King Edward VI Community College (KEVICC) is a

coeducational Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to ...

secondary school and

sixth form In the education systems of England, Northern Ireland, Wales, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and some other Commonwealth countries, sixth form represents the final two years of secondary education, ages 16 to 18. Pupils typically prepare for A-l ...

located in

Totnes Totnes ( or ) is a market town and civil parish at the head of the estuary of the River Dart in Devon, England, within the South Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. It is about west of Paignton, about west-southwest of Torquay and abo ...

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devo ...

, England. It is located in the Dart Valley on the A385 Ashburton Road and serves Totnes and the surrounding area. It has a large campus with around 900 students, 200 of whom are at the Kennicott Sixth Form centre adjoining the main site.

History

The school was founded in 1966 as the King Edward VI Comprehensive School, an amalgamation of the King Edward VI Grammar School for boys (founded 1554), the Redworth Secondary Modern School and the Totnes High School for Girls. The new school was located on the sites of the Redworth Secondary Modern and the neighbouring Totnes High School for Girls. The grammar school had been on a different site ("The Mansion" on Fore Street), which was too small to accommodate the new comprehensive school. The school received its most recent Ofsted report in 2019, where it scored a 'Good'. Previously a community school administered by Devon County Council, in September 2022 King Edward VI Community College converted to academy status. The school is now sponsored by Education South West.

Curriculum

The school curriculum follows the National Curriculum of England and Wales and offers French and Spanish for a compulsory modern foreign language. Students choose 4 GCSE subjects, alongside Maths, English Language, English Literature, Science and Physical Education, which are all compulsory. Students also have the option of studying the English Baccalaureate (EBacc). The school also has Kennicott sixth form for students to take A Levels, AS Levels, BTEC National Diplomas and EPQs.

College houses

The school currently has five houses: Babbage, Davis, Gyles, Scott and Snape. These took over from the previous four-school house system of Rea, Smythe, Jeffrey and Scott in 2001.

Notable former teachers

* Thomas Peter Snape OBE (4 June 1925 - 30 April 1997), headmaster from 1964–83; General Secretary from 1983-88 of both the

Secondary Heads Association The Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), formerly the Secondary Heads Association (SHA), is a UK professional association for leaders of schools and colleges. History The Association of Head Mistresses (AHM) was founded in 1874. The ...

and the Headmasters’ Conference.

Notable former pupils

Joanna Briscoe Joanna Briscoe (born 1963) is an English writer who has written four novels and several short stories and has worked as a freelance journalist. Her first novel, ''Mothers and Other Lovers'', won a Betty Trask Award in 1993, and her third, ''Sleep ...

, novelist *

Ben Howard Benjamin John Howard (born 24 April 1987) is an English singer-songwriter, musician and composer. His self-released debut EP ''Games in the Dark'' (2008) was followed by two more EPs, '' These Waters'' (2009) and '' Old Pine'' (2010). Signed t ...

, singer-songwriter * Hester Goodman, musician; member of The Ukulele Orchestra of Great BritainInterview with Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain
''Outline Magazine''; retrieved 4 June 2013. * Joseph Mount, of the band

Metronomy Metronomy are an English electronic music group formed in 1999. As of 2021, the band consists of Joseph Mount (vocals, keyboards and guitar), Oscar Cash (keyboards, backing vocals, guitar and saxophone), Anna Prior (drums and vocals), Olugbeng ...

* Sam and Sophie Tolchard, bowls players and 2014 Commonwealth Games medallists *

Cosmo Jarvis Harrison Cosmo Krikoryan Jarvis (born 1 September 1989) is a British actor, musician, and filmmaker. In 2015, he auditioned and was cast to portray the character of Sebastian in William Oldroyd's debut feature film ''Lady Macbeth'' (2016). Ea ...

(attended sixth form), singer-songwriter *

Kieffer Moore Kieffer Roberto Francisco Moore (born 8 August 1992) is a professional footballer who plays as a striker for club AFC Bournemouth and the Wales national team. Moore started his career with Conference South club Truro City, having as a tee ...

, footballer * Ryan Stevenson, cricketer * Jimmy Cauty, musician and artist * Cressida Bowyer, musician and scientist *

Toby Young Toby Daniel Moorsom Young (born 17 October 1963) is a British social commentator. He is the founder and director of the Free Speech Union, an associate editor of ''The Spectator'', and a former associate editor at ''Quillette.'' A graduate of ...

, son of Lord Young of Dartington, journalist *

Warwick Lightfoot Warwick Martin Lightfoot (born 1957) is a British Conservative politician, economist, and former political adviser. He has been a councillor in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea since 1986, and has stood for numerous other positions, in ...

, Conservative politician * Guy Singh-Watson, organic farmer, Riverford Farm *

Mary Nightingale Mary Nightingale (born 26 May 1963) is an English journalist and television presenter, best known for presenting the '' ITV Evening News'' since 2001. Education and early career Nightingale was educated at St Margaret's School, an independent s ...

, journalist and news presenter * Cathryn Harrison, actress Pupils of the Boys' Grammar school * Charles Babbage, inventor of the computer *

Philip Furneaux Philip Furneaux (1726–1783) was an English independent minister. Early life Furneaux was born in December 1726 at Totnes, Devon. He attended Totnes Grammar School, where he formed a lifelong friendship with Benjamin Kennicott. In 1742 or 1743 ...

, an English independent minister. *

Benjamin Kennicott Benjamin Kennicott (4 April 171818 September 1783) was an English churchman and Hebrew scholar. Life Kennicott was born at Totnes, Devon where he attended Totnes Grammar School. He succeeded his father as master of a charity school, but the gene ...

, an English churchman and Hebrew scholar. * Edward Lye, an 18th-century scholar of Old English and Germanic philology.

References

External links

*
Old Totnesians Society
{{authority control Secondary schools in Devon Academies in Devon Totnes King Edward VI Schools Educational institutions established in 2018 2018 establishments in England