Archbishop Tenison's School
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Archbishop Tenison's School, commonly known as Tenison's, is a
Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...
mixed
secondary school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' secondary education, lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) ...
located in the
London Borough of Lambeth Lambeth () is a London boroughs, London borough in South London, England, which forms part of Inner London. Its name was recorded in 1062 as ''Lambehitha'' ("landing place for lambs") and in 1255 as ''Lambeth''. The geographical centre of London ...
.


Admissions

Tenison's is an 11–16 boys and girls
comprehensive school A comprehensive school typically describes a secondary school for pupils aged approximately 11–18, that does not select its intake on the basis of academic achievement or aptitude, in contrast to a selective school system where admission is res ...
, part of the educational provision of the
Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...
Diocese of Southwark The Diocese of Southwark is one of the 42 dioceses of the Church of England, part of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The diocese forms part of the Province of Canterbury in England. It was created on 1 May 1905 from part of the ancient Dio ...
and the London Borough of Lambeth. The school caters for around 530 pupils. The school is located directly opposite
The Oval The Oval, currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Kia Oval, is an international cricket ground in Kennington, located in the borough of Lambeth, in south London. The Oval has been the home ground of Surrey County Cricket Club since ...
cricket ground, home of
Surrey County Cricket Club Surrey County Cricket Club (Surrey CCC) is a first-class club in county cricket, one of eighteen in the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Surrey, including areas that now form South London ...
.


History

Thomas Tenison Thomas Tenison (29 September 163614 December 1715) was an English church leader, Archbishop of Canterbury from 1694 until his death. During his primacy, he crowned two British monarchs. Life He was born at Cottenham, Cambridgeshire, the son a ...
, an educational evangelist and later
Archbishop of Canterbury The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. The current archbishop is Justi ...
, founded several schools in the late 17th and early 18th centuries. A boys' school now at
the Oval The Oval, currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Kia Oval, is an international cricket ground in Kennington, located in the borough of Lambeth, in south London. The Oval has been the home ground of Surrey County Cricket Club since ...
was founded in 1685 in the crypt of St Martin's in the Fields and relocated by 1895 in Leicester Square on the site previously occupied by the Sabloniere Hotel. The school moved to The Oval in 1928, with the new building being opened by the then Prince of Wales (later King Edward VIII). A girls' school was formally established in 1706 for 12 girls and in 1863 a new school building was erected at 18 Lambeth High Street. The girls school closed in 1961, when it amalgamated with Archbishop Temple's Boys School to form a mixed
voluntary aided A voluntary aided school (VA school) is a state-funded school in England and Wales in which a foundation (charity), foundation or Charitable trust, trust (usually a religious organisation), contributes to building costs and has a substantial influ ...
(VA) school. The building was used by Temple's as a first-year annex from 1968 to 1974, when Archbishop Temple's School closed. Archbishop Tenison founded another school in nearby Croydon in 1714. Archbishop Tenison's at The Oval became a
grammar school A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented secondary school ...
, then a comprehensive. Tenison's became a Grant-Maintained school in 1993, and a VA school in 1998. in 2019 the school converted to academy status.


