The Royal School, Wolverhampton is a co-educational

free school Free may refer to: Concept * Freedom, having the ability to do something, without having to obey anyone/anything * Freethought, a position that beliefs should be formed only on the basis of logic, reason, and empiricism * Emancipate, to procure ...

and sixth form for

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 so ...

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 ...

pupils in Wolverhampton,

West Midlands West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...

, England. It is the only state school of its type in the UK to have a Royal Charter and it has been a free school since September 2016. The school was previously a fee paying

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 Eng ...

and it is now one of a handful of state boarding schools in the country.

History

The Royal School, Wolverhampton began life as ''The Wolverhampton Orphan Asylum''. It was founded in 1850 by John Lees, a local lock-manufacturer and

freemason Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...

, after a

cholera Cholera is an infection of the small intestine by some strains of the bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea that lasts a few days. Vomiting and ...

epidemic ravaged the town and left many children orphaned. The orphanage was completely funded by voluntary subscription and was dedicated to the education and maintenance of children who had lost one or both parents. The ''Royal Orphanage of Wolverhampton'' came into being in 1891 when Queen Victoria gave permission for the prefix 'Royal' to be used. The charity carried on using this title until the late 1940s when

King George VI George VI (Albert Frederick Arthur George; 14 December 1895 – 6 February 1952) was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death in 1952. He was also the last Emperor of Ind ...

permitted it to be re-styled ''The Royal Wolverhampton School.'' The following decade saw a rapid decline in the number of pupils as the newly formed Welfare State took over some of the school's responsibilities. The cost of caring for orphans also dramatically increased and so the constitution was controversially changed to allow the admission of fee-paying pupils. Their proportion steadily grew to the extent that they eventually constituted around 90% of its students. The school became a

in September 2016.

Buildings and Facilities

The school's original premises were at 46 Queen Street, Wolverhampton. In 1854 it moved to new buildings on Penn Road. These have been greatly extended over the years but they still form the nucleus of the current school.

Hilda Hayward Swimming Pool

The original Hilda Hayward swimming pool was constructed in the 1970s with money donated by the Hayward Foundation. It was named in honour of Sir Charles Hayward's wife who died during its construction. This pool was destroyed in a fire in February 2005. Its replacement, also called the Hilda Hayward swimming pool, cost £2.5 million and was opened by Prince Edward in September 2006. The Hilda Hayward pool also provides facilities for the School's Elite Swim Club and Learn to Swim Programme, part of the Amateur Swimming Association.

Royal Patronage

The school's patron is Prince Edward, the youngest son of

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 Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. She was queen ...

. Prince Edward succeeded his grandmother,

Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon (4 August 1900 – 30 March 2002) was Queen of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 to 6 February 1952 as the wife of King George VI. She was the l ...

, in this role.

Forces bursaries

The children of serving personnel in the British Army, Navy or Royal Air Force are afforded £1,000 a term per child of military personnel in order to help them pay for their children to board.

Eric Idle Eric Idle (born 29 March 1943) is an English actor, comedian, musician and writer. Idle was a member of the British surreal comedy group Monty Python and the parody rock band The Rutles, and is the writer of the music and lyrics for the Broadwa ...

was an Orphan's scholarship holder and benefited from a forces bursary as his late father had been a former member of the RAF.

Extracurricular Activities

Sport

The main sports on offer are athletics, basketball,

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

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 striki ...

, rounders, netball and swimming.Sport
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CCF

All pupils in Year 8 up until Year 10 are required to be a member of 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 ...

(CCF). Other students (Year 11 onwards) have the option to continue CCF sessions.

Notable people

* Montagu Dawson, RAF group captain *

Alice Dearing Alice Georgina Dearing (born 23 April 1997) is a British swimmer, specialising in open water events. In June 2021, Dearing qualified to represent Great Britain in the 2020 Olympics. Dearing co-founded the Black Swimming Association in 2020. The ...

, swimmer *

Edward Gopsill Lieutenant-Colonel Edward Gopsill, (22 December 1921 – 25 July 2016) was a decorated British Army officer and founder of the 1st Malaysian Rangers. Early life Gopsill was born in Birkenhead in 1921. He left school at fourteen and took a job ...

, lieutenant colonel * Gilbert Harding, broadcaster *

, comedian * Tully Kearney, Paralympic Swimmer *

Michael Kidson Michael George MacDonald Kidson (24 August 1929 – 20 June 2015) was a British schoolmaster who taught history at Eton College. Among Kidson's pupils was former Prime Minister David Cameron. Kidson was born in Belgravia, London. His parents s ...

, schoolmaster *

Kelly Massey Kelly Massey (born 11 January 1985) is a British track and field athlete who specialises in the 400 metres. She competed for England in the women's 4 × 400 metres relay at the 2014 Commonwealth Games where she won a bronze medal, and for Great ...

Olympic 400m athlete *

Philip Oakes Philip, also Phillip, is a male given name, derived from the Greek (''Philippos'', lit. "horse-loving" or "fond of horses"), from a compound of (''philos'', "dear", "loved", "loving") and (''hippos'', "horse"). Prominent Philips who popularize ...

, journalist *

Jonathan Pedley Jonathan may refer to: *Jonathan (name), a masculine given name Media * ''Jonathan'' (1970 film), a German film directed by Hans W. Geißendörfer * ''Jonathan'' (2016 film), a German film directed by Piotr J. Lewandowski * ''Jonathan'' (2018 ...

, wine expert * Matthew Richards, Olympic swimmer * Tom Webster, cartoonist

References

External links

The Royal School, Wolverhampton official websiteProfile
on the Independent Schools Council website *

Independent Schools Inspectorate The Independent Schools Inspectorate (ISI) is approved by the Secretary of State for Education – under section 106 of the Education and Skills Act 2008 – to inspect independent schools in England. These schools are members of associations, w ...

Inspectio
Reports

History of the Orphanage/School
{{DEFAULTSORT:Royal School, Wolverhampton Educational institutions established in 1850 1850 establishments in England Boarding schools in the West Midlands (county) Secondary schools in Wolverhampton Church of England secondary schools in the Diocese of Lichfield Church of England primary schools in the Diocese of Lichfield Primary schools in Wolverhampton Free schools in England