The King Edward VI Foundation Birmingham is a charitable institution that operates thirteen schools in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. The Foundation was registered as a charity in November 1963 under the name ''"The Schools of King Edward VI in Birmingham"''. As of September 2022 the Foundation operates two

independent schools A private school or independent school is a school not administered or funded by the government, unlike a public school. Private schools are schools that are not dependent upon national or local government to finance their financial endowme ...

and a

Multi-academy trust Multi-Academy Trust (MAT) or academy chain is an academy trust that operates more than one academy school. Academy schools are state-funded schools in England which are directly funded by the Department for Education and independent of local aut ...

called the King Edward VI Academy Trust Birmingham, consisting of six selective schools, and five non-selective academy schools. In 2019/20 the Foundation had a gross income of approximately £21 million, much of which is derived from extensive land holdings in the centre of Birmingham. The Academy Trust has a further income of approximately £47 million.

Origins

On 28 October 1382, a

chantry A chantry is an ecclesiastical term that may have either of two related meanings: # a chantry service, a set of Christian liturgical celebrations for the dead (made up of the Requiem Mass and the Office of the Dead), or # a chantry chapel, a b ...

to say masses for the dead was established in New Street,

. As part of the religious settlement of

King Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is known for his six marriages and his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disagreement w ...

, laws were enacted suppressing all monasteries and chantries. In the case of chantries, little had occurred since the 1545 Act, so when

King Edward VI Edward VI (12 October 1537 – 6 July 1553) was King of England and King of Ireland, Ireland from 28 January 1547 until his death in 1553. He was crowned on 20 February 1547 at the age of nine. The only surviving son of Henry VIII by his thi ...

came to the throne in 1547 new legislation to close chantries was soon enacted. Part of the process of suppressing chantries involved holding an inquiry into their property and assets. The New Street chantry was one of thousands abolished, though the people of Birmingham were told that the assets would not be seized by the Crown but made available for educational purposes. When the assets still had not been returned to the town, a meeting was held at St Martin in the Bull Ring to petition the Crown to build a school on New Street on the land occupied by the former chantry. The Guild of the Holy Cross persuaded the

Earl of Northumberland The title of Earl of Northumberland has been created several times in the Peerage of England and of Great Britain, succeeding the title Earl of Northumbria. Its most famous holders are the House of Percy (''alias'' Perci), who were the most po ...

to release the land at New Street for the creation of a free Grammar School; a charter for its formation was issued on 2 January 1552 and King Edward VI School was opened in the chantry's hall. In 1883 a complementary Girls' School was formed, initially sharing the same site as the Boys' School.

Victorian expansion

Owning land in the very centre of Birmingham gave the Foundation a secure financial base. In 1883, five new King Edward's schools were created to meet the educational needs of the expanding population of the city of Birmingham. Due to financial difficulties, many of the schools were forced to sell the land of their original location to buy the cheaper land from the surrounding area in the city. Many of the schools have since changed location since their founding, with only Aston remaining in its original buildings. All of the Foundation's grammar schools are now a part of the King Edward VI Academy Trust.

King Edward VI Academy Trust

In 2013 the Foundation took control of Sheldon Heath Community College and it was renamed King Edward VI Sheldon Heath Academy. This marked the first time the Foundation had taken control of an existing educational establishment and its first non-selective school. In September 2017 the Foundation divided the operation of its two independent schools (KES and KEHS) and its multiple grammar schools – including the non-selective KEVI Sheldon Heath Academy. A

, known as the King Edward VI Academy Trust Birmingham, was formed to manage its non–fee-paying establishments, consisting of five grammar schools and one academy. With the formation of the Academy Trust, the previously independent Handsworth Grammar School joined the foundation, becoming King Edward VI Handsworth Grammar School for Boys. Since then, the Academy Trust has taken control of one educational establishment each year with the exception of 2020 (due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

). The Academy Trust inductee for the 2023/24 academic year is King's Norton School for Boys, having received approval in 2023. The school is expected to formally join in January 2024.

Foundation Service

Since the expansion of the Foundation in 1883, Year 7 pupils from each school of the Foundation have met once a year at either St Martin's Church or the Aston Webb Building's Great Hall at the

University of Birmingham The University of Birmingham (informally Birmingham University) is a Public university, public research university in Birmingham, England. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen's College, Birmingham (founded in 1825 as ...

for a service to commemorate the King Edward VI Foundation. At this service, pupils have historically read from

The Bible The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally writte ...

, sung hymns, and been told the story of the creation of the Foundation. More recently, pupils have engaged in musical performances, short plays, and recited poems.

References

Bibliography

*''King Edward Grammar School for Girls, Handsworth 1883–1983'', Alison Thorne, 1983 *''King Edward High School Birmingham 1883–1983'', Rachel Waterhouse, 1983 *''King Edward VI Five Ways 1883-1983'', David Wheeldon, 1983 *''King Edward's School, Birmingham'', Tony Trott, 2001, *''Victoria County History of England, Volume on Warwickshire'', article by Tyson, J.C.

External links

The Grammar Schools of King Edward the Sixth in BirminghamThe Foundation of King Edward the Sixth in Birmingham
*
King Edward VI Aston Home pageKing Edward VI Five Ways Home pageKing Edward VI Sheldon Heath Academy Home page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Foundation Of The Schools Of King Edward Vi 1963 establishments in England Charities based in Birmingham, West Midlands Education in Birmingham, West Midlands Educational foundations Educational institutions established in the 1550s King Edward VI Schools