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Sevenoaks School

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Sevenoaks School
Location
Map
Sevenoaks
,
Kent

EnglandEngland
Information
TypeIndependent School
MottoServire Deo Regnari Est (Latin: To serve God is to reign)
Established1432
FounderWilliam Sevenoke
Chairman of the GovernorsR.B. Sackville-West
HeadMrs Katy Ricks
GenderMixed
Age11 to 18
Enrollment1000 (approx.)
Houses7
Colour(s)Red and White    
Former pupilsOld Sennockians
Websitehttp://www.sevenoaksschool.org/

Sevenoaks School is an English coeducational and independent school located in the town of Sevenoaks, Kent. It is the oldest secular school in the United Kingdom, dating back to 1432. Almost 1,000 day pupils and boarders attend, ranging in age from 11 to 18 years. There are approximately equal numbers of boys and girls. The current Headteacher is Katy Ricks. The school was a pioneer in attracting international students during the 1960s. Today the pupils come from over 40 countries. The Good Schools Guide called it a "Trail-blazing co-ed day and boarding school...now riding high academically."[1] The school encourages pupils to be involved in all the opportunities it offers. Despite its emphasis on internationalism and innovation the school maintains strong roots with the local community and maintains some of its historical traditions such as the Sevenoaks Festival and the lunchtime music recitals, which date back to the 1960s.

In 1999 it featured in the media by becoming the first major UK school to switch entirely from doing A level exams to the International Baccalaureate. In 2006 it reached top of the league tables in The Times and The Independent. The school is a member of the G20 Schools group.

Academic

The school achieves excellent results[citation needed]. Due to the recent re-evaluation of the International Baccalaureate by UCAS, Sevenoaks consistently ranks at the top of nationwide school league tables[citation needed]. In 2007 it was placed 1st in the UK by The Times League Table of A-level and IB schools with an average of 618.9 UCAS points per pupil. In 2004 The Independent using UCAS points per candidate, placed them 1st. The Financial Times placed them 2nd in their table of IB schools with an FT score of 1.18. In 2005, a record-breaking 9 people achieved the highest score of 45 in the IB, a feat accomplished by only 40-50 of the 22,000 students worldwide.

GCSE results are equally impressive, the school being ranked within the top 20 by all major newspapers[citation needed].

Facilities

The facilities are mostly modern and there are only three buildings dating prior to the 20th century – the Old School House (built in the early 18th century in the Palladian style and reputedly designed by Lord Burlington), and the old gymnasium and cottage blocks (both late 19th century). The school also has an extensive library (The Johnson Library) of over 25,000 books housed in the old Assembly Hall (1930s), athletics track, indoor tennis centre (The Bailey Tennis Centre), auditorium (the Aisher Hall) and theatre (Sackville Theatre).

The main school grounds are close to the centre of Sevenoaks town, straddling the A225 Tonbridge Road. Knole Lane also runs through the site, providing access to Knole House, which is situated in the park behind the school.

On 10 March 2005 a new £9 million sports centre (the "Sennocke Centre") was opened by former middle distance athlete Dame Kelly Holmes. The Sennocke Centre contains three tennis courts, squash courts, a huge sports hall, a swimming pool, a dance studio, a gym and a climbing wall.

Boarding houses

Seven boarding houses in total, including:

School House (1432), Green tie. Moved from Old School to Oak Lane in 1997. 3rd Year to 6th Form.

Johnsons (1924), Salmon pink tie. Formerly known as Thornhill, a gift from C.P. Johnson. 3rd Year to 6th Form.

Park Grange (1946), Pale blue tie. C.P. Johnson's old house. Boys house until 1989 when girls were admitted. 3rd Year to 6th Form.

International Centre (1964), Gold tie. Unique in that it is a VI Form only, fully international house. Situated in a new house on the Park Grange estate, built in 1997, it used to be housed in what is currently School House.

Girls' International House (1983), Blue and red tie. The first girls' house. 6th Form only.

Sennocke (1985), Green and silver tie. 3rd Year to 6th Form.

All houses have very strong house spirit and often compete - on the sports field (Johnsons-SH cricket being particularly well attended) and in the annual Boarders' Plays.

