King Edward VI School, Lichfield, is a

co-educational Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to ...

secondary school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., b ...

and

sixth form In the education systems of Barbados, England, Jamaica, Northern Ireland, Trinidad and Tobago, Wales, and some other Commonwealth countries, sixth form represents the final two years of secondary education, ages 16 to 18. Pupils typically prepa ...

located near the heart of the city of

Lichfield Lichfield () is a city status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in Staffordshire, England. Lichfield is situated south-east of the county town of Stafford, north-east of Walsall, north-west of ...

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation ''Staffs''.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It borders Cheshire to the north-west, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, ...

, England. It is a community school maintained by Staffordshire Education Authority and admits pupils from the age of 11 (Year 7), with most electing to continue their education into the sixth form, leaving at 18 (Year 13). In the main school (Years 7–11), the published admissions number is 250 pupils for each year group. In total there are in excess of 1600 pupils on roll. In 1995, the school celebrated its 500th anniversary, its Quincentenary. During its long history the school has educated some famous names, most notably

Samuel Johnson Samuel Johnson ( – 13 December 1784), often called Dr Johnson, was an English writer who made lasting contributions as a poet, playwright, essayist, moralist, literary critic, sermonist, biographer, editor, and lexicographer. The ''Oxford ...

History

In 1495 Bishop Smythe established the school as a free grammar school as part of the same foundation as St. John's Hospital, a home for the elderly. Every day prayers are said for the school in the tiny chapel which forms part of the St. John's almshouses in St. John's Street. The school takes its name from the Tudor boy king who reigned between 1547 and 1553. The school crest incorporates features of the royal Tudor coat of arms. The Latin inscription beneath, "Deo, Patriae, Scholae", is broadly translated as "for God, Country, and School". In the 18th century a number of eminent people were educated at the school. These included the great writer and lexicographer, Dr.

(the buildings of the former grammar school bear his name),

David Garrick David Garrick (19 February 1716 – 20 January 1779) was an English actor, playwright, Actor-manager, theatre manager and producer who influenced nearly all aspects of European theatrical practice throughout the 18th century, and was a pupil a ...

, the actor, and

Joseph Addison Joseph Addison (1 May 1672 – 17 May 1719) was an English essayist, poet, playwright, and politician. He was the eldest son of Lancelot Addison. His name is usually remembered alongside that of his long-standing friend Richard Steele, with w ...

, the essayist and politician. Two of the school's four houses are named after Addison and Garrick. (The other houses are named after

Roger de Clinton Roger de Clinton (died 1148) was a medieval Bishop of Coventry and Lichfield. He was responsible for organising a new grid street plan for the town of Lichfield in the 12th century which survives to this day. Life Clinton was the nephew of Geof ...

who founded a priory in Lichfield in the 12th century and

Erasmus Darwin Erasmus Robert Darwin (12 December 173118 April 1802) was an English physician. One of the key thinkers of the Midlands Enlightenment, he was also a natural philosophy, natural philosopher, physiology, physiologist, Society for Effecting the ...

, who lived in the City for a number of years). Until the beginning of the twentieth century the school occupied the school house in St. John's Street, opposite St. John's Hospital. It can still be seen, now forming part of the District Council premises. In 1903 the first building on the present site was opened. Further extensions were added in the 1920s and 1950s to what has come to be known as Johnson Hall. King Edward VI School was also linked to the last State boarding school in the Staffordshire area. From 1953 to 1981 it was linked to Maple Hayes boarding school which housed up to 70 boys. Maple Hayes was purchased by Staffordshire council in 1951 after being sold by the Worthington family and officially opened as a boarding school on 18 November 1953. Boys would walk the 3.1 miles to King Edward VI school each day and board at Maple Hayes. It closed as a boy's boarding school in 1981 ending a 200 year history of State boarding schools in the Staffordshire area.

Recent developments

The present King Edward VI School was created in 1971 by the merger of the grammar school with Kings Hill

secondary modern school A secondary modern school () is a type of secondary school that existed throughout England, Wales and Northern Ireland from 1944 until the 1970s under the Tripartite System. Secondary modern schools accommodated the majority (70–75%) of pupil ...

which had been built on an adjacent site in the 1950s to cater for the City's expanding population. The premises of the former Kingshill School are referred to as Bader Hall in recognition of

Douglas Bader Group Captain Sir Douglas Robert Steuart Bader, (; 21 February 1910 – 5 September 1982) was a Royal Air Force flying ace during the Second World War. He was credited with 22 aerial victories, four shared victories, six probables, one shared ...

, the World War II fighter ace, who opened that school in 1959. The original grammar school area is referred to as 'Johnson' after

Dr Samuel Johnson Samuel Johnson ( – 13 December 1784), often called Dr Johnson, was an English writer who made lasting contributions as a poet, playwright, essayist, moralist, literary critic, sermonist, biographer, editor, and lexicographer. The ''Oxford Di ...

