Bishop Wordsworth's School
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| Motto | Veritas in Caritate Truth in Caring/Charity |
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| Established | 1889 |
| Type | Voluntary aided grammar, Academy |
| Religion | Anglican |
| Headmaster | Dr S.D Smallwood (Leeds) |
| Chaplain | Rev J A Bersweden |
| Chairman of the Governing Body | Mr N A Beer |
| Founder | Rt Rev John Wordsworth |
| Specialisms | Language College, Science College |
| Location | The Close Salisbury Wiltshire SP1 2EB England |
| DfE URN | 136500 |
| Ofsted | Reports Pre-Academy Reports |
| Students | 748[1] |
| Gender | Boys |
| Ages | 11–18 |
| Houses | Jewell, Mortival,[2] Osmund, Poore |
| Colours | Dark blue, silver |
| Publication | Wordsworth magazine |
| Website | www.bws.wilts.sch.uk |
Coordinates: 51°03′53″N 1°47′51″W / 51.0647°N 1.7975°W
Bishop Wordsworth's School is a Church of England boys' day grammar school located in Salisbury, England. In 2010, there were 748 pupils aged between 11 and 18.[1] The school is regularly amongst the top-performing schools in England, and in 2011 was the top school performer for the English Baccalaureate.[3] The school is a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference. It has been an academy since March 2011.
The full name of the school is Bishop Wordsworth's Church of England Grammar School for Boys, abbreviated as BWS. The school is known colloquially as Bishop's, and its students as "Bishop's Boys". The school's motto is Veritas in Caritate, translated as "Truth Through Caring" or "Truth Through Charity", and originates from the epitaph of Bishop Wordsworth's father.
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[edit] History
The foundations of the school came in June 1889, when the Bishop of Salisbury, John Wordsworth, announced to his friend Canon Woodall, "I should like to see Salisbury a great educational centre. I should like to found a school which shall be equal to the greatest and best of our public schools." His initial desire that working class boys were not to be admitted caused much controversy. Fees were initially set at £1.10.0d, and boarding fees were £2 per term; however, the fees were raised to £9 in 1894 to meet the unexpected costs of the school. During the first year, classes were taught in the Bishop's palace of Salisbury itself. Bishop Wordsworth personally donated £3000, which was used to purchase an area of land in the cathedral close and to build the school's first buildings. After Bishop Wordsworth's death, the school was renamed Bishop Wordsworth's School, having been previously known as "The Bishop's School".
In 1905, the school became a grammar school, its buildings consisting of the current Chapel Block and Bishopgate. Between 1905 and 1927 the School also used buildings in the Friary and also on New Street in Salisbury. Until 1928 the school admitted both boys and girls, but from 1927, with the founding of a girls' grammar school in the city called South Wilts Grammar School, the school admitted boys only.
In 1931 a hall, science laboratories and a library were built. By the 1930s, the school had achieved a reputation for pioneering educational work, and in 1936 became a public school. In 1948 the Governors accepted voluntary controlled status, which meant being funded by Wiltshire County Council as local education authority and accepting its supervision. Boarding at the school in the Bishopgate buildings ended in the 1950s, and the buildings were used for teaching thereafter. During the Second World War, pupils from the Priory School in Portsmouth moved to BWS to avoid the bombing of the city.
The school now educates boys aged 11 to 18, with some exceptions. Sixth form classes are shared with students from South Wilts Grammar School. In 2002, a major redevelopment of the school's site and buildings was commenced. Since then, a new classroom block and drama studio has been followed by an extensive sports hall and physical education facilities, and the new sixth form block was finished in July 2010. The old sports hall was converted to house the art department, and the design technology block has been expanded. The school is also investing money in the development of the languages department (including work with most of the city primary schools) and in later years hopes to improve the canteen and staff room areas.[4]
Since 2000 there has been considerable expansion of the sixth form curriculum, with around fifteen subjects being part of an extensive collaboration with the girls' grammar school in Salisbury. In 2004 the school became a specialist Language College, and this has led to broadening of the curriculum and further opportunities for overseas trips. In 2008 the school achieved an additional specialism in science. The School converted to Academy Status on 1/3/2011, continuing its traditions of innovation and independence.
[edit] Entrance
Entry to the school is regulated by the eleven plus examination. Applicants sit the test in Year 6, at the age of 10 or 11. The exams are held in November at the school itself. There are also limited twelve plus and thirteen plus admissions, similarly by examination. Sixth Form admission is administered by the head of Sixth Form, and is granted on the basis of GCSE results, a personal statement and recommendation from the candidate's former head of school. Current pupils must achieve more than six A*–Bs (including Maths and English) in their GCSEs to continue their studies in Sixth Form, as well a relatively high grade in the options they propose to take.
