King Edward VI in Birmingham and one of the most academically successful schools in the country. It was ranked 10th for A-Level results and 40th for GCSE results [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/4170183.stm out of all schools in England in 2004.

It is a boys' school, although it occupies the same site as, and is twinned with, King Edward VI High School for Girls (KEHS), also one of the most academically successful schools in the UK. Whilst lessons and sports are taught separately, dramatic arts and music are often shared.

History

King Edward's was founded in 1552 in the buildings of the Guild of the Holy Cross on New Street in Birmingham city centre. In 1731 the Guild Hall was demolished and replaced by a new school building called the 'Free School', which had a distinctive tower. This was, in turn, demolished and replaced by a building designed by Charles Barry which opened in 1838. At this time it was known as the 'High School'. Concern for safety and space requirements led to a move, together with KEHS, to Edgbaston in 1936, near to the existing Eastern Road playing field, initially to temporary buildings. After four months a fire burned down the boys' temporary school, and both were forced to move again to the Methodist School in Acocks Green for a short time.

The school has been located, along with KEHS, in Edgbaston since 1940 in new buildings, both designed by H W Hobbis.

The Chapel

The chapel, a Grade II* listed building, was originally the upper corridor of the 1838 Barry New Street school. It was moved to Edgbaston, rebuilt and renovated (1938-1940) by Holland W Hobbis.

The Chapel is used for services every Wednesday morning led by the school chaplain Reverend D. Raynor.

School Structure

Unlike most secondary schools, King Edward's does not use the modern year group names, e.g. Year 11, Year 12, etc.

The table below attempts to clarify the names used for the different classes:

Class Name Year
Shells 7
Removes (Rems) 8
Upper Middles (UMs) 9
Fourths (IVs) 10 First year of GCSE study
Fifths (Vths) 11 Second year of GCSE study
Divisions (Divs) 12 First year of A-level study
Sixths 13 Final year of A-level study

The House System

King Edward's has a house system. The 8 Houses are named after former Chief Masters, Deputy Chief Masters and one 'Friend' (Heath) and compete against one another every year to win the Cock House Trophy.

There are many events that boys take part in and get points for. These points are totalled up at the end of the year, and the House with the most points is declared the Cock House Champion. In the school year 2004-2005, the Cock House Champion was Levett, led by P.E. master Mr L M Roll. However this year Levett performed poorly, dropping dramatically from 1st place to the lowly place of eighth, a feat only previously accomplished by Cary Gilson. Levett accomplished their 2004/2005 victory by usurping Heath who had held the Cup for the previous 6 years. At the other end of the scale, Cary Gilson have come in 8th place for the past 9 years, despite the charismatic leadership of the Chemistry master A.P. Russell. This year however, in Mr. Russel's final year at the helm of Cary Gilson, they scraped a good 6th. At the same time last years winners, Levett, came last.

Each house has a distinctive set of 'colours' which are awarded to students for merit and commitment in representing the house in house matches. This allows the student to wear the house tie.

Cary Gilson
Long the victim to taunts of "Crappy Gilson" or the like, Cary Gilson have achieved poor last place results just about whenever possible over the last years due to a distinct lack of talent. They are hopeful of the chances for this year (2006/07). With new House Master Mr. Pitt and strong talent in both the 5th form and lower down the school, another improvement from 6th place is in order.

Evans

Gifford

Heath

Jeune

Levett

Prince Lee

Vardy

style="margin:inherit; padding-bottom:0.25em"|King Edward's School House Colours
House Colour
Cary Gilson Light Blue
Evans Green
Gifford Purple
Heath Yellow
Jeune Red
Levett White
Prince Lee Pink
Vardy Dark Blue

School Songs

There are two school songs:

  • The Quatercentenary Song
    • Written by Roger Dunt (1900-63) in Latin, composed by Willis Grant (1907-81).
    • Sung at Founder's Day, the annual commemoration in October of King Edward's birthday, and also at various other award ceremonies.

