Tiffin School is a boys'

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 ...

Kingston upon Thames Kingston upon Thames (hyphenated until 1965, colloquially known as Kingston) is a town in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, southwest London, England. It is situated on the River Thames and southwest of Charing Cross. It is notable as ...

, England. It has specialist status in both the

performing arts The performing arts are arts such as music, dance, and drama which are performed for an audience. They are different from the visual arts, which are the use of paint, canvas or various materials to create physical or static art objects. Perform ...

and

languages Language is a structured system of communication. The structure of a language is its grammar and the free components are its vocabulary. Languages are the primary means by which humans communicate, and may be conveyed through a variety of met ...

. The school moved from

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 ...

status to become an

Academy School An academy school in England is a state-funded school which is directly funded by the Department for Education and independent of local authority control. The terms of the arrangements are set out in individual Academy Funding Agreements. Most ...

on 1 July 2011. Founded in 1880, Tiffin School educates 1,058 pupils as of February 2019.

Admissions

Entry into the school is by academic selection, using both an English and a mathematics test.
The school admits 180 students each year in year 7. Since at least 2002, students have been able to apply to join Tiffin for Sixth Form (Years 12 and 13); approximately 35-40% of the boys are 'new boys', from other schools. Admission to the sixth form is based on GCSE results and interview performance. From September 2019, the Sixth Form became co-educational and admits around 80 girls. Tiffin remains an all boys’ school from Years 7 to 11.

Identity

The school colours - red and blue - date from the time of its original foundation in the seventeenth century. The school's coat of arms, with three salmon, is based on that of the

Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames The Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames is a borough in southwest London. The main town is Kingston upon Thames and it includes Surbiton, Chessington, Malden Rushett, New Malden and Tolworth. It is the oldest of the four royal boroughs in Eng ...

. The uniform for years 7 - 10 is in the same colours with blue and red stripes. For years 11 it is a full dark blue outfit.

House system

The

house system The house system is a traditional feature of schools in the United Kingdom. The practice has since spread to Commonwealth countries and the United States. The school is divided into subunits called "houses" and each student is allocated to o ...

was introduced by the Head Thomas Dean in the Autumn term of 1919. There were originally six houses, named after famous British explorers, but this was increased to eight on 14 March 1947 due to the expansion of the school. At the start of the academic year 1964-1965 the number of houses was reduced back to six. The names of the two newest houses were "retained so that their identity was not lost" according to the Tiffinian Magazine, but no reason was given as to why they were joined with Gordon and Kingsley. The reason for the change was the reduction in the size of the school imposed by the LEA. In 2016 the school added two new houses; Darwin-Wilberforce and Turing-Nightingale. The school also operates a head prefect system, consisting of head, deputy head, senior, and assistant prefects. Students in the lower sixth are invited to become prefects, with several then selected to form a head prefect team. When on duty, the head prefects wear blue gowns and the deputy head prefects wear dark red gowns. Assistant prefects formerly wore red gowns, however this was changed to apply only to senior prefects.

History

Two prosperous brewers from Kingston, John and Thomas Tiffin, left money in their wills in 1638 for the education of local people. At first, the money was used for

scholarship A scholarship is a form of financial aid awarded to students for further education. Generally, scholarships are awarded based on a set of criteria such as academic merit, diversity and inclusion, athletic skill, and financial need. Scholarsh ...

s to attend local schools. However, the fund grew through investment returns and additional donations, so by the 1820s nearly 110 children were benefiting from the fund. By 1869, when the charity schools had closed and the money was no longer needed by the Public Secondary School, the charity's trustees proposed to support Kingston Grammar School. There was a debate until 1872 when it was decided that Kingston Grammar School should receive no more than a quarter of the income from the charity. Plans were therefore drawn up in 1874 for two new schools; Tiffin Boys' School and Tiffin Girls' School, each taking 150 pupils. A single building by the Fairfield housing both schools was opened in January 1880. In 1929, the boys' school moved to its present site, in Queen Elizabeth Road near the centre of Kingston. It became a grammar school under the Education Act 1944. The school changed from being voluntary-controlled to being grant-maintained in 1992. On 1 July 2011, the school achieved Academy status.

