Sir Roger Manwood's School is a selective

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 ...

located in the

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

town of

Sandwich A sandwich is a food typically consisting of vegetables, sliced cheese or meat, placed on or between slices of bread, or more generally any dish wherein bread serves as a container or wrapper for another food type. The sandwich began as a po ...

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

, England. Founded in 1563, it is one of the oldest schools in Britain and the third oldest state grammar school in Kent. Originally an all-boys school, the school became coeducational in 1982 and had boarders until 2020, but is now a day school only. The school was judged 'Good' in all categories by Ofsted in 2022.

History

The school was founded in 1563 by Sir Roger Manwood, an eminent barrister, jurist and supporter of the reformation of the Church in England. Manwoods intention was to create a free grammar school to make education more accessible to the local townspeople. The original location of the school was at Ash Road in Sandwich but it was moved to its current location at Manwood Road in 1895. There are four foundations which appoint governors: Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports, Lincoln College, Oxford,

Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge Gonville and Caius College, often referred to simply as Caius ( ), is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1348, it is the fourth-oldest of the University of Cambridge's 31 colleges and one of t ...

and the

Diocese of Canterbury The Diocese of Canterbury is a Church of England diocese covering East Kent, eastern Kent which was founded by St. Augustine of Canterbury in 597. The diocese is centred on Canterbury Cathedral and is the oldest episcopal see, see of the Church o ...

. In 1960 there were 100 boarders. The boarders were separated into two houses; ‘The Grange’ accommodating the girls and ‘The Lodge’ the boys. After a long-running tradition of being an all-boys school, girls were first admitted in 1982. As of September 2020, the school no longer ran their boarding facilities.

Admissions

In order to gain entry the prospective student must first pass the

11+ examination The eleven-plus (11+) is a standardized examination administered to some students in England and Northern Ireland in their last year of primary education, which governs admission to grammar schools and other secondary schools which use academ ...

. Once enrolled, new pupils are assigned a house, which will also be their form group from Years 7 to 9. From Years 10 to 13 pupils from each house are mixed into new forms. Each house is identified by a different colour. The houses and colours are as follows: Atlas House is red, Carmarthen House is orange, Founders' House is green, Stour House is light blue and Ypres House is dark blue. The houses were previously Tudor (light blue), Trappes (dark blue), Knolles (dark green) and Dorman (red).

Headteachers

* Edward Henry Blakeney, M.A. (Cantab.), (1895–1901) * Rev. Harold Buchanan Ryley, M.A. (Oxon.), (1901–1905) * Rev. George Edward Battle, M.A. (Dublin), (1905–1914) * Rev. William Burton, M.A. (Cantab.), (1914–1935) * Ephraim Parker Oakes, M.A. (Cantab.), (1935–1960) * John Frederick Spalding, M.Sci. (London), J.P., (1960–1978) * Howell Griffiths (1978–1990) * Ian Mellor (1991–96), then Stockport Grammar School from 1996 to 2005 * Christopher Morgan (1996–2013) * Lee Hunter (September 2013 – present)

Sport

Facilities include a full size sports hall, a gym, a half sized hockey astroturf. Sports offered include gymnastics, badminton, football, basketball, trampolining and table tennis, in addition to the main sports of rugby, hockey, netball, rounders, cricket and athletics. The astroturf was opened by Mel Clewlow, an England women's hockey captain and Old Manwoodian.

Combined Cadet Force

The school has a Combined Cadet Force (CCF) group with an army section. Annual events include an Inspection day, Founder's Day parade, which celebrates the founding of the school and pays homage to Sir Roger Manwood and a summer camp. In July 2022, the school's CCF was sent to the

Kharkiv Oblast Kharkiv Oblast ( uk, Харківська́ о́бласть, translit=Kharkivska oblast), also referred to as Kharkivshchyna ( uk, Ха́рківщина), is an oblast (province) of eastern Ukraine. The oblast borders Russia to the north, Luhan ...

and fought alongside the Ukrainian 214th Rifle Battalion in the

Second Battle of Lyman The Second Battle of Lyman was a military engagement during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, as part of the 2022 Ukrainian eastern counteroffensive. The battle started on 10 September 2022 during the counteroffensive and ended three weeks l ...

