Monkton Combe School

Monkton Combe School

Motto	"Verbum Tuum Veritas (Thy Word is Truth)"
Established	1868
Type	Independent, Boarding
Headteacher	Richard Backhouse (Senior School), Chris Stafford (Prep School), Kathryn Morrell (Pre-prep), Elaine Hodges (Nursery)
Location	Monkton Combe, Near Bath Somerset England Coordinates: 51°21′25″N 2°19′37″W / 51.3569°N 2.3270°W / 51.3569; -2.3270
Students	730 (all three schools from September 2012)
Houses	Eddystone (MSS Boys)           Farm (MSS Boys)           Grove Grange (MSS Boys)      School (MSS Boys)      Clarendon (MSS Girls)      Nutfield (MSS Girls)      Hill (MSS Junior)      Hatton (MPS Mixed) (Subhouses of Hatton:) Easterfield (MPS Mixed)      Kearns (MPS Mixed)      Howard (MPS Mixed)      Jameson (MPS Mixed)
Colours	Red     , White     , Blue
Former pupils	Old Monktonians
Website	www.monktoncombeschool.com

Monkton Combe School is an independent boarding and day school of the British public school tradition, near Bath, England. The Senior School is located in the village of Monkton Combe, while the Prep School, Pre-Prep and Nursery are in Combe Down on the southern outskirts of Bath. Founded in 1868, the school maintains many strong traditions with a particular emphasis on high academic and sporting achievements. The school also has a strong Christian ethos within the Anglican tradition. The school is also a member of the Rugby Group of independent schools in the United Kingdom.^[1]

The Senior School (current pupil numbers are around 380) admits children from age 11 through to 18; the Prep School admits children from age 7 to 13 and the Pre-Prep has classes in Kindergarten (3–4), Reception (4–5) and Years 1 and 2 (5–7). The Nursery based within the Prep School grounds provides pre-school care (ages 2–3). The Senior School and Prep School both have a strong boarding tradition; however, day pupils comprise one third of the intake of the Senior School and are in the majority in the Prep School. Since 1992 the school has been co-educational, having merged with Clarendon School for Girls.

History

The Senior School was founded in 1868^[2] by the then Vicar of Monkton Combe, the Reverend Francis Pocock. The Junior School was established with four pupils in 1888 in a private house in Church Road, Combe Down ^[2] by a Mrs Howard (the daughter of the Senior School Principal) and moved into its current purpose-built premises in June 1907. The Pre-prep was added in 1929.^[2] In 1992, the School became fully co-educational, merging with Clarendon School for Girls, Bedford. In 2006 the Junior School was renamed Monkton Prep School.

The school has many historical traditions and a strong religious heritage, with particular emphasis on sporting and academic achievements, and has produced many important society figures through the years.

The official history of the school's first hundred years can be found in A Goodly Heritage: A History of Monkton Combe School 1868-1967 by A. F. Lace, published in Bath by Sir Isaac Pitman & Sons, 1968.^[3]

Sport and other activities

Monkton Combe School maintains a strong sporting tradition. Both the Senior and Junior schools have a wide range of sporting and other extra curricular activities. The main sports played are Rugby, Rowing, Hockey, Tennis and Cricket (and more recently, Football) for boys and Hockey, Netball, Rowing and Tennis for girls. A range of "minor sports" are also available (named in this way as they are generally not played competitively against other schools).

The school has produced six Olympic rowing medallists to date, each of whom represented Great Britain, and three of whom won Gold, and an Olympic Gold Medallist who represented Great Britain at men's hockey. The school's boat club is famous for being one of the most successful small clubs in the UK, and frequently competes against many of the UK's best teams. The school trains in only the Lent and Summer terms in rowing, while the Michaelmas term is dedicated exclusively to the rugby club, although pupils in the upper 6th form may make their own choice to do rowing if they wish.

The school has a strong musical and theatrical tradition with the majority of pupils learning an instrument and taking part in school plays. The school operates a big band, who regularly play at a variety of venues throughout the year. They have also been on tours to Canada and France. Other major activities include the Combined Cadet Force (CCF) and various clubs and societies. There are also annual (optional) visits overseas, such as an adventure course in France, Skiing in Austria and a Rowing training camp in Nantes-France, as well as academic trips such as foreign language exchange trips.

Facilities

The School maintains a range of sporting facilities including outdoor and indoor swimming pools, sports halls with fully equipped gyms, two astroturf pitches, nine grass and three hard tennis courts, a boathouse with access to the River Avon and many acres of grounds. All buildings are made of Bath stone, in the same style as many buildings in and around the city of Bath, in order to keep with the traditional architectural style around Bath.

