King Edward VII and Queen Mary School

Infobox UK school
name = King Edward VII and Queen Mary School


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motto = Inspiring Personal Excellence
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established = 1908
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type = Independent
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head_label = Principal
head = Robert Karling
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street = Clifton Drive South
city = Lytham St Annes
county = Lancashire
country = England
postcode = FY8 1DT
LEA = Fylde Borough
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enrollment = 700
gender = Coeducational
lower_age = 2
upper_age = 18
houses = Ashton, Talbot, Lowther, Clifton
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website = http://www.keqms.co.uk
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King Edward VII and Queen Mary School (KEQMS) is an HMC public school in Lytham St. Annes, Lancashire, England.

The Lytham Schools Foundation was established in 1719 after a flood disaster in the town. In 1908, one hundred and eighty-nine years after the Foundation's initial formation, King Edward VII School was opened to provide an education for local boys. The opening of the girls' Queen Mary School followed in 1930. [cite web |url=http://www.keqms.co.uk/prospectus.html |title=KEQMS - History |accessdate=2008-04-10]

The school boasts extensive sports grounds, including a new synthetic hockey pitch, top of the range computing facilities built in 2003, modern language laboratories, modern library and a sea view; has a reputation of excellence in sports and a thriving history of drama productions and has links with the Czech Republic, France and Germany, with which exchange trips are frequently held.

Motto

The school's motto is 'Sublimis Ab Unda', which is Latin for "raised from the waves", in reference to the fact the school was funded by the aforementioned flood disaster. The two former schools each had a coat of arms, however despite the two schools being separate they shared the same governing body, which itself had a coat of arms. This coat of arms is now used for the combined school since the merger in 1999. The uniforms for both boys and girls were also changed at this time.

Amalgamation

After a reduction in student numbers caused by New Labour's abolition of the Assisted Places Scheme in 1997, the two single-sex schools were forced to merge. Now fully co-educational and housed in and around the old King Edward VII building, it consists of a Kindergarten, Infant, Junior and Senior School, plus a Sixth Form, which is situated on the first floor of the House, and in the old Lecture Theatre. The Queen Mary site has been sold in order to raise money for the continuing development of the new school.

Continuing Development

Since the sale of the Queen Mary site, a new block has been built in 2003 to house the preparatory school on the ground floor, and 11 new senior classrooms on the first floor, housing three computer labs, a multimedia language lab, and classrooms for art and modern languages.

The 1960s block (housing music, food technology, maths and english) was also refurbished at the same time; the kitchen/dining room was moved into the former bike sheds at this time too.

In 2005 the library was relocated back to its former location (in the original dining room) and this underwent extensive refurbishment.

The summer of 2007 saw refurbishment of ground floor classrooms in the original 1908 building, and the replacement of many original wooden windows.

Headmasters

Prinicipals of KEQMS
* Robert Karling (2003 - present)
* Julian Wilde (1999 - 2003)

Headmasters of King Edward VII School
* Julian Wilde (1993 - 1999)
* David Heap (1982 - 1993)
* Christopher J Lipscomb (1966 - 1982)
* CDA Baggley (1957 - 1966)
* John Bell (1942 - 1957)
* WN Weech (1940 - 1942)
* DGO Ayerst (1937-1940)
* JRL Penry (1913 - 1937)
* H Bompas-Smith (1908 - 1913)

Houses

The senior school has had 2 house systems. Prior to the amalgamation, the girls' school did not have a house system; the boys' school had five houses (each having its own flag - the house logo on a dark blue background):

*Argonauts [Motto: Ludite integre; nollite cessare]
*Adventurers [Motto: Redde cuique quod suum est]
*Lancastrians [Motto: Vel primus, vel cum primis]
*St Johns [Motto: Pro Domo]
*Templars [Motto: Quo non audebis, eo non habesis]

And post amalgamation (1999) it changed to:

*Ashton
*Lowther
*Talbot
*Clifton

All the houses have a house leader and a group of captains.

Former pupils

Notable former pupils (Lidunians) include:
*Lee Blackett, Leeds Carnegie centre
*Simon Brailsford, Equerry to Her Majesty the Queen
*Jenny Eclair, comedian, actor
*Blair Martin,
*Michael Mingos, Principal of St Edmund Hall, Oxford
*John Sunderland, Chairman of Cadbury Schweppes and President of the Confederation of British Industry
*Malcolm Archer, Organist and Director of Music, St Paul's Cathedral

Links

* [http://www.keqms.co.uk KEQMS Website]

References