Kings Priory School is a mixed

all-through school All-through schools educate young people throughout multiple stages of their education, generally throughout childhood and adolescence. Definition The term "all-through" can be legitimately applied to establishments in many different circumstan ...

and

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 ...

located in

Tynemouth Tynemouth () is a coastal town in the metropolitan borough of North Tyneside, North East England. It is located on the north side of the mouth of the River Tyne, hence its name. It is 8 mi (13 km) east-northeast of Newcastle upon Tyn ...

Tyne and Wear Tyne and Wear () is a metropolitan county in North East England, situated around the mouths of the rivers Tyne and Wear. It was created in 1974, by the Local Government Act 1972, along with five metropolitan boroughs of Gateshead, Newcas ...

, England. The current principal is Mr Philip Sanderson. The school has a Christian foundation as the largest member of the Woodard Corporation, but accepts pupils of any religious background. It is located immediately to the east of

Tynemouth Metro Station Tynemouth is a Tyne and Wear Metro station, serving the coastal town of Tynemouth, North Tyneside in Tyne and Wear, England. It joined the network as a terminus station on 11 August 1980, following the opening of the first phase of the network, ...

It was founded as The King's School in 1860 and was originally situated solely in the old headmaster's house, now Tynemouth House, which continues to be used for conferences and teaching. Previously an fee-charging

independent school An independent school is independent in its finances and governance. Also known as private schools, non-governmental, privately funded, or non-state schools, they are not administered by local, state or national governments. In British En ...

, The King's School converted to academy status in September 2013, merging with the Priory Primary school in Tynemouth and was renamed Kings Priory School. It remains a member of the Woodard Corporation but is now state-funded.

History

The school was founded in

Jarrow Jarrow ( or ) is a town in South Tyneside in the county of Tyne and Wear, England. It is east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is situated on the south bank of the River Tyne, about from the east coast. It is home to the southern portal of the Ty ...

in 1860, but by 1865 had moved to its present site in Tynemouth. The school originally provided

private education An independent school is independent in its finances and governance. Also known as private schools, non-governmental, privately funded, or non-state schools, they are not administered by local, state or national governments. In British Eng ...

for local boys as Tynemouth School: the school did not become known as The King's School until the 1960s. The school's name is in reference to the three ancient kings buried at

Tynemouth Priory Tynemouth Castle is located on a rocky headland (known as Pen Bal Crag), overlooking Tynemouth Pier. The moated castle-towers, gatehouse and keep are combined with the ruins of the Benedictine priory where early kings of Northumbria were buried ...

: Oswin,

Osred II Osred II was King of Northumbria from 789 to 790. He was the son of Alhred and Osgifu, daughter of Eadberht. He succeeded Ælfwald, son of his mother's brother Oswulf, who was murdered by the ''patricius'' (ealdorman) Sicga. Osred, even thou ...

and Malcolm III. Consequently, there are many student myths as to the position of the apostrophe in the name (King's, rather than Kings'). The school grew considerably in size during the second half of the 20th century and began to admit girls to both the

Kindergarten Kindergarten is a preschool educational approach based on playing, singing, practical activities such as drawing, and social interaction as part of the transition from home to school. Such institutions were originally made in the late 18th cen ...

and 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 ...

during that time. The school became fully

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 ...

and part comprehensive in 1996, following the initial decision in 1992. King's originally occupied a large house on Huntington Place and the adjoining terraces. This was later extended with the addition of the Nicholson Building (Nicholson's) in the 1920s, and the Ellison Block (Ellison's) in the 1960s. Further expansion occurred in 1991 with the addition of the design, technology and art block (the Provost building.) This continued in 1999 with the addition of the Chapter Building, comprising many new classrooms, along with the lecture theatre and 700-seat King's Hall. In 2008, the school continued its development with the addition of the Oswin's building. The building houses a new sports hall, dance studio, drama workshop, indoor climbing centre, a music school with recording studio, a cafeteria and all-day coffee bar, new Sixth Form study centre and social space, a new library and classrooms for English learning support, French, Spanish and PE. The building replaces the former music school, gym, changing rooms and cafeteria. In 2013, the Woodard Corporation announced that King's would merge with the neighbourghing state run Priory Primary School to become a state funded Academy. This caused some controversy in the local community. The local authority, North Tyneside Council, strongly opposed the scheme and on 17 July 2013, issued a letter to the Secretary of State for Education asking that the decision be reconsidered. However the school converted to academy status in September 2013 and was renamed Kings Priory School.

