Magdalen College School
Address
Cowley Place

Oxford
,
Oxfordshire
,
OX4 1DZ

England
Coordinates51°44′57″N 1°14′39″W / 51.74903°N 1.24429°W / 51.74903; -1.24429
Information
Other nameMCS
TypePrivate day school
MottoLatin: Sicut Lilium
(Like the Lily)
Religious affiliation(s)Church of England
Established1480 (1480)
FounderWilliam Waynflete
Local authorityOxfordshire County Council
Department for Education URN123311 Tables
MasterHelen Pike[1]
Gender
Age range7–18
Enrolment897 (2018)[2]
Capacity930[2]
Houses
  • Callender
  • Chavasse
  • Leicester
  • Maltby
  • Walker-Dunn
  • Wilkinson-Blagden
Colour(s)Black and red   
Publication
  • The Lily
  • The Melting Pot
  • 155
  • The Magdalen Blazer
  • Views From The Bridge (Junior School)
AlumniOld Waynfletes
Websitewww.mcsoxford.org
"Magdalen College School, registered charity no. 295785". Charity Commission for England and Wales.

Magdalen College School (MCS) is a private day school in the English public school tradition located in Oxford, England, for boys aged seven to eighteen and for girls in the sixth form ie sixteen to eighteen. It was founded by William Waynflete about 1480 as part of Magdalen College, Oxford.

The school is run by a headmaster, known since the foundation of the school simply as "the Master" and controlled by a Board of Governors, who appoint the Master. It has both a senior school and a junior school. The Senior School has six houses, names after old attendees of the school who died in the first or second world wars. Each house is headed by a housemaster selected from the senior members of the teaching staff, of whom there are about 160. There are also six houses in the Junior School.

The school was named Independent School of the Year by The Sunday Times in 2004,[3] and 2008,[4] being the first boys' school to attain this accolade twice.

History

Early history

The School was founded by William Waynflete as a department of Magdalen College, to teach the sixteen boy choristers of the college, who sang in the college's chapel, as well as other local children of high academic achievement. The first certain evidence of the school's existence dates to 1480, although the beginnings of the school are probably at least as early as 1478.[5] Since then, it has grown in size from about thirty boys to over 850 children.

Over its history, the school occupied various parts of the present-day Magdalen College, firstly the low hall south of the Chapel of the Hospital of St. John the Baptist, which before the establishment of Magdalen College by William Waynflete had occupied the present site. This building, replaced by the 15th-century college buildings, stood roughly between the present-day porters' lodge and the Great Tower.

Grant-aided status

Choristers' tunnel under Magdalen Bridge, running from Magdalen College School to the Waynflete Building of Magdalen College.

After the First World War,[6] the school opted into the arrangements of the Education (Administrative Provisions) Act 1907, and as a grant-aided secondary school had to guarantee a quarter of its places as free scholarships for boys from public elementary schools. Of this decision, Stanier, a former Master and the author of the school history, writes:[7]

To allow the School to develop into another rich man's Public School would have been to betray a heritage and a tradition. Magdalen School had never been a school of rich men's sons, and genuine democracy had flourished in it, not only through the conscious efforts of such Masters as Millard, Ogle, and Sherwood, but also through the peculiar nature of Oxford.

The origins of the present-day school site begin in the late 19th century, when the school was occupying part of the college grounds alongside Longwall Street. It was slowly relocated by a few hundred feet, over Magdalen Bridge, onto the present site on Cowley Place began under the tenure of W. E. Sherwood in 1891 when, after an outbreak of scarlet fever in the old boarding house on the corner of Longwall Street and the High Street (ascribed partly to the dilapidated state of the building and in particular to the drainage) plans for a new school house were laid out. The new building on the Plain, which forms the modern-day School House, was first used in September 1894 when boarders at the school moved into it.

At that time, teaching still took place on the Longwall Street site. Boarders thus had a short daily walk over Magdalen Bridge to the college. The choristers still today make this short daily journey, but using a tunnel under Magdalen Bridge to avoid crossing the busy road.

The school continued to grow during the early 20th century, and by 1925, there were about 170 students.

Migration to Cowley Place

In 1928, increased pressure on the Magdalen College buildings on Longwall Street caused the migration of the entire school over Magdalen Bridge. Plans were made for new buildings designed by Giles Gilbert Scott, but this period was marked by uncertainty for the school, as in 1926 the College statute referring to the School had been altered. "Where before it had ordained that the College should always maintain the School, it now ran, 'So long as the grammar school of the College in Oxford is maintained....".[8] As a result, temporary classrooms were built along Cowley Place, most of which are still standing today.

The buildings that the school had used on Longwall Street underwent a change of use or were redeveloped, and now form part of the College buildings: the School's original 'Big School' became the present-day "New Library" of the college, and the former school playground turned into the college's Longwall Quad.

