Established 1891 Head Master Irfan H Latif JP Phone +44 1749 813393 Capacity 602 | DfE URN 137313 Tables Founded 1891 Number of students 551 | |
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Location Cole RoadBrutonSomersetBA10 0DFEngland Similar Bruton School for Girls, The Gryphon School, Hugh Sexey Church of, King's Bruton, Millfield Prep School Profiles | ||
Sexey's School is a state boarding school in Bruton, Somerset, England that also takes some day pupils from the surrounding area. Sexey's School is named after Hugh Sexey who, in 1599, was appointed as a Royal auditor to Elizabeth I and later as a Royal auditor to James I. Sexey's Hospital was established in 1619 from the proceeds of his will, and the school was founded in 1889. State boarding schools are most unusual in England and Wales. The school became an academy in August 2011. As of 2013 it has 551 pupils including 238 in the sixth form.
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History
Sexey's School dates back to a trade school which opened on 6 April 1891 with 15 boys. The first Head Master was William Albert Knight. The Head Master and the boys moved into temporary premises in a house known as 'The Glen' on Quaperlake Street in Bruton. At the end of its first year there were 40 boys at the school learning basic subjects including practical mechanics, land measuring and elementary science. The school was moved to its current site in 1892 in new buildings designed by Norwich-based architect George Skipper. The new buildings were formally opened on 19 April 1892.
Sexey's was a grammar school until the Education Act 1944, after which it became a Voluntary Controlled school. In 1991 it adopted Grant Maintained status and in September 1999 it became a Voluntary Aided school.
It remained an all-boys school until 1977 when it became fully co-educational. Boarding facilities were expanded in the 1980s with the building of two new boarding houses — Lisbury House and Coombe House — making Sexey's one of the largest schools of its type in the country. The school has continued expansion with the introduction of a policy in 2003 to take day pupils from a local catchment area of 1.5 miles. Prior to this the last day pupil was admitted in 1983. In 2001 the school had 394 pupils. In 2007 there were 512 pupils.
On 24 November 2013 the incumbent Secretary of State for Education, the Rt. Hon Michael Gove MP, described Sexey's as "One of the most outstanding schools in the country," during an interview on the Andrew Marr Show on BBC1.
Sexey's has complex funding arrangements being a school that has both state (government funded) and independent (charity funded) income.
Boarding
In 2007 the school had around 300 boarders. Around two thirds of the school, and one third of sixth form are boarders. There are four boarding houses:
Head Masters
School song
The school song is a devotional chorus which is mentioned in the first school magazine in 1897.
Hear mighty Lord,
Thy Sexeian's humble cry:
Hear, mighty Lord.
Inspire with motives high
For work and School.
For students here and past
Grant thankfulness,
And endless rest at last.
2002 calendar
In 2001, a group of pupils produced a glossy calendar as part of a Young Enterprise business project, sold for charity, called "Sexey's Hot Twelve", that featured 12 pictures of boys and girls in seductive poses. Child protection groups criticised the calendar for its potential attraction to adults who prey on vulnerable young people. The school reported that they had received no complaints, and that most of the 500 copies were bought immediately after going on sale.