Tiffin Boys' School
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| Details | |
|---|---|
| Location | Kingston upon Thames |
| LEA | Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames |
| Region | London |
| Founded | 1880 |
| Ofsted | |
| Type | Grammar school (selective) |
| Category | Voluntary aided |
| Reference | 102605 |
| Students | |
| Age range | 11–19 |
| Gender | Boys |
Tiffin School for Boys is a selective grammar school in Kingston-Upon-Thames, southwest London, England. It also has a specialist performing arts college.This is a school which is mainly voluntary aided school but they also fund themselves through special events.
The school colours, red and blue, are from the time of the original foundation. The school's crest with three salmon is the similar to that of the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames.
The school motto is faire sans dire, which, literally translated from French, means 'do without speaking', or 'actions not words'.
Contents |
[edit] History
Two prosperous brewers from Kingston: John and Thomas Tiffin left money in their wills in 1638 for the education of the locals. At first the money was used for scholarships to attend local schools, but the fund grew through astute investment and additional donations, so by the 1820s nearly 110 children were benefiting from the fund.
By 1869, when the charity schools had closed and the money was no longer needed by the Public Secondary School, the charity's trustees proposed to support Kingston Grammar School. There was a great debate until 1872 when it was decided that Kingston Grammar School should receive no more than a quarter of the income from the charity. Plans were therefore drawn up in 1874 for two new schools: Tiffin Boys' School and Tiffin Girls' School, each taking 150 pupils. A single building by the Fairfield housing both schools was opened in January 1880. In 2005 the schools celebrated their 125th anniversaries.
In 1929 the Boys' School moved to its present site, near the centre of Kingston upon Thames. It became a grammar school in 1943 and changed from being voluntary-controlled to being grant-maintained in 1992.
[edit] Present day
There are between 140 and 150 boys in each year and about 360 in the Sixth Form. The present headmaster is Sean Heslop who was appointed after the previous head, Dr Tony Dempsey, retired in 2004.
A Learning Resources Centre, named The Dempsey Centre after the previous headmaster, was opened in September 2004 for ICT, a lecture theatre, a library, a maths classroom and a new careers office.
The school has a choir and swing band, the former performing at the Royal Opera House, the Royal Festival Hall, the Barbican and at many other places, with London Orchestras. They regularly go on tours to abroad, most recently Poland, China, South Korea, Pakistan, Czech Republic, Estonia and Latvia and the U.S.A. The newly revitalised Swing Band also joined them on their last tour to Poland in Summer 2002.
There are many sporting excellences within the school; in particular the rowing, rugby, cricket, cross country and chess teams.
[edit] Extract from the Inspectors' Report
The Inspectors' Report in 2002 stated that "the school is very popular; annually, it receives around 1200 applications for the 140 available places. Very nearly all 16-year-olds continue into the Sixth Form and around 40 more join the Sixth Form each year from other schools. On entry, the pupils’ and Sixth Form students’ attainment is very high compared with the national average."
[edit] Notable alumni
- Dennis Lindley, statistician
- Richard Harvey, musician
- Alec Stewart, professional cricketer and one-time England cricket captain
- Jonny Lee Miller, stage and film actor
- John Bratby, painter
- Chris Heaton-Harris, Conservative MEP
- Rob Henderson, professional rugby union player
- Jonathan Cainer, astrologer
- Nick Parrott, Labour politician
- Tom Bloxham, businessman and founder of Urban Splash
