King's School, Pontefract

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The King's School
Coat of arms King's School Pontefract.png
Kings School, Pontefract - geograph.org.uk - 225994.jpg
Address
King's School, Pontefract
Mill Hill Lane

, ,
WF8 4JF

England
Coordinates 53°41′07″N1°19′07″W / 53.68540°N 1.31858°W / 53.68540; -1.31858
Information
Type Academy
Established1139;885 years ago (1139)
Founder Edward VI of England
Department for Education URN 139500 Tables
Ofsted Reports
HeadteacherD Pinto
Staff113
Gender Coeducational
Age11to 16
Enrolment1022
Website http://www.kings.patrust.org.uk/

The King's School is a coeducational secondary school with academy status, located in Pontefract, West Yorkshire, England. It is one of the four oldest schools in Yorkshire, dating from 1139 [1] and was refounded by King Edward VI in 1548. [2]

Contents

History

King's School Pontefract was founded in 1139. Little documentation survives from its early years, and it was refounded in the reign of King Edward VI. It has been associated with the Duchy of Lancaster since 1588 when it was given an endowment to allow it to continue functioning. In 1792 it was refounded yet again by George III who is the eponymous king. Annual payments of £50 were made by the Duchy of Lancaster until 1869. It closed in the 1880s but reopened on 4 May 1890 [3] and has continued to the present day, although it was relocated in 1932.

Grammar school

The present buildings were opened on 14 July 1932 by Sir F. Stanley Jackson. [4] It was a boys' grammar school with around 650 boys, operated by the West Riding County Council. Four houses were formed, each associated with a name and a colour. They were Atkinson (yellow), Lyon (blue), De Lacy (green) and King Edward (red). Classes corresponding to years were numbered from 1 to 5 with three streamed classes in each year from and including Form 2. Upon entry to the school boys were placed in classes 1A, 1B and 1C ordered by surname alphabetically. In the second form streaming started with the top 30 rated pupils being placed in 2R (R for Rapid as year 3 was skipped by these pupils, passing directly to 4R). The other classes in the second form were 2A, 2B, 2C based on academic level. Thereafter the classes were for example in the 5th form: 5R, 5A, 5B. All pupils had a form master and went to classes with specialist Teachers. There were not enough rooms for all classes to have a form room - some of the upper sixth form used to have the corridor outside the dining room as their form room. Only a few pupils stayed on for the sixth form, many pupils left the school at 16. It was expected that the R-class pupils would go on to the sixth form. The Grammar school had a tradition of playing Rugby Union and there were fields outside for this purpose, which were converted for cricket in the summer.

Comprehensive

The school became a comprehensive with a sixth form in 1978. [5] Pontefract Girls' High School, the girls' grammar school became New College, Pontefract, and 11-18 school. In 1987, Pontefract schools lost their sixth form, with a sixth form college being established at New College, Pontefract.

Academy

The school converted to academy status on 1 April 2013 and is one of two high schools with Carleton High School in Pontefract Academies Trust.

Headmasters

The following have been headmasters:[ citation needed ]

Admissions

The school is currently situated on a raised area near Ackworth Road in Pontefract, along Mill Hill Lane, southwest of the town centre and the A645/A639 crossroads. There are over 1,000 pupils, 60 teaching staff and 53 additional staff. The school's current Headteacher is Mr Dominic Pinto. The King's School, Carleton High School and many of the Primary Schools in the two pyramids are now members of Pontefract Academies Trust (previously, Pontefract Education Trust)

Sport

The school's sporting traditions include rugby union (the year 11 team reached the final of the Yorkshire Cup in 2006), and athletics, with some pupils achieving local and national honours. [6]

Notable former pupils

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References

  1. 'The King's School Endowment'
  2. 'Article on the school from 1932'
  3. 'History of The King's School'
  4. "Opening of Pontefract Kings School in 1932". pontefractus.co.uk. Retrieved 9 August 2015.
  5. "1978 change". Archived from the original on 13 October 2010. Retrieved 26 July 2010.
  6. 'King's School Homepage'
  7. Peter Townend, Obituary, The Daily Telegraph .