Bishop Wordsworth's School


Bishop Wordsworth's School is a Church of England boys' grammar school in Salisbury, Wiltshire for boys aged 11 to 18. The school is regularly amongst the top-performing schools in England, and in 2010 was the school with the best results in the English Baccalaureate. It was granted academy status in March 2011 and is an Additional Member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference. It is within the grounds of Salisbury Cathedral, adjacent to the Cathedral School.
Sixth form teaching is in collaboration with South Wilts Grammar School for Girls; from September 2020, the school will admit girls to its sixth form.
The school's full name is Bishop Wordsworth's Church of England Grammar School for Boys, shortened to BWS, known colloquially as Bishop's, and its students as Bishop's Boys. The school's motto is Veritas in Caritate, translated as "Truth Through Caring" or "Truth Through Charity", and originates from the epitaph of Bishop Wordsworth's father.

History

The school was founded in June 1889, when the Bishop of Salisbury, John Wordsworth, announced to his friend Canon Woodall, "I should like to see Salisbury a great educational centre. I should like to found a school which shall be equal to the greatest and best of our public schools." His initial desire that working class boys were not to be admitted caused much controversy. Fees were initially set at £1.10s.0d, and boarding fees were £2 per term; however, the fees were raised to £9 in 1894 to meet the unexpected costs of the school. During the first year, classes were taught in the bishop's palace of Salisbury itself. Bishop Wordsworth personally donated £3000, which was used to purchase an area of land in the cathedral close and to build the school's first buildings. After Bishop Wordsworth's death, the school was renamed Bishop Wordsworth's School, having been previously known as "The Bishop's School".
In 1905, the school became a grammar school, its buildings consisting of the current Chapel Block and Bishopgate. Between 1905 and 1927 the School also used buildings in the Friary and also on New Street in Salisbury. Until 1928 the school admitted both boys and girls, but from 1927, with the founding of a girls' grammar school in the city called South Wilts Grammar School, the school admitted boys only.
In 1931 a hall, science laboratories and a library were built. By the 1930s, the school had achieved a reputation for pioneering educational work, and in 1936 became a public school. In 1948 the governors accepted voluntary controlled status, which meant being funded by Wiltshire County Council as local education authority and accepting its supervision. Boarding at the school in the Bishopgate buildings ended in the 1950s, and the buildings were used for teaching thereafter. During the Second World War, pupils from the Priory School in Portsmouth moved to BWS to avoid the bombing of the city.
The school now educates boys aged 11 to 18. Sixth form classes are shared with students from South Wilts Grammar School as part of a large-scale collaboration.
In 2002, a major redevelopment of the school's site and buildings commenced. A new classroom block and drama studio were followed by an extensive sports hall and physical education facilities, and a sixth form block was finished in July 2010. The old sports hall was converted to house the art department, and the design technology block has been expanded. In 2011 a new cookery room was completed.
In 2004 the school was awarded its first specialism in Languages. In 2008 the school achieved an additional specialism in Science. As part of its specialist work the school has supported all of the city primary schools in Salisbury in Languages, and many with Science too.
The school converted to academy status in 2011. It has five houses, named after Bishops of Salisbury: Poore, Osmund, Jewell, Martival and Ward.

Entrance

Entry to the school is regulated by the 11-plus. Applicants sit the test in Year 6, at the age of 10 or 11. The exams are held in September at the school itself. There are also limited twelve plus and thirteen plus admissions, similarly by examination. Sixth Form admission is administered by the head of Sixth Form, and is granted on the basis of GCSE results, a personal statement and recommendation from the candidate's former head of school. Current pupils must achieve more than six A*–Bs in their GCSEs to continue their studies in Sixth Form, as well as a relatively high grade in the options they propose to take.

Notable staff

Sir William Golding, winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature, was a schoolmaster teaching Philosophy and English in 1939, then English and Religious Education from 1945 to 1962. Lord of the Flies was Golding's first book, written in 1954, and it is widely believed that its main characters were based on Golding's students.
Golding also regularly sang with Bishop Wordsworth's School choir. He was known affectionately as "Scruff" by the pupils due to his sometimes unkempt hair and beard and his carefree dress sense. After Golding's death in 1993, the school choir sang at his memorial service in Salisbury Cathedral. In March 2005 a plaque was placed at the school to commemorate Golding's time as a teacher.
Headmaster Happold was also noted for the foundation of the "Company of Honour and Service". Father Kenelm Foster O.P. wrote:
" a sort of modernist Grail or Solidarity which Dr Happold founded in 1935 at Bishop Wordsworth's School, Salisbury. This is his nucleus, his 'order', his new aristocracy, which is to permeate England: a little cohort of leaders, of seers, of doers.".

Alan Harwood was a notable organ scholar and taught music at Bishop Wordsworth's School. After Harwood's death in 2003, composer Sam Hanson MA ARCO, dedicated a requiem to him.
Former headmaster Clive Barnett HMI is patron of the charity EdUKaid, a role he shares with Baroness Kinnock.

Headmasters

1890–1928 Mr. Reuben Bracher
1928–1960 Dr. Frederick Crossfield Happold D.S.O.
1960–1964 Mr. Ernest Ethrin Sabben-Clare
1964–1974 Mr. Robert Cabot Rowsell Blackledge
1974–1992 Mr. Glyn Evans
1992–2002 Mr. Clive Barnett
2002– Dr. Stuart Smallwood

Notable alumni

The "Old Wordsworthian" AGM and lunch is traditionally held after the Cathedral service and Founder's Day celebrations in July.
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