(Like runners, they pass on the torch of life) , established = , closed = , type = Public school

Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independe ...

day and

boarding Boarding may refer to: *Boarding, used in the sense of "room and board", i.e. lodging and meals as in a: ** Boarding house **Boarding school *Boarding (horses) (also known as a livery yard, livery stable, or boarding stable), is a stable where ho ...

, religion =

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Brit ...

, president = , head_label = Headmaster , head = Henry Price , r_head_label = , r_head = , chair_label = Chairman of trustees , chair = Neil Gorman , founder =

Robert Johnson Robert Leroy Johnson (May 8, 1911August 16, 1938) was an American blues musician and songwriter. His landmark recordings in 1936 and 1937 display a combination of singing, guitar skills, and songwriting talent that has influenced later generati ...

, specialist = , address = Market Place , city =

Oakham Oakham is the county town of Rutland in the East Midlands of England, east of Leicester, south-east of Nottingham and west of Peterborough. It had a population of 10,922 in the 2011 census, estimated at 11,191 in 2019. Oakham is to the west o ...

, county =

Rutland Rutland () is a ceremonial county and unitary authority in the East Midlands, England. The county is bounded to the west and north by Leicestershire, to the northeast by Lincolnshire and the southeast by Northamptonshire. Its greatest len ...

, country = England , postcode = LE15 6DT , local_authority = , urn = 120322 , dfeno = 857/6000 , ofsted = , chaplain = Timothy Tregunno , staff = 160 , enrolment = 1,082 , gender =

Coeducational Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to ...

, lower_age = 10 , upper_age = 18 , houses = 16 day and boarding houses , colours = Red and black , publication = , free_label_1 = Former pupils , free_1 = Old Oakhamians , free_label_2 = , free_2 = , free_label_3 = , free_3 = , website = http://www.oakham.rutland.sch.uk/ Oakham School is a public school (English

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independe ...

day A day is the time period of a full rotation of the Earth with respect to the Sun. On average, this is 24 hours, 1440 minutes, or 86,400 seconds. In everyday life, the word "day" often refers to a solar day, which is the length between two ...

and

boarding school A boarding school is a school where pupils live within premises while being given formal instruction. The word "boarding" is used in the sense of " room and board", i.e. lodging and meals. As they have existed for many centuries, and now exte ...

) in

, England. The school was founded in 1584 by Archdeacon

, along with

Uppingham School Uppingham School is a public school (English independent day and boarding school for pupils 13-18) in Uppingham, Rutland, England, founded in 1584 by Robert Johnson, the Archdeacon of Leicester, who also established Oakham School. The headma ...

, a few miles away. They share a common badge design (and a strong rivalry), but while Uppingham's colours tend towards blue and white, Oakham's are black and red. Under headmaster John Buchanan, in 1971 Oakham was the first boys' independent secondary school in Britain to accept both male and female pupils throughout the whole school and not just in the

sixth form In the education systems of England, Northern Ireland, Wales, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and some other Commonwealth countries, sixth form represents the final two years of secondary education, ages 16 to 18. Pupils typically prepare for ...

. In 1995, it was the first public school to go on-line.

Leicestershire County Cricket Club Leicestershire County Cricket Club is one of eighteen first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Leicestershire. It has also been representative of the count ...

occasionally plays games on the school grounds.

History

Oakham School was founded in 1584 by Robert Johnson,

Archdeacon of Leicester The Archdeacon of Leicester is a senior ecclesiastical officer in the Church of England Diocese of Leicester. History The first archdeacon of Leicester is recorded before 1092 – around the time when archdeacons were first appointed in England ...

