The English School

The English School was initially established to provide the British Colonial Administration with young men who were proficient in the English language. In fact, Canon Newham was largely responsible for educating many young men in Cyprus at that time (even those from poor and disadvantaged backgrounds) so they could communicate with the British colonists.

The English School was a six-grade secondary school for boys only. The first pupils to register at the English School in September 1900 were certainly a mixed bunch of boys coming from a variety of ethnic backgrounds. Two brothers were listed as being Roman Catholic French Smyrnites; other boys were listed as the sons of Anglo-Greek parents; two boys were listed as Syrian Smyrnites and one boy was listed as having an Armenian mother and an Italian father.

Canon Newham made sure that the school register listed in detail the pupils’ ethnic origins along with their fathers’ varied occupations. There were for instance the sons of Lebanese merchants; Greek Cypriot tinsmiths, doctors and shoemakers; Turkish Cypriot judges and labourers; Armenian clerks and translators; English police chiefs and Maltese hoteliers. At least in the first few decades, the English School certainly lived up to its promise to cut across both economic and ethnic divides. Canon Newham was proud of the fact that the different nationalities got along so well together. It would seem that the social and ethnic mix he encouraged so much lived up to the school motto ‘Respect Each Other’s Feelings’.

In 1907 Canon Newham became the Director of Education in Cyprus.

While the majority of English School graduates were indeed employed by the colonial government in Cyprus, many others went on to further study or to work abroad in countries such as Lebanon, Egypt, Greece, Turkey and of course England. Many of the school’s graduates were able to secure work as prominent members of their own community in Cyprus too working as clerks, lawmakers, policemen, doctors and teachers.

Canon Newham was known to be a rather stocky, gregarious man with a wonderful walrus moustache. He enjoyed a drink with the boys at the English Club and was known to trade sundowners (an alcoholic drink taken at sunset) for a sermon to try and attract more parishioners to his Sunday mass.

The English School was initially situated in a house in Victoria Street, Nicosia before moving into a more permanent residence on a site commonly known as Snake Hill not far from the Presidential Palace in Strovolos.

In 1912 there were 112 students including twenty-six English boys, sixty-five Greek Christians and twenty-one Muslims and other denominations. English was of course the main language taught at the school however; each boy received religious education from a member of his own faith.

At a very early stage, extracurricular activities have played a key role in helping students to find their passion and to become well-rounded individuals. As early as 1911 the School Orchestra started. Canon Newham believed that young boys needed an all-round education to prepare them for life included music, drama, debating and sports. In fact, it was the English School that introduced football, hockey and cricket to Cyprus.

In 1914 many English School pupils enlisted to fight for their country during World War 1. When the Germans started to bomb Cyprus during the Second World War the English School was temporarily relocated to Kyrenia. Classes were conducted in large rooms at the Sea View and the Dome Hotels.

Initially, the private fees charged by the school excluded many local families, as many could not afford to send their sons to study there. In 1940 the school fees were 15 pounds a year including the boarding house expenses. From 1936 to 1960 however, the British Colonial government introduced subsidised places. This allowed students from all over Cyprus and from all social levels (especially from the poorer rural areas) to enroll there. The government subsidies also helped the English School to become the cheapest educational institution on the island. Many boys from poor families who were destined to remain uneducated were now given the opportunity to receive the benefits of a sound education because of the English School.

In 1948, for the first time the School roll exceeded 400. I am told that at its peak there were over a thousand students enrolled at the English school.

In 1957, the English School for Girls was established. A few years later in 1962 the Girls and Boys Schools were amalgamated making the English School the first co-educational school in Cyprus.

Canon Frank Darvall Newham retired in 1936 aged seventy-two and passed away in Kyrenia ten years later on the sixth of March 1946 aged eighty-two. Following his death the newspaper ‘Phoni tis Kyprou’ (Voice of Cyprus) wrote: “The late Canon Newham won the love and respect of all the people of Cyprus to a degree that could never be matched by any other Englishman who has visited and lived in Cyprus during the British occupation. The English School is a milestone in the Island’s history of education and speaks volumes for the good work of its Founder.”

Today, the English School remains the only truly multi-communal high school on the island whose aim is to offer the best level of education possible to all its students, regardless of their ethnic, cultural and social background.

I was fortunate in November last year to be invited to give a lecture at the English School in Nicosia. Thanks to Ms Stavrou, the Head of History at the school I was able to address two lovely groups of final year students who seemed to be quite interested in hearing about Tales of Cyprus. We discussed a variety of topics dealing with traditional versus modern society. I must say I was quite surprised by the openness of these students. They seemed to share my concerns about modern-day living in Cyprus. They nodded in agreement and spoke quite passionately about the abuse of road laws by many locals and the tragedy of hunting, poaching and widespread animal cruelty. They were also quite vocal about the perils of junk food and mobile phone addiction. It was a great feeling for me, coming from Australia to have my ideas and research validated in such a positive way by the students from the English School.

In closing, I invite you all to share your own experience about the English School (without getting political please). I especially would love to hear from anyone who studied there before the 1950s or 1960s. It would be wonderful to hear your views and thoughts about the English School during the British era. If anyone has any more information about Canon Newham, please feel free to email me. conemmanuelle@talesofcyprus.com