Knole Run

Each January, the school hosts the annual Knole Run, which is raced over a 5.91 mile cross-country course in the park. School teams from across the UK (and abroad) compete in the race, which is often characterised by mud and rain. The course record is held by Ollie Freeman, the GB triathlete who attended Tonbridge School until 2004. The tradition began with the idea that if a race was held in such conditions, it would give the home team the greatest possible advantage. Unfortunately for Sevenoaks, the same advantage applied for other local schools - while Sevenoaks have never won the boys' race, nearby grammar school The Judd School regularly tops the table. Sevenoaks have, however, had greater success in the smaller girls event. The Run has grown to become known as the unofficial schools' cross country championships. Participating schools come from all over the country, Scotland and occasionally overseas, such as Parma, Italy. There is also a junior Knole Run for younger runners to take part in, which normally takes place at the beginning of December.

Other sport

The school is very well known in sailing circles as consistently having one of the best school level "team racing" squads in the world, frequently beating many university squads. The squad recently won the Rondar Shield for International Schools Team Racing[2] and the UK team racing championship. In the past large numbers of British Olympic sailors have been Sevenoaks School students.

The schools major sports (for boys) are rugby, football and cricket. Minor sports for boys include hockey in the Lent term and, in summer, athletics, tennis, swimming, shooting and water polo.

Controversy

In September 2005 the reputation of the school was tarnished by allegations of fee-fixing. Between 2001 and 2004, a number of independent schools had routinely exchanged information via the 'Sevenoaks Survey', the results of which were circulated among them several times a year.[3] Together with other schools, including Ampleforth, Eton, Charterhouse, Gresham's, Harrow, Haileybury, Marlborough, Rugby, Shrewsbury, Stowe, Wellington and Winchester, Sevenoaks was considered by the Office of Fair Trading to have been operating a fee-fixing cartel, in breach of the Competition Act 1998, by sharing information about fees, and the schools were ordered to abandon the practice[citation needed].

History

Founded in 1432 by William Sevenoke as a part of his last will and testament. The school was intended to give a classical education to boys from the town, free of church constrictions. It is one of the oldest lay foundations in England.

The school was housed in small buildings around the town (even outside the town in the 1730s) until a permanent schoolhouse was built in 1730 to the designs of Lord Burlington, a friend of the headmaster of the time, Elijah Fenton.

The school remained small until the late 19th century. At one stage, under the headmastership of the Revd Simpson, the school housed only four boys.

In 1884 the governors appointed James Birkett as headmaster. It was Birkett's vision to elevate the school's status to that of a First Grade Classical School. He started this revolution, reducing the number of free places to the townfolk and expanding boarding. When he resigned in the 1890s the school had over 100 boys. Birkett's revolution was continued by George Heslop who increased the size to a peak of 134 boys and then by G.A. Garrod.

In 1919 the headmaster's wife, Mrs Garood, started a new school for younger boys; Sevenoaks Prep School started with six pupils in the school "Cottage Block".

James Higgs-Walker succeeded Garrod in 1924. Higgs-Walker, or "Jimmy" as he was known by the boys, started a revolution at the school with the introduction of day houses, the expansion of school sports and extracurricular activities and the vast expansion of the school with the help of the school's greatest benefactor since the founder, Charles Plumptre Johnson (or C.P.J.), who served as a governor from 1913 to 1923 and chairman from 1923 to his death in 1938. Johnson donated many gifts to the school with his brother, Edward:

  • The Flagpole, 1924
  • Thornhill, 1924 (Johnson's House)
  • Johnson's Hall, 1936 (Now Johnson's Library)
  • The Sanitorium, 1938
  • Park Grange and the surrounding estate, 1946

Higgs-Walker led the school until 1956 when he was succeeded by L.C. Taylor.

Notable past pupils

Past pupils are known as Old Sennockians.

References

  1. ^ http://www.goodschoolsguide.co.uk/school/sevenoaks-school.html
  2. ^ Sevenoaks School - Co-curricular
  3. ^ BBC News report on fee-fixing
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