New buildings

In 1937, a new building was opened for the Girls' School for 480 pupils. They had previously been in the same building as the Boys' School. The school site has expanded and now has a Sports Centre, Performing Arts Centre, South Building, Judge Lecture Theatre and Learning Resource Centre (named the Dempsey Centre after a former head). The Sports Centre is used for exams and indoor sports activities. The Performing Arts Centre is used for the teaching of drama, art, music and design and technology. The South Building is used for the teaching of Mathematics, English and Modern Foreign Languages. The Judge Lecture Theatre is used as a lecture theatre for external events and internal classes. The Learning Resource Centre is used as a library, IT suite and career development office. In 2011, an 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 ...

pitch was erected on part of the old grass field, funded by Jim Dixon and a National Lottery grant. The cricket nets were refurbished and named the Neil Desai cricket nets in honour of his passing. Over the course of late 2017 and early 2018, a new building attached to the existing Dempsey Centre was opened. This was funded by the government (£3,000,000). An additional £250,000 was raised with donations from former pupils and former teachers. In this building, a new IT room was installed, a brand new canteen and six new maths classrooms. The old canteen on this site was subsequently demolished prior to build. This has meant there is less space for on-site car parking and recreational play during lunchtimes and breaks. The sports changing room of the sports centre was also expanded. This was due to the need of a refurbishment and an additional changing room for girls, attending the school for the first time in its history from September 2019. In May 2022, the Learning Resource Centre (LRC) was closed for renovations. It is scheduled to re-open in September 2022.

Present day

There are between 180 and 190 boys in each year, and about 440 in the Sixth Form, taught by 65 teaching staff. The Dempsey Centre, named after Dr Tony Dempsey, who retired as head in 2004, was opened in September of that year. It contains ICT suites, a lecture theatre, a library and a new careers office. In 2004, Sean Heslop took over as head of Tiffin School, due to the retirement of Tony Dempsey. He subsequently left the school in 2009 to take a position at Folkestone Academy. He was subsequently arrested and bailed by the police on the charge of abusing a position of trust with a minor. He was acquitted of all charges. In 2009, Hilda Clarke became the first female head of Tiffin School. She is a former head of Langley Grammar School in

Slough Slough () is a town and unparished area in the unitary authority of the same name in Berkshire, England, bordering west London. It lies in the Thames Valley, west of central London and north-east of Reading, at the intersection of the M4 ...

and former deputy head of Tiffin Girls' School in

. In November 2014, it was announced that Hilda Clarke had stepped down and was replaced by the former deputy head and longstanding history teacher, Mike Gascoigne.

Ofsted report

The

Ofsted The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted) is a Non-ministerial government department, non-ministerial department of Government of the United Kingdom, His Majesty's government, reporting to Parliament of the U ...

report in 2002 stated that "the school is very popular; annually, it receives around 1,300 applications for the 140 available places. Very nearly all 16-year-olds continue into the Sixth Form and around 40 more join the Sixth Form each year from other schools. On entry, the pupils’ and Sixth Form students’ attainment is very high compared with the national average." In the 2007 Ofsted Report, Tiffin was rated outstanding (grade 1) in every area. In the 2013 Ofsted Report, pupils' exam results overall were in the top 40% of similar schools' results, and in the top 20% of all schools.

Academic achievement

According to the ''Sunday Times'' Parent Power Guide, the school is ranked 10th in the top hundred State Secondary Schools based on 2011 examination results. The 2011 results for the school are: * A-level %A*-B: 90.9 * GCSE %A*-A: 82.8

Music

The school has a choir and several musical ensembles, including a swing band, and many of its pupils are members of Thames Youth Orchestra. Every year, the school performs an

oratorio An oratorio () is a large musical composition for orchestra, choir, and soloists. Like most operas, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an instrumental ensemble, various distinguishable characters, and arias. However, opera is mus ...

either held in the

Rose Theatre The Rose was an Elizabethan theatre. It was the fourth of the public theatres to be built, after The Theatre (1576), the Curtain (1577), and the theatre at Newington Butts (c. 1580?) – and the first of several playhouses to be situated in Ba ...

or the Tiffin Sports Hall, which consists of students, parents, staff and friends and is accompanied by the

London Mozart Players London Mozart Players (LMP) are a British chamber orchestra founded in 1949. LMP are the longest-established chamber orchestra in the United Kingdom. Since 1989, the orchestra has been Resident Orchestra at Fairfield Halls, Croydon. History B ...

or the Brandenburg Symphony Orchestra or the Sinfonia Britannica.