Structure

The Senior School is organised into year groups, each under the day-to-day management of a Year Head and Assistant and a team of Tutors. There are four Houses (known as chapters), which form the framework for internal competitions in the school. Entry to the school occurs at ages 4, 11 and 16.

Chapters

King Priory has a long-standing

House System The house system is a traditional feature of schools in the United Kingdom. The practice has since spread to Commonwealth countries and the United States. The school is divided into subunits called "houses" and each student is allocated to on ...

, which has continued into the new school in the "Chapter" format. All pupils are assigned to a house upon entry to the school; Provost, Hotspur, Barfleur, and Dunelm. Traditionally, pupils were assigned to a house depending on their area of home residence, however this practice has become more flexible in recent years. Pupils who are relations of current or former pupils are normally assigned to the same house as their predecessors. House colours appear on school ties for all members of the senior school. In place of the school colours (red, gold and navy), the gold stripe is replaced with the pupil's house colour (e.g. red, navy and light blue for members of Provost). This practice is not continued in the Sixth Form, where students wear either a navy blue tie emblazoned with the school crest (Sixth Form) or a red tie with gold and blue stripes, similarly emblazoned with the crest (Prefects). The house names are all linked to the area that they represent: Barfleur was the name of Admiral Collingwood's ship in

The Glorious First of June The Glorious First of June (1 June 1794), also known as the Fourth Battle of Ushant, (known in France as the or ) was the first and largest fleet action of the naval conflict between the Kingdom of Great Britain and the First French Republic ...

, and his

statue A statue is a free-standing sculpture in which the realistic, full-length figures of persons or animals are carved or cast in a durable material such as wood, metal or stone. Typical statues are life-sized or close to life-size; a sculpture t ...

stands in Tynemouth; Dunelm is Latin for

Durham Durham most commonly refers to: *Durham, England, a cathedral city and the county town of County Durham *County Durham, an English county * Durham County, North Carolina, a county in North Carolina, United States *Durham, North Carolina, a city in N ...

and so represents those from south of the river tyne; Hotspur refers to

Harry Hotspur Sir Henry Percy (20 May 1364 – 21 July 1403), nicknamed Hotspur, was an English knight who fought in several campaigns against the Scots in the northern border and against the French during the Hundred Years' War. The nickname "Hotsp ...

, a Newcastle medieval military hero. Provost is the exception, being named for the Provost of the Woodard Corporation. The House Challenge Trophy takes place each year, with pupils competing in sporting, musical and general knowledge events.

Spirituality

The school has an Anglican tradition as a member of the Woodard Corporation. Every year group attends a morning service in the school chapel each week. Communion is open to pupils, former pupils, staff and parents, and is held twice each term. The school no longer has a chaplain.

Music

Music provision is available for all pupils at King's, with peripatetic teaching in many instruments. A range of bands and ensembles participate in a number of events throughout the year. The main vocal ensemble is the Capella Choir, open to all Senior School and Sixth Form students. The annual Capella music tour is a tradition at King's. The annual rock and pop charity concert began in 2000, and the event sees several students auditioning to perform, from each year of the senior school. The concerts are known as "K2000", with the name changing each year (i.e. K2006 in 2006). It has become a tradition for members of the Upper Sixth to act as compères on the night of the event, and for a group of upper sixth formers to perform a comedy music and dance routine.

Drama

There is a designated drama studio and this activity, as well as the recently constructed Kings Hall. Each year there is senior play and musical and the

Junior School A Junior school is a type of school which provides primary education to children, often in the age range from 8 and 13, following attendance at Infant school which covers the age range 5–7. (As both Infant and Junior schools are giving Primary ...

and

hold two productions each year. Students from all year groups are able to take individual speech and drama lessons and take the

LAMDA LaMDA, which stands for Language Model for Dialogue Applications, is a family of conversational neural language models developed by Google. The first generation was announced during the 2021 Google I/O keynote, while the second generation was ...

examinations.

Sport and societies

Each year group in the Senior School has one afternoon of games per week. Sports taught at the school include

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 ...

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by st ...

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball cov ...

hockey Hockey is a term used to denote a family of various types of both summer and winter team sports which originated on either an outdoor field, sheet of ice, or dry floor such as in a gymnasium. While these sports vary in specific rules, numbers o ...

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competi ...