. Johnson received an income from four church positions and used this wealth to set up a number of charitable institutions, including the two free grammar schools at Oakham and Uppingham. As someone on the

Puritan The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to purify the Church of England of Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should become more Protestant. ...

wing of the

he had a strong belief in the benefits of education. According to Johnson's statutes for the school, "the schoolmaster shall teach all those grammar scholars that are brought up in Oakham, freely without pay, if their parents be poor and not able to pay, and keep them constantly to school." The master of the school was to teach

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...

and

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

. Although the schooling was free, permanent attendance meant the loss to a family of an income, so not many very poor would have attended, or wanted the education. The master could supplement his income of £24 per year by taking in boarders. Johnson was careful to ensure that his schools were sufficiently endowed. This endowment was confirmed by

Royal Charter A royal charter is a formal grant issued by a monarch under royal prerogative as letters patent. Historically, they have been used to promulgate public laws, the most famous example being the English Magna Carta (great charter) of 1215, b ...

granted by

Queen Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen". Eli ...

. The original school building was restored in the eighteenth century and remained the sole classroom for 300 years. In 1749 a case involving payment of rates recorded that "the school of Uppingham is not nor hath been of equal repute with that of Oakham." The headmastership of John Doncaster (1808–46), himself a previous pupil at the school, saw the school advance academically: "This was the man who returned to his old school at the age of thirty-six, with University honours and university experience, to give it fresh life, and to set a mark on it which it never quite lost". Even so, numbers attending were well below 50, and while Uppingham flourished in the second half of the nineteenth century, Oakham did not to the same extent. Even so, in 1869 Oakham was one of the founding members of the

Headmasters' Conference The Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference (HMC) is an association of the head teachers of 361 independent schools (both boarding schools and day schools), some traditionally described as public schools. 298 Members are based in the Uni ...

(HMC). In 1875 as a result of the

Endowed Schools Act 1869 The Endowed Schools Act 1869 (32 & 33 Vict c 56) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was one of the Endowed Schools Acts 1869 to 1948. It was passed during William Ewart Gladstone’s first ministry, to restructure endowed gr ...

that threatened the continued existence of the school, there were just 2 day boys and 2 boarders in the school. The exhausted headmaster, William Spicer Wood (1846–75), retired and the new headmaster lasted just three years before being dismissed. All classes were still taught in the one room - the original old school, which still exists next to the

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...

. The school did see some development.

Science Science is a systematic endeavor that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe. Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earliest archeological evidence ...

and

modern languages A modern language is any human language that is currently in use. The term is used in language education to distinguish between languages which are used for day-to-day communication (such as French and German) and dead classical languages such ...

had recently been added to the curriculum. The subjects examined for a scholarship within the school were English history (1066-1603), geography of the British Isles, English grammar,

arithmetic Arithmetic () is an elementary part of mathematics that consists of the study of the properties of the traditional operations on numbers— addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, exponentiation, and extraction of roots. In the 19th ...

, English composition and dictation. A more successful headmaster, E. V. Hodge, headmaster from 1879 to 1902, saw numbers increase, to 125 in 1896, with slightly more boarders than day boys. Then followed onto the scene three successful headmasters - Walter Lee Sargant (1902–29) under whom numbers rose to over 200 with consequent new buildings, Francis Cecil Doherty (1929–34), who went on to be headmaster of Lancing), and Grosvenor Talbot Griffith (1935–57) who took the numbers to over three hundred - before the advent of John Buchanan. The 125 of Hodge's time was a temporary peak - by 1905 numbers had fallen back to 66. Sargant's response to the obvious financial difficulties which accompanied this decline (there were just 80 boys in the school when he commenced his headmastership) was to apply in 1910 for

direct grant A direct grant grammar school was a type of selective secondary school in the United Kingdom that existed between 1945 and 1976. One quarter of the places in these schools were directly funded by central government, while the remainder attracted ...

status, and to become in effect the boys'

grammar school A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented secondary school ...

for

at the same time as continuing as a public school for the boarders. New facilities for

science Science is a systematic endeavor that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe. Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earliest archeological evidence ...

teaching were created, boarding accommodation was improved with new building and extensions, and then a new school house was built. Pupil numbers rose again, to 105 in 1910, and to 200 in 1923. The Memorial Chapel was dedicated on 29 October 1925; it was built as a memorial to the 68 old boys and masters who were killed in the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

. The Memorial Library was opened in 1955 by Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester as a memorial to the 82 old boys who were killed in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

