Tiffin School

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Boys' grammar school in London

title: "Tiffin School" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["educational-institutions-established-in-1880", "grammar-schools-in-the-royal-borough-of-kingston-upon-thames", "boys'-schools-in-london", "1880-establishments-in-england", "academies-in-the-royal-borough-of-kingston-upon-thames", "specialist-arts-colleges-in-england", "specialist-language-colleges-in-england"] description: "Boys' grammar school in London" topic_path: "society/education" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiffin_School" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Boys' grammar school in London ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox school"]

FieldValue
nameTiffin School
imageTiffin logo.png
image_size150px
coordinates
mottoFaire sans dire
(French: 'To do without saying)
established1880
typeGrammar school
Academy
head_labelHeadteacher
headGarth Williams
chairPhil Phillips
foundersJohn and Thomas Tiffin
addressQueen Elizabeth Road
cityKingston upon Thames
countyGreater London
countryEngland
postcodeKT2 6RL
specialistsArts (performing) and language
urn136910
ofstedyes
staffc.95
enrolment1,418
genderBoys (Co-Ed 16–18)
lower_age11
upper_age18
housesChurchill-Gordon

| | colours | Red, Blue | | alumni | Old Tiffinians | | website | | ::

| name = Tiffin School | image = Tiffin logo.png | image_size = 150px | coordinates = | motto = Faire sans dire (French: 'To do without saying) | established = 1880 | closed = | type = Grammar school Academy | religion = | president = | head_label = Headteacher | head = Garth Williams | r_head_label = | r_head = | chair_label = | chair = Phil Phillips | founders = John and Thomas Tiffin | address = Queen Elizabeth Road | city = Kingston upon Thames | county = Greater London | country = England | postcode = KT2 6RL | specialists = Arts (performing) and language | urn = 136910 | ofsted = yes | staff = c.95 | enrolment = 1,418 | gender = Boys (Co-Ed 16–18) | lower_age = 11 | upper_age = 18 | houses = Churchill-Gordon

Darwin-Wilberforce Drake Kingsley-Montgomery Livingstone Raleigh Scott Turing-Nightingale | colours = Red, Blue | alumni = Old Tiffinians | free_label_2 = | free_2 = | free_label_3 = | free_3 = | website = Tiffin School is a boys' grammar school in Kingston upon Thames, England. It has specialist status in both the performing arts and languages. The school moved from voluntary aided status to become an Academy School on 1 July 2011. Founded in 1880, Tiffin School educates 1,400 pupils as of March 2023.

Admissions

Entry into the school is by academic selection, using both an English and a mathematics test. The school admits 180 students each year in year 7. Since at least 2002, students have been able to apply to join Tiffin for Sixth Form (Years 12 and 13); approximately 35-40% of the boys are 'new boys', from other schools. Admission to the sixth form is based on GCSE results. From September 2019, the Sixth Form became co-educational and admits around 80 girls. Tiffin remains an all boys’ school from Years 7 to 11.

History

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/97/Tiffin_School.jpg" caption="Tiffin School Main Building, taken from the Head's Garden."] ::

Plans were drawn up in 1874 for two new schools; Tiffin Boys' School and Tiffin Girls' School, each taking 150 pupils. A single building by the Fairfield housing both schools was opened in January 1880.

In 1929, the boys' school moved to its present site, in Queen Elizabeth Road near the centre of Kingston. It became a grammar school under the Education Act 1944. The school changed from being voluntary-controlled to being grant-maintained in 1992. On 1 July 2011, the school achieved Academy status.

New buildings

In 1937, a new building was opened for the Girls' School for 480 pupils. They had previously been in the same building as the Boys' School.

In 2011, an all-weather AstroTurf pitch was erected on part of the old grass field, funded by Jim Dixon and a National Lottery grant. The cricket nets were refurbished and named the Neil Desai cricket nets to commemorate his death.

Over the course of late 2017 and early 2018, a new building attached to the existing Dempsey Centre was opened.

Present day

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/eb/DempseyCentre.JPG" caption="The Dempsey Centre"] ::

There are between 180 and 190 boys in each year, and about 500 in the Sixth Form. In 2019, the school began admitting girls to the sixth form, with an aim to have at least 100 girls overall between the Lower and Upper Sixth. The Dempsey Centre, named after Dr Tony Dempsey, who retired as head in 2004, was opened in September of that year. It contains ICT suites, a lecture theatre, a library and a new careers office.