School badge

The badges of both the schools founded by Thomas Tenison are based on his personal
coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central ele ...
, which consist of the arms of the
see of Canterbury The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. The current archbishop is Justi ...
impaling Impalement, as a method of torture and execution, is the penetration of a human by an object such as a stake, pole, spear, or hook, often by the complete or partial perforation of the torso. It was particularly used in response to "crimes aga ...
the Tenison family arms. The former, placed on the
dexter Dexter may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Dexter, the main character of the American animated series ''Dexter's Laboratory'' that aired from 1996 to 2003 * Dexter, a fictional character in the British Diary of a Bad Man#Main, web series ''Diar ...
side of honour, are
blazon In heraldry and heraldic vexillology, a blazon is a formal description of a coat of arms, flag or similar emblem, from which the reader can reconstruct the appropriate image. The verb ''to blazon'' means to create such a description. The vis ...
ed as: '' Azure, an archiepiscopal cross in pale or surmounted by a
pall Pall may refer to: * Pall (funeral), a cloth used to cover a coffin * Pall (heraldry), a Y-shaped heraldic charge * Pall (liturgy), a piece of stiffened linen used to cover the chalice at the Eucharist * Pall Corporation, a global business * Pall. ...
proper charged with four crosses patee fitchee
sable The sable (''Martes zibellina'') is a species of marten, a small omnivorous mammal primarily inhabiting the forest environments of Russia, from the Ural Mountains throughout Siberia, and northern Mongolia. Its habitat also borders eastern Kaza ...
''. The arms of Tenison, placed on the
sinister Sinister commonly refers to: * Evil * Ominous Sinister may also refer to: Left side * Sinister, Latin for the direction " left" * Sinister, in heraldry, is the bearer's true left side (viewers' right side) of an escutcheon or coat of arms; see ...
side of the escutcheon are blazoned as: ''
Gules In heraldry, gules () is the tincture with the colour red. It is one of the class of five dark tinctures called "colours", the others being azure (blue), sable (black), vert (green) and purpure (purple). In engraving, it is sometimes depict ...
, a bend engrailed argent voided azure between three
leopard The leopard (''Panthera pardus'') is one of the five extant species in the genus '' Panthera'', a member of the cat family, Felidae. It occurs in a wide range in sub-Saharan Africa, in some parts of Western and Central Asia, Southern Russia, a ...
's faces or
jessant-de-lys Jessant-de-lys is a heraldic term denoting a fleur-de-lys issuing out of any object. It is most frequently seen in conjunction with a leopard's face, meaning in heraldic language the face of a lion. Description Charles Boutell (1863) described t ...
azure''. In standard English: a red field bearing a white (or silver) diagonal band with scalloped edges, and a narrower blue band running down its centre. This lies between three gold heraldic lion's faces, each of which is pierced by a
fleur-de-lys The fleur-de-lis, also spelled fleur-de-lys (plural ''fleurs-de-lis'' or ''fleurs-de-lys''), is a lily (in French, and mean 'flower' and 'lily' respectively) that is used as a decorative design or symbol. The fleur-de-lis has been used in the ...
entering through the mouth.


