Education in Kidderminster

On November 1, 1948, the day after my fifth birthday, I started
at Foley Park Primary School, and studied there 1948-54.
The first two years were in Kindergarten and the last four were in
Form 1 (Miss Robinson), Form 3 (Mr. Knowles), Form 5 (Miss Pritchard),
and Form 7 (Miss Pitt), respectively. Each Form had one teacher
for a year. The headmaster, all my time, was Mr. Rose.

I then studied 1954-62 at King Charles I Grammar School, established
in 1626, granted a royal charter by King Charles I in 1636, and
the only school in England to bear his name.
The first five years were in Forms 2α, 3α, 4α, lower fifth,and 5α,
and then three years were in the Sixth Form.
The headmaster 1954-60 was Mr. Drake, succeeded by Mr. Raw.
There were exceptional teachers including Mr. Charlton
(English Literature), Mr. Launchbury (Mathematics), Mr. Potter
(Latin), Mr.Drake (Physics), and Mr. Lucy (French).
The present headmaster, Mr. Gulliver, hosted my three-day visit
in 2006 when I gave a public lecture in the new Science Theatre
and handed out the prizes on Speech Day.   1

Examinations while in Kidderminster

The three most important exams were one in 1954 and two in 1961.
In 1954 I sat for the 11+ exam and achieved the highest mark out
of 250,000.
In Spring 1961, I sat for GCE A-level exams and received the
highest A-level marks ever at King Charles I Grammar School.
In December 1961, I sat for the Oxford Entrance exam and was
awarded entrance as Open Hulme Scholar of Brasenose College.

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