Westcliff High School for Boys (WHSB) is an 11–18 selective

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 ...

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 ...

for boys in

Westcliff-on-Sea Westcliff-on-Sea (often abbreviated to Westcliff) is an inner city area of the city of Southend-on-Sea, in the City of Southend-on-Sea, in the ceremonial county of Essex, England. It is on the north shore of the lower Thames Estuary, about 34 m ...

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

, England. In September 2001 the school was awarded ‘Beacon’ status for its breadth of achievements and quality of work. The school was classed as a humanities college in early 2007 and received a further specialism in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) on 1 April 2009. The school converted to academy status in 2010.

Headmasters

* 1920 - 1942, Herbert Glynne Williams * 1943 - 1946, Eric Ayres * 1947 - 1970, Henry Cloke * 1970 - 1990, Peter Clarke * 1990 - 2012, Andrew Baker * 2012 - present, Michael Skelly

Notable Old Westcliffians

Alf Adams Alfred ("Alf") Rodney Adams, FRS (born 1939) is a British physicist who invented the strained-layer quantum-well laser. Most modern homes will have several of these devices in their homes in all types of electronic equipment. He served as a D ...

, professor of physics at the

University of Surrey The University of Surrey is a public research university in Guildford, Surrey, England. The university received its royal charter in 1966, along with a number of other institutions following recommendations in the Robbins Report. The institut ...

from 1987 to 2008 *

Peter Bone Peter William Bone (born 19 October 1952) is a British Conservative Party politician who served as Deputy Leader of the House of Commons in 2022. He has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Wellingborough since 2005. He campaigned for Brexit ...

, Conservative MP for Wellingborough * Ian James Brackley,

Bishop of Dorking The Bishop of Dorking is an episcopal title used by a suffragan bishop of the Church of England Diocese of Guildford, in the Province of Canterbury, England. The title takes its name from the town of Dorking in Surrey. However, the bishop of ...

1996- *

Gary Brooker Gary Brooker (29 May 1945 – 19 February 2022) was an English singer and pianist, and the founder and lead singer of the rock band Procol Harum. Early life Born in Hackney Hospital, East London, on 29 May 1945, Brooker grew up in Hackney ...

, lead singer of the band

Procol Harum Procol Harum () were an English rock music, rock band formed in Southend-on-Sea, Essex in 1967. Their best-known recording is the 1967 hit single "A Whiter Shade of Pale", one of the few singles to have List of best-selling singles, sold over ...

* Chris Clarke, leader of

Somerset County Council Somerset County Council is the county council of Somerset in the South West of England, an elected local government authority responsible for the most significant local government services in most of the county. On 1 April 2023 the county counc ...

from 1993 to 2000 *

Alan Cook Sir Alan Hugh Cook FRS (2 December 1922 – 23 July 2004) was an English physicist who specialised in geophysics, astrophysics and particularly precision measurement. Early life and family Cook was born in Felsted, Essex in 1922. He was the ...

, physicist *

Geoffrey Crawley Geoffrey Crawley (10 December 1926 – 29 October 2010) was a photographic expert and journalist, and was the editor in chief of ''British Journal of Photography'' for two decades. He was noted for exposing the photographs of the Cottingley Fa ...

, photographic expert and

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

, and exposer of the Cottingley Fairies hoax *

Edward Greenfield Edward Harry Greenfield OBE (3 July 1928 – 1 July 2015) was an English music critic and broadcaster. Early life Edward Greenfield was born in Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex. His father, Percy Greenfield, was a manager in a labour exchange, while his ...

, music critic working for ''The Guardian'' from 1977 to 1993 *

Benjamin Grosvenor Benjamin Grosvenor (born 8 July 1992) is a British classical pianist. Education Grosvenor was born and brought up in Westcliff-on-Sea, Southend-on-Sea, Essex. He is the youngest of five brothers. His father is an English and Drama teacher, an ...