, and

swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, or other liquid, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Locomotion is achieved through coordinated movement of the limbs and the body to achieve hydrodynamic thrust that r ...

. In recent years several pupils have represented their country. Other sports include

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Sum ...

canoeing Canoeing is an activity which involves paddling a canoe with a single-bladed paddle. Common meanings of the term are limited to when the canoeing is the central purpose of the activity. Broader meanings include when it is combined with other act ...

gymnastics Gymnastics is a type of sport that includes physical exercises requiring balance, strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, dedication and endurance. The movements involved in gymnastics contribute to the development of the arms, legs, s ...

, trampolining, and

cross country running Cross country running is a sport in which teams and individuals run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain such as dirt or grass. The course, typically long, may include surfaces of grass and earth, pass through woodlands and open cou ...

. The school's coastal location, together with its on-site facilities and access to nearby Prior's Park provide a range of opportunity for sport and recreation. In the cricket season, most school cricket games are played at Tynemouth Cricket Club. Alongside provision for

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 ...

, several other clubs and societies exist, including

debating Debate is a process that involves formal discourse on a particular topic, often including a moderator and audience. In a debate, arguments are put forward for often opposing viewpoints. Debates have historically occurred in public meetings, a ...

and

chess Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to dist ...

. A number of activities take place at the school's Field Centre outpost at

Alnham Alnham is a hamlet and civil parish in Northumberland, England. It is about west of Alnwick, about from Scotland and is located on the south of a small tributary of the River Aln. The village stands on uneven ground, sloping from south to ...

in the

Northumberland National Park Northumberland National Park is the northernmost national park in England. It covers an area of more than between the Scottish border in the north to just south of Hadrian's Wall, and it is one of least visited of the National Parks. The park ...

. Students in the Sixth Form have the option of doing community service work instead of sport.

Giuseppe Garibaldi

The 19th-century Italian patriot

Giuseppe Garibaldi Giuseppe Maria Garibaldi ( , ;In his native Ligurian language, he is known as ''Gioxeppe Gaibado''. In his particular Niçard dialect of Ligurian, he was known as ''Jousé'' or ''Josep''. 4 July 1807 – 2 June 1882) was an Italian general, pa ...

sailed into Tynemouth on 21 March 1854 and is reported to have stayed at Tynemouth House whilst in exile. During his stay, he held a meeting at the house with British political and industrial leaders and addressed them on his plans for a unified Italy. His portrait was painted on this visit and this is now held in a Garibaldi museum in

Sardinia Sardinia ( ; it, Sardegna, label=Italian, Corsican and Tabarchino ; sc, Sardigna , sdc, Sardhigna; french: Sardaigne; sdn, Saldigna; ca, Sardenya, label= Algherese and Catalan) is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, aft ...

. An

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses. The charity states that i ...

plaque on the outside wall of the school commemorates his visit, and the room where he is purported to have slept—now a teaching conference room—is named the Garibaldi Room.

Uniform

The Senior School

uniform A uniform is a variety of clothing worn by members of an organization while participating in that organization's activity. Modern uniforms are most often worn by armed forces and paramilitary organizations such as police, emergency services, ...

comprises: *Navy blue

blazer A blazer is a type of jacket resembling a suit jacket, but cut more casually. A blazer is generally distinguished from a sport coat as a more formal garment and tailored from solid colour fabrics. Blazers often have naval-style metal buttons ...

with maroon piping and bearing the school crest *White

shirt A shirt is a cloth garment for the upper body (from the neck to the waist). Originally an undergarment worn exclusively by men, it has become, in American English, a catch-all term for a broad variety of upper-body garments and undergarments. ...

, blouse for girls *

Tie Tie has two principal meanings: * Tie (draw), a finish to a competition with identical results, particularly sports * Necktie, a long piece of cloth worn around the neck or shoulders Tie or TIE may also refer to: Engineering and technology * ...

lapel pin A lapel pin, also known as an enamel pin, is a small pin worn on clothing, often on the lapel of a jacket, attached to a bag, or displayed on a piece of fabric. Lapel pins can be ornamental or can indicate the wearer's affiliation with an organiz ...

coloured according to school house (county honours/librarians' ties are optional). *Mid grey

trousers Trousers (British English), slacks, or pants are an item of clothing worn from the waist to anywhere between the knees and the ankles, covering both legs separately (rather than with cloth extending across both legs as in robes, skirts, and ...

or skirt *Black or dark grey

socks A sock is a piece of clothing worn on the feet and often covering the ankle or some part of the calf. Some types of shoes or boots are typically worn over socks. In ancient times, socks were made from leather or matted animal hair. In the late ...