In 2004, Sean Heslop took over as head of Tiffin School, due to Dempsey's retirement. Heslop subsequently left the school in 2009 to take a position at Folkestone Academy. He was subsequently arrested and bailed by the police on the charge of abusing a position of trust with a minor. He was acquitted of all charges.

In 2009, Hilda Clarke became the first female head of Tiffin School. She is a former head of Langley Grammar School in Slough and former deputy head of Tiffin Girls' School in Kingston upon Thames. In November 2014, it was announced that Clarke had stepped down and was replaced by the former deputy head and longstanding history teacher Mike Gascoigne. The current head is Garth Williams.

Ofsted report

The Ofsted report in 2002 stated that "the school is very popular; annually, it receives around 1,300 applications for the 140 available places. Very nearly all 16-year-olds continue into the Sixth Form and around 40 more join the Sixth Form each year from other schools. On entry, the pupils’ and Sixth Form students’ attainment is very high compared with the national average." In the 2007 Ofsted Report, Tiffin was rated outstanding (grade 1) in every area.

In the 2013 Ofsted Report, pupils' exam results overall were in the top 40% of similar schools' results, and in the top 20% of all schools.

In the 2022 Ofsted Report, Tiffin was rated 'good' (grade 2) overall.

Academic achievement

According to the Sunday Times Parent Power Guide, the school is ranked 10th in the top hundred State Secondary Schools based on 2011 examination results. The 2011 results for the school are:

  • A-level %A*-B: 90.9

  • GCSE %A*-A: 82.8 In 2022, the school achieved its "best set of grades" for GCSEs and A levels in the last 10 years.

  • A-level %A*-B: 91.46

  • GCSE %9-7: 84.52

Music

The school has a prestigious choir and several musical ensembles, including a swing band and symphony orchestra, of which many pupils are also members of the nearby Thames Youth Orchestra. Every year, the school performs an oratorio either held in the Rose Theatre or the Tiffin Sports Hall, which consists of students, parents, staff and friends and is accompanied by the London Mozart Players or the Brandenburg Symphony Orchestra or the Sinfonia Britannica.

Tiffin Boys' Choir

The Tiffin Boys' Choir (directed by James Day), which celebrated its 60th anniversary in 2017, performs at venues including the Royal Opera House, the Royal Festival Hall, and the Barbican with London orchestras, and it regularly goes on tour. The choir has recorded CDs such as Rejoice in the Lamb and Christmas at Tiffin. It has also appeared on recordings of Mahler with Klaus Tennstedt, Puccini's Tosca with Antonio Pappano and Britten's War Requiem with Kurt Masur. The choir was featured on the last episode of TFI Friday, on the soundtrack of A Christmas Carol starring Kate Winslet, and on the subsequently released top-ten Kate Winslet single "What If".

Sports

Tiffin School is active in all the main sports. It has facilities for rugby, athletics, football and cricket at a 29-acre (119,000 m²) site in East Molesey near Hampton Court, known as Grist's (named after a former headmaster). Tiffin School Boat Club is based at Canbury Boathouse, which is shared with Kingston Rowing Club along the Thames at Canbury Gardens. The school has a sports hall and all-weather AstroTurf pitch which are used by external sports clubs after and before school hours. Tiffin School provides ball boys for the Wimbledon Championships.

Notable alumni

Former pupils are known as Old Tiffinians. The Tiffinian Association arranges reunion events such as dinners and sports fixtures.