A new school chapel was added to the 1928 buildings at the Milham Ford end, paid for by Old Boys, and was furnished with stained glass from the original chapel on Longwall Street, portraits of former Masters, Ushers, and Old Waynfletes (men educated at the school), and with an old organ built by Binns of Bramley, near Leeds.[9] Choir stalls later donated by the Old Waynfletes and carved by Stanley Fisher completed the building, until it was eventually transformed into a Library when the present-day Big School building was opened in 1966. The stalls from the chapel of 1929 are now in the 'altar' section of the new Big School.

Second World War and "Bricks for wood"

By 1938, the school's buildings had become too small. They had always been of a timber construction, never designed for longevity. This was the topic of the 1938 Commemoration speech given by Dr John Johnson, in which a "Bricks for wood" appeal was made to nineteen other donors, to be matched by Dr Johnson in raising a total of £20,000 to rejuvenate the fabric of the school. Whilst £8,000 was promised by the end of the year, the outbreak of the Second World War curtailed any further fundraising or large-scale building for its duration.

Under the mastership of Kennard Davis, the period of the war was marked by an increase in the school's numbers, caused in part by the relative safety of the city of Oxford, while the Officers' Training Corps, precursor to the present-day Combined Cadet Force, "played its part in the defence of Oxford against possible enemy parachutists and fifth-columnists, guarding the river banks at night with fixed bayonets!".[10] By 1949, the school had about 400 pupils. At the end of the war, the Education Act 1944 saw the school opt to become a direct grant grammar school, continuing its long-standing tradition of open education.

After the War, the school took over buildings on the site of the present-day Hard Courts and Music Department, built for civil defence, including several air raid shelters and huts, as well as buildings formerly belonging to the defunct Milham Ford School; these formed part of an expanded school which by now had several hundred pupils. A building campaign in the 1950s represented the first wave of a gradual expansion and enlargement of the school, commencing in 1951 with a five-building concrete block, and more significantly, between 1955 and 1957, the construction of the three-storey teaching block which is near the modern Colin Sanders building.

In the late 1950s, the school faced another threat: a new road was proposed, to ease traffic flow, which would have straddled both the school fields and the site of the boarding house. This plan was never set into motion, and in 1957 the school built new laboratories, on the Plain roundabout end of the site, now housing both science and Design & Technology facilities. In 1959, a movement began towards constructing the present-day Big School building, which was designed by Booth, Ledeboer, and Pinckheard and eventually opened in 1966.[11] The new building was hexagonal, with a stage and orchestra pit at one end and an altar (given by Magdalen College) in a chapel area at the other, as well as an acoustic-panelled ceiling and a cluster of lighting.

With the opening of the new Big School, the old Big School became the school's gymnasium. With the stage removed, the floor replaced, a wall removed to connect the hall with the adjoining classroom, and with the addition of wallbars and gym apparatus, this 'temporary' building began a new phase in its long history.

Independence

By the late 1960s, the school's status as a direct grant scheme member came under threat as sweeping changes were made to the then Tripartite System. By 1976, the school was no longer a direct grant school, the Governors having opted to become fully independent.

With the demolition of the 1929 library, the ground floor open areas of the Colin Sanders building now house the Basil Blackwell library.

On 20 March 2007, David Brunton, head of media studies and English teacher at the school, was found dead at the base of St Mary the Virgin Church tower in Radcliffe Square,[12] Oxford. His death was recorded as accidental. A bursary was set up by pupils, parents and staff in his memory.

In 2010, the school admitted girls in the sixth form for the first time, and continues to offer coeducation in the final two years (Years 12 and 13).

Pupils' houses

House names

There are six houses at Magdalen, named after former prefects who died in the two World Wars.[6][13] Each house is associated with a colour. They are:

House Named after: Colour Died in Notes
Callender John Clement Callender Green WW1
Chavasse Captain Noel Godfrey Chavasse, VC and Bar, MC Dark blue WW1 Captain Chavasse is one of only three men ever to be awarded VC & Bar.
Leicester Donovan Nicholas Leicester Purple WW1
Maltby Charles Robert Crighton Maltby Light blue WW1
Walker-Dunn Geoffrey Walker and Bruce Dunn Red WW2
Wilkinson-Blagden Frank D. Wilkinson MC and Maurice Bernard Blagden Golden yellow WW1

Sport

View across the River Cherwell towards Magdalen College School's playing field

School Field, an island in the River Cherwell originally leased from Christ Church in 1893,[14] and connected by 'willow-pattern' bridges to the School House rose gardens, provides space for field sports such as cricket, rugby and football, as well as lawn tennis. The field was levelled for sports in 1907, and the present pavilion was originally constructed in 1913.

Kingball

Kingball is a game played at Magdalen.[15][16] The tradition, unique to the school, may have derived from Fives, for which a court was in use at the school at least as early as 1871,[5] but the rules are more similar to the modern games of four square and Dirty Nine Square. Although to some extent the rules are passed down from year to year, every new year that takes up the game usually adopts its own rules as well. The game has been actively played during breaktimes among pupils using four courts, painted by the school. The game is still played every day at the school.[17]

Music

The current Director of Music is Jon Cullen, and the Assistant Director of Music is Sabrina Shortland. The school boasts two organs (one electric action in 'Big School', one digital in the Music School) and a building for music (performance spaces include the School Hall (called 'Big School'), the Music School and the new dining hall). Many instruments are taught, and many ensembles catering to a wide variety of tastes and styles operate on a weekly basis. The school participates in many national competitions; many pupils are part of the National Youth Orchestra and National Youth Choirs of Great Britain, and the school gives scholarships for dedicated and talented musicians.

