Beverley Grammar School a boys’ day school

secondary Secondary may refer to: Science and nature * Secondary emission, of particles ** Secondary electrons, electrons generated as ionization products * The secondary winding, or the electrical or electronic circuit connected to the secondary winding i ...

academy school An academy school in England is a state-funded school which is directly funded by the Department for Education and independent of local authority control. The terms of the arrangements are set out in individual Academy Funding Agreements. Most ...

Beverley Beverley is a market and minster town and a civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England, of which it is the county town. The town centre is located south-east of York's centre and north-west of City of Hull. The town is known fo ...

East Riding of Yorkshire The East Riding of Yorkshire, or simply East Riding or East Yorkshire, is a ceremonial county and unitary authority area in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and west, South Yorkshire t ...

, England. A school may have been founded here about 700 AD and on that basis the school is claimed to be the country's oldest

grammar school A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented secondary school ...

and the eighth oldest school overall, but the existence of a school here is not continuous. The present school shares a joint Sixth form with Beverley High School. The school has received an 'Outstanding' in

Ofsted The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted) is a non-ministerial department of His Majesty's government, reporting to Parliament. Ofsted is responsible for inspecting a range of educational institutions, incl ...

inspections in 2006, 2008, and in 2010. However it was unable to sustain such a high level record when deemed 'requires improvement' in 2013. The school was re-awarded 'outstanding' in September 2021. The current

headteacher A head master, head instructor, bureaucrat, headmistress, head, chancellor, principal or school director (sometimes another title is used) is the staff member of a school with the greatest responsibility for the management of the school. In som ...

is Gavin Chappell, who took over from Gillian Todd in September 2015.

History

The date of the school’s foundation is unknown, but it has been supposed to be as old as

Beverley Minster Beverley Minster, otherwise known as the Parish Church of Saint John and Saint Martin, in Beverley, East Riding of Yorkshire, is a parish church in the Church of England. It is one of the largest parish churches in the UK, larger than one-thi ...

, with which it was associated for centuries. The exact date of the foundation of the Minster is also uncertain, but it was probably in existence by the tenth century. Ketell’s ''Miracles of St John'', dating from around the year 1100, refers to a schoolmaster at Beverley. In 1306, the records of the chapter of the Minster record the appointment of a new master of the

(''scolas gramaticales ''). Masters of singing and grammar were employed at Beverley more or less continuously during the middle ages. The school disappeared at the time of the dissolution of the monasteries. In 1552, the burgesses of Beverley petitioned the Crown for land worth £60 for the maintenance of the Minster and also for the establishment of a new grammar school, as the town then had a population of about 5,000 but no school. It is unclear exactly when a new school was founded, but a schoolmaster is referred to in the town’s accounts for 1562, and in 1575 the town paid his whole salary. In 1816/1817, the school moved away from the churchyard to a site next to the Schoolmaster’s house in Keldgate. Owing to lack of funds, it was closed in 1878, but a new school was founded in 1890 in Albert Terrace which also operated as a grammar school. It moved to Queensgate in 1902.

School site

The school premises are located between Queensgate and Sloe Lane in Beverley. The expressive arts block was completed in October 1999 and includes five English classrooms, music practice rooms, music teaching rooms and a drama studio. This was named after the former head of the school and the Chairman of Governors – Richard Michael Scrowston. The sixth form block incorporating a sixth form common room, teaching rooms, an ICT room, a private study room and offices for staff was opened in 2004. However, since this time, this block has been turned into a Maths block, with the old Maths rooms being used for a larger office space, English and Business Studies teaching and a careers library. The school is based in

, England and the Beverley Westwood can be seen from its rear classrooms and Science Department. The school's main building and reception are situated at the top of its drive with two main entrances at the front of the school site through its main gate and far path. The building consists of two main structures and a cluster of subject specific buildings surrounding it. The staff room, the main hall, Business Studies, the psychology classrooms and the Careers Room are situated in the main building. The Geography Department, Languages Section and a history room are in the smaller section of the main building. The Science Department are situated in both sections. Surrounding subjects are the Technology Department, the Maths Block, Sports Hall, Expressive Arts Department and the 6th form block.

Curriculum

In the school's Joint Sixth form 98% achieved a pass with 52% achieving A*/A/B grades in A levels in 2013. A quarter of all results were A or A*. The average point score per pupil is 812 points in 2013. On 21 August 2014 the school announced on their website that 74% of their pupils had achieved an A* to C grade, additionally 1 in 4 of the pupils achieved 5A to A*.

Motto

The school motto, ''Adolescentiam alunt, senectutem oblectant'', is taken from the

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: * Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lett ...

Statesman and writer

Cicero Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, and academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises that led to the esta ...

's ''

Pro Archia Poeta Cicero's oration ''Pro Archia Poeta'' ("On Behalf of Archias the Poet") is the published literary form of his defense of Aulus Licinius Archias, a poet accused of not being a Roman citizen. The accusation is believed to have been a political move ...

'', a defence of the poet

Aulus Licinius Archias Aulus Licinius Archias ( grc-gre, Ἀρχίας; fl. c. 120 – 61 BC) was a Greco-Syrian poet. Life He was born in Antioch, Syria (modern Antakya, Turkey). He studied at his native city, and received a liberal education. During his schoo ...

against a charge of not being a

Roman citizen Citizenship in ancient Rome (Latin: ''civitas'') was a privileged political and legal status afforded to free individuals with respect to laws, property, and governance. Citizenship in Ancient Rome was complex and based upon many different laws, t ...