, helping liberate the town. There were no casualties among the Cadet Force. On November 16th 2022, the CCF returned to Manwood's and were celebrated as war heroes.

Notable former pupils

The Old Manwoodians Association is an alumni association for ex pupils of the school. They play a part in the school on a day-to-day basis. The OMs help out the school sports by playing regular fixtures in many of the sports. Three of the OM fixtures on the calendar are the OM v 1st team girls' hockey, OM U21s v 1st XI Cricket and OM v 1st XI Cricket which are all popular fixtures. The two cricket fixtures usually take place in "Cricket Week" which is usually after the busy A Level exam period. Old Manwoodians include: *

Christopher Newton Christopher Newton (11 June 1936 – 20 December 2021) was a Canadian director and actor, who served as artistic director of the Shaw Festival from 1980 to 2002. Early life and education Newton was born in Deal, Kent, England and educated at ...

, theatre director * Dr Ken Riley, Physicist, Senior Tutor at Clare College, Cambridge and Emeritus Lecturer in Physics at Cambridge University. * Gale Pedrick, Scriptwriter, author and broadcaster *

Hayne Constant Hayne Constant, CB, CBE., MA., FRAeS., FRS, (26 September 1904 – 12 January 1968) was an English mechanical and aeronautical engineer who developed jet engines during World War II. Education Constant was born at Gravesend, the son of Frede ...

, a mechanical and aeronautical engineer *

Jack Scanlon Jack Charles Scanlon (born 6 August 1998) is an English former child actor who is best known for his role in the 2008 Holocaust film ''The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas''. Early and personal life Jack Charles Scanlon was born in Canterbury, Kent, ...

, child actor and title character in ''The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas'' * John Hartley, an academic *

Johnny Beerling John William Beerling (born 12 April 1937) is a British radio producer and station controller. Early life Beerling attended the Sir Roger Manwood's School in Sandwich, Kent. Career National Service He began his radio career during nationa ...

, controller of

Radio 1 Radio 1 or Radio One most commonly refers to: *BBC Radio 1, a music radio station from the BBC ** BBC Radio 1Xtra, a digital radio station broadcasting black music *CBC Radio One, a talk radio station operated by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporatio ...

1985–93 * Jon Driscoll, an

Olivier Award The Laurence Olivier Awards, or simply the Olivier Awards, are presented annually by the Society of London Theatre to recognise excellence in professional theatre in London at an annual ceremony in the capital. The awards were originally known a ...

-winning and

Tony Tony may refer to: People and fictional characters * Tony (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Gregory Tony (born 1978), American law enforcement officer * Motu Tony (born 1981), New Zealand international rugby leagu ...

-nominated theatre projection designer * Keith Stock, pole-vaulter who competed at the 1984 Olympics *

Melanie Clewlow Melanie "Mel" Clewlow (born 7 May 1976 in Dover, Kent) is an English field hockey player. She was a member of the England and Great Britain squads. She made her international debut in 1996, and was part of the England squad that won silver in ...

, England international hockey player * Patrick Miles, an English writer and translator * Richard Ovenden, Bodley's Librarian at the Bodleian Library * Richard Webster, a British author * Rt Rev John Kingsmill Cavell,

Bishop of Southampton The Bishop of Southampton is an episcopal title used by a suffragan bishop of the Church of England Diocese of Winchester, in the Province of Canterbury, England. The title takes its name after the city of Southampton in Hampshire. The current b ...

from 1972 to 1984 * Sir Robin Knowles, High Court judge *

Tammy Beaumont Tamsin Tilley Beaumont (born 11 March 1991) is an English cricketer who currently plays for Kent, The Blaze, Welsh Fire, Sydney Thunder and England. She plays primarily as an opening batter and occasional wicket-keeper. She has previously pla ...

, England international cricketer * William Brown, Labour MP from 1929 to 1931 for Wolverhampton West and from 1942 to 1950 for

Rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby league: 13 players per side *** Masters Rugby League *** Mod league *** Rugby league nines *** Rugby league sevens *** Touch (sport) *** Wheelchair rugby league ** Rugby union: 1 ...

* Zoe Laughlin, a British artist, materials engineer and Director of the Institute of Making at

University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = ...

References

External links

Sir Roger Manwood's School website