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The English School, Nicosia is a selective co-educational school in Cyprus. It is considered to be one of the most prestigious secondary schools in the Middle East and Europe, with rigorous selection process for admittance.
History
The school was founded in 1900 by Canon Frank Darvall Newham and since its inception the school has offered a British-style secondary level education to children from all the communities of Cyprus. Originally it only accepted the children of the British rulers of the island and was located within the medieval walls of Nicosia. It moved to its current premises in 1939. The school is regarded as one of the most prestigious in the entire geographic area, with rigorous entrance criteria.
The school started off as a private venture but control was transferred to the British Governor in 1930. Following independence from British occupation in 1960, control passed to the Cypriot Government. In 2007, the school's status and eligibility for state grants was challenged at the Supreme Court.[1][2]
Some of the School's worst moments came to pass during the time when Thomas Thomas was Headmaster. Scandals rocked the school and the Headmaster was sacked, with accusations over favoritism and his erratic behavior.[3]
From September 2003 onwards, the school returned to its bi-communal status by enrolling Turkish Cypriots.[4] It is a highly selective academic co-educational secondary school and most of its leavers attend universities in Great Britain.[5][6]
It follows British educational models in its emphasis on the all-round education of the whole pupil and offers an exceptional range of extra-curricular activities, including sports, music and drama.[citation needed]
Based on the model of the best British independent secondary schools,[citation needed] for the first three years all students follow a broad curriculum designed to lay foundations for public examinations and give them a taste of all the subjects on offer.
At the end of the 3rd year, students begin to specialise by choosing their programme of GCSE subjects. The compulsory core subjects are English Language and Literature, Mathematics and Modern Greek and students choose a number of optional subjects. In the 6th year, all pupils must take five AS Level courses including Modern Greek, Ancient Greek or Classical Civilisation, and in the 7th year, pupils choose to continue with 4 subjects at A Level.
The school has the following 16 departments:
Arts, Biology, Chemistry, Design & Technology, Economics, English, French, Geography, Greek, History, ICT, Maths, Music, Physical Education, Physics and Turkish.[7]
A Religious Instruction department also exists, but classes are optional as they are available only to Greek-Orthodox, Armenian-Orthodox and Maronite-Catholic students. This is so as there are also Muslim, Protestant and Roman Catholic students who are not required to take these classes.
Staff are all qualified graduates of British or other English Language universities, or, in the case of the Greek Department, of Greek universities. The school is heavily oversubscribed and entry is by competitive examinations.[8]
The school hosted the World Individual Debating and Public Speaking Championships in 1995, 2000 and 2005.[9][10][11]
There has been attacks on Turkish Cypriot students at The English School. US Department of State said that:
"In April 2007 court proceedings began for 13 suspects charged with attacking Turkish Cypriot students. On November 22, 2006, 15 to 20 Greek Cypriot teenagers, believed to be members of an ultranationalist group, National Voice of Youth with a Greek Soul, entered the English School in Nicosia and attacked a group of Turkish Cypriot students, causing minor injuries."[12]
5B4ES is an amateur radio club in Nicosia. It has been operated by the students of the English School since 1969. In recent years the club couldn't operate as it had no member with a license, but in 2008 a member of the club acquired his license and the club resumed operations.
Grounds
The school is situated in a semi-wooded parkland near the centre of the capital Nicosia and is one of the largest schools in Cyprus. Recent updating of the school's academic facilities came with the completion of the Science building, a modern science wing.[13]
The school's extensive sport grounds include 2 full size football fields, running and athletics tracks, 3 tennis courts, a (lawn) hockey field, 2 basketball and 2 volleyball courts. The school has a large multi-purpose indoor sports arena completed in 1992.
Notable alumni
Dimitris Lipertis, poet and writer, former teacher.
Rauf Denktash, Turkish Cypriot politician, founder of the TRNC
Uri Geller, Israeli paranormolist
Michalis Karaolis, EOKA fighter
Stephanie Solomonides, first Cypriot to ski to the South Pole[14][15]
In 2010, a book by Yıltan Taşçı was published in Turkish to list the notable alumni of the school.[16]
Amongst others, numerous famous doctors, financiers and politicians around the world are known to have attended the English School in Cyprus.
External links
English School homepage
ESOBGA (English School Old Boys and Girls Association)
References
^ Hazou, Elias (2007-07-21). "Promotion row throws English School status into question". Cyprus Mail. Retrieved 2008-03-28.[dead link]
^ "Question time for the English School". Cyprus Mail. 2002-07-18. Retrieved 2008-03-28.[dead link]
^ http://www.hri.org/news/cyprus/cmnews/1998/98-08-18.cmnews.html#01
^ English School to open entry for Turkish Cypriots Cyprus Mail Archive article - Friday, June 6, 2003 [1]
^ 2005 ES leavers destinations
^ Cypriot schools celebrate top A-level results. Cyprus Mail - archive article - Sunday, August 28, [2]
^ The English School - Departments
^ Entrance Examinations
^ "Extra-curricular activities". Cyprus Mail. 2005-04-24. Retrieved 2008-03-28.[dead link]
^ "Debating their way to the top". Cyprus Mail. 2005-03-29. Retrieved 2008-03-28.[dead link]
^ "60 pupils debate hot topics at World Championships". Cyprus Mail. 2000-04-02. Retrieved 2008-03-28.[dead link]
^ US Department of State Report on Religious Freedom in 2007, Retrieved May 2, 2011
^ "English School unveils new science building". Cyprus Mail. November 13, 2004. Retrieved 2008-03-28.[dead link]
^ Stephanie Solomonides on the official website of the Kaspersky Commonwealth Antarctic Expedition
^ "First Cypriot to reach the South Pole", Patrick Dewhurst, Cyprus Mail, January 1, 2010
^ "İngiliz Okulu’nda öğrenim görenler kitabı tanıtılacak" (in Turkish). Star Kıbrıs. Retrieved 8 December 2010.
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