The King's School is a

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) ...

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

Ottery St Mary Ottery St Mary, known as "Ottery", is a town and civil parish in the East Devon district of Devon, England, on the River Otter, about east of Exeter on the B3174. At the 2001 census, the parish, which includes the villages of Metcombe, Fair ...

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. Devon is ...

, England. It was established as a choir school by the bishop

John Grandisson The '' John Grandisson Triptych'', displaying on two small escutcheons the arms of Bishop Grandisson. British Museum John de Grandisson (1292 – 16 July 1369), also spelt Grandison, was Bishop of Exeter, in Devon, England, from 1327 to his deat ...

in 1335, but was replaced by 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 ...

Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disa ...

in 1545. It became a

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 ...

in 1982, and an

academy An academy ( Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy ...

in 2011. The school's pupils are mainly drawn from its five feeder primaries in the surrounding area: Ottery St Mary primary school, West Hill Primary School, Payhembury Church of England Primary School,

Feniton Feniton is a village and civil parish in East Devon in the English county of Devon. The village lies about west of Honiton, north of Ottery St Mary, and east of Talaton. The parish of Feniton incorporates the hamlets of Colesworthy, Higher ...

Church of England Primary School and Tipton St John Church of England Primary School. The school has access to facilities shared with the public, the Colin Tooze Sports Centre. Rob Gammon became headteacher in 2016, succeeding Faith Jarrett.

History

The King's School is an 11-18 secondary school with just over 1100 students and 100 staff. In 1335, Bishop John de Grandisson bought the manor of Ottery St Mary from the Dean and Chapter of

Rouen Rouen (, ; or ) is a city on the River Seine in northern France. It is the prefecture of the Regions of France, region of Normandy (administrative region), Normandy and the Departments of France, department of Seine-Maritime. Formerly one of ...

who had owned it since 1061. He obtained a royal licence from

Edward III Edward III (13 November 1312 – 21 June 1377), also known as Edward of Windsor before his accession, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from January 1327 until his death in 1377. He is noted for his military success and for restoring r ...

to found his College of Secular Canons and established a choir school in Ottery St Mary in 1335 for eight boys and a Master of Grammar. The school did not start very promisingly in 1337 with the members of the choir-school being accused of "dissolute and insolent behaviour in the parish". Grandisson being a disciplinarian,

flogging Flagellation (Latin , 'whip'), flogging or whipping is the act of beating the human body with special implements such as whips, rods, switches, the cat o' nine tails, the sjambok, the knout, etc. Typically, flogging has been imposed on ...

was the punishment, but this had no effect and consequently the boys were heavily fined for every day's absence from the choir. For over two hundred years the canons carried out Bishop Grandisson's instructions and the choir school boys were educated. When the

English Reformation The English Reformation took place in 16th-century England when the Church of England broke away from the authority of the pope and the Catholic Church. These events were part of the wider European Protestant Reformation, a religious and poli ...

reached the college in 1545 it was dissolved. Upon some whim or persuasion, however,

established a free grammar school in the town - hence "The King's School" and their coat of arms became a

Lion The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large Felidae, cat of the genus ''Panthera'' native to Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body; short, rounded head; round ears; and a hairy tuft at the end of its tail. It is sexually dimorphi ...

and a Dragon supporting the Tudor Royal Shield surmounted by a Crown. The Chanter's House is a Grade II* listed building which served as the headmaster's lodging. It dates from the 17th century, incorporating parts of the former Precentor's house, known as Heath's Court. In 1645,

Oliver Cromwell Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English politician and military officer who is widely regarded as one of the most important statesmen in English history. He came to prominence during the 1639 to 1651 Wars of the Three Ki ...

held a convention in the house's dining room, and

Thomas Fairfax Thomas Fairfax, 3rd Lord Fairfax of Cameron (17 January 161212 November 1671), also known as Sir Thomas Fairfax, was an English politician, general and Parliamentary commander-in-chief during the English Civil War. An adept and talented command ...

stayed at the house from October to December in that year. The poet

Samuel Taylor Coleridge Samuel Taylor Coleridge (; 21 October 177225 July 1834) was an English poet, literary critic, philosopher, and theologian who, with his friend William Wordsworth, was a founder of the Romantic Movement in England and a member of the Lake Poe ...

's father was headmaster of The King's School, Ottery St Mary.

Facilities

The school has access to a facility shared by the public, the Colin Tooze Sports Centre. The King's School was designated as a Specialist

Sports College Sports Colleges are senior secondary schools which promote sports alongside secondary education. United Kingdom Sports Colleges were introduced in 1997 as part of the Specialist schools programme, Specialist Schools Programme in the United Kingdo ...

in the summer of 2002. Facilities for PE and sport at King's were enabled by that status to be developed. In partnership with East Devon District Council, a purpose built Dance Studio with sound and lighting systems was completed in 2003. There is a floodlight all-weather

astroturf AstroTurf is an American subsidiary of SportGroup that produces artificial turf for playing surfaces in sports. The original AstroTurf product was a short-pile synthetic turf invented in 1965 by Monsanto. Since the early 2000s, AstroTurf has m ...

hockey and football pitch. In 2009 the school added a new Multi Use Games Areas (M.U.G.A) which has four netball courts and three tennis courts which are also used by the local Ottery St Mary tennis club.

