King Edward School from a IVessex Helicopter
KING EDWARD VII SCHOOL
HISTORY
The Lytham Charities, the Foundation to which King Edward VII School belongs, datesfrom gifts made towards repairing damage caused by a great storm and tide in 1719. The Foundation invested in land which later became part of Blackpool and which appreciated greatly in value.
King Edward VII School was opened on its present site overlooking the sea in September, 1908, as a non-denominational grammar school. In 1930, Queen Mary School was founded to cater for girls, and the Foundation also supports two voluntary-aided primary schools, Heyhouses and Lytham 0. of E. Schools.
In 1946, King Edward's was admitted to the Direct Grant List. The Headmaster was elected to member ship of Headmasters' Conference and the School is, therefore, one of some 200 recognized public schools, though its roots and traditions are in the old Grammar School system.
In 1976,the Government announced its intention to pnaseoutthe Direct Grant. To preserve the School's freedom and that of parents to choose their children's education, the Governors opted for indepen dence. It Is intended, however, to maintain as many as possible of the advantages of the Direct Grant system, and in particular the highest academic and personal standards. Through the Assisted Places Scheme, introduced in 1981, the School hopes to continue its tradition of offering an academic education to able boys from families which might not otherwise be able to afford the fees. The Foundation also provides a number of Bursaries to residents of Lytham St. Annes and contributes to the general running of the Schools.
Outdoor Pursuits Centre at Ribblehead in the Yorkshire Dales
School expeditions above and below ground
SITUATION AND BUILDINGS
The School buildings are situated close to the sandhills on the shore, in some 41 acres of grounds, adjacent to our sister school, Queen Mary's. The Hall ("Big School') is used for morning assemblies and for functions. It is specially fitted at one end for dramatic productions, and on the balcony has a Walker pipe organ, installed in 1962.
On the first floor are three Chemistry and three Physics laboratories, a large lecture room and a Computer Studies suite (added in 1983). Two Biology laboratories (one new in 1983), the Language laboratory and the Hawkins Library are on the ground floor.
Other buildings, mainly contained In extensions of 1959 and 1964, include the Gymnasium, Woodwork and Engineering Drawing room, specialist Art, Music and Geography rooms and the Shearman Library, used by the Arts Sixth. Most of the Sixth Form teaching is carried out in smaller rooms In the former boarding house, which also provides accommodation for the administration and for club and society activities.
There is a separate, well-equipped kitchen and dining room, where dinners, mid-morning snacks and games teas are provided. Attached to this building is a Sixth Form Common Room. There is also a Tuck and Uniform Shop attached to the new Biology Laboratory (1983).
On the School Fields are six grass tennis courts. Senior and Junior cricket squares,four Rugby pitches, one Hockey pitch, one Junior School football pitch, athletics facilities, the rifle range, cricket pavilion and a large Games Hall , in which various sports can be carried on throughout the year. •
A scene from a School Dramatic production
A lesson in the Gymnasium
The Duke of Edinburgh talking with Award Winners
SOCIAL ORGANIZATION
The School aims to provide a genuinely balanced education and to serve the needs of each boy as an individual. Particular attention is paid to personal relationships and a sense of community. The School expects the loyalty of its boys and believes that co-operation between Schooi and parents is essential. Success in studies is partly dependent on a boy's feeling at home in the School community, and a disciplined and harmonious schooi is a happy one. High standards of work, personal appear ance, honesty and courtesy are insisted upon. Boys must conduct themselves at all times in a manner consistent with the School's reputation. We believe that freedom is meaningful only in the context of responsibility. At the same time, we wish to stimulate initiative, to encourage boys to stand on their own feet" and to lead them towards the mature seif-discipline of which we expect them to become capable.
Immediate responsibility for pastoral care rests with Form masters, but the School is also sub-divid^ vertically into five Houses. The House Masters are able to get to know their boys over a longer periocT thus ensuring continuity. The House system also fosters a spirit of friendly competition in sports and other activities; House Cups are keenly contested. The Headmaster teaches all three first year forms, in order to know every boy in the School. Both the Head and Deputy are directly involved in matters of welfare and discipline.