. John David Buchanan took over from Talbot Griffith in 1958, and played himself in quietly until the Circular 10/65 which demanded comprehensivisation of maintained schools, of which Oakham was one as a direct grant school for the Rutland dayboys. He and the Rutland

Local Education Authority Local education authorities (LEAs) were local councils in England that are responsible for education within their jurisdiction. The term was used to identify which council (district or county) is locally responsible for education in a system wit ...

did not agree on the possibilities of re-organisation of Rutland's schools, and as a result in 1970 the school (then 700 in size, all boys) reverted to full independence from the local authority, and in 1971, Oakham admitted female pupils for the first time, with the intention from the beginning of being co-educational throughout. The school is co-educational throughout the whole age range (10-18), with an approximately 50:50 split at all levels (ca. 550 boys and 500 girls in 2011-12). There are an equal number of girls' houses (8) to boys' houses. When Buchanan retired in 1977 the school was 950 in total size (ca. 550 boys and 400 girls), and the next headmaster, Richard Bull (1977–84, before he went on to be headmaster of

Rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby league: 13 players per side *** Masters Rugby League *** Mod league *** Rugby league nines *** Rugby league sevens *** Touch (sport) *** Wheelchair rugby league ** Rugby union: 1 ...

) continued the co-education process; but it was not until 1990 that the process was completed during the headmastership of Graham Smallbone (1985–96) and equality of numbers gained. When

Tony Little Tony Little (born September 16, 1956) is an American television fitness personality and businessman, who is best known for his fitness infomercial products. Little is a certified personal trainer and identifies himself as "America's Personal T ...

, later headmaster of Eton, took over in 1996 there were 528 boys and 510 girls in a school of 1038. Furthermore, the school is evenly spread between boarders and day, although there do exist "day boarders" from 13 and "transitional boarders" from 10-13. In 1981, the school was the subject of an action brought by

Novello & Co Wise Music Group is a global music publisher, with headquarters in Berners Street, London. In February 2020, Wise Music Group changed its name from The Music Sales Group. In 2014 Wise Music Group (as The Music Sales Group) acquired French cla ...

and the

Music Publishers Association (UK) The Music Publishers Association (MPA) is a non-profit organisation representing music publishers in the United Kingdom since 1881. It "exists to safeguard and promote the interests of music publishers and the writers signed to them; represent ...

for photocopying sheet music for Christmas carols. This was the first case of its kind in the UK. The High Court settlement ordered the school to pay £4250 in damages plus costs. In 1984 the quatercentenary of the school was celebrated by a visit from Queen

Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states durin ...

and

Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (born Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, later Philip Mountbatten; 10 June 1921 – 9 April 2021) was the husband of Queen Elizabeth II. As such, he served as the consort of the British monarch from E ...

. In 2005 Oakham School was one of fifty independent schools found guilty of running an illegal price-fixing cartel which had allowed them to drive up fees for thousands of parents. Each school was required to pay a nominal penalty of £10,000 and all agreed to make ex-gratia payments totalling three million pounds into a trust designed to benefit pupils who attended the schools during the period in respect of which fee information was shared.

Lower school

The current school set-up comprises three distinct "levels" of education. The lower school, for children aged 10–13, is also known as "Jerwoods" after the benefactor Old Oakhamian John Jerwood. The buildings that comprise it mostly date back to the early 1970s, when the four houses that comprise the area were established, but the main building, now the boys' boarding house, Peterborough House, was the old vicarage, which was bought by the school in 1870. The girls' boarding house, Lincoln, is in a round building to the west, while the two day houses, Sargants for boys and Ancaster for girls, are found on different floors of the main eastern building, which also houses all seven classrooms. During their time in the lower school, pupils study all of the core subjects (mathematics, English, science, history and geography) as well as French and either German or Spanish, religious education, Latin, Design & Technology and ICT. There is also a carousel system of creative and performing arts courses, which include textiles, 2D art and sculpture, and a separate carousel for drama and dance, and pupils take part in a physical education scheme of swimming and general ball skills.

