Home > King Edward's School, Birmingham

It is a boys' school, although it occupies the same site as, and is twinned with King Edward's High School for Girls, one of the top schools in the UK. Whilst lessons and sports are taught separately, dramatic arts and music are often shared.

1 School Structure

Unlike most secondary schools, King Edward's does not use the traditional year group names, e.g. Year 11, Year 12, etc.

The table below attempts to clarify the names used for the different classes:

2 The House System

King Edward's has a house system. The 8 Houses are all named after former Chief Masters and compete against one another every year to win the Cock House Trophy.

There are many events that boys take part in and get points for. These points are totaled up at the end of the year, and the House with the most points is declared the Cock House Champion.

Each house has a distinctive set of 'colours' which are awarded to students for merit and commitment in representing the house in house matches. This allows the student to wear the house tie. The Houses are:

• Cary Gilson
• Evans
• Gifford
• Heath
• Jeune
• Levett
• Prince Lee
• Vardy

3 School Songs

There are two school songs:

• The Quatercentenary Song
  • Written by Roger Dunt (1900-63), composed by Willis Grant (1907-81).
  • Sung at Founder's Day, the annual commemoration in October of King Edward's birthday, and also at various other award ceremonies.

• King Edward's School Song
  • Written by Alfred Hayes OE (1857-1936), composed by A. Somervell.
  • A rousing, if somewhat clichéd, song, sung at mainly at the end of term.

4 Sport

King Edward's is surprisingly good at sport, especially considerring it does not give sporting scolarships as some other nearby schools, such as Bromsgrove School, are wont. The annual rugby match against their main rivals Bromsgrove is the longest running annual rugby game in the world and the highlight of the rugby season . In 2002 the school won the english schools U19 water polo competition.

5 Old Edwardians

• Jonathan CoeJonathan Coe born 1961 in Birmingham, is an English novelist and writer. His work usually has an underlying preoccupation with social issues, although this is often expressed humorously in the form of satire. For example, What a Carve Up reworked the plot (novelist)
• David MunrowDavid Munrow ( August 12 1942 May 15 1976) was a musician and early music historian. In 1960 David Munrow went to Peru, teaching English under the British Council Overseas Voluntary Scheme. He returned with Bolivian flutes and other obscure instruments. (early music pioneer)
• Bill OddieWilliam Edgar (Bill) Oddie OBE, MA (Cantab. born July 7, 1941 in Rochdale, United Kingdom) is a comedy writer and performer, author, composer and musician. A birdwatcher since his childhood in Birmingham, Bill Oddie has now established a reputation for hi
• Enoch PowellJohn Enoch Powell ( June 16, 1912 February 8, 1998) was a controversial British politician, the controversy mainly stemming (with some irony) from a speech he made on immigration in 1968. Even before his death, Powell had long been treated as an icon by t
• J. R. R. TolkienHe is wearing a WWI-era British Army uniform in this photograph. John Ronald Reuel Tolkien ( January 3, 1892 September 2, 1973) was the author of The Hobbit and its sequel The Lord of the Rings his most famous work. A former pupil of King Edward's School,
• Kenneth TynanKenneth Peacock Tynan ( April 2, 1927 July 26, 1980), was an influential (and occasionally controversial) British theatre critic. He was born in Birmingham, England to Peter Tynan and Letitia Rose Tynan. As a child, he stammered, but early on was in posse
• Sir John Vane (1982 Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine)
• Maurice Wilkins