Athletics on the Fields
Learning to sail on Fairhaven Lake
ACADEMIC ORGANIZATION
There are three parallel forms in each of the five years in the Senior School, leading to G.C.E. Ordinary Level. Certain subjects, such as French and Mathematics, are setted to enable boys of different aptitudes to proceed at their appropriate pace.
For the first two years, all boys have the same broadly based curriculum, including English, Mathe matics, French, History, Geography, Physics, Chemistry, Religious Studies, Art & Craft, Music, Physical Education and Classical Studies. Boys are introduced to Computer Studies, Biology and Latin in the second year. These two years are an introductory period, in which every effort is made to see that boys settle in happily and learn to accept the conventions and standards of a grammar school.
In the third year, boys with adequate linguistic aptitude are offered a choice between Latin and German. In the fourth and fifth years, all boys study English, French, Mathematics and at least one Science, but amongst other subjects there is considerable freedom of choice. There is no premature specializ ation and nearly all boys take eight C Levels, chosen from those subjects already listed, and from Engineering Drawing and Economics, which are available from the Fourth year. Extensive use of setting (as opposed to streaming) caters for individual needs; C.S.E. and 16+ examinations are available as alternatives to some boys in some subjects. Most boys continue into the Sixth Form after 'O' Level examinations.
1 Plii Plfi?
THE SIXTH FORM
The majority of boys prepare for entrance to University or Polytechnic and take three A' Levels chosen from about sixteen subjects. Many different combinations are available, some of which link the Arts and Science Sixth Forms; and there is co-operation with Queen Mary's in the teaching of some subjects, in addition to their specialist subjects, ail Sixth Formers take a course of Liberal Studies, designed both to prepare them for an extra G.C.E. 'A Level, General Studies, and to broaden their education. The contents of this course are continually under review, but the range is always wide, to balance the depth required in the main line A' Level subjects. Groups are kept small, to encourage discussion.
A small minority of boys study just two A' Levels (plus General Studies), together with additional 'O' Levels. Some 'O' Levels, like Electronics and Computer Studies, are also available to 'three A-Level" students. All Sixth Formers have some private study periods. Learning to organize their own studies is an important feature in their development; we have a duty to equip our boys to stay the course in Higher Education, as well as to help them get there. There is a large Sixth Form Common Room for recreation, and the Libraries and Prefects' Room are available for private study.
Students wishing to prepare for Oxford and Cambridge may do so either as second year Sixth Formers, or by staying for a seventh term after taking A Levels.
The Woodwork Room
The Language Laboratory
Pradising 'o'' a School Coricer;
GAMES AND ACTIVITIES
are seen as an integral part of the curriculum, and as a preparation for expanding leisure time in the late twentieth century. The School enjoys a tradition of success in sports, especially Rugby and Cricket. Games periods are compulsory, but there is a wide range of choice as boys move up the School. Other sports include athletics, cross-country, golf, hockey, tennis, table tennis, badminton, basketbal l, rifle shooting and there is the opportunity to learn sailing and canoeing on Fairhaven Lake nearby.
In 1983, the School acquired Its own Outdoor Pursuits Centre at Ribblehead In the Yorkshire Dales. This is used for Field Studies in several subjects; for parties of boys on residential and recreational visits, which promote self-reliance as well as being very popular; and for outdoor activities, including canoeing, fell-walking, caving and the Duke of Edinburgh's Award, which Is well-established in the School. There are frequent trips elsewhere in the British Isles and abroad, including language exchanges and an annual ski-ing trip to the Alps.
Inside School, there are many clubs,societies and cultural activities. These include Community Service and charity fund-raising; the Dramatic Society, which produces an annual play; musical activities, including the Carol Service, two concerts annually, an orchestra and a very active chess club; quiz teams; and societies such as aviation, philately, war games, bridge, railways, woodwork, photography, motor sports and advanced driving classes, gymnastics, etc. The Christian Forum, Debating Society! the Madrigal Group and subject societies are areas of co-operation with Queen Mary's at Sixth Form level.
The School's policy is to offer a diversity of interests and opportunities, In the belief that "extra-curricular" activities complement academic studies and encourage boys to participate fully in the School's corporate life.