The school also serves as the school for the Choristers of Magdalen College, Oxford.[18]

Other schools of that name

Wayneflete's original foundation also included a Magdalen College School at Wainfleet, Lincolnshire, which closed in 1933.[19]

There is still a Magdalen College School at Brackley, Northamptonshire.

Notable Masters

  • Cardinal Wolsey – Henry VIII's closest adviser
  • John Sherry – Master, 1534-1540 (succeeded by ----- Goodall)
  • Charles Edward Brownrigg – Master, 1900–1930; previously Usher 1888–1900, Chairman and Host to HMC in 1907.[6]
  • Timothy Hands - Master, 2008–2016

Notable staff

  • Colin Hannaford – former mathematics teacher, author and educational reformist

Notable alumni

Former pupils are called Old Waynfletes (OWs) after the founder.

Roughly in chronological order:

Bibliography

Several books have been written about the school, including:

  • 2019: Bebbington, David. Goodbye Shirley: The Wartime Letters of an Oxford Schoolboy 1939-1947. [Grosvenor House Publishing]. ISBN 978-1-78623-493-3
  • 2016: Brockliss, Lawrence. Magdalen College School. [Shire Publications].
  • 2014: Bebbington, David. Mister Brownrigg's Boys: Magdalen College School and The Great War. London: [Pen and Sword Books]. ISBN 978-1-78346-299-5.
  • 1988: Orme, Nicholas Education in Early Tudor England: Magdalen College Oxford and its School, 1480–1540 [Magdalen College].
  • 1980: Clarke, D. L. L. Magdalen School: Five Hundred Years on [Blackwell].
  • 1977: Hey, Colin Magdalen Schooldays 1917–1924 [Senecio].
  • 1940: Stanier, R. S. Magdalen School [first edition, Clarendon Press, 1940; second edition Blackwell, 1958].

Two novels are acknowledged to be set in the school:

  • The novel North by long-serving former Head of English Brian Martin (Macmillan New Writing, 2006) is widely acknowledged to be set in the school, although it is not mentioned by name. Many of the school's teaching staff who served in the early-to-mid-2000s are only thinly disguised when they crop up as central characters in the novel, although despite rumours to the contrary the titular pupil "North" appears to be a fictional compound of several old boys (part of plot concerns his love affair with a teacher).[20]
  • Another novel which is clearly based on a fictional version of the school is The Singing Time by Maida Stanier, wife of a former Master (Michael Joseph, 1975).

References

  1. ↑ "Master's Welcome". Magdalen College School. Retrieved 17 January 2019.
  2. 1 2 "Magdalen College School". Get information about schools. GOV.UK. Retrieved 17 January 2019.
  3. ↑ O'Reilly, Judith. "Independent Secondary School of the Year 2004". The Sunday Times. UK. Retrieved 7 June 2009.
  4. ↑ O'Reilly, Judith. "Independent Secondary School of the Year". The Sunday Times. UK. Retrieved 7 June 2009.
  5. 1 2 Stanier (1958), p. 13
  6. 1 2 3 4 Bebbington, David. (2014). Mister Brownrigg's Boys Archived 1 November 2014 at the Wayback Machine: Magdalen College School and The Great War (London: Pen and Sword Books)
  7. ↑ Stanier (1958), p. 188
  8. ↑ Stanier (1958), pp. 189-190
  9. ↑ Clarke, p. 11
  10. ↑ Stanier (1958), p. 200
  11. ↑ Darwall-Smith, Robin (2001). The Architectural Drawings of Magdalen College, Oxford: A Catalogue. Magdalen College, Oxford. ISBN 9780199248667. Retrieved 23 December 2018.
  12. ↑ "Tower fall inquest opens". Oxford Mail. 23 March 2007.
  13. ↑ Bates, Nigel. "A history of the Houses of MCS". Retrieved 7 June 2009.
  14. ↑ Stanier 1958, p182
  15. ↑ O'Reilly, Judith. "Independent Secondary School of the Year 2004". The Sunday Times. UK. Retrieved 7 June 2009.
  16. ↑ "Tatler Schools Guide: Magdalen College School". Retrieved 28 May 2009.
  17. ↑ "Magdalen College School Extracurricular Activities Booklet 2008–09". Retrieved 28 May 2009.
  18. ↑ "Junior School: Choristers". Retrieved 8 June 2008.
  19. ↑ "The Magdalen College School, Wainfleet, Lincolnshire, UK". BBC h2g2. 28 January 2000. Retrieved 6 August 2009.
  20. ↑ "Write naughty antics in class". Oxford Mail. 28 March 2006. Retrieved 2 December 2019.
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