Rutlish School


Rutlish School is a state comprehensive school for boys, formerly a grammar school with the same name originally located on Rutlish Road, Merton Park, and relocated in 1957 on nearby Watery Lane, Merton Park, in southwest London.
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History

The school is named for and honours the benefactor William Rutlish, embroiderer to Charles II. Rutlish was a resident of the parish of Merton and is buried in the churchyard of the parish church of St Mary. Rutlish died in 1687 and left £400 for the education of poor children of the parish.
By the 1890s the charity had accumulated a considerable excess of funds and John Innes, a local landowner and chairman of the board of trustees, used some of the excess to establish a school.

Grammar school

The first school building, established as a grammar school in the 1890s, was located in what is still designated Rutlish Road, off Kingston Road, by Merton Park station. After World War II the school had outgrown its Victorian buildings so in the early 1950s, John Innes buildings off nearby Mostyn Road were converted for use as the Junior School.
Though the work was not completed and the heating system was not installed, this opened after a delay, in late September 1953. A new building was planned for the rest of the school, on the present site south of Watery Lane. The new school buildings opened in September 1957.
Both this and the Junior School were on land that had belonged to John Innes and which had been occupied until 1945 by the John Innes Horticultural Institution. The original buildings in Rutlish Road were later temporarily used as a girls' school and then a Middle School, buildings subsequently demolished to be replaced by a mix of retirement and warden-assisted flats.

School buildings

The 1957 school buildings are arranged around three sides of a quadrangle. To the north is a four-storey main entrance block and a three-storey central block of general purpose classrooms facing Watery Lane. To the west is a two-storey science block and to the east a two-storey block containing the canteen on the ground floor and the school hall on the first floor. Attached to the rear of the east block is the school gym. Also in the middle of the two buildings is a maths block on the second floor.
Among the existing school buildings is one which has ties to John Innes. The "Manor House" adjacent to the school entrance on Watery Lane was Innes's home; a blue plaque records his association. The Manor House was used as the staff room and headmaster's office on the ground floor, and sixth form rooms on the first floor.
Now demolished were school buildings next to the playing field; these were once the library and offices of the John Innes Institution and had ranges of greenhouses attached. In the 1950s and early 1960s these old buildings were used by the first and second year classes and the long greenhouse was used as a lunchtime canteen and a cloakroom. Later, in the 1980s, they were art and music rooms. A little-known feature of the old building was a warren of hidden crawlspace passages, accessible from the second floor music room, from where clandestine spying operations on other classes could be undertaken.
The first year intake of pupils were allocated into “Forms” 2A, 2B and 2C. The second year were promoted to 3A, 3B and 3C.
The third year were 4A,4B and 4C and were relocated to the main school. Some kind of grade assignment occurred whereby the “brighter” pupils were assigned to 4A etc although results indicated there was no real scoring performed.
The next year was termed the “Remove” with forms designated RA, RB and RC. This was followed by the fifth year designated 5A, 5B and 5C.
Next was “Trans”, usually Trans A and Trans B as many pupils left following GCE’s. Sun Prefects were sometimes appointed from here.Last Year was 6th Form usually the realm of Prefects. A levels were taken here.
In the 1970s, part of the roof-space housed the 4 mm scale model railway layout. To the southeast aspect of the buildings was the Croquet Lawn, elegantly laid on a slope comparable to that of Yeovil Town Football Club, a small allotment area for the Gardening Club adjoined as well. There was also a pair of 'Fives' courts.
A number of additional buildings have been constructed over the years to supplement the facilities of the 1950s buildings.

Comprehensive

Following the education reforms of the late 1960s, the school became a comprehensive although it retained many of its grammar school traditions long after the conversion - school houses, uniforms with house and school colours, a Combined Cadet Force, and prefects. For many years the school maintained a croquet lawn for the use of the headmaster and the prefects. The school also operated an exchange programme with Eton College for a number of years.

Three-tier system

In the 1970s the education system in Merton was altered to use a three-tier structure in place of the former two-tier structure and Rutlish lost the first three of its years. The school still retained the old year names; however, so that pupils starting at the school began as "fourth" years. The following years were named "remove", "fifth", "transitus" and "sixth". Transitus and sixth-form pupils had their own common room on the first floor of the main block.

School motto

The school motto is: Modeste Strenue Sancte, meaning: "Be modest, be thorough and pursue righteousness".

School houses

For most of the school's history, the pupils of the school have been assigned to houses. Although discontinued for some years, the system was reinstated in January 2010 with eight houses:
  • Argonauts
  • Carthaginians,
  • Kelts
  • Parthians
  • Romans
  • Trojans
  • Spartans
  • Vikings
Various inter-house competitions, often of a sporting nature, are held.

Notable alumni

Victoria Cross holders

Two Old Rutlishians, George Edward Cates and John Dimmer, have been awarded the Victoria Cross.