[edit] Houses
There are four houses which are named after previous Bishops of Salisbury: Jewell (1560–1571), Martival (1315–1330), Poore (1240–1270) and Osmund (1078–1099). The houses take their crests from the heraldry of the Bishops, and their names are often abbreviated to J, M, P and O respectively. Each boy is assigned to a certain house when they join the school. Throughout the year there are various inter-house competitions, including the music festival, sporting events, the drama competition and more recently, a chess tournament and several debating tournaments. Throughout the year each house is awarded points according to their achievements in the house competitions. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is rewarded with the house cup.
[edit] Senior Prefects
All members of the sixth form are prefects and expected to perform duties. A smaller group of between 20 and 30 boys fill the roles of Senior Prefects, selected by a ballot of staff and peers. Within this group are the Head Boy, Deputy Head Boy, and the Cathedral Prefect. These positions are subject to an application (upon receiving an invitation to apply), and a subsequent interview if the application is accepted. Furthermore, there are five Patrol Leaders and Heads of each House. In addition, there are 10 Resources Prefects (made of five IT and five Library Prefects), there is a Sixth Form Council Prefect, a Sixth Form Common Room Prefect, and also a Charity committee Prefect. Senior prefects are also responsible for assisting at school functions such as Founders Day and Speech Day (Prize giving), as well as monthly services, held at Salisbury Cathedral.
The positions of office are held from the start of Term Five (after the Easter holidays), until the end of the subsequent Term Four, with the announcement of positions, and presentations of ties traditionally being made by the Headmaster in the last assembly of term before the Easter holiday. Originally known as the Senior Pupil, the Head Boy enjoys one privilege most prominently: the opportunity to get married in the Cathedral.
[edit] Extra-curricular
The school has a strong sporting tradition, particularly in rugby, but also in athletics and more recently in football, basketball and cross country. There are regular sports fixtures, and the Rugby teams regularly compete in the Daily Mail Cup and the Wiltshire schools cup, the Sixth Form football team in the national English Schools' Football Association (ESFA) Cup whilst Cross Country teams from the school regularly compete at a national level in the ESAA Schools' Cup.
The school has a large choir, with entrance by audition. They regularly perform at Salisbury Cathedral, other cathedrals, colleges and at many other events; in the spring there is a biennial trip to France.
There is also a major annual school play usually either just before or just after Christmas. For 30 years these plays have been directed by Dr John Cox; they have included (in recent years) West Side Story, Oliver!, Henry IV (Part One), A Winter's Tale, The Front Page, A Christmas Carol and Caucasian Chalk Circle. These plays, as with many other sixth form activities, are produced in collaboration with South Wilts Girls Grammar School. In November 2008 John Cox directed his last play, The Front Page. The first play he directed at Bishop's starred actor Ralph Fiennes (see notable alumni below).
BWS recently became the first school to take part in the notorious Fastnet Race. A team of 17 boys, supported by two members of staff (plus two professional crew and a doctor) were the crew of a chartered Farr Yacht Design Farr Millennium 65 yacht which took part in the 2009 Fastnet, which started on Sunday the 9th of August 2009. The team finished with an elapsed time of 4 days 6 hours and 47 minutes, early on in the finishing order.
[edit] Notable staff
Sir William Golding, author of the novel Lord of the Flies and winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature, was a schoolmaster teaching Philosophy and English in 1939 and then English from 1945 to 1962. Lord of the Flies was Golding's first book, written in 1954, and it is widely believed that the child characters were based on Golding's students,[5][6] some of whom are alive to this day. Golding also regularly sang with Bishop Wordsworth's School choir.
After Golding's death in 1993, the school choir sang at his memorial service in Salisbury Cathedral. A plaque was placed at the school to commemorate Golding's time as a teacher in March 2005.[7]
Headmaster Happold was also noted for the foundation of the "Company of Honour and Service". Father Kenelm Foster O.P. wrote "[the Company is] a sort of modernist Grail (for Boys) or Solidarity which Dr Happold founded in 1935 at Bishop Wordsworth's School, Salisbury. This is his nucleus, his 'order', his new aristocracy, which is to permeate England: a little cohort of leaders, of seers, of doers." (Cited in Happold, 1964, pp. 33).