Tiffin Boys' Choir

The Tiffin Boys' Choir (directed by James Day), which celebrated its 60th anniversary in 2017, performs at venues including the

Royal Opera House The Royal Opera House (ROH) is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply Covent Garden, after a previous use of the site. It is the home of The Royal Op ...

, the

Royal Festival Hall The Royal Festival Hall is a 2,700-seat concert, dance and talks venue within Southbank Centre in London. It is situated on the South Bank of the River Thames, not far from Hungerford Bridge, in the London Borough of Lambeth. It is a Grade I l ...

, and the

Barbican A barbican (from fro, barbacane) is a fortified outpost or fortified gateway, such as at an outer fortifications, defense perimeter of a city or castle, or any tower situated over a gate or bridge which was used for defensive purposes. Europe ...

with London orchestras, and it regularly goes on tour. The choir has recorded CDs, such as ''Rejoice in the Lamb'' and ''Christmas at Tiffin''. They have also recorded film music for the Hobbit, Bohemian rhapsody and the Batman. It has also appeared on recordings of Mahler with

Klaus Tennstedt Klaus Hermann Wilhelm Tennstedt (; June 6, 1926 – January 11, 1998) was a German conductor from Merseburg. Known for his interpretation of the Austro-German repertoire, especially his sympathetic approaches towards Gustav Mahler, Tennstedt ...

Puccini Giacomo Puccini (Lucca, 22 December 1858Bruxelles, 29 November 1924) was an Italian composer known primarily for his operas. Regarded as the greatest and most successful proponent of Italian opera after Verdi, he was descended from a long lin ...

's ''

Tosca ''Tosca'' is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. It premiered at the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma, Teatro Costanzi in Rome on 14 January 1900. The work, based on Victorien Sardou's 1 ...

'' with Antonio Pappano and Britten's ''

War Requiem The ''War Requiem'', Op. 66, is a large-scale setting of the Requiem composed by Benjamin Britten mostly in 1961 and completed in January 1962. The ''War Requiem'' was performed for the consecration of the new Coventry Cathedral, which was b ...

'' with

Kurt Masur Kurt Masur (18 July 1927 – 19 December 2015) was a German conductor. Called "one of the last old-style maestros", he directed many of the principal orchestras of his era. He had a long career as the Kapellmeister of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Or ...

. The choir was featured on the last episode of '' TFI Friday'', on the soundtrack of ''A Christmas Carol'', starring

Kate Winslet Kate Elizabeth Winslet (; born 5 October 1975) is an English actress. Known for her work in independent films, particularly period dramas, and for her portrayals of headstrong and complicated women, she has received numerous accolades, incl ...

, and on the subsequently released top-ten Kate Winslet Single "

What If What If may refer to: Film * ''What If'', a 2006 TV film starring Niall Buggy * ''What If...'' (2010 film), an American film * ''What If...'' (2012 film), a Greek film * ''What If'' (2013 film) or ''The F Word'', a Canadian-Irish film Telev ...

Sports

Tiffin School is active in all the main sports. It has facilities for rugby, athletics, football and cricket at a large area of ground in

East Molesey Molesey is a district of two twin towns, East Molesey and West Molesey, in the Borough of Elmbridge, Surrey, England, and is situated on the south bank of the River Thames. East and West Molesey share a high street, and there is a second retail ...

near

Hampton Court Hampton Court Palace is a Grade I listed royal palace in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, southwest and upstream of central London on the River Thames. The building of the palace began in 1514 for Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, the chief ...

, known as Grist's (named after a former headmaster).

Tiffin School Boat Club The Tiffin School Boat Club (also known as TSBC) is an amateur rowing club, based in London, run by Tiffin School. It is based on the River Thames at Kingston upon Thames on the outskirts of Greater London in south-east England between Kingsto ...

is based at Canbury Boathouse, which is shared with

Kingston Rowing Club Kingston Rowing Club (KRC) is a rowing club in England founded in 1858 and a member club of British Rowing. The club is located on the River Thames at Kingston upon Thames, downstream and north-east of Kingston Bridge and Kingston Railway Brid ...

along the Thames at Canbury Gardens. The school has a sports hall and all-weather

pitch open to the public after school hours. Tiffin School provides ball boys for

The Championships, Wimbledon The Wimbledon Championships, commonly known simply as Wimbledon, is the oldest tennis tournament in the world and is widely regarded as the most prestigious. It has been held at the All England Club in Wimbledon, London, since 1877 and is play ...