, musician * Neil Harman, chief tennis correspondent,

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

Joshua Hayward The Horrors are an English rock band formed in Southend-on-Sea in 2005, consisting of lead vocalist Faris Badwan, guitarist Joshua Hayward, keyboardist and synthesizer player Tom Furse, bassist Rhys Webb, and drummer and percussionist Joe Spur ...

, musician * Alan Hurst, former Labour MP for Braintree (1997–2005) * Jon Hutton, former Labour cabinet minister, now a life peerProfile: John Hutton
''BBC News'', 2005-11-03. Retrieved 2011-12-07. *

Stuart Jack Stuart Duncan Macdonald Jack (8 June 1949 – 16 February 2022) was a British diplomat, latterly serving as the Governor of the Cayman Islands from 2005 until 2009. Educated at Westcliff High School for Boys; and then Merton College, Oxford, Ja ...

Governor of the Cayman Islands The Governor of the Cayman Islands is the representative of the British monarch in the United Kingdom's overseas territory of the Cayman Islands. The Governor, a civil servant who has in modern times typically been a British subject normally resi ...

from 2005 to 2009 *

Wilko Johnson John Andrew Wilkinson (12 July 1947 – 21 November 2022), better known by the stage name Wilko Johnson, was an English guitarist, singer, songwriter and occasional actor. He was a member of the pub rock/rhythm and blues band Dr. Feelgood in t ...

, rock musician, guitarist/vocalist, and songwriter, for Dr. Feelgood *

Nigel Maddox Air Vice Marshal Nigel David Alan Maddox, is a retired senior officer of the Royal Air Force. He is the Senior Military Adviser to the UK Department for International Trade Defence & Security Exports. Military career Maddox was born in Middles ...

, station commander of

RAF Bruggen Royal Air Force Brüggen, more commonly known as RAF Brüggen, in Germany was a major station of the Royal Air Force until 15 June 2001. It was situated next to the village of Elmpt, approximately west of Düsseldorf on the Dutch-German bo ...

from 1996 to 1999 * David Nixon, magician * James O'Donnell, organist and choirmaster of

Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the United ...

2000-2022 * Julian Parkhill, professor at the University of Cambridge *

Bob Parr Robert "Bob" Parr, also known as Mr. Incredible, is a fictional superhero who appears in Disney/ Pixar's 6th animated film ''The Incredibles'' (2004) and its sequel and 20th animated film ''Incredibles 2'' (2018). He is a superhuman that has sup ...

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

-winning television producer, MBE, Doctor of Philosophy and Associate of King’s College London (AKC) *

Jamie Reeves Jamie Reeves (born 3 May 1962)David Webster, ''Sons of Samson Volume 2 Profiles'', page 103 (Ironmind Enterprises), is a British former coal miner, strongman and professional wrestler. As a strongman, he won the 1989 World's Strongest Man, was ...

, two-time

FA Vase The Football Association Challenge Vase, usually referred to as the FA Vase, is an annual football competition for teams playing in Steps 5 and 6 of the English National League System (or equivalently, tier 9 or 10 of the overall English footbal ...

winning semi-professional footballer and football pundit *

Eric Sams Eric Sams (3 May 1926 – 13 September 2004) was a British musicologist and Shakespeare scholar. Life Born in London, Sams was raised in Essex. His early brilliance in school (Westcliff High School for Boys) earned him a scholarship to Corp ...

, musicologist and Shakespeare scholarEric Sams, obituary, theguardian.com/news/2004/sep/22/guardianobituaries.obituaries *

Derek Wyatt Derek Murray Wyatt (born 4 December 1949) is a British politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Sittingbourne and Sheppey from 1997 to 2010, having previously been a councillor in the London Borough of Haringey (1994–95) where ...

, Labour Member of Parliament for Sittingbourne and Sheppey 1997–2010. Played rugby union for

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

and England

References

External links

*
UK Government Establishment Details
Boys' schools in Essex Grammar schools in Southend-on-Sea Academies in Southend-on-Sea Educational institutions established in 1920 1920 establishments in England {{Essex-school-stub