, the famous British author who was educated at the school and lived in Lichfield for a time. The school's success as a comprehensive school owes much to the merging of two strong and successful traditions; on the one hand, the tradition of academic excellence associated with the grammar school and, on the other, the modern school tradition of care and support for the individual. Academic challenge and care for the individual remain the twin guiding principles of the school today. In 2008 a new music block built was built which includes state of the art rooms and an

ecological design Ecological design or ecodesign is an approach to designing products and services that gives special consideration to the environmental impacts of a product over its entire lifecycle. Sim Van der Ryn and Stuart Cowan define it as "any form of d ...

. Around the same time a new sixth form block was built where sixth form students can relax and socialise. It also contains four class rooms used exclusively for sixth form lessons.

School Council

The aim of the School Council is to provide a forum for the discussion by students' representatives of issues raised by students or staff and which affect the life of the school.

Academic performance

It gets good results at GCSE and A-level. The A-level results are consistently amongst the top schools in Staffordshire.

Notable former pupils

;since the merger ; *

Helen Baxendale Helen Victoria Baxendale (born 7 June 1970) is an English actress of stage and television. She is known for her roles as Rachel Bradley in the British comedy drama ''Cold Feet'' (1997–2003) and Emily Waltham in the American sitcom ''Friends'' ...

, actress * Ben Sharpe, Olympian, Sydney 2000 *

Simon Smith (rugby union) Simon Timothy Smith (born 1960) is a rugby union international who represented England between 1985 and 1986. Early life Simon Smith was born on 29 April 1960 in Baldock, Hertfordshire, and educated at the University of Lancaster and then did ...

, Cambridge University, Wasps RUFC & England Rugby Union ;as a Grammar School *

Paul Addison Paul Addison, (3 May 1943 – 21 January 2020) was a British historian known for his research on the political history of Britain during the Second World War and the post-war period. Addison was part of the first generation of academic historia ...

, historian *

Elias Ashmole Elias Ashmole (23 May 1617 – 18 May 1692) was an English antiquary, politician, officer of arms, astrologer, freemason and student of alchemy. Ashmole supported the royalist side during the English Civil War, and at the restoration of Char ...

* John Everard, Ambassador from 2006-8 to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders China and Russia to the north at the Yalu River, Yalu (Amnok) an ...

), and from 2001-5 to

Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...

* Admiral Sir

Frederic Fisher Admiral Sir Frederic William Fisher KCVO (5 October 1851 – 23 December 1943) was a Royal Navy officer who became President of the Royal Naval College, Greenwich. Naval career Born the son of Captain William Fisher and the younger brother of J ...

CVO, younger brother of

John Fisher, 1st Baron Fisher Admiral of the Fleet (Royal Navy), Admiral of the Fleet John Arbuthnot Fisher, 1st Baron Fisher, (25 January 1841 – 10 July 1920), commonly known as Jacky or Jackie Fisher, was a British Admiral of the Fleet. His efforts to reform the Royal ...

* Very Rev

Christopher George Hardwick Christopher George Hardwick was the Dean of Truro from 2005 until 2011. Born on October 7, 1957, Hardwick was educated at King Edward VI School (Lichfield) and the Open University. He initially pursued a career in banking before deciding to fo ...

, Dean of Truro since 2005 * Rt Rev Augustine John Hodson,

Bishop of Tewkesbury The Bishop of Tewkesbury is an episcopal title used by a suffragan bishop of the Church of England Diocese of Gloucester, in the Province of Canterbury, England. The title takes its name after the town of Tewkesbury in Gloucestershire, but the bi ...

from 1938–55 * Robert James *

Lt Gen Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the battlefield, who was normall ...

Louis Lillywhite Lieutenant General Louis Patrick Lillywhite, (born 23 February 1948) is a retired British Army physician and officer. He was Surgeon-General of the British Armed Forces from 2006 until December 2009. Between January 2017 and January 2022, he se ...

CB MBE,

Surgeon General Surgeon general (: surgeons general) is a title used in several Commonwealth countries and most NATO nations to refer either to a senior military medical officer or to a senior uniformed physician commissioned by the government and entrusted with p ...

, Ministry of Defence from 2006-9 *

Robin Marlar Robin Geoffrey Marlar (2 January 1931 – 30 September 2022) was an English cricketer and cricket journalist. He played for Cambridge University before playing for Sussex County Cricket Club from 1951 to 1968. He captained both teams. Early li ...

, Captain from 1955-9 of

Sussex County Cricket Club Sussex County Cricket Club is the oldest of eighteen first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Sussex. Its limited overs team is called the Sussex Sharks. The c ...

, President from 2005-6 of the

Marylebone Cricket Club The Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) is a cricket club founded in 1787 and based since 1814 at Lord's, Lord's Cricket Ground, which it owns, in St John's Wood, London, England. The club was the governing body of cricket from 1788 to 1989 and retain ...

(MCC), and Cricket Correspondent from 1970-96 of ''

The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British Sunday newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of N ...

'' *

Leslie Megahey Norman Leslie Megahey (22 December 1944 – 27 August 2022) was a British television producer, director and writer. Born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, the son of Thomas Megahey (a minister) and Beatrice (née Walton), Leslie Megahey was educated ...

, film director, and Head of Arts and Music from 1988-91 at BBC TV

References