Canford School is a full boarding coeducational school with a significant minority of day pupils, in Wimborne Minster, Dorset. The school was founded in 1923. John Lever is currently the Headmaster; the 2005-2006 year 9 boys are said to have huge potential to be very sucessful in many sports including rugby, hockey and cricket. there was large controversy over the under 14a's rugby match against the prestigious millfield.
House system
Each house has a housemaster/mistress, three tutors (one resident in each boarding house) and at least one house matron. House year groups vary between one and two and each community numbers sixty to sixty-five.
Boys' boarding houses:
- Court
- Franklin
- Monteacute
- School
Girls' boarding houses:
- Beaufort
- de Lacy
- Marriotts
Day houses:
- Lancaster
- Salisbury
- Wimborne
Facilities
- School grounds 3 acres
- 3 Football pitches including AFC Bournemouth training pitch and Canford FC pitch
- 18-hole golf course
- Tennis courts
- One of the many real tennis courts left in the United Kingdom
- Swimming pool
- Sports centre
- Theatre
- Boathouse with direct access to river Stour
- Roundabout
- Direct access to the B654978439
Canford Assyrian frieze
In 1992 a lost Assyrian frieze was rediscovered on the wall of "the Grubber" (the school tuck shop). The frieze was sold by Christies at auction in 1994 for £7 million ($12 million), by far the highest price ever paid for an antiquity. Although it is at first sight rather unlikely that such a valuable item should be found on the wall of a school tuck shop, the history of the school explains how the frieze came to be there. Prior to its being a school, Canford had been a country house and at that time the building now known as the Grubber had been used to display antiquities and was known as "Nineveh". The frieze had been brought back from Iraq by Sir Austen Henry Layard along with other antiquities which were displayed at Canford before it was a school. It was however thought by the school that the frieze was a plaster copy of an original which had been lost overboard during river transit and little attention was paid to it after the school was established. A dartboard was even hung in the Grubber close to where the frieze was displayed. It was John Russell of Columbia University who identified the frieze as an original, one of a set of three panels taken from the throne room of Assyrian King Assurnasirpal II (883–859 BC). A genuine plaster copy now stands in its place at Canford and a number of "Assyrian Scholarships" are available, funded by the proceeds of the sale.
Societies
Canford also has a number of societies, some of which are almost as old as the school itself:
The Old Canfordian Society
Reserved for those pupils who have left the school, the "O.C.s" come back for frequent reunions and social events.
Heretics
The Heretics' Society is an invitation-only Sixth Form discussion group, comprising of about twenty members, where the emphasis is on the honing of analytical and discursive skills rather than on the rhetorical flourish and exhibitionist flair that might be found in a traditional debating society. The basis for a meeting is the reading of paper by a member of the society.
John o'Gaunt Debating Society
A society which is almost as old as the school itself, it is open to all members of the school who wish to engage in discussion on topics ranging from politics to social and ethical issues. The society has an elected committee comprising of four members, led by the Chairman.
Ichthyans
A religious society for the school's Hindus.
The Layard Society
Named after Henry Layard, this society is for Sixth Form history students. Visitng speakers often attend and other meetings offer an opportunity for A-level historians to prepare and deliver lectures themselves.
Politicos
A political society open to all those studying politics in the Sixth Form, Politicos is named after the famous bookshop near Parliament. Guest speakers are frequently invited to give talks and answer questions from the students; recent guests have included Annette Brooke and Michael Barrymore.
Notable Old Canfordians
- Stephen Ward (1912–1963), osteopath involved in the Profumo Affair
- Sir Ashley Bramall (1916–1999), Leader of the Inner London Education Authority, 1970–1981
- Charles Maclean of Duart, Baron Maclean (1916–1990), Chief Scout of the United Kingdom, 1959–1971, Chief Scout of the Commonwealth, 1959–1975, and Lord Chamberlain, 1971–1984
- Hector Monro, Baron Monro of Langholm (born 1922), politician
- Captain Nick Barker (1933–1997), Captain of HMS Endurance during the Falklands War
- Derek Jarman (1942–1994), film director
- Alan Hollinghurst (born 1954), author
- Richard Walker, Artist