  • King Edward's School Song
    • Written by Alfred Hayes OE (1857-1936), composed by A. Somervell.
    • A rousing, if somewhat clichéd, song, sung mainly at the end of term, usually in a disrespectful manner by high-spirited boys.

Sport

The annual rugby match against KES's main rivals Bromsgrove is the longest running annual rugby game in the world and the highlight of the rugby season. In 2002 the school won the English schools U19 water polo competition.

The House system does much to encourage participation in sport outside the weekly sports lessons. With Autumn and Winter competitions in Rugby, Hockey, Tennis and the like, pupils have the opportunity to participate in team competitions wherever they may otherwise not have the skill to do so on an inter-school basis. In the Summer, House activities such as the school's Athletics competition, Cross Country races and House Swimming allow further sporting pursuit.

The School is able to carry out so much sport through its extensive sporting facilities which include a Swimming Pool, Astroturf pitches (shared with KEHS), Tennis Courts, numerous Rugby and Cricket pitches (including additional training areas), an Athletics track and Eton Fives courts.

Music School

There is a separate building on site housing the Music Department with facilities including a recital/rehearsal auditorium and a computer lab equipped with keyboard input. In addition, the school supports two full orchestras (in association with King Edward's High School for Girls), conducted by Peter Bridle, MBE; the more advanced of which has performed such advanced works as Dvořák's Symphony No. 9 from the New World, Borodin's Polovetsian Dances from Prince Igor and Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazade. There are also two wind/brass ensembles also in association with KEHS, and the senior members of both schools can join the Choral Society, a choir of 80-100 people which has sung such works as Carl Orff's Carmina Burana, Gabriel Fauré's Requiem, and performed Leonard Bernstein's Chichester Psalms in March this year. KES also has its own Choir, which sings at the Founder's Day prizegiving, the Christmas Carol service held in St. Philip's Cathedral in the centre of Birmingham, and at the Christmas and Summer concerts.

The school holds four concerts every year. There are the popular Christmas Concerts, held over two days in mid-December at the Adrian Boult Hall, the Choral and Orchestral concert in mid-March (which features a large choral work by the Choral Society in the first half, and the Symphony Orchestra in the second half, with a solo provided by one of the schools' top musicians) which is also at the Adrian Boult Hall, and the Summer Concert in late April/early May, featuring all the ensembles from the school come together for the Summer Concert held at Symphony Hall, Birmingham.

Drama

Drama at KES has enjoyed a musical every year since the 1980s. This year (2006) saw a very successful production of Little Shop of Horrors by the senior part of the school, and Vanity Fair by the junior part of the school. This was a break from the more traditional musicals such as Sweeney Todd, Les Miserables, West Side Story, Guys and Dolls etc.

Living History

One of the school's more unique societies is the Living History Group, which currently has around 20 members from both KES and the neighbouring King Edward's High School for Girls. Run by history teacher Jonathan Davies, the society adds a "hands-on" approach to lessons with demonstrations of both civilian and military aspects of the late Mediaeval and Tudor periods of English history - around the period in which the school itself was founded. The Group also travels to historical sites to give demonstrations to the public. Recent events have included Warwick Castle, Tilbury Fort, the Avoncroft Museum of Historic Buildings, Harvington Hall and the Battle of Berkeley Castle; the Group travelled to the Mary Rose museum in Portsmouth for the International Festival of the Sea in July, 2005.

Old Edwardians

Movie Appearances

The school premises were used in the 1986 movie Clockwise starring John Cleese, supposedly as the University Of East Anglia.

The school featured briefly in the 2006 Ray Winstone Channel 4 TV movie, 'All in the Game.'

Sources

  • King Edward's School, Birmingham, Tony Trott, 2001, ISBN 0-7524-2448-3
  • King Edward High School Birmingham 1883-1983, Rachel Waterhouse, 1983

External links

Educational institutions established in the 1550s | Schools in Birmingham, England | Schools with Combined Cadet Forces | 1552 establishments | Grade II* listed buildings

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "King Edward's School, Birmingham".

Home Page • arts • business • computers • games • health • hospitals • home • kids & teens • news • physicians • recreation• reference • regional • science • shopping • society • sports • world