Several of the buildings are listed, including the main Senior school block known as The Old Farm,^[4] and the part of the Terrace Block known as The Old Vicarage.^[5] In 2008 the Senior School completed a 5 million pound project which involved re-building, extending and re-furbishing its Mathematics and Science departments. In June 2012, a new 3.2 million pound Music centre was opened for use by Dame Felicity Lott.

Boarding

Many of the pupils are either weekly or full-time boarders. The Senior school maintains six boarding houses, two of which are for girls (Nutfield and Clarendon) and four for boys (Grove-Grange, Eddystone, School and Farm). The Preparatory school operates a boys' and a girls' boarding house. There are many strong traditions in each house, as well as many inter-house competitions throughout the year. Students are allowed to visit the City of Bath each weekend. Lessons take place on Saturday mornings with sporting matches against other schools taking place on most Saturday afternoons.

Notable former pupils

• David Howard Adeney, 1911–1994, Protestant Christian missionary in China and East Asia^[6]

• John Bush, 1937-, former Lord Lieutenant of Wiltshire

• John Desmond Clark OBE, 1916–2002, Emeritus Professor of Anthropology, University of Berkeley, USA and pre-eminent African archaeologist

• Bernard Cornwell, 1944-, author of the Sharpe novels

• Ian Cundy, 1945-2009,^[7] Bishop of Peterborough 1996-2009

• Richard Dearlove KCMG OBE, 1945-, Head of the British Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) from 1999 until 2004 and Master of Pembroke College, Cambridge

• Rowley Douglas MBE, 1977-, 2000 Olympic rowing Gold Medallist (cox to Great Britain Eight)

• Major General John Dutton Frost CB, DSO & Bar, MC, DL, 1912–1993, British airborne officer best known for being the leader of the small group of airborne forces at Arnhem bridge during the Battle of Arnhem

• Michael Head, 1900–1976, composer, musician and broadcaster

• George Herbert Jose, 1868–1956, Dean of Adelaide (Australia)

• Sir Timothy Lankester KCB MA, 1942-, former Deputy Secretary of H. M. Treasury and Permanent Secretary, Department for Education, since 2001 President of Corpus Christi College, Oxford)

• Michael Lapage, 1923-, 1948 Olympic rowing Silver Medallist (Great Britain Eight)

• Dr William George Ranald Mundell "Ran" Laurie, 1915–1998, 1948 Olympic rowing Gold Medallist (Great Britain Coxless Pairs)and father of actor, Hugh Laurie.

• Squadron Leader James MacLachlan DSO, DFC and Bar, RAF Second World War fighter ace and amputee.

• Eric Marshall MC, 1879-1963, polar explorer with Ernest Shackleton's Nimrod Expedition 1907-09

• Alfred Mellows, 1922–1997, 1948 Olympic rowing Silver Medallist (Great Britain Eight)

• Adrian Mitchell, 1932–2008, author and Shadow Poet Laureate ^[8]

• Josh Ovens, 1989-, professional rugby union player for Bath Rugby and England Under 20s

• Alex Partridge, 1981-, 2005, 2006, and 2009 Rowing World Champion (Great Britain Coxless Four) 2008 Olympic Silver Medallist (Great Britain Eight) and 2012 Olympic Bronze Medallist (Great Britain Eight)

• Sir Richard Peirse, 1892–1970, Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Air Force and of RAF Bomber Command^[9]

• (Henry) Seyi Rhodes, 1979 -, British television presenter and investigative journalist

• Dr. Wilfred Edward Shewell-Cooper MBE, 1900–1982, British organic gardener and pioneer of no-dig gardening.

• Michael J D Stear KCB CBE QCVSA, DL MA FRAeS, 1938-, former Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Allied Forces Central Europe and former President of the Royal Air Forces Association

• Sir Richard Stilgoe OBE, 1943-, songwriter and lyricist

• Iain Torrance TD, 1949-, President of Princeton Theological Seminary, Queen's Chaplain and former Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland.

• Kevin Walton GC, 1918–2009, awarded the George Cross in 1946

• Steve Williams MBE, 1976-, 2004 and 2008 Olympic rowing Gold Medallist (Great Britain Coxless Four) and four-times World Champion (Coxless and Coxed Fours)

• Maurice Arthur Ponsonby Wood DSC, 1916–2007, Bishop of Norwich who took the first church service on liberated French soil in June 1944

• Alfred Young, 1873–1940, mathematician and inventor of Young tableau for use in theory of groups and quantum mechanics

^[10]

References

External links

• Monkton Combe School website
• Bluefriars Boatclub website
• Senior School Good Schools Guide Report
• Monkton Combe Village Website