Kendrick School

Kendrick School
Established Refounded 1877
Type Grammar school
Academy
Headteacher Ms Christine Kattirtzi
Location London Road
Reading
Berkshire
RG1 5BN
England
DfE URN 136448 Tables
Ofsted Reports Pre-academy reports
Students 690
Gender Girls
Ages 11–18
Houses Cedars, Palmer, Sidmouth
Website www.kendrick.reading.sch.uk
Kendrick School seen from London Road

Kendrick School is a selective girls' grammar school situated in the centre of Reading, Berkshire, UK. In February 2011, Kendrick became an Academy.[1]

History

Students in the science laboratory at Kendrick in 1945

The school is named after John Kendrick, a Reading cloth merchant who died in 1624. John Kendrick left the then substantial charitable bequest of £12,500 to the towns of Reading and Newbury to provide employment and education for the poor. Initially this was used to provide a house of industry, or workhouse, called The Oracle, a name that was revived for the Oracle shopping mall which now occupies the site.[2]

In later years the funds left by Kendrick were mismanaged and subject to legal challenge. In the 1870s this was resolved, and the remaining bequest used to found Kendrick Girls' School, along with the Kendrick Boys' School that was later to merge with Reading School. An oil painting of John Kendrick, rescued from the Oracle workhouse, still hangs in the hall at Kendrick School. The caption reads "John Kendrick, founder of this workhouse".[2]

The school in its current form was founded in 1877 and occupied Watlington House in Watlington Street for the first 50 years of its life. In 1927, the school moved to its current site, situated on the corner of Sidmouth Street and London Road.[3][4] The building is a Grade II listed building.[5] The school was originally known as "Kendrick Girls' School" but is now called "Kendrick School". [See "Long may our Lion roar" by Daphne Barnes-Phillips (2017) written to celebrate 140 years of the school].

The current Headmistress is Ms. Christine Kattirtzi. She replaced Mrs. Marsha Elms at the end of the Spring Term, 2012.

Academic performance

Kendrick School has an outstanding Ofsted rating and has a progress 8 score "well above national average".[6] Pupils are selected on the basis of academic ability via an admissions test at age 11 (although entry is possible in other years too). As a state-funded school, there are no fees; so it is severely over-subscribed with over seven applicants per place.

House System

The Kendrick House system consists of three houses; Cedars, Sidmouth and Palmer House. Each house is assigned a colour, as follows: Cedars - blue, Sidmouth - yellow and Palmer - green. The Head of Palmer is currently Will Stride, the Head of Cedars is Nick Simmonds and the Head of Sidmouth is Michael Wilson. The girls represent their houses in events such as Sports Day, House Scrabble, House Music, House Chess, Junior House Music and House Drama.[7] House Points are awarded throughout the year with the winning house receiving the House Cup. Heads of Houses are elected from girls in the Lower Sixth Form, Year 12, to take over until mid-Year 13. The Heads of Houses are members of the Head Girl Team. The current Head Girl is Gurlina Heer (elected April 2018) replacing the former Head Girl, Lily Firth

Notable former pupils

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Prospectus - Kendrick school". Kendrick School. Retrieved 2017-02-25.
  2. 1 2 "John Kendrick (1573-1624)". Royal Berkshire History. Nash Ford Publishing. Retrieved 2010-09-13.
  3. ↑ "A Brief History of Watlington House". Trustees of Watlington House. Retrieved 2010-09-13.
  4. ↑ Phillips, Daphne (1980). The Story of Reading. Countryside Books. pp. 151, 138. ISBN 0-905392-07-8.
  5. ↑ "Kendrick Girls' School 41, Reading". British Listed Buildings. Retrieved 2011-06-03.
  6. ↑ "Kendrick school". gov.uk. Retrieved 2017-02-25.
  7. ↑ "House System - Kendrick". Kendrick School. Retrieved 2017-02-25.
  8. ↑ "Yasmina, you're hired!". BBC Berkshire. BBC. 8 June 2009. Retrieved 2013-07-26.

Coordinates: 51°27′06″N 0°57′54″W / 51.45167°N 0.96500°W / 51.45167; -0.96500

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