Old Tiffinians

Former pupils are known as Old Tiffinians. The Tiffinian Association arranges reunion events such as dinners and sports fixtures.

Notable former pupils

Arts and entertainment *

Gethin Anthony Gethin David L. Anthony (born 9 October 1983) is an English television and film actor best known for his role as Renly Baratheon in ''Game of Thrones'' from 2011 to 2012. Early life and education Anthony was born in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwicks ...

, actor * John Bratby, painter and writer *

James Seymour Brett James Seymour Brett (born 3 April 1974) is an English composer and conductor. Early career After graduating from the Royal Academy of Music in 1997, Brett was immediately hired by composer Michael Kamen. Brett's further contribution to film ...

, composer * Herbie Flowers, musician *

Inno Genga Innogen Gengatharan, known professionally as Inno Genga, is a British playback singer who has worked in Tamil language films. After becoming noticed through his song covers on YouTube, Inno Genga has sung songs in albums composed by musicians i ...

musician A musician is a person who composes, conducts, or performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general term used to designate one who follows music as a profession. Musicians include songwriters who wri ...

Jake Hendriks Jake Hendriks (born 1981) is an English television actor. He is known for portraying Kieron Hobbs in the soap opera ''Hollyoaks'' and numerous stage roles. Personal life Jake Hendriks, born Jacob Hendrik Cuddihy in 1981 in Chessington, is the ...

, actor * Rich Keeble, actor * Andrew Lawrence, comedian *

Neil McDermott Neil McDermott (born 15 December 1980) is a British stage and television actor, who is best known for portraying Ryan Malloy in the BBC television soap opera ''EastEnders''. Career McDermott appeared in the 2008 ''Doctor Who'' episode "The Next ...

actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), li ...

* Jonny Lee Miller,

Will Varley Will Varley (born 7 March 1987) is an English singer-songwriter, musician and visual artist. He is one of the founding members of the arts collective Smugglers Records. Since self releasing his debut album ''Advert Soundtracks'' in 2011 he has ...

, musician * Alan Wheatley, theatrical performer, BBC announcer and star of the TV series Adventures of Robin Hood *

Roderick Williams Roderick Gregory Coleman Williams OBE (born 1965) is a British baritone and composer. Biography Williams was born in North London to a Welsh father and a Jamaican mother. He attended Christ Church Cathedral School in Oxford and Haberdashers' ...

, singer Education and politics * Ralph Allwood, choral conductor, composer and teacher * Tom Bloxham MBE, founder of Urban Splash and currently Chancellor of the University of Manchester *

James Boyden Harold James Boyden (19 October 1910 – 26 September 1993) was a British Labour Party politician. Boyden was educated at Tiffin Boys' School, Kingston upon Thames, and King's College London.Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

MP for

Bishop Auckland Bishop Auckland () is a market town and civil parish at the confluence of the River Wear and the River Gaunless in County Durham, northern England. It is northwest of Darlington and southwest of Durham. Much of the town's early history surro ...

* Michael Dixon, Director of the Natural History Museum * Philip Eggleton, discoverer of Phosphagens *

Chris Heaton-Harris Christopher Heaton-Harris (born 28 November 1967) is an English politician who has served as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland since 6 September 2022. Early life and education Born on 28 November 1967, Heaton-Harris attended the Tiffin ...

, Conservative MP for Daventry (1979–86) * Dennis Lindley,

statistician A statistician is a person who works with theoretical or applied statistics. The profession exists in both the private and public sectors. It is common to combine statistical knowledge with expertise in other subjects, and statisticians may wor ...

Sport * Neil Bennett,

rugby union player Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

for England * Mark Feltham, cricketer *

Arun Harinath Arun Harinath (born 26 March 1987) is a former English cricketer, a top-order batsman who played at first-class level for Surrey, Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), Leicestershire and Loughborough UCCE between 2007 and 2018. He was educated at ...

