King_Edward_VI_School,_Bury_St_Edmunds

King Edward VI School, Bury St Edmunds

King Edward VI School, Bury St Edmunds

Voluntary controlled school in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, England

King Edward VI School is a co-educational comprehensive secondary school[1] in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, England. The school in its present form was created in 1972 by the merging of King Edward VI Grammar School, with the Silver Jubilee Girls School and the Silver Jubilee Boys School (founded 1935[2]). The school occupies the site of the former Silver Jubilee schools in Grove Road, Bury St Edmunds.

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History

House on Northgate Street in Bury St Edmunds, home of the school between 1665 and 1883[3]

King Edward VI School was founded about 1550 and has occupied a number of sites in the town prior to moving to the current location in 1972. In 1550 lands were given to provide funds for a "scole ther to be founded by the kinges Maiestie in the like manner as the school at Sherbourne".

King Edward VI School celebrated the 450th anniversary of its foundation in 2000. The charter with Edward's seal is in the National Archives in Kew, together with documents and books from the early years of the school's existence. One of these is the list of rules for the masters and boys. Originally a grammar school for boys, who studied Greek, Latin and religious instruction, it has moved to various different sites in the town all of which are marked with plaques donated by the Old Burians' Association.[4]

The oldest and rarest of the Grammar School's books and records are now deposited in the Cambridge University Library, including the psalter which had survived from the Abbey of St Edmund. The University Library has a collection of more than 500 books belonging to the school. Some of the books were used by teachers and students – texts in Latin and Greek, stories, the plays of Shakespeare – and some were donated to the school by former students.[citation needed]

Vinefields site, home of the school 1883–1972.[5] The Millennium Tower of St Edmundsbury Cathedral is visible in the distance.

Having been a foundation grammar school since its foundation in 1550 the school surrendered some of its independence in 1922 when it became a Direct Grant School, meaning an annual grant was paid to the school by the Board of Education for each boy above the preparatory department, provided an agreed percentage of free place boys were admitted each year. In 1944 with the enactment of the Education Act 1944, the governors of the school decided that they could no longer meet the financial demand necessary to meet the requirement of the Act in order to maintain charity and thereby Direct Grant status, given the requirements for improved facilities for curriculum delivery that the Act demanded. Accordingly, in August 1946 the school became a Voluntary Controlled School under the aegis of the West Suffolk County Council Education Committee.

In 1972 Suffolk County Council implemented a three tier comprehensive system in the west of the county. The school merged with the Silver Jubilee Boys and Girls Schools to form King Edward VI Upper School, moving to the Grove Road site of the Silver Jubilee schools. The Vinefields grammar school site became the home of St James Middle School. The middle school closed following the creation of a new 11 to 18 school system in west Suffolk.

World Wars

Site on Eastgate Street, home of the school 1550-1665[6]

In common with schools of its type King Edward's has lost many old boys in war. Four Old Burians were killed in the Boer War, and thirty-two in WW1. On 4 February 1921 a memorial bearing the names of 32 old boys killed in the Great War was dedicated in the Cathedral at Bury St Edmunds. Twenty nine old boys gave their lives in WW2 and a memorial to those former pupils was placed close to the existing WW1 memorial in 1949. Both memorials were designed by Basil Oliver,[7] an old boy of the school.

King Edward VI School Today

The current school remains a Voluntary Controlled Church of England school and accepts Students from ages 11 to 16, it is attended by approximately 1400 pupils. It is a specialist sports college and is a Training school for new teachers. Since 2008, the school has also been partnered with Shanghai Yangjing-Juyan Experimental School in China to develop international links[8] and exchanges between the schools have occurred.[9]

The school was rated "Good" in its 2014 Ofsted Inspection[10] and the school achieved a 77% 9-4 pass rate at GCSE and a 99% pass rate at A Level in 2018.[11] A further inspection in 2019 maintained the "Good" rating with pupils judged to be making above average progress.

In 2016 the school became 11 to 18 institution admitting pupils in years 7, 8 and 9. The school has since become an 11 to 16 institution with the opening of the Abbeygate 6th Form College in Bury St Edmunds.

Since September 2011 until September 2022, the school had operated a house system and incorporated vertical tutoring. The school's house system operated through six 'Colleges' which have been developed to create smaller learning communities.[12] The Colleges, all named after Suffolk places with significant heritage, were Elveden, Hengrave, Ickworth, Kentwell, Melford and Wyken.

The Old Burians Association

There is an alumni association known as The Old Burians. The Old Burians Charitable Trust, set up in 1997, provides financial support to current and former students for personal development projects.[13]

Headteachers

  • 1553–c1560 John Fenn (deprived of office)
  • c1670 Edward Leedes
  • 1788 –1809 Michael Thomas Becher
  • 1809–1828 Benjamin Heath Malkin
  • 1828–1841 John Edwards
  • 1841–1855 John William Donaldson
  • 1855–1879 Albert Henry Wratislaw
  • 1879–1890 Charles Sankey (left to become a House Master at Harrow)
  • 1890–1894 James Peile
  • 1894–1908 Arthur Wright Callis
  • 1908–1911 E T England
  • 1911–1923 B S Richards
  • 1923–1940? J M Wadmore
  • 1940?–1970 Robert Elliott
  • 1970–1981 David Pullen (died in office)
  • 1981–2002 Michael W Moran
  • 2002–2017 Geoff Barton (subsequently General Secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders)
  • 2017–2021 Lee Walker
  • 2021–2022 Beverley Tucker and Tom Grey (interim)[14]
  • 2022–present Deri O'Regan

Notable Old Burians

See also: Category:People educated at King Edward VI School, Bury St Edmunds

References

  1. [1]
    Education Performance Tables
  2. [2]
    "End of an era heralds a new age". Suffolk News. 2016. Retrieved 2 March 2021.
  3. [3]
    "St Edmundsbury Local History - Wallplaques around Bury St Edmunds". stedmundsburychronicle.co.uk. Retrieved 2 March 2021.
  4. [4]
    "Old Burians Website".
  5. [5]
    "History". Old Burians Association. Retrieved 2 March 2021.
  6. [6]
    "Oak House, Eastgate Street" (PDF). Lacy Scott & Knight.
  7. [7]
    Elliott, Robert (1963). The Story of King Edward VI School. Foundation Governors of the School.
  8. [8]
    "International Links".
  9. [9]
    Chinese students welcome to Bury – Bury Free Press, 8 October 2009
  10. [10]
    "Ofsted report Feb 2009". Archived from the original on 15 April 2014. Retrieved 7 October 2011.
  11. [11]
    "Examination Results 2018" (PDF). 2018.
  12. [12]
    "King Edward VI Website".
  13. [13]
    "Old Burians website".
  14. [14]
    Ghaemi, Mariam (25 September 2021). "Meet co-headteachers of established secondary school". East Anglian Daily Times. Retrieved 14 April 2022.
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