Kingsley School Bideford is a co-educational

independent school An independent school is independent in its finances and governance. Also known as private schools, non-governmental, privately funded, or non-state schools, they are not administered by local, state or national governments. In British Eng ...

in Bideford, Devon. The school was founded in 1884 as

Edgehill College Edgehill College was a co-educational independent school located in Bideford, Devon. Founded in 1884 by the Bible Christian movement, Edgehill was one of a number of independent schools owned by the Methodist Church of Great Britain and was si ...

, and merged with

Grenville College Grenville College was an independent boarding and day school situated in Bideford, Devon, England. In 2009 the school merged with neighbouring Edgehill College to become the Kingsley School. History Grenville College was founded in 1954 as a bo ...

in 2009 to form Kingsley. Alongside

Shebbear College Shebbear College is an independent day and boarding school for girls and boys aged 4 – 18 situated in Shebbear, Devon, England. The school's 85-acre rural campus is situated in the Devon countryside. It was founded by the Bible Christian Soci ...

and West Buckland School, Kingsley is one of the three main independent schools in North Devon. It currently enrols 402 pupils.

History

Kingsley was established in January 2009 as a merger of

and

. The school's namesake is that of novelist

Charles Kingsley Charles Kingsley (12 June 1819 – 23 January 1875) was a broad church priest of the Church of England, a university professor, social reformer, historian, novelist and poet. He is particularly associated with Christian socialism, the working ...

, author of the locally-based adventure novel ''Westward Ho!'' (1855). Edgehill College was founded in 1884 by the Bible Christian Church. Grenville College was founded in 1954 as an

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 ...

boys' school Single-sex education, also known as single-gender education and gender-isolated education, is the practice of conducting education with male and female students attending separate classes, perhaps in separate buildings or schools. The practice of ...

and in 1994 merged with Stella Maris, a Roman Catholic convent school, becoming co-educational. On 28 October 2008, it was announced by Methodist Education that the schools would merge in a response to difficulty and pressure placed on maintaining independent education in North Devon. The move was triggered by a fall in pupil numbers at both schools since education reforms in 1997, and by difficult economic circumstances both locally and nationally. In September 2019, the school was sold by the Methodist Independent Schools Trust (MIST) to KSI Education, a new educational company linked to Hong Kong-based China First Capital Group. Kingsley currently divides its students into four houses, competing against one another in sport and academics:

Putsborough Putsborough is a hamlet in Georgeham Civil Parish on the west-facing coast of North Devon, England. It is about north of the village of Croyde and west-northwest of the village of Georgeham. north of the hamlet is Putsborough Sands, which for ...

, Croyde, Woolacombe and Saunton. Each house is named after a coastal resort along the local North Devon Coast AONB.

Headmasters

The current headmaster is Robert Pavis, having taken over from interim head Alastair Ramsay in February 2022. *2022–: Robert Pavis *2021–22: Alastair Ramsay ''(interim)'' *2020–21: Gill Jackson *2017–20: Pete Last *2013–17: Simon Woolcott *2009–13: Andy Waters

Facilities

Earth Centre

In 2019, Kingsley broke ground on the Earth Centre, an umbrella term for Kingsley's unique commitment to climate action, biodiversity restoration and nutrition from healthy food. Kingsley, located in the UNESCO Biosphere of North Devon, aims to be carbon neutral by 2027. The new developments will feature a 10,700 square-foot education centre, designed by JB Architects, and on-site ecology zones. At the 2020 ISA Awards, Kingsley won Sustainability and Environmental Education School of the Year for its commitments to climate action.

SEND support

The Grenville Dyslexic Centre was founded in 1969 and became one of the leading centres in the UK for maximising the achievements of dyslexic students. The current Grenville Centre provides specialist support for Senior School students aged between 11 and 16, who have some form of learning difference or special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). The Edgehill Centre provides this service for students aged 6 to 11. The Stella Maris Centre provides differentiated learning programmes for all students with mild to moderate learning differences, offering tailored support for each student according to need.

Kingsley Surf Academy

Kingsley is located by the North Devon coast, less than 2 miles from Westward Ho! beach, and offers a leading programme for students of any experience who wish to excel in

surfing Surfing is a surface water sport in which an individual, a surfer (or two in tandem surfing), uses a board to ride on the forward section, or face, of a moving wave of water, which usually carries the surfer towards the shore. Waves suitabl ...

. The academy offers both a practical and theoretical approach to better understand the sport of surfing.

Boarding

There are currently three boarding houses available to Senior School pupils: *Belvoir House – for girls in years 7 to 10. *Carisbrooke – for boys in years 7 to 10. *Longfield – for all boarders in years 11 to 13. Each house has a range of study-bedrooms, bathrooms, kitchen-cafes, a laundry and recreational spaces.

Incidents

2013 Kiltrasna House fire

On 30 March 2013, there was a fire at Kiltrasna House, a derelict building on the edge of the school grounds, having previously been a girls' boarding house at Edgehill until September 2003. Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service said the fire "severely damaged" around 70% of the building. There were no injuries.

References

{{authority control Independent schools in Devon Methodist schools in England Bideford Buildings and structures in Bideford 2009 establishments in England Educational institutions established in 2009