*Black

shoes A shoe is an item of footwear intended to protect and comfort the human foot. They are often worn with a sock. Shoes are also used as an item of decoration and fashion. The design of shoes has varied enormously through time and from culture t ...

*Black leather

belt Belt may refer to: Apparel * Belt (clothing), a leather or fabric band worn around the waist * Championship belt, a type of trophy used primarily in combat sports * Colored belts, such as a black belt or red belt, worn by martial arts practiti ...

(for boys only). Sixth Formers are expected to wear a business suit and the appropriate tie. Prefects wear a silver badge showing the school crest and motto; senior prefects and the head and deputy heads of school wear a gold badge.

Notable former pupils and staff

Stan Laurel Stan Laurel (born Arthur Stanley Jefferson; 16 June 1890 – 23 February 1965) was an English comic actor, writer, and film director who was one half of the comedy duo Laurel and Hardy. He appeared with his comedy partner Oliver Hardy in 10 ...

, comic actor, writer and film director * Peter Cadogan, writer and activist *

Rod Clements Roderick Parry Clements (born 17 November 1947 in North Shields, Northumberland) is a British guitarist, singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. He formed the folk-rock band Lindisfarne with Alan Hull in 1970, and wrote "Meet Me on the Cor ...

, bass player for the band Lindisfarne *

Toby Flood Tobias Gerald Albert Cecil Lieven Flood (born 8 August 1985) is an English rugby union coach and former player. He is currently kicking and skills coach at Newcastle Falcons in Premiership Rugby. During his playing career his position was Fly- ...

, England,

Newcastle Falcons Newcastle Falcons is a rugby union team that play in Premiership Rugby, England's highest division of rugby union. The club was established in 1877 as the Gosforth Football Club. Around 1882 the club merged with the Northumberland Football Cl ...

and

Leicester Tigers Leicester Tigers (officially Leicester Football Club) are a professional rugby union club based in Leicester, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. The club was founded in 1880 and since 1892 plays its hom ...

rugby player *

Jason Plato Timothy Jason Plato (born 14 October 1967) is a British racing driver who last competed in the British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) for BTC Racing. He has twice been BTCC Champion, in 2001 for Vauxhall and 2010 for Silverline Chevrolet. He ...

, racing driver *Stuart Somerville, bass player with Toby Twirl *

Harry Vaulkhard Harry Vaulkhard (born 14 October 1985) is a British racing driver. In 2010 he raced in the World Touring Car Championship for Bamboo Engineering. Career Early career Harry's father, Nigel Vaulkhard, was a successful businessman in the Tynes ...

, racing driver *

Shirley Webb Shirley Addison (née Webb) (born 28 September 1981) is a British former hammer thrower and performer in the ''Gladiators'' series as Battleaxe. She was born in Whitley Bay, Tyne & Wear, England and is the daughter of Andrew Webb, a Scottish in ...

, sportswoman and Gladiator from UK 2008 series. * Henry Treece, poet and writer, who taught at the school from 1935 to 1938 *

David Laidler David Ernest William Laidler (born 12 August 1938, North Shields, England) is an English/Canadian economist who has been one of the foremost scholars of monetarism. He published major economics journal articles on the topic in the late 1960s an ...

, Economist, scholar of monetarism * Imran Shah, cricketer * Colin Gregg, the son of the founder of the

Greggs Greggs plc is a British bakery chain. It specialises in savoury products such as bakes, sausage rolls, sandwiches and sweet items including doughnuts and vanilla slices. It is headquartered in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It is listed on ...

bakery chain, was appointed as the school's headteacher in 1978. *

References

External links

Official website
* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20070818211209/http://www.woodard.co.uk/the_kings_school.htm Woodard Schools - King's School, Tynemouthbr>Independent Schools Council - The King's School
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kings Priory School Educational institutions established in 1860 Secondary schools in the Metropolitan Borough of North Tyneside Church of England secondary schools in the Diocese of Newcastle Woodard Schools Tynemouth Academies in the Metropolitan Borough of North Tyneside Primary schools in the Metropolitan Borough of North Tyneside Church of England primary schools in the Diocese of Newcastle 1860 establishments in England