John Taylor was the third President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and the first Englishman to hold high office within the Church. He had worked closely with the Prophet Joseph Smith and was even present at his martyrdom. John Taylor knew and believed what Joseph Smith had recorded in Doctrine &Covenants 93:36 "The glory of God is intelligence, or, in other words, light and truth." Who better to name such a pioneering establishment after?
By the middle of the 1980's state education in the British Isles was becoming something of a lottery, dependent largely upon location. Many Latter-Day Saint parents were worried about the atmosphere and society their children were being educated in and longed to give their children more of a secure foundation for what could only be even more difficult times ahead. Although membership of the Church was growing in the UK, young people rarely got the chance to be together as a group for more than forty-eight hours at a time. It was still very common for LDS youth to be one of many hundred in their schools. Work, too, was very scarce in some areas. More and more parents found themselves having to make frequent moves around the country, or work overseas, just to support their families.
In 1987 a member of the Norwich Ward, Norwich England Stake, was contacted by a firm of London solicitors. It transpired that Steven Jones was the sole surviving relative of an uncle who his family has disowned many decades before. The uncle had not been a member of the Church and of later years had devoted most of his time and effort to various forms of gambling. He had been very successful and had left his entire estate to his nephew. Steven Jones was shocked to receive such a large amount of "ill-gotten gains". He mentioned it no-one but resolved to make sure the money was put to good use. It was this money which was used to buy the ground and begin the building of the school.
The school became operational in September 1991 with the following classes:
Junior School Years 1 - 4
Senior School Years 1 - 3
There was only
one class per year and each class had an average of 10 pupils. The accomodation
for the 6th Forms and Staff was still being built, as was the Infant School.
In September 1992 more classes and pupils were added:
Infant School
Year 2
Junior School classes 3b and 4b
Senior School Year 4. A
second class in Senior School Years 1 & 2 was also added. The average
number of pupils increased to 15 per class.
In September 1993 the foundation of the whole school was laid. We now had:
Complete
Infant School
Complete Junior School
Senior School Year 5. Senior
School increased to 4 classes in years 1 & 2, 3 classes in year 3 and 2
classes in year 4. 6th Forms accommodation, both teaching and residential, was
completed.
From September 1994 onwards the expansion was in the Senior School only. Years 1 -5 gradually built up to 5 classes in each, and of course the Year 5 pupils progressed to become the 6th Form. Demand for places was growing too, so the average number of pupils per class rose to 18.
Intermediate 6th was introduced in September 1995, serving those re-taking GCSEs, doing more GCSEs, taking NVQs or just needing extra time to consider their options.
The final phase of the academic side of the school was completed in September 1998 when the Kindergarten opened and class sizes were finalised with a maximum of 20 pupils per class. Room for expansion still existed, but only via new classes being added to year groups. The maximum number of pupils for the whole school was set at 800.