Alan Harwood was a notable organ scholar and taught Music at Bishop Wordsworth's School. After Harwood's death in 2003, composer Sam Hanson dedicated a requiem to him.
Former Headmaster Clive Barnett HMI (who left the school in 2002) is patron of the charity EdUKaid, a role he shares with Glenys Kinnock MEP.
[edit] Headmasters
1890–1928 Mr. Reuben Bracher
1928–1960 Dr. Frederick Crossfield Happold D.S.O. (Cantab.)
1960–1963 Mr. Ernest Ethrin Sabben-Clare (Oxon.)
1963–1974 Mr. Robert CR Blackledge (Oxon.)
1974–1992, Mr. Glyn Evans
1992–2002, Mr. Clive Barnett (Oxon.)
2002–Present, Dr. Stuart Smallwood (Leeds)
[edit] Notable former pupils
The "Old Wordsworthian" AGM and lunch is traditionally held after the Cathedral service and Founder's Day celebrations in July. Notable alumni include:
Military
- Colonel WE Maxfield DSO, First Canadian Mounted Rifles[8]
- Colonel WST Douglas, OBE, Royal Engineers[9][10][11]
- Lieutenant Colonel Ian Blower MBE, Royal Corps of Signals[12]
- Lieutenant Colonel Tom Adlam, Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regiment, Victoria Cross recipient[13][14]
- Captain Chris Moon MBE, Royal Anglian Regiment[15]
- Lieutenant Richard Crisp, Special Air Service Regiment, executed by enemy forces during SAS/SOE Operation Bulbasket[9][16]
- Flight Sergeant F N Robertson, DFM, No 261 Sqn Hurricane fighter ace with 11th most kills of any Commonwealth pilot[17] in World War II[9]
Sports
- David Egerton, England XV rugby international player[7]
- Richard Hill, England XV rugby international player/captain/winner RWC 2003 (flanker)[7]
- Richard Hill, England XV rugby international player/captain (scrum half)[7]
- John Shaw, England XI hockey captain and Olympian[7]
Business
- Colin Sharman, Lord Sharman of Redlynch, Chairman of KPMG International[18] and Chairman of the Aegis Group since 2000
Arts
- Ralph Fiennes, actor[19]
- Major Anthony Robert Klitz, Middlesex Regiment, artist
- Hamish Milne, concert pianist and professor of piano at the Royal Academy of Music
- David Oakes, actor [20]
- Otto Plaschkes, movie producer[21]
- Andy Sheppard, jazz musician[22]
- Nigel Shore, principal oboist with the Komische Oper Berlin[23]
Education
- Prof Andrew Copp, neurobiologist[24]
- Prof Andrew Hattersley, Professor of Molecular Medicine, Peninsula Medical School[25][26]
Legal
- Ken Macdonald, Lord Macdonald of River Glaven, QC, Director of Public Prosecutions of England and Wales[27] and head of the Crown Prosecution Service[28]
Religious
- Mervyn Alexander, Roman Catholic Bishop of Clifton[7] from 1974 to 2001
Other
- Sir Cecil Chubb, Last private owner of Stonehenge[29]
- Andrew Harvey, BBC Newsreader[7]
- Sir Graham Smith, HM Chief Inspector of Probation from 1992 to 2001[30]
[edit] Notes
- ^ a b "Establishment: Bishop Wordsworth's Grammar School". EduBase. Department for Education. http://www.edubase.gov.uk/establishment/summary.xhtml?urn=126508. Retrieved 23 February 2012.
- ^ http://www.bws.wilts.sch.uk/pdfs/ind_house_system_history.pdf
- ^ "Performance tables 2010 – Bishop Wordsworth's Grammar School". Department for Education. http://www.education.gov.uk/cgi-bin/performancetables/school_10.pl?Mode=Z&Base=c&Type=SC&Year=10&Phase=1&Begin=2&No=8655413&Num=865&s2s=1. Retrieved 21 February 2011.
- ^ George and Harding project details - Bishop's Wordsworth School, March 2002 accessed August 2007
- ^ Bone, James (7 March 2005). "Film producer whose Georgy Girl helped to set the tone for Sixties Swinging London". The Times. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article420937.ece. Retrieved 13 May 2011.
- ^ Hassan, Mamoun (5 March 2005). "Old-school film producer". London: The Independent. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/otto-plaschkes-527251.html. Retrieved 13 May 2011.
- ^ a b c d e f g "Famous Wordsworthians". Bishop Wordsworth School official website. http://www.bws.wilts.sch.uk/TheSchool/sch_famous_ows.html. Retrieved 28 October 2011.
