Katharine Lady Berkeley's School

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Katharine Lady Berkeley's School
KLB-74-1-scaled.jpg
Address
Katharine Lady Berkeley's School
Wotton Road

Wotton-under-Edge
,
Gloucestershire
,
GL12 8RB

England
Coordinates 51°37′54″N2°21′51″W / 51.63157°N 2.36415°W / 51.63157; -2.36415
Information
Type State school (comprehensive)
Academy
Mottonon palma sine pulvere (no reward without effort)
Religious affiliation(s)Mixed
Established1384;641 years ago (1384)
FounderKatharine, Lady Berkeley
Department for Education URN 137033 Tables
Ofsted Reports
HeadteacherHannah Khan
Gender Coeducational
Age11to 18
Enrolment1,470
HousesWellicome (Red), Berkeley (Green), Durand (Blue), Logan (Yellow)
Colour(s)Maroon, Blue, Yellow
PublicationThe Berkeleyan
AlumniOld Berkeleyans (OBs)
Website http://www.klbschool.org.uk
The Berkeleyan - Summer 1950 Edition The Berkeleyan.jpg
The Berkeleyan - Summer 1950 Edition

Katharine Lady Berkeley's School is an academy school near Wotton-under-Edge, Gloucestershire, England, for ages 11 to 18. It has been ranked as the 4th best non-fee paying school in the South-West and 250th best in the whole country. [1]

Contents

History

The school was founded by Katherine, Lady Berkeley for the use of six scholars in 1384 which makes it one of the oldest surviving schools in England. [2] It is known that schools existed in the area before then, but Lady Berkeley formalised this school, gaining it a royal licence and it became a model for other schools. It was founded before Eton, Harrow, and Westminster, and two years after Winchester. [3] The first headteacher appointed in 1384 was John Stone M.A. Oxon [4]

The old school buildings in School Lane, Wotton-under-Edge, were erected in 1726 with additions later. Shortly after the school had become co-educational, Church Mill was bought in 1908. [5] After the First World War, Carlton House was rented from the Post Office.

The original foundation deed of the school reads:

"We the said Kitherina (Katherine), attentively considering that the purposes of man desiring to be informed in grammar which is the foundation of all liberal arts, is daily defeated and frustrated by poverty and want of means; therefore for the maintenance and exaltation of Holy Mother Church, and the increase of divine worship, and other liberal arts and sciences, out of the goods bestowed on us by God have procured the said Walter and Williams to acquire certain lands and tenements in fee, that they may build a school-house in Wotton for the habitation and likewise dispose of them for the maintenance of a master and 2 poor scholars of the art of grammar; which master and his successors shall govern and inform all scholars coming to the same house or school coming for instruction in this art without taking anything for his trouble from them or any of them."

The Seal of Katharine Lady Berkeley's School Seal of KLB School.jpg
The Seal of Katharine Lady Berkeley's School

The deed was sealed with Lady Katharine's personal seal showing St. John holding a lamb with the Latin inscription "Sigilla domus scolaru de Woton sub egge" meaning "the seal of the school house of Wotton-under-Edge". This is the seal stamped on all prizes, Head Boy, and Head Girl badges as well as on the cover of the alumni (and school) magazine, The Berkeleyan (pictured below). The crest carried on the blazers is the Berkeley coat of arms.

New buildings

In January 1963, the school vacated the premises in Wotton and moved into a new building for 350 pupils in the Kingswood Road. [5] The erection of the first phase of extensions to the Kingswood Road buildings began in March 1972. The extensions were completed for the start of the Autumn Term 1973, when Katharine Lady Berkeley's re-opened as a comprehensive school for 830 pupils. [6] Wotton Secondary School closed at the end of August 1973. [5]

In 1984 the six hundredth anniversary of the foundation of the school was celebrated with a visit from Princess Anne. In 1989, the Duke of Gloucester opened the Renishaw Centre, an IT room costing £60,000 and since then the School has installed three more computer rooms. The Renishaw Company renewed the equipment in the Renishaw Centre.

In 1992, grant-maintained (GM) status was attained, [7] with the object of providing for the structural improvement of the buildings and a wish to be able to make independent decisions to suit the school's future. In 1996, the school achieved designation as a Language College. This enabled the school to offer a languages curriculum covering seven modern languages and Latin.