;Arts and entertainment

;Education and politics

;Sport

;Other

Notable former staff

References

References

  1. [http://www.tiffinschool.co.uk/_docs/admissions/Allocation%20of%20places.pdf] {{Dead link. (April 2019)
  2. Baxendale, W. (2002-10-04). "Tiffin School, Ofsted Inspection Report 249564".
  3. "Sixth Form Determined Admissions Policy".
  4. "Tiffin School".
  5. (28 October 1937). "£42,000 School Opened at Kingston".
  6. (October 2011). "Tiffinian Association Bulletin".
  7. "TiffinFriends - Tiffin School's 21C New Building".
  8. "Sixth Form Admissions {{!}} Tiffin School".
  9. "Tiffin School | Welcome".
  10. "Serota Library Furniture".
  11. "Former Tiffin headteacher released without charge over relationship with ex-pupil".
  12. {{ofsted. 102605. Tiffin School, [[Office for Standards in Education]]
  13. "School Data Dashboard". Ofsted.
  14. ''Sunday Times'' Parent Power Guide (2011)
  15. "Examinations {{!}} Tiffin School".
  16. "Tiffin School Performing Arts College".
  17. "Tiffin Oratorio".
  18. "Tiffin Boys Choir".
  19. "Tiffin School Sport".
  20. "Tiffin School Prospectus".
  21. "Tiffin School Boat Club".
  22. "Tiffin School".
  23. [https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituary-john-bratby-1534856.html "Obituary: John Bratby"], [[The Independent]], 23 July 1992
  24. "Tiffinian Association Limited - Honours, Successes, Appointments and other News".
  25. "Pages from The Tiffinian 2012-2013".
  26. (September 2007). "People". Tiffnews: The Newsletter of the Old Tiffinians Association.
  27. [http://www.tiffin.kingston.sch.uk/ota/tiffnews/March2006.pdf "Newsletter of the Old Tiffinians' Association No. 227"] {{Webarchive. link. (18 July 2011 , March 2006)
  28. [https://web.archive.org/web/20080204081339/http://movies.nytimes.com/person/200487/Jonny-Lee-Miller/biography "Jonny Lee Miller"], [[The New York Times]]; accessed 28 June 2008.
  29. "Ralph Allwood - Personal Website".
  30. "Ralph Allwood (Conductor) - Short Biography".
  31. [http://info.uwe.ac.uk/news/UWEnews/article.asp?item=1159&year=2007 "UWEawards honorary degree to Tom Bloxham MBE"], [[University of the West of England]], 22 November 2007.
  32. [https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituary-james-boyden-1509143.html "Obituary: James Boyden"], Walter Bunn, [[The Independent]], 7 October 1993.
  33. [http://www.tiffin.kingston.sch.uk/ota/tiffnews/December2005.pdf "TIFFNEWS No. 226"] {{Webarchive. link. (10 April 2006 , 22 December 2005.)
  34. [http://www.leicesterconservatives.com/index.php?sectionid=2&pagenumber=22 Chris Heaton-Harris profile], leicesterconservatives.com; accessed 1 June 2008.
  35. [http://www.bayesian.org/awards/LindleyPrize.html "The Lindley Prize - Dennis V. Lindley"] {{Webarchive. link. (19 February 2001 , [[International Society for Bayesian Analysis]]; accessed 28 June 2008.)
  36. [https://tiffinfriends.org/news/alumni-news/16/16-Ben-Obese-Jecty-Selected-as-Prospective-Parliamentary-Candidate-for-Huntingdon "Ben Obese-Jecty Selected as Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for Huntingdon"]
  37. Horne, Ben. (January 2007). "Players and Officials - Arun Harinath". [[Cricinfo]].
  38. [https://www.questia.com/read/1G1-75331919 "Lion Rob glad to ring the changes"], Chris Jones, ''[[Evening Standard]]'', 27 February 2001
  39. [http://www.tiffinfriends.org/design/pdfs/Pages%20from%20The%20Tiffinian%202012-2013%20Low%20Res-37-72.pdf "Football Note"], Tiffinfriends.org; accessed 30 September 2014.
  40. [http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-6011601.html] {{dead link. (February 2019)
  41. [http://www.tiffinschool.co.uk/ota/tiffnews/March2008.pdf "Newsletter of the Old Tiffinians’ Association No. 235"] {{Webarchive. link. (4 October 2011 , March 2008)
  42. "Obituary in Flightglobal 1942".
  43. https://www.standard.co.uk/business/business-news/funding-circle-records-strong-year-as-peertopeer-lending-booms-9776769.html , [[London Evening Standard. Evening Standard]], Oscar Williams-Grut, 6 October 2014
  44. (2022). "Frank Stuart Dobson - June 11th 1934 to December 19th 2021. A personal tribute". British Lichen Society Bulletin.
  45. (11 March 2015). "Commander Peter "Roddy" Elias - obituary". Daily Telegraph.
  46. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2024/09/11/david-knowles-telegraph-ukraine-podcaster-died-obituary/
  47. (16 January 2017). "Facing the music: Roderick Williams". The Guardian.

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educational-institutions-established-in-1880grammar-schools-in-the-royal-borough-of-kingston-upon-thamesboys'-schools-in-london1880-establishments-in-englandacademies-in-the-royal-borough-of-kingston-upon-thamesspecialist-arts-colleges-in-englandspecialist-language-colleges-in-england