King Edward VI School (Lichfield)

Infobox UK school
name = King Edward VI School


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motto = "Deo Patriae Scholae"
For God, Country and School
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established = 1495
approx =
closed =
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type =
religion =
president =
head_label = Headteacher
head = K Maycock
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founder =
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street = Upper St John Street
city = Lichfield
county = Staffordshire
country = England
postcode = WS14 9EE
LEA = Staffordshire
ofsted = 124408
staff =
enrollment = c 1400
gender = Mixed
lower_age = 11
upper_age = 18
houses = Addison, Clinton, Darwin and Garrick
colours =
website = http://keslichfield.org.uk/
website_name = Official School Website

King Edward VI School, Lichfield is a co-educational comprehensive school near the heart of the city of Lichfield, Staffordshire, England.

History

In 1995, the school celebrated its 500th anniversary, its Quincentenary. In 1495 Bishop Smythe established the school as a free grammar school as part of the same foundation as St. John's Hospital, a home for the elderly. Every day prayers are said for the school in the tiny chapel which forms part of the St. John's almshouses in St. John's Street. The school takes its name from the Tudor boy king who reigned between 1547 and 1553. The school crest incorporates features of the royal Tudor coat of arms. The Latin inscription beneath, "Deo, Patriae, Scholae", is broadly translated as "for God, Country and School".

In the 18th century a number of eminent people were educated at the school. These included the great scholar and compiler of the first English dictionary, Dr. Samuel Johnson (the buildings of the former grammar school bear his name), David Garrick, the actor, and Joseph Addison, the essayist. Two of the school's four houses are named after Addison and Garrick. (The other houses are named after Bishop Clinton who founded a priory in Lichfield in the 12th century and Erasmus Darwin, who lived in the City for a number of years).

Until the beginning of the twentieth century the school occupied the school house in St. John's Street, opposite St. John's Hospital. It can still be seen, now forming part of the District Council premises. In 1903 the first building on the present site was opened. Further extensions were added in the 1920s and 1950s to what has come to be known as Johnson Hall.

School Council

The aim of the School Council is to provide a forum for the discussion by students' representatives of issues raised by students or staff and which affect the life of the school.

There is also a council committee for sixth form students known as the Ashmole Society. Elected sixth formers discuss topics relevant to the sixth form, and the students.

Present School

The present King Edward VI School was created in 1971 by the merger of the grammar school with Kings Hill secondary modern school which had been built on an adjacent site in the 1950s to cater for the City's expanding population. The premises of the former Kingshill School are referred to as Bader Hall in recognition of Douglas Bader, the World War II fighter ace, who opened that school in 1959. The original grammar school area is referred to as 'Johnson' after Dr Samuel Johnson, the famous British author who was educated at the school and lived in Lichfield for a time.

The school is a co-educational comprehensive school maintained by Staffordshire Education Authority and admits pupils from the age of 11 (Year 7), with some 60% electing to continue their education into the Sixth Form, leaving at 18 (Year 13). In the main school (Years 7 - 11), there is a limit of 210 pupils for each year group. In total there are in excess of 1360 pupils on roll.

The school's success as a comprehensive school owes much to the merging of two strong and successful traditions; on the one hand, the tradition of academic excellence associated with the grammar school and, on the other, the modern school tradition of care and support for the individual. Academic challenge and care for the individual remain the twin guiding principles of the school today.

Vandalism

On 1st May 2006, a fire was started on the school site in the early evening. It destroyed a wooden pavilion used by the school sports teams. The pavilion had been built in the 1920s to commemorate ex-pupils that had fought in the great war. Directly in front of the damaged pavilion is the site of a naturally occurring spring, which ran until the mid 1930s.

The pavilion and spring enclosure was demolished due to safety concerns after the fire. Although there were sightings of youths in the area at the time and a £500 reward was offered, nobody has been prosecuted.

References

* http://www.kingedwardvi-lichfield.staffs.sch.uk/history.html