. The full quote is ''Haec studia adolescentiam alunt, senectutem oblectant, secundas res ornant, adversis perfugium ac solacium praebent, delectant domi, non impediunt foris, pernoctant nobiscum, peregrinantur, rusticantur'' ("These studies sustain youth and entertain old age, they enhance prosperity, and offer a refuge and solace in adversity, they delight us when we are at home without hindering us in the wider world, and are with us at night, when we travel and when we visit the countryside.")

Houses

The school traditionally had a 4 house system (Conington, Minster, School and Fisher). In the 1980s the form groups were named after the four houses. In the 1990s the governors decided to increase the numbers in the school and move from a 4 Form system to a 5 form system. Burden House was then formed to fill the fifth house. The houses can be associated by their colours listed below. * Burden – Yellow :Burden House was named after Henry Burden who was the Headmaster of the school between 1912 and 1935. He was largely seen as creating the modern school. * Connington – Light Blue : John Conington (10 August 1825 – 23 October 1869) who was an English classical Scholar. He was born in Boston, Lincolnshire and was reputed to have been extremely clever learning the alphabet by fourteen months and being able to read at three and a half. * Fisher – Dark Blue :Fisher House was named after the Catholic martyr

John Fisher John Fisher (c. 19 October 1469 – 22 June 1535) was an English Catholic bishop, cardinal, and theologian. Fisher was also an academic and Chancellor of the University of Cambridge. He was canonized by Pope Pius XI. Fisher was executed by o ...

who was born in Beverley in 1469. He became a Vice Chancellor of Cambridge University. * Minster – Red :Minster House was named after

and commemorates the founding of the school in 700 AD by St John of Beverley in Beverley Minster. * School – Green :This was named after the original school which started inside the Minster and then was moved to a building in the Minster grounds. It later moved to a site in a larger building down Keldgate. In the 1890s it moved to this present site and was in the building that is now the Art Block. The Main school building was erected in the 1930s and has been considerably modernised and added to over the years.

Notable alumni

* John Alcock (1430–1500), Lord Chancellor of England * John Andrew (1931–2014), Anglican clergyman in New York City *

Ken Annakin Kenneth Cooper Annakin, OBE (10 August 1914 – 22 April 2009) was an English film director. His career spanned half a century, beginning in the early 1940s and ending in 2002, and in the 1960s he was noticed by critics with large-scale adventu ...

(1914–2009), film director * Chris Fraser (1988), Animator on ITV hit Series Newzoids *

Sir Hugh Cholmeley, 1st Baronet Sir Hugh Cholmeley, 1st Baronet (22 July 1600 – 20 November 1657) was an English landowner and Member of Parliament who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1624 and 1643. He was initially a Parliamentarian but later a Royalis ...

(1600–1657), soldier in the English Civil War * John Conington (1825–1869), English classical scholar *

William Howe De Lancey Colonel Sir William Howe De Lancey (1778 – 26 June 1815) was an officer in the British Army during the Napoleonic Wars. He died of wounds he received at the Battle of Waterloo. Early life De Lancey's paternal ancestors were Huguenots ...

(1778–1815), the

Duke of Wellington Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, (1 May 1769 – 14 September 1852) was an Anglo-Irish soldier and Tory statesman who was one of the leading military and political figures of 19th-century Britain, serving twice as prime minister ...

's Chief of Staff at the

Battle of Waterloo The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815, near Waterloo (at that time in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, now in Belgium). A French army under the command of Napoleon was defeated by two of the armies of the Sevent ...

Kyle Edmund Kyle Steven Edmund (born 8 January 1995) is a South African born-British professional tennis player. He has a career-high singles ranking of world No. 14 and was the top-ranked male British tennis player from March 2018 through October 2019. E ...

(b. 1995), tennis player *

Saint John Fisher John Fisher (c. 19 October 1469 – 22 June 1535) was an English Catholic bishop, cardinal, and theologian. Fisher was also an academic and Chancellor of the University of Cambridge. He was canonized by Pope Pius XI. Fisher was executed by or ...

(c. 1469–1535), Catholic bishop * Neil Mallender (b. 1961), England cricketer and international umpire * Thomas Percy (1560–1605), alleged Gunpowder plotter *

Jim Ratcliffe Sir James Arthur Ratcliffe (born 18 October 1952) is an English billionaire, chemical engineer and businessman. Ratcliffe is the chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of the Ineos chemicals group, which he founded in 1998 and of which he ...

(b. 1952), Chairman and CEO, Ineos, UK's richest man according to Sunday Times Rich List 2018. * Paul Robinson (b. 1979), football goalkeeper *

Smithson Tennant Smithson Tennant FRS (30 November 1761 – 22 February 1815) was an English chemist. He is best known for his discovery of the elements iridium and osmium, which he found in the residues from the solution of platinum ores in 1803. He also con ...

(1761–1815), chemist *

Tony Topham Anthony John Topham (27 October 1929 – 2 March 2004) was a British academic and writer. He was an active trade unionist and campaigner for workers rights. Topham was born in Hull. He was educated at Beverley Grammar School, and earned a degree ...

(1929–2004), British academic and writer

References

External links

Beverley Grammar School website2004 League table dataThe School's house information
{{DEFAULTSORT:Beverley Grammar School Boys' schools in the East Riding of Yorkshire Educational institutions established in the 7th century 700 establishments Academies in the East Riding of Yorkshire 7th-century establishments in England Beverley Secondary schools in the East Riding of Yorkshire Specialist engineering colleges in England