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Revision as of 19:11, 28 September 2011

The Leys School Cambridge
File:Leyslogo.jpg
Address
Map
Trumpington Road

Cambridge
,
Cambridgeshire
,
CB2 7AD

England
Information
TypeIndependent School
MottoIn Fide Fiducia (Latin for In Faith, Trust)
Religious affiliation(s)Methodist
Established1875
Head teacherMr Mark Slater
GenderMixed
Age11 to 18
Enrollment550
HousesSee the Houses section
PublicationThe Fortnightly
Websitehttp://www.theleys.net/

The Leys School is a co-educational Independent school, located in Cambridge, England, and is a day and boarding school for about 550 pupils aged between 11 and 18 years. The school is a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference.

History

The 19th century saw the founding of a large number of new schools in Britain, especially by the churches—including the Methodist church. Although there were already several leading schools that offered an education for the sons of Ministers of the church, some Methodists were asking also for schools to be established for sons of lay church members. The Methodist Conference set up a committee to look at the possibility of starting a new school at either Oxford or Cambridge.

Following several visits to Cambridge, they discovered that a 20 acre (80,000 m2) site called "The Leys Estate" was being offered for sale. The estate was situated within easy reach of the city centre on the Trumpington Road, and it was close to the River Cam and to a number of Cambridge Colleges. The estate was acquired for the sum of £14,275 on 27 September 1872. The Reverend Doctor W.F. Moulton, who had been the secretary of the committee, was asked to become headmaster of the new school. The school opened on 16 February 1875 with sixteen boys, all from English Methodist families. After two years there were 100 pupils.

During the 20th century, The Leys grew significantly and by 1930 the number of pupils had reached 271. During the Second World War, the school temporarily moved to the Atholl Palace Hotel in Pitlochry, Scotland, returning to Cambridge in 1946. During the Cold War, the school was designated the auxiliary headquarters to the Regional Seat of Government for Cambridge[1] in time of war. Today the majority of the pupils are boarders and since the admission of girls to the Sixth Form in the 1980s, the school has become fully co-educational. It now accepts pupils from the age of 11, rather than the age of 13 as it was before.

School Gates

Due to its location, the school is popular with Cambridge academics as a place to send their children, as well as a place to teach. Notably, Stephen Hawking sent his son to the school and has given a number of talks to its pupils since then.

Principles

Despite its proud Methodist traditions it has, for more than fifty years, been liberal on religion (although never secular). Many pupils received confirmation into the Church of England in the school chapel, and some others have had religious backgrounds from faiths other than the Christianity. Despite its religious liberalism, The Leys is predominantly a Christian school and they state openly that "The School’s Christian ethos lies at the heart of our education philosophy".

Pupils attend chapel services twice a week; a Sunday service with the whole school, and a service with just their House on another specified day of the week. In addition, Holy Communion takes place once a term.

The school motto is "In Fide Fiducia" (Latin for "In Faith, Trust"), which is also the motto for its associated prep school, St Faith's School. The two schools make up the Leys and St Faith's Foundation. The school song is Rev B. Hellier's Χαίρετε.

Another point of interest is its limited entrance selection, as the school depends more on the flexibility of its staff and an assessment of a pupil's potential than exam grades.

Academic results

A-Levels

2010

In the A-Level sitting of 2010, 32% of the school's pupils achieved results of 3 A's or better, 94.2% of Leysian pupils' grades received were A, B or C, while 99.4% were graded A–E.[2]

2011

This year the A*-C pass rate was 93.4% and the A*-E pass rate was 99.1%[3].


This is the second best A-level result the school has ever had.[citation needed]

GCSEs

In the GCSE sitting of 2010, 68.4% of papers were graded at A or A*. 40% of Leysian pupils gained ten or more A or A* grades.[2]

Sport

The main sports played by boys during the three terms are:

Girls play:

The school has a wide-range of sports facilities spread across its 50-acre (200,000 m2) site. Other than the above mentioned sports, the sports pitches include concrete, grass and AstroTurf tennis courts and a football pitch. The AstroTurf pitches are fully lit for night-time play. Indoor facilities include a fully equipped fitness centre, a sports hall for indoor sports such as badminton and netball, three squash courts and an aerobics studio. The school has a 25-meter heated indoor swimming pool and a rowing boathouse on the River Cam as well as several boats.

The school has an arrangement with Cambridge University allowing university academics and students limited use of its sports facilities, and many of the University's squash fixtures are held at the school. The school also allows local state schools use its sports facilities.

The Leys' U15 Rugby team won the national 2008 Daily Mail Vase.

The Leys takes swimming very seriously, competing against Eton (the only team to do so), and on a national level at the annual Bath cup.

There is also a very successful rowing club, with a well-equipped boat house in prime position on the Cam. Along with sailing (at St. Ives), this is a minority sport, counted among pitch games (the school's name for non-team sports). Other pitch games, include squash, badminton, tennis, athletics, karate, Eton Fives and golf.

Famous Leysian sportsmen include Neil White (Olympic hockey in 1948); Freddie Brown (Captain of England's cricket team); Geoff Windsor-Lewis (Wales Rugby 1960) and Paul Svehlik (England and Great Britain Hockey).

Houses

There are 11 separate Houses.

School is a 13–18 boys' boarding house with 30–35 boarders and 20–25 home boarders. School House is situated in the centre of the main campus overlooking the Thomson (Science) Building, Old Music School and Swimming Pool. School House is currently headed by Mr Tomos Reed (Welsh), who took over from Mr. Dorman in 2010. The deputy housemaster is Mr. Dix-Pincott and the matron is Ali Phillips.

