Monkton Combe School
| Monkton Combe School | |
|---|---|
| Location | |
 | |
Monkton Combe, Near Bath Great Britain | |
| Information | |
| Type | Independent |
| Motto | "A Foundation For the Future" |
| Established | 1868 |
| Enrollment | 700 (All Three Schools) |
| Website | www.monktoncombeschool.com |
Monkton Combe School is an independent Christian mixed boarding and day school 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.
The Senior School was founded in 1868 by the Vicar of Monkton Combe, Reverend Francis Pocock. The Junior School was established with four pupils by a Mrs Howard (the daughter of the Senior School Principal) in a private house in Church Road, Combe Down in 1888 and moved into its current purpose-built premises in June 1907. The Pre-prep was added in 1929. 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 official history of the school's first century is A Goodly Heritage: A History of Monkton Combe School 1868-1967 by A.F. Lace, published in Bath by Sir Isaac Pitman & Sons, 1968.
The Senior School (current pupil numbers are around 350) 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 provides pre-school care (ages 2-3). The Senior School and Prep School both have a strong boarding tradition; however day pupils comprise some one third of the intake of the Senior School and are in the majority in the Prep School.
The Senior School is currently re-building, extending and re-furbishing its Maths and Science departments; the new building is scheduled to open in January 2008 with work in progress since January 2007.
Current Senior Staff
Senior School Headmaster: Mr Richard Backhouse MA Cantab
Prep School Headmaster: Mr Chris Stafford BA CertEd
Pre-Prep Headmistress: Mrs Kathryn Morrell BEd
Senior School Deputy Head: Mr Tim Dewes MA
Prep School Deputy Head: Mr Martyn Creeth
Head of Nursery: Mrs Elaine Hodges
Distinguished Alumni/ae
- Steve Williams MBE, 2004 Olympic rowing Gold Medallist (Great Britain Coxless Four)
- Alex Partridge, 2005 Rowing World Champion (Great Britain Coxless Four)
- Rowley Douglas MBE, 2000 Olympic rowing Gold Medallist (Great Britain Eight)
- The Very Rev Dr Iain Torrance TD, President of Princeton Theological Seminary, Queen's Chaplain and former Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland.
- Richard Stilgoe, songwriter and lyricist
- Bernard Cornwell, author of the Sharpe novels
- Sir Timothy Lankester KCB MA (former Deputy Secretary of H.M. Treasury and Permanent Secretary, Department for Education, since 2001 President of Corpus Christi College, Oxford)
- Sir Michael Stear KCB CBE, former Deputy Commander-in-Chief Allied Forces Central Europe, Air Chief Marshal and President of the Air Force Association
- Sir Richard Dearlove, former Head of MI6 and Master of Pembroke College, Cambridge
- Stefan Booth, actor
- William George Ranald Mundell "Ran" Laurie, 1948 Olympic Gold Medal oarsman (Great Britain Coxless Pairs) and father of actor, Hugh Laurie. Ran Laurie also stroked Leander Club to a record in the Grand Challenge Cup at Henley Royal Regatta. In 1936 he stroked the Olympic eight which finished fourth in Berlin.
- Right Reverend Ian Cundy, Bishop of Peterborough since 1996
- Professor Michael Keighley MS FRCS (retired Barling Professor and Head of the Department of Surgery, University of Birmingham)
- John Desmond Clark OBE, Emeritus Professor of Anthropology, University of Berkeley, USA and pre-eminent African archaeologist, 1916-2002
- George Herbert Jose, 1868-1956, Dean of Adelaide (Australia)
- J A Wedgwood CBE, 1938-2005, Chairman of Southern Electricity Board from 1977 to 1984
- Michael Head, 1900-1976, composer, musician and broadcaster
- Gilbert E Brooke, 1873-1936, poet, physician, ship's surgeon, Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society
- Professor John Millar Meek CBE, DEng, FREng, FInstP, FIEE, 1913-2005. Institution of Electrical Engineers Past President
- Professor Peter Richards, surgeon, former Pro-Rector (Medicine), Imperial College
- Alfred Young, 1873-1940, outstanding mathematician and inventor of Young tableau for use in theory of groups and quantum mechanics
- Anthony James Broomhall, 1911-1994, pioneering missionary and author
- Lieutenant Tom Mildenhall, 1979-2006, rower, scientist, musician and soldier, killed in action in Iraq
- The Revd Canon R E Adeney OBE, former Rector of Christ Church, Jerusalem and former Honorary Canon of St George's Cathedral in Jerusalem