ACADEMIC RESULTS: CAREERS
Over the past 12 years, 1971-82, a total of 62 boys have gained entrance to Oxford and Cambridge, including several with Open Awards, in the same period, the average number per year proceeding to degree courses at Universities and Polytechnics has been 47, i.e. over three quarters of Sixth Form leavers. In the last ten years, the subject pass rate at Advanced Level of the G.C.E, has been, on average, nearly 80%. There have been 2,524 A' Level passes in this period, 15% of them with distinc tion. An average of 57 boys per year have obtained at least two {and the vast majority of them three or four) A' Levels. Results at 'O' Level have also approached 80% success,
There is an active Careers department, and boys are encouraged to visit the Careers Room and to become aware of opportunities open to them, in professions, commerce and industry, as wel l as in Higher Education.The School utilizes the resources of the Independent Schools Careers Organization, including their advisers and their aptitude tests. Parents and Old Lidunians who are prominent in their professions attend careers evenings to advise boys (especially in their Fifth Year) and their parents. The curriculum has been developed and options made more flexible to equip boys for a rapidly changing world.
Contact with parents is encouraged through Parents' Association functions. Parents' Evenings to discuss b.oys' progress. Reports, news-sheets, the magazine. School Games and occasions like Founders' Day, and through individual appointments.
Senior Chemistry Laboratory
>LOE PRESTON
THE JUNIOR SCHOOL
Master-in-charge: Mr. J. Haworth, B.A.
King Edward VII Junior School consists of four forms containing between them approximately 85 boys aged 7-11 years. It is housed in light and modern rooms, in its own self-contained wing. Admission is by written examination in English, Arithmetic and Verbal Reasoning. The classes are relatively small, so that individual attention can be given.
The curriculum is varied and flexible to meet today's needs, but the emphasis is on high standards in reading, writing and arithmetic. There is a well-stocked Junior School library and a colour television with video recorder. Many of the facilities of the Senior School are shared, in particular, the Computer Studies Room, a Science Laboratory, the Music Room,the Games Hall, the Gymnasium, and the Pur suits Centre at Ribblehead. Once a week the daily morning assembly is held in the Senior School.
Sports which provide school teams and House teams(Drake, Hood, Nelson and Rodney)are associa tion football, cricket, athletics and swimming. Boys are also encouraged to take part in a wide range of extra-curricular activities, including recorder and craft clubs, table tennis, indoor five-a-side football, rugby for older age groups, chess, drama productions and community service. There is a flourishing Junior School orchestra.
The aim of the Junior School is to lay sound foundations for future development, both academic and personal, and, of course, to prepare boys for entrance to the Senior School. In recent years, the pass rate has been very high.
Junior School cricket practice in Sports Hall
Tennis on the St. Paul's Courts
Headmaster:
D. HEAP, M.A., St. Catharine's College, Cambridge
Deputy Headmaster:
T. J. PEACOCK, M.A., B,Phil. Downing College, Cambridge
STAFF
P, CARAH, B.Sc., Exeter University
J. G. SIMPSON, B.A., Manchester University
D. W. SMITH, M.A., Christ's College, Cambridge
J. A. BOOTH, M.A., Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge
R. A. ROSTRON, B.Sc., Sheffield University
W. D. LEWTHWAITE, D.P.Ed., Carnegie College, D.Adv.Ed., Manchester University
N. R. PRICE, M.A., Wadham College, Oxford
D. R. MATTHEWS, B.Sc., M.R.I.C., Manchester University
G ROBERTS, B.Sc., Bangor University
R. NAYLOR, M.A., Keble College, Oxford
D. S. ELLISTON, M.A., University College, Oxford
D. M. CHILD, M.A., St. Catharines College,
J. HAWORTH, B.A., Open University
J. A. LIGGETT, B.A., University College, Cardiff
J. M. TURNER, B.Sc., Sheffield University
J. B. BRELSFORD, M.A., Pembroke College, Cambridge
R. L. GRANT, B.A., Liverpool University
M. G. STEPHENSON, B.A., St. Peter's College, Oxford
P. J. BATTRICK, B.A., Lancaster University
C. WILDON, Dip.A.D., Wolverhampton College of Art, ATD Birmingham
J. RICE, Edge Hill College
G. A. LITTLE, B.Sc., Leeds University
R. T. PAINE, M.Sc., Manchester University b