In 1994, accommodation was added to allow for the increase in numbers, from 1,010 in 1984 to 1,170 in 1994 and then to 1,340 in 1998. Further new buildings were completed in September 1997 to provide six more classrooms and the Language Centre costing £220,000 was opened in September 1996. In autumn 1999, work began on further new buildings to provide a new two storey teaching block that includes 11 classrooms, three ICT suites and a new library. In addition to this, a three-laboratory extension was added to the Science Centre. In 2007, the school gained a second DfES specialism, that of training school. The school population has stabilized at around 1500 pupils. In September 2011, the school became an academy. Since then the Science block has had 8 of its 11 rooms completely remade and several new classrooms have been added. In 2021 the school won a bid for an extensive rebuild with the designs finalised in early 2022.

Notable former pupils

Head Teachers

NumberHeadteacherDate
1John Stone1384
2William Hasleton1405
3John Seymour1407
4John James1410
5William Clyfton1415
6Thomas Joye1423
7John Paradys1427
8Walter Frouceter1456
10Robin Hanys1460
11John Dale1461
12John Town1462
13Richard West1465
14John Parker1487
15John Chilcote1493
16Robert Coldwell1511
17Robert Knight1554
18John DuPont1578
19Edward Cowper1609
20John Turner1632
21Joseph Woodward1640
22Thomas Byrton1647
23Edward Spence1698
24Andrew Skene1703
25Samuel Bennett1706
26Samuel Hayward1743
27Thomas Clissold1748
28Peter Cornwall1788
29Joseph Barkett1829
30Benjamin Perkins1839
31John Cranstoun1882
32Frederick Morris1886
33R B Harding1908
34Ernest Wells1909
35Richard Dobson1912
36George Morton1915
37Clement Trenchard1920
38Cyril Fiske1924
39Frederick Hornsby1952
40John Foster1960
41John Lee1968
42John Law1982
43Andrew Harris1998
44Tim Rand2019
45Hannah Khan2023

See also

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References

  1. ↑ "Schools from area named among the best in region". Gazette Series. 1 December 2023. Retrieved 8 January 2024.
  2. ↑ Student populations in 1384 can be found by navigating to the location of the school on http://www.domesday1986.com/ Archived 15 January 2007 at the Wayback Machine Archived 2008-12-02 at the Wayback Machine
  3. ↑ "Public school | Overview, Examples, & Facts | Britannica". www.britannica.com. Retrieved 5 January 2024.
  4. ↑ "Berkeley [née Clivedon], Katherine, Lady Berkeley (d. 1385), benefactor" . Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. 2004. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/54435. ISBN   978-0-19-861412-8 . Retrieved 25 March 2021.(Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  5. 1 2 3 "Wotton-under-Edge, Katharine Lady Berkeley's Grammar School". Gloucestershire Archives. Gloucestershire County Council. Archived from the original on 25 August 2020. Retrieved 25 August 2020.
  6. ↑ "Katharine Lady Berkeley's School". Gloucestershire Families Directory. Archived from the original on 25 August 2020. Retrieved 25 August 2020.
  7. ↑ "Grant-maintained Schools". Hansard. Archived from the original on 25 August 2020. Retrieved 25 August 2020.
  8. 1 2 "Lady Katherine's School, Wotton under Edge". Archived from the original on 15 May 2010. Retrieved 26 March 2013.
  9. ↑ "Contact Us". Archived from the original on 26 October 2016. Retrieved 26 July 2017.
  10. ↑ Graham, Natalie (23 March 2003). "Fame & Fortune: How TV nurse cured her money woes". The Times. Retrieved 10 January 2021.
  11. ↑ "Bristol's Mamma Mia! writer recalls her opening night". This Is Bristol. 11 April 2009. Archived from the original on 5 May 2013. Retrieved 26 March 2013.
  12. ↑ "Alan Hooper receives lifetime achievement award from the Gloucestershire Hockey Association". Gazette. 23 June 2012. Archived from the original on 27 October 2018. Retrieved 26 March 2013.
  13. ↑ "Football". Stroud News and Journal. 14 May 2010. Archived from the original on 25 August 2020. Retrieved 25 August 2020.
  14. ↑ Iles, Rob (30 July 2009). "Interview: Ben Morgan on playing with international stars at Welsh club the Scarlets". Gaxette. Archived from the original on 25 August 2020. Retrieved 25 August 2020.
  15. ↑ Baird, Rachel (18 March 2020). "Joyce Rimmer obituary". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 8 January 2024.
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