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

er Surrey CCC *

Rob Henderson Robert Alexander James Henderson (born 27 October 1972 in Dover, England) is a retired Irish rugby union player who played for a number of clubs including Toulon and Munster. He represented Ireland internationally, winning 29 caps, and toured ...

for Ireland and the British and Irish Lions *

Gregor Kennis Gregor John Kennis (born 9 March 1974) played first-class and List A cricket for Surrey between 1994 and 1997 and for Somerset between 1998 and 2000. He was born in Yokohama, Japan. Kennis was a right-handed batsman who opened the innings in ...

, cricketer *

Cameron McGeehan Cameron Alexander McGeehan (born 6 April 1995) is a professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for club Northampton Town. Born in England, he also plays for the Northern Ireland national team. McGeehan began his youth career at Fulham ...

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

David Ottley David Charles "Dave" Ottley (born 5 August 1955 in West Thurrock, Essex) is a retired British athlete who mainly competed in the men's javelin throw event. Athletics career Ottley competed for Great Britain at the 1984 Summer Olympics held in ...

, cricketer * Alec Stewart OBE, former England cricket captain Other * Captain Douglas Belcher,

Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious award of the British honours system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British Armed Forces and may be awarded posthumously. It was previously ...

recipient *

Roy Chaplin Roland Henry Chaplin, (16 May 1899 – 13 December 1988), known as Roy Chaplin, was an aeronautical engineer who worked with Sydney Camm at Hawker Aircraft Limited from 1927 to 1962. He helped design the Hawker Fury biplane, the Hurricane mono ...

, aircraft designer at

Hawker Aircraft Hawker Aircraft Limited was a British aircraft manufacturer that was responsible for some of the most famous products in British aviation history. History Hawker had its roots in the aftermath of the First World War, which resulted in the bank ...

, worked on

Hawker Hurricane The Hawker Hurricane is a British single-seat fighter aircraft of the 1930s–40s which was designed and predominantly built by Hawker Aircraft Ltd. for service with the Royal Air Force (RAF). It was overshadowed in the public consciousness by ...

Hawker Hunter The Hawker Hunter is a transonic British jet-powered fighter aircraft that was developed by Hawker Aircraft for the Royal Air Force (RAF) during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It was designed to take advantage of the newly developed Rolls-R ...

and

Hawker Siddeley Harrier The Hawker Siddeley Harrier is a British military aircraft. It was the first of the Harrier series of aircraft and was developed in the 1960s as the first operational ground attack and reconnaissance aircraft with vertical/short takeoff and ...

. *

Reginald Foster Dagnall Reginald Foster Dagnall (11 April 1888 – 16 November 1942) was a British engineer and aircraft designer. Early life Dagnall was born in Fulham, London in 1888 the son of Walter and Frances Dagnall, he was educated at Tiffin School, Kingston ...

, founder of RFD and British aviation pioneer *

Frank Dobson Frank Gordon Dobson (15 March 1940 – 11 November 2019) was a British Labour Party politician. As Member of Parliament (MP) for Holborn and St. Pancras from 1979 to 2015, he served in the Cabinet as Secretary of State for Health from 1997 ...

lichenologist and businessman * Commander

Roddy Elias Commander Peter Rodney "Roddy" Elias (27 February 1921 – 24 January 2015) was a Royal Navy officer who played an important role in the hunt for the German battleship Bismarck (battleship), Bismarck, for which he was awarded the Distinguished ...

, Swordfish navigator who flew from

HMS Ark Royal Five ships of the Royal Navy have borne the name HMS ''Ark Royal'': * , the flagship of the English fleet during the Spanish Armada campaign of 1588 * , planned as freighter, built as seaplane carrier during the First World War, renamed ''Pegasu ...

and found the Bismarck

Notable teachers

*Dr Jamie Frost, Founder of interactive maths website DrFrostMaths, Global Teacher Prize Finalist

References

External links

*
Tiffin Girls' School

Edubase

News items

{{Use British English, date=November 2020 Educational institutions established in 1880 Grammar schools in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames Boys' schools in London 1880 establishments in England Academies in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames Specialist arts colleges in England Specialist language colleges in England