- ^ "Memorable Manitobans: Walter Edward Maxfield (1877-1964)". The Manitoba Historical Society. 18 June 2011. http://www.mhs.mb.ca/docs/people/maxfield_we.shtml.
- ^ a b c http://www.bws.wilts.sch.uk/TheSchool/pdfs/ow_SECOND%20WORLD%20WAR%20list%20of%20those%20who%20died.pdf
- ^ http://www.roll-of-honour.org.uk/Cemeteries/Taukkyan_War_Cemetery/D/html/do.htm
- ^ http://www.cwgc.org/search/casualty_details.aspx?casualty=2085272
- ^ http://www.whitehallpages.net/news/archive/14244
- ^ Tom Edwin Adlam VC on the History of the Victoria Cross website accessed August 2007
- ^ http://www.bws.wilts.sch.uk/TheSchool/pdfs/ow_FIRST%20WORLD%20WAR%20list%20of%20those%20who%20died.pdf
- ^ http://www.le.ac.uk/press/press/degrees.html
- ^ http://www.inmemories.com/Cemeteries/romdeuxsevres.htm
- ^ Thomas, Andrew (2003). Hurricane Aces 1941-1945. Osprey Publishing. pp. 83. http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=4u-QXw2bjwUC&pg=PA83&lpg=PA83&dq=fn+robertson+malta+hurricane&source=bl&ots=nSamNOK7GQ&sig=PYcjptvYG-pQgeszrt_szVYE9ss&hl=en&ei=IdzzTfuOCIbu-gbSj4HaBg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CCUQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=fn%20robertson%20malta%20hurricane&f=false.
- ^ Curriculum vitae of Lord Sharman of Redlynch (Colin Sharman) in the ABN AMRO Annual Report 2002 accessed August 2007
- ^ "Down to a Fiennes art". The Sydney Morning Herald. http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/04/25/1050777400161.html?oneclick=true.
- ^ "Canon's son acts evil". Salisbury Cathedral official website. November 2010. http://www.salisburycathedral.org.uk/dyn/inthenews/articleinwiltshirelifemagazinenov2010-canonssonactsevil.pdf. Retrieved 8 January 2012.
- ^ Robinson, David (2005-02-16). "Otto Plaschkes". The Guardian (London). http://www.guardian.co.uk/obituaries/story/0,,1415372,00.html. Retrieved 2010-04-26.
- ^ "Andy returns to his roots". The Salisbury Journal. 30 April 2009. http://www.salisburyjournal.co.uk/leisure/entertainments/4332178.Andy_returns_to_his_roots/. Retrieved 6 May 2011.
- ^ Nigel Shore Biography. Listen to Classical Music by Nigel Shore
- ^ Prof Andrew Copp
- ^ "Scientist helps find 'fat' gene". The Salisbury Journal. 19 April 2007. http://www.salisburyjournal.co.uk/news/salisbury/salisburynews/1338280.Scientist_helps_find__fat__gene/. Retrieved 28 October 2011.
- ^ "Professor Andrew Hattersley, MA MRCP (London) DM (Oxon) FRCP FMedSci FRS". Peninsula College of Medicine and Dentistry. http://www.pcmd.ac.uk/profiles.php?id=ahattersley. Retrieved 28 October 2011.
- ^ "Director of Public Prosecutions: Sir Ken Macdonald QC". CPS website. CPS (Crown Copyright). http://www.cps.gov.uk/about/dpp.html. Retrieved 2007-10-12.
- ^ New Years Honours For Local People (from Salisbury Journal)
- ^ Stonehenge
- ^ "Sir Graham Smith: Influential leader of the probation service". The Independent (London). 19 August 2002. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/sir-graham-smith-640338.html. Retrieved 6 May 2011.
[edit] References
- Happold, Frederick Crossfield, Bishop Wordsworth's School 1890 – 1950. Privately printed for Bishop Wordsworth's School, 1950, 124pp.
- Happold, Frederick Crossfield, Religious Faith and Twentieth-Century Man. Pelican Original, 1964.
- 'Roman Britain in 1954: I. Sites Explored: II. Inscriptions', The Journal of Roman Studies, Vol. 45, Parts 1 and 2. (1955), pp. 121–149.
- United Kingdom Census 1901
- British Army Medals & Honour Rolls 1914-1920
[edit] External links
- Official website
- Old Wordsworthians' Association Website
- Statistics on BWS from the Department for Education
- Information on the school from Salisbury Cathedral
- Bishop Wordsworth's School Choir website
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