West is a 13–18 boys' boarding house with room for 45–48 boarders with 25–30 home boarders. West House is situated on the far side of the Campus overlooking the Astro Turf and the new classroom block (Clapham Building).

North A is a boys' boarding house of 40–45 boarders and 15–20 home boarders. It is situated close to the Main Library, Sixth Form Club, Tuck Shop and the Chapel. It overlooks the Upper Quadrangle.The current housemaster Mr Charles Fraser (former Divinity master at Hampton School) has been associated with North A house for years, and is supported by his deputy, Mr Fawcett (History teacher).

North B contains three co-educational day houses, Barker, Barrett and Bisseker, each with a dedicated Housemaster or Housemistress, but a shared Matron. It is situated close to the Main Library, Sixth Form Club and the Chapel. It overlooks the Upper Quadrangle.

Dale is a girls' boarding house with 35–40 boarders and 20–25 home boarders. Dale House is situated in the centre of the main Campus and is close to the Drama Studio, Science Building, Music School and Swimming Pool.

Fen is a girls' 13–18 boarding house with 45–50 boarders and 20–25 home boarders. It is situated close to the Theatre and Rugg Technology Centre overlooking the main playing fields and Coe Fen at the western edge of the main Campus.

File:TheLeys.jpg
East House (right) and Headmaster's house (left) with the school chapel behind

East is the Sixth Form boys' house with 27–30 boarders. Boys making direct entry into the Sixth Form are normally accommodated here. It overlooks the Deer Park and Chapel to the North. There are also views over the main playing fields and sports complex to the south.

Granta is the Sixth Form girls' house with 30 boarders and up to 2 home boarders. Girls making direct entry into the Sixth Form are normally accommodated here. It is situated in the centre of the Campus overlooking the Chapel and Deer park.

Moulton is the Junior 11–13 house for 20–25 boarders and 35–40 day pupils. The day facilities are situated on East of the Campus overlooking the Deer Park and Chapel to the North. The boarding house is a two minute walk from the main gates in a Victorian town house. Moulton house was opened in 1998 and marked the first time that The Leys had allowed students aged 11 into the school. A section of East house was sacrificed to accommodate this new house (thus resulting in East being transformed into a purely Sixth Form bording house).

Summer School

The Leys School also hosts a summer school for young English-learners held by Bell International. Every year, learners from different countries stay in the school for three or six weeks.

"Goodbye, Mr. Chips"

The setting for popular novel and play "Goodbye, Mr. Chips" is believed to have been based on The Leys where author James Hilton was a pupil (1915–1918). Hilton is reported to have said that the inspiration for the protagonist, Chips, came chiefly from W.H. Balgarnie, one of the masters at The Leys (1900–30) who was in charge of the Leys Fortnightly (where Hilton's first short stories and essays were published). Over the years old boys have written to Geoffery Houghton, a master of The Leys for a number of years and a historian of the school, confirming the links between Chips and Balgarnie. As with Mr. Chips, Balgarnie died at the school, at the age of 82, having been linked with the school for 51 years and living his last years in modest lodgings opposite the school. Again, like Mr. Chips, Balgarnie was a strict disciplinarian, but would also invite boys to visit him for tea and biscuits.

Hilton wrote, upon Balgarnie's death that "Balgarnie was, I suppose, the chief model for my story. When I read so many other stories about public school life, I am struck by the fact that I suffered no such purgatory as their authors apparently did, and much of this miracle was due to Balgarnie."[3] Furthermore, the facial hair of one of the masters at The Leys earned him the nickname "Chops", a likely inspiration for Mr Chips' name.

Notable alumni

Known as Old Leysians, they include:

Academia

Business

Politics/royalty

Scientists

Sport

Media

Other

Old Leysians have their own old boys' sports clubs including the "Old Leysian Football Club" which in its hey day (in the 1930s) was one of the leading Rugby clubs in the London area. There is also an active "Old Leysian Golfing Society".

Headmasters

Rev. William Fiddian Moulton, the school's first headmaster, in the Memorial Chapel
  • W.F.Moulton 1875–1898
  • W.T.A.Barber 1898–1919
  • H.Bisseker 1919–1934
  • W.G.Humphrey 1934–1958
  • W.A.Barker 1958–1975
  • B.T.Bellis 1975–1986
  • T.G.Benyan 1986–1990
  • Rev Dr John Barrett 1990–2004
  • Mark Slater 2004 – present

See also

St Faith's School

References

  1. ^ http://www.subbrit.org.uk/rsg/features/sfs/file5.htm The Leys School was designated a Regional Seat of Government in wartime
  2. ^ a b [1]
  3. ^ [2]
  4. ^ a b c d Football: The Rugby Union Game — Page 30 by Francis Marshall, Leonard R. Tosswill — Football — 1925
  5. ^ The Life of Ian Fleming, John Pearson, p. 194-195, (Jonathan Cape, London, 1966) ISBN 978-1-85410-898-2

Further reading

  • Baker, Derek (1975). Partnership in Excellence: A Late-Victorian Educational Venture: The Leys School, Cambridge, 1875-1975. Cambridge: The Governors of The Leys School.
  • Houghton, Geoff and Pat (2000). Well-regulated Minds and Improper Moments: A History of The Leys School. Cambridge: The Governors of The Leys School. ISBN 0-9501721-8-9.

52°11′49″N 0°07′17″E / 52.196956°N 0.121254°E / 52.196956; 0.121254

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