Sevenoaks School
From Free net encyclopedia
Current revision
- "Sevenoaks school" redirects here. If you were looking for the other school based in Sevenoaks, see The New School at West Heath.
Sevenoaks School is an English independent school, located in the town of Sevenoaks, Kent. It is the oldest secular school in the United Kingdom, dating back to 1432. Almost 1000 day pupils and boarders attend, ranging in age from 11 to 18 years. There are approximately equal numbers of boys and girls. The current Headteacher is Katy Ricks.
The school is considered a leader in liberal education and was a pioneer of coeducational schooling in the 1960s and International students in the 1980s. Today, it continues to attract foreign students (especially in the sixth form) and the pupils represent over 40 countries. Despite its age, the school has remained relatively free from the archaic traditions that often feature in old British schools. Many of the traditions that the school does maintain, such as the Knole run, annual "slave auction" (albeit in a recently watered down form), Sevenoaks festival, Sevenoaks vs. Tonbridge rugby match and lunchtime music recitals date back to the 1960s and 70s.
In 1999 it featured in the media by becoming the first major UK school to switch entirely from doing A level exams to the International Baccalaureate.
Contents |
Academic
The school consistently achieves good exam results. In 2005 it was placed 2nd in the UK by The Times League Table of A-level and IB schools with an average of 463.1 UCAS points per pupil. In 2004 The Independent using UCAS points per candidate, placing them 1st. The Financial Times placing them 2nd in their table of IB schools with an FT score of 1.18. In 2005, a record-breaking 9 people achieved the highest score of 45 in the IB, a feat accomplished by only 40-50 of the 22,000 students worldwide.
GCSE results are equally impressive, the school being ranked within the top 20 by all major papers.
Facilities
The facilities are mostly modern and there are only 3 buildings dating prior to the 20th century - the Old School House (15th century), and the old gymnasium and cottage blocks (18th and 19th century respectively). The school also has an extensive library of 120,000 books, athletics track, indoor tennis centre, auditorium (the Aisher hall) and theatre (Sackville theatre).
The main school grounds are close to the center of Sevenoaks town, straddling the A225 Tonbridge Road. Knole Lane also runs through the site, providing access to Knole House, which is situated in the park behind the school.
On 10 March 2005 a new £7.5 million sports centre (the "Sennocke Centre") was opened by middle distance athlete Dame Kelly Holmes.
Knole Run
Each January, the school hosts the annual Knole run, which is raced over a 7.2 mile cross-country course in the park. School teams from across the UK (and abroad) compete in the race, which is often characterised by mud and rain. The tradition began with the idea that if a race was held in such conditions, it would give the home team the greatest possible advantage. Unfortunately for Sevenoaks, the same advantage applied for other local schools, meaning local state school The Judd School won the event for several consecutive years against a field of famous private schools. Sevenoaks have never won the boys' race, although they have had success in the smaller event for girls. The run has grown to become known as the unofficial schools' cross country championships.
Other Sport
Apart from cross country, the school participates in many sports such as football, rugby, hockey, cricket and athletics. However, it has had most success in sailing and shooting, with its teams of national, and even international, standing, winning the international school sailing championship several times.
Controversy
The reputation of the school was recently tarnished with allegations of fee fixing. The school was found to have breached the Competition Act 1998. It was investigated along with other independent schools by the Office of Fair Trading and the provisional ruling is that it along with 50 other independent schools may have broken competition law by sharing information about fees. The schools involved exchanged information between 2001 and 2004 via the ‘Sevenoaks Survey’ which was circulated several times each year to the schools involved. If the Office for Fair trading decides the law has been broken then penalties could be imposed.