New College School
 | |
| Motto | Manners Makyth Man |
|---|---|
| Established | 1379 |
| Type | Independent preparatory School |
| Religion | Church of England |
| Headmaster | Robert Gullifer |
| Chair | Miles Young |
| Founder | William of Wykeham, Bishop of Winchester |
| Location |
Savile Road Oxford Oxfordshire OX1 3UA England Coordinates: 51°46′05″N 1°15′23″W / 51.76818°N 1.25639°W |
| Local authority | Oxfordshire |
| DfE number | 931/6065 |
| DfE URN | 123291 Tables |
| Students | 160 (approx.) |
| Gender | Boys |
| Ages | 4–13 |
| Houses | Reynolds, Huxley, Wykeham, Spooner |
| Publication | The Newswire |
| Website |
www |
New College School (officially St Mary's College School) is an independent preparatory school for boys in Oxford. It was founded in 1379 by William of Wykeham to provide for the education of 16 choristers for the chapel of New College, Oxford.
History
New College School traces its origins to November 1379 when it was founded by William of Wykeham, Bishop of Winchester, as part of the foundation of the College of St Mary of Winchester in Oxford, more commonly known as New College. Wykeham himself paid for the choirboys, chaplains and clerks to sing for services at chapel. Records from the 1620s state that choirboys were accommodated on the College site itself, using an attic as the schoolroom. Despite a brief disruption due to the English Civil War the "school" continued to thrive. By the late 17th century, the vestry and song-room were refitted to accommodate new boys, marking the moment when the school started educating both choristers and non-choristers. The school did not have a permanent home for some years, moving back and forth between the College buildings and various sites outside the College. The current site was purchased in 1903 from Merton College.[1] Although no longer exclusively educating choristers, the school maintains its ties with the College: the College's Warden is Chair of the school's governing committee and the school's pupils use the College sports facilities.[2][3]
Location and facilities
New College School is located on Savile Road in central Oxford, near New College. The school site has a sports hall which is used for multiple sports and shares New College's playing fields and cricket nets. Its most recent upgrade is the revamped sports pavilion, reopened in 2013.[4]
Extracurricular activities
Sports form a major part of the school calendar. All boys from Year 3 to 8 are required to play football and rugby (Michaelmas term) and hockey (Hilary term). The school has a partnership with Oxford United F.C. and the England U16 rugby team which allows the boys to receive external coaching sessions. There are also lunchtime and after-school activities sessions where boys can participate in various hobby and interest clubs. Lunchtime activities are run every day apart from Wednesday and the after school programme operates on Monday - Friday evenings.[5]
Notable alumni of New College School
- Thomas Allen (1681–1755): clergyman and author
- Henry Bright: teacher and author
- George Valentine Cox (1786–1875) [Master of NCS]: author
- Sir (Donald) Keith Falkner (1900–1994): singer and Director of the Royal College of Music
- James Gilchrist: tenor
- Howard Goodall: singer, composer, and broadcaster
- Theo Green: film composer
- Sir Richard Goodwin Keats (1757–1834): admiral, Governor of the Royal Naval Hospital in Greenwich, and mentor to Nelson and King William IV
- David Mitchell: comedian
- Charles Oliver Mules [former teacher at NCS]: Bishop of Nelson (New Zealand)
- Ian Partridge tenor
- John Rogers (bap. 1678-1729): clergyman, royal chaplain, and author
- Paul Spicer: organist, producer, conductor, composer, Professor of Choral Conducting at the Royal College of Music
- Joseph Trapp (1679–1747): clergyman, poet, playwright, first Professor of Poetry at the University of Oxford, translator of complete works of Virgil (1731)
- William Tuckwell (1829–1919) [Master of NCS]: author and ‘radical parson’
- Francis Wise (1695–1767): author, archaeologist, Radcliffe Librarian
- Anthony Wood (1632–1695): antiquarian, historian, and author
See also
References
- ↑ "About Us — School History". newcollegeschool.org.
- ↑ "Governors & Staff". newcollegeschool.org.
- ↑ "Schools Guide 2016: New College School". Tatler.
- ↑ "New College School pavilion opens after £10k revamp". Oxford Mail. 20 September 2013.
- ↑ "Sport & Activities". newcollegeschool.org.
- Halford Smith, Alic (1952). New College, Oxford, and its Buildings. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
- Jenkinson, Matthew (2013). New College School, Oxford: A History. Oxford: Shire Books. ISBN 9780747813415.
- Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.
External links
- New College School website
- Profile at the Independent Schools Council website