King’s High School in Warwick is 140 years old

King’s High School in Warwick has marked its official 140th anniversary week by holding a Victorian Day at its Smith Street site.
Pupils and staff  hold a Victorian Day to celebrate 140 years of Kings HighPupils and staff  hold a Victorian Day to celebrate 140 years of Kings High
Pupils and staff hold a Victorian Day to celebrate 140 years of Kings High

Pupils and staff had a day of lessons, drills and deportment, such as girls might have experienced in 1879.

Other activities included cross-stitching and rag curling.

In Assembly, the girls and staff time-travelled back to Victorian times.

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They prayed for Queen Victoria, Prime Minister Disraeli, and British troops fighting in Afghanistan, and learned about the Queen’s interest in the latest technology – the telephone – and London’s new invention, the mobile home.

Head of History, Camilla Wellman, re-enacted the role of King’s High’s first Head Mistress, Miss Fisher who, aged 22, opened the school for 22 girls.

The school has remained at the forefront of girls’ education ever since, being named the Sunday Times West Midlands Independent Secondary School, 2019.

The school is celebrating its 140th year with a series of events this summer, culminating in the Birthday Weekend on July 6 and 7, to mark the school’s move – after 140 years on Smith Street – to the new King’s High school building on the Myton Road Campus.

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The forthcoming anniversary celebrations include the Warwick Prep Art Exhibition in Old Shire Hall on July 6, and a Come and Sing Gala Concert at St Mary’s church in Warwick on July 7, before a ‘Farewell to Smith Street’ event, when the whole school processes down to the new building.

The project for the new school started in 2017 and will be fully completed by 2020.

It includes new buildings joining King’s High with Warwick Preparatory School and Warwick School on one campus.