Origin

These arms are a
difference Difference, The Difference, Differences or Differently may refer to: Music * ''Difference'' (album), by Dreamtale, 2005 * ''Differently'' (album), by Cassie Davis, 2009 ** "Differently" (song), by Cassie Davis, 2009 * ''The Difference'' (al ...
, or variant, of the mediaeval arms of the
Denys family The surname Denys was borne by at least three prominent mediaeval families seated in Gloucestershire, Somerset and Devon in southwest England between 1166 and 1641. It is not known if any relationship existed between these families. The surname '' ...
of
Siston Siston (pronounced "sizeton") is a small village in South Gloucestershire, England. It is east of Bristol at the confluence of the two sources of the Siston Brook, a tributary of the River Avon. The village consists of a number of cottages a ...
, Gloucestershire, (''Gules, three
leopard The leopard (''Panthera pardus'') is one of the five extant species in the genus '' Panthera'', a member of the cat family, Felidae. It occurs in a wide range in sub-Saharan Africa, in some parts of Western and Central Asia, Southern Russia, a ...
's faces or
jessant-de-lys Jessant-de-lys is a heraldic term denoting a fleur-de-lys issuing out of any object. It is most frequently seen in conjunction with a leopard's face, meaning in heraldic language the face of a lion. Description Charles Boutell (1863) described t ...
azure over all a bend engrailed of the last'') and may have been adopted by the Tenison family because its name signifies "Denys's or Denis's son". The arms without the bend were originally those of the Norman de Cantilupe family, whose feudal tenants the Denys family probably were in connection with
Candleston Castle Candleston Castle (historically sometimes Candlestone Castle) is a 14th-century fortified manor house, in ruins since the 19th century. It is southwest of Merthyr Mawr, former Glamorgan, Wales, now Bridgend County Borough and just northwest of ...
in
Glamorgan , HQ = Cardiff , Government = Glamorgan County Council (1889–1974) , Origin= , Code = GLA , CodeName = Chapman code , Replace = * West Glamorgan * Mid Glamorgan * South Glamorgan , Motto ...
. St Thomas Cantilupe (d.1282),
Bishop of Hereford The Bishop of Hereford is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Hereford in the Province of Canterbury. The episcopal see is centred in the Hereford, City of Hereford where the bishop's seat (''cathedra'') is in the Hereford Cathedr ...
, was the first to adopt these jessant-de-lys arms in place of his former arms of ''three fleurs-de-lys'', visible on his seal. He gave a reversed (i.e. upside down) version of the new Cantilupe arms to the
See of Hereford The Diocese of Hereford is a Church of England diocese based in Hereford, covering Herefordshire, southern Shropshire and a few parishes within Worcestershire in England, and a few parishes within Powys and Monmouthshire in Wales. The cathedral i ...
, which uses them to this day. A version of the Denys arms was also adopted by the family of the
poet laureate A poet laureate (plural: poets laureate) is a poet officially appointed by a government or conferring institution, typically expected to compose poems for special events and occasions. Albertino Mussato of Padua and Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch) ...
Alfred, Lord Tennyson Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson (6 August 1809 – 6 October 1892) was an English poet. He was the Poet Laureate during much of Queen Victoria's reign. In 1829, Tennyson was awarded the Chancellor's Gold Medal at Cambridge for one of his ...
, not known to have been a descendant of Archbishop Thomas Tenison. The bend engrailed correctly "debruises" the leopard's faces, that is to say it is superimposed on them, as a heraldic difference. However this image was later on occasion "tidied-up" to show the bend passing between the leopard's faces, for example on a 17th-century mural monument to the Denys family in
Pucklechurch Pucklechurch is a large village and civil parish in South Gloucestershire, England. It has a current population of about 3000. The village dates back over a thousand years and was once the site of a royal hunting lodge, as it adjoined a large fo ...
Church.


Academic performance

The school has long been renowned for its high academic performance. It suffered a dip in results in 2016 and 2017 but the 2018 GCSE results show that the school is returning to its former achievements with double the number of strong GCSE passes in Maths and English and a large number of students attaining the new top grade 9 (equivalent to top half A*) in a range of subjects. In 2019 the school continued to show great improvement with a progress 8 score of -0.06, which has moved the results to average compared to all other secondary schools in England.


Notable Old Tenisonians (OTs)

*
Carl Cort Carl Edward Richard Cort (born 1 November 1977) is a former professional footballer who played as a forward. He played for Wimbledon, Lincoln City, Newcastle United, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Leicester City, Spanish club UD Marbella and Norwich ...
, footballer *
Leon Cort Leon Terence Anthony Cort (born 11 September 1979) is a former footballer who played as a defender. He is the younger brother of Carl Cort and the older half-brother of Ruben Loftus-Cheek. Cort began his career as at non-league side Dulwich ...
, footballer * Jeremiah Emmanuel, youth influencer *
Jason Euell Jason Joseph Euell (born 6 February 1977) is a former professional association football, footballer who played as either a Forward (association football), forward or a midfielder. He spent much of his career playing in the Premier League, with ...
, footballer * Patrick Harrington, political activist *
Barry Hayles Barrington Edward "Barry" Hayles (born 17 May 1972) is a football player and coach who plays as a striker for Windsor. He began his career in the Spartan League with Willesden Hawkeye before playing for Stevenage Borough, Bristol Rovers, Ful ...
, footballer * Stephen Moore, actor *
Shaun Newton Shaun O'Neill Newton (born 20 August 1975) is an English former professional footballer who played as a right midfielder for Charlton Athletic, Wolverhampton Wanderers, West Ham United and Leicester City before ending his professional football ca ...
, footballer