House system

There are four houses, which date to 1912, as witnessed by the old minute book of the Sports Committee. These provide the school with four large vertically grouped cohorts of students, with form groups separated by house rather than year. The houses are named after local families:

Coleridge Samuel Taylor Coleridge (; 21 October 177225 July 1834) was an English poet, literary critic, philosopher, and theologian who, with his friend William Wordsworth, was a founder of the Romantic Movement in England and a member of the Lake Poe ...

, Kennaway, Patteson and

Raleigh Raleigh (; ) is the capital city of the state of North Carolina and the seat of Wake County in the United States. It is the second-most populous city in North Carolina, after Charlotte. Raleigh is the tenth-most populous city in the Southeas ...

. All houses have separate colours, which are used for inter-house events: red for Coleridge, blue for Kennaway, green for Patteson and purple for Raleigh. The school holds annual inter-house events, these include dance, musical and the 'Top Of The House' quiz.

Key dates

* 1900 - 28 boys – Headteacher Mr Frank Wyatt of Dawlish. * 1906 - Two classrooms – full forms * 1907 - Scheme to transfer the school to a new building and convert it to a co-educational grammar school. * 1909-ish - Current site bought for £557 16s 3d., from Exeter Episcopal Charities. * 1911 - Contract for new school – W J Granger of Whimple – for £6275. * 1912 - 23 January 1912 – new school opened. The old school site of The Priory was let for £40 – eventually became the Police Station. * 1920 - School's first girl graduate – E Joyce Seward. * 1921 - 285 pupils – mainly fee paying, with some free places. * 1924 - James Johnson of Melton Mowbray succeeded Mr Wyatt as Headteacher. * 1927 - Only 99 boys and 44 girls in attendance. * 1934 - Nine boys went on a school cruise to Norway and Denmark. * 1935 - Electric lights replaced gas. * 1937 - New cricket pavilion. * 1939 - 86 evacuees came to the school. Trenches were dug to accommodate the whole school. * 1945 - Incident with local farmer over drainage problems. £20 settled the issue! * 1946 - Mr. Crowther appointed Headteacher. * 1947 - New dining rooms – Miss Pollard – Cook-Supervisor. * 1950 - Mr. Sydney Andrew becomes Headteacher. * 1953 - New Library/Art Block – girls playground asphalted. * 1955-56 - New Chemistry/Biology block. * 1958 - Mains water. Entry of 75 to First Year. The Sixth Form was 40. * 1963 - New Hall, Library, Changing Rooms, new Physics Laboratory. * 1966 - Swimming Pool built. * 1972 - Dr. M E Denning appointed Headteacher. * 1976 - New Craft Block built. * 1982 - Drama, Art, Music and Science provision increased. School intake became non-selective. * 1988 - Final grammar school entrants complete Sixth Form; school population all non-selective. Mr. Larry Watkins appointed Headteacher. * 1989 - Mr. Barry Teare appointed Headteacher. * 1996 - New teaching block for Geography, History, RE and Foreign Languages. * 1997 - Mr. Roger Fetherston appointed Headteacher. * 2001 - New Dining Hall added to the Humanities & Language Block/Reception Area greatly expanded. * 2002 - Sport College Status achieved. * 2003 - New Teaching Rooms for Math & English and a New Dance Studio added to the Colin Tooze Sports Centre. * 2004 - Miss Faith Jarrett appointed as Headteacher. The school now has just over 1010 students. * 2009 - New Geography Rooms and Sixth Form Centre built. * 2011 - Awarded Outstanding Status by Ofsted, became an academy. * 2013 - New Business Studies, ICT, PSHE and English Rooms built in a New-Block extension * 2016 - Mr. Rob Gammon appointed headteacher

Notable former pupils

Walter Raleigh Sir Walter Raleigh (; – 29 October 1618) was an English statesman, soldier, writer and explorer. One of the most notable figures of the Elizabethan era, he played a leading part in English colonisation of North America, suppressed rebellion ...

(–1618), writer, poet, soldier, courtier, explorer *

(1772–1834), poet, critic, philosopher * Paul Madden (born 1959), British diplomat * Mary King (born 1961),

eventer Eventing (also known as three day eventing or horse trials) is an equestrian event where a single horse and rider combine and compete against other competitors across the three disciplines of dressage, cross-country, and show jumping. This ...

Murray McArthur Murray McArthur (born 4 May 1966) is an English stage, television and film actor. Early life McArthur was born and brought up in Devon. The son of a mushroom farmer, of Scottish parentage and red-haired, he often plays Scottish roles. He attend ...

(born 1966), actor *

Joanne Pavey Joanne Marie Pavey MBE (née Davis, born 20 September 1973) is a British long-distance runner and a World, European and Commonwealth medallist. She won the 10,000 m gold medal at the 2014 European Championships in Zürich, ten months aft ...

(born 1973),

long-distance runner Long-distance running, or endurance running, is a form of continuous running over distances of at least . Physiologically, it is largely Aerobic exercise, aerobic in nature and requires endurance, stamina as well as mental strength. Within e ...

References

External links

School website
{{DEFAULTSORT:King's School, Ottery St Mary Educational institutions established in the 1540s 1335 establishments in England 1545 establishments in England Secondary schools in Devon Academies in Devon Ottery St Mary