Middle school

All pupils study English (language and literature), mathematics, a dual-award science course, RE and a foreign language (French, German or Spanish) to

GCSE The General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) is an academic qualification in a particular subject, taken in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. State schools in Scotland use the Scottish Qualifications Certificate instead. Private sc ...

, as well as at least two of history, geography and French, which is offered as an alternative to a second humanities subject. Pupils then choose two subjects from a selection, including a second foreign language, drama and theatre studies, art and design subjects, food studies, sports science and a combined Greek and Latin course. There are ten houses in the middle school, six boarding and four day houses, split evenly between boys and girls. The day houses are located at the north end of campus, in the grounds of the former Oakham

Workhouse In Britain, a workhouse () was an institution where those unable to support themselves financially were offered accommodation and employment. (In Scotland, they were usually known as poorhouses.) The earliest known use of the term ''workhouse' ...

, later Catmose Vale Hospital. The main building houses the two girls' houses, Gunthorpe and Hambleton, while the boys' houses, Barrow and Clipsham, are in a newer house alongside.

Upper school

Oakham offers both the

International Baccalaureate (IB) The International Baccalaureate (IB), formerly known as the International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO), is a nonprofit foundation headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, and founded in 1968. It offers four educational programmes: the IB Dip ...

and AS/A2 levels.

AS/A2 levels

Most students take four subjects at AS Level and continue to A2 level in at least three of those subjects.

International Baccalaureate (IB)

In the upper school, all students take six subjects. Usually, students take a literature course in their own language, another modern or classical language, a science and a mathematics course, a humanities and an arts course. These are at standard or higher level. In addition, all students complete an extended essay, take a course in theory of knowledge and complete a programme of creativity, action and service (CAS). In recent years the GCSE pass rate has been just short of 100%, with an average of over 10 passes above C (with most at A / A*) per pupil; the A level / IB pass rate similarly has been just under 100%, with over 80% at A / A* or IB equivalent. In 2019, 49.34% of pupils scored A*-A for their A-Levels examination, whereas 51.88% scored A*-A for their GCSEs. The average IB score for students in 2019 was 36.7.

Houses

Oakham School has a total of 16 houses; 2 in the upper school (1 for boys and 1 for girls), 10 in the middle school (5 boys houses, 5 girls; 4 full boarding, 2 flexi-boarding, 4 day) and 4 in the lower school (Jerwoods) (2 boys, 2 girls).

Upper school

There are two boarding houses for the seventh form, School House for boys and Round House for girls. Both are in Chapel Close.

Sport

Oakham offers a range of sports to its pupils; main sports for boys are rugby (Daily Mail champions twice), hockey, cricket and athletics, and for girls are hockey, netball, tennis and athletics. The school has won the Ashburton Shield at shooting on three occasions. The school offers, on a voluntary basis, both the

Combined Cadet Force The Combined Cadet Force (CCF) is a youth organisation in the United Kingdom, sponsored by the Ministry of Defence (MOD), which operates in schools, and normally includes Army, Royal Navy and Royal Air Force sections. Its aim is to "provide a ...

and The

Duke of Edinburgh's Award The Duke of Edinburgh's Award (commonly abbreviated DofE) is a youth awards programme founded in the United Kingdom in 1956 by Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, that has since expanded to 144 nations. The awards recognise adolescents and young ...

; in the latter it has gained over 5000 awards at the three levels of bronze, silver and gold, and is the leading educational establishment in terms of awards gained. In November 2000 the Duke of Edinburgh came to the school to present the 1000th Gold Award.

Old Oakhamians

For a list of notable alumni, see List of Old Oakhamians.

References

{{Authority control 1584 establishments in England Educational institutions established in the 1580s International Baccalaureate schools in England Member schools of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference * Independent schools in Rutland Boarding schools in Rutland Schools with a royal charter Oakham Church of England independent schools in the Diocese of Peterborough

History

Lower school

Middle school

Upper school

AS/A2 levels

International Baccalaureate (IB)

Houses

Upper school

Sport

Old Oakhamians

See also

References