Archbishop Tenison's Grammar School

*
Nigel Anthony Nigel Anthony (born December 23, 1941) is a theatre, television, and radio actor. His theatre work includes ''Twelfth Night'', ''Dutch Uncle (play), Dutch Uncle'', ''Happy End (musical), Happy End'', ''The Taming of the Shrew'' for the Royal Sh ...
, aka Nigel "Nat" Gossling, actor *
Tony Banks, Baron Stratford Anthony Louis Banks, Baron Stratford (8 April 1942 – 8 January 2006) was a British politician who served as Minister for Sport from 1997 to 1999. A member of the Labour Party, he was a member of Parliament from 1983 to 2005 and subsequentl ...
, Labour MP from 1997–2005 for
West Ham West Ham is an area in East London, located east of Charing Cross in the west of the modern London Borough of Newham. The area, which lies immediately to the north of the River Thames and east of the River Lea, was originally an ancien ...
and from 1983-97 for Newham North West *
Nicky Clarke Nicky Clarke (born 17 June 1958) is an English hair stylist and media personality. He initially became famous for styling the hair of various celebrities on several television shows, before earning fame in his own right. Career Clarke's inter ...
, celebrity hair stylist *
Stephen Conway Stephen David Conway SCP (born 22 December 1957) is a British Anglican bishop. Since December 2010, he has been the Bishop of Ely; and since 2022, the Acting Bishop of Lincoln. From 2006 to 2010, he was the Bishop of Ramsbury, an area bishop ...
,
Bishop of Ely The Bishop of Ely is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Ely in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese roughly covers the county of Cambridgeshire (with the exception of the Soke of Peterborough), together with a section of nort ...
*
Cyril Easthaugh Cyril Easthaugh (22 December 189716 December 1988) was a British Anglican bishop in the 20th Century. He was Bishop of Kensington from 1949 to 1961 and Bishop of Peterborough from 1961 to 1972. Early life and education Easthaugh was born on 22 ...
, Bishop of Peterborough *
Richard Findlater Richard Findlater (1921–1985) was a British theatre critic and biographer. Early life He was born Kenneth Bruce Findlater Bain, but worked under the pen-name Richard Findlater. Career Findlater was arts editor for ''The Observer'', and became ...
, journalist and author, and editor from 1961–85 of '' The Author'' *
Chris Gent Sir Christopher Charles Gent HonFREng (born 10 May 1948) is a British businessman, He is the former chief executive officer of Vodafone, a British multinational mobile phone company. Until 2015, he served as the non-exec chairman of GlaxoSmith ...
, former Chief Executive Officer from 1997–2003 of
Vodafone Vodafone Group Public limited company, plc () is a British Multinational corporation, multinational Telephone company, telecommunications company. Its registered office and Headquarters, global headquarters are in Newbury, Berkshire, England. It ...
, and Chairman since 2005 of GlaxoSmithKline *
Don Letts Donovan "Don" Letts (born 10 January 1956) is a British film director, disc jockey (DJ) and musician. Letts first came to prominence as the videographer for the Clash, directing several of their music videos. In 1984, Letts co-founded the band B ...
, musician, member of
Big Audio Dynamite Big Audio Dynamite (later known as Big Audio Dynamite II and Big Audio, and often abbreviated BAD) were an English band, formed in London in 1984 by Mick Jones, former lead guitarist, and co-lead vocalist of the Clash. The band mixed various mu ...
*
Gary Olsen Gary Olsen (born Gary Kenneth Grant; 3 November 1957 – 12 September 2000) was an English actor. He played Ben in the BBC television sitcom ''2point4 Children''. Biography Olsen was born in London and lived with an aunt and uncle after b ...
, actor *
Chris Riddell Chris Riddell ( ) (born 13 April 1962) is a South African-born British illustrator and occasional writer of children's books and a political cartoonist for the ''Observer''. He has won three Kate Greenaway Medals - the British librarians' ann ...
, award-winning illustrator, author, political cartoonist * Ernest Whitfield, 1st Baron Kenswood, violinist


External links

*
Old Tenisonians Association

EduBase
{{Authority control The Oval Boys' schools in London Educational institutions established in the 1680s Secondary schools in the London Borough of Lambeth 1685 establishments in England * Church of England secondary schools in the Diocese of Southwark Academies in the London Borough of Lambeth