Hall Cross Academy (formerly Hall Cross School and Doncaster Grammar School), is a co-educational academy in
Doncaster
Doncaster (, ) is a city in South Yorkshire, England. Named after the River Don, it is the administrative centre of the larger City of Doncaster. It is the second largest settlement in South Yorkshire after Sheffield. Doncaster is situated in ...
,
South Yorkshire
South Yorkshire is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and metropolitan county, metropolitan county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. The county has four council areas which are the cities of City of Doncaster, Doncaster and City of Sh ...
, England.
Admissions
The academy is split over two sites, with the Upper academy located in the centre of
Doncaster
Doncaster (, ) is a city in South Yorkshire, England. Named after the River Don, it is the administrative centre of the larger City of Doncaster. It is the second largest settlement in South Yorkshire after Sheffield. Doncaster is situated in ...
(in the
Town Fields
Town Fields is a large area of public land in Intake, Doncaster, South Yorkshire
South Yorkshire is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and metropolitan county, metropolitan county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. The county has fo ...
area) and the Lower academy in the north of
Bessacarr
Bessacarr () is a suburb on the south-east edge of Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. Consisting of mostly private residential development from the 1960s onward, it also contains some of the most expensive property in Doncaster, around St W ...
, near the Dome. Hall Cross Academy has
specialist status as a
Science College
Science Colleges were introduced in 2002 as part of the now defunct Specialist Schools Programme in the United Kingdom. The system enabled secondary schools to specialise in certain fields, in this case, science and mathematics
Mathemati ...
. The total number of pupils who attend the academy is over 2000. It features as an integral part of the community, providing access to facilities for many primary schools, which also form part of its large catchment area. The headteacher of the academy is Mr Simon Swain.
It is named after the Hall Cross on Hall Cross Hill, on the opposite side of the main road through Doncaster.
The Gilbert Scott building and Christchurch House
The Gilbert Scott building is the oldest building on the Town Centre site, it was designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott and was built in 1869. Downstairs it features a plaque dedicating the building to Queen Victoria. The upper floor houses the school's library and an IT suite. The building is a classic example of Victorian Gothic Revival, featuring a large
Hammerbeam roof decorated with flowers cut into the massive oak beams which may, in fact, be stained pine. The building also features a tower at one corner. Inside the library there are two massive Gothic-style glass windows at either end, one of them being stained glass, designed and executed by former pupil C. Rupert Moore, which was unveiled in 1938 as a tribute to "Old Boys" from the school who died in World War I. The library features a large number of Victorian plaques, dedicated to past headteachers of the school as well as to staff and students killed in the two world wars. The most recent plaque commemorates the visit by Prince Charles to the school in 1989.
Christchurch house is the school's equivalent of a "6th form block". It is a large detached Victorian Townhouse which overlooks the local church that the house is named after. The house features a grand wooden staircase, stained glass skylights, and a statue of the Venus de Milo which originally resided in the Girls' School, built in 1918. When the school was disbanded, the statue was moved to Hall Cross Academy.
Remembrance Day
Remembrance Day is one of the most important days in the academic calendar. The academy has held a ceremony every year since 1918 to remember those who attended the school and died in battle. The service begins at 9am. Speeches are made by the Head Teacher who gives thanks to those who died as a result of conflict. Two poppy wreaths are then carried down the corridor to the library by the Head Boy and Head Girl. They are then laid by the World War One and World War Two plaques respectively, while the Last Post is played on the trumpet, with the sounds carrying through to the library.
Railways
High Speed Train
High-speed rail (HSR) is a type of rail system that runs significantly faster than traditional rail, using an integrated system of specialised rolling stock and dedicated tracks. While there is no single standard that applies worldwide, lines ...
power car no. 43045 was named 'The Grammar School, Doncaster AD1350' in Spring 1984. It was last in revenue earning service with
East Midlands Trains
East Midlands Trains (EMT) was a British train operating company owned by the transport group Stagecoach, which operated the East Midlands franchise between November 2007 and August 2019.
Following the Department for Transport (DfT) award of ...
and was stored at Long Marston, not carrying its former name.
The nameplate removed from the locomotive was kept in the collection of
railwayana
Railroadiana or railwayana refers to artifacts of currently or formerly operating railways around the world. Railroadiana can include items such as:
* Brakeman's or marker lanterns
* Date nails, rail spikes, or short sections of rail
* D ...
originally located in the tower of the academy along with a large collection of amassed by the Doncaster Grammar School Railway Society, to which, at one point, one in six pupils belonged.
The collection also includes nameplates from two locomotives destroyed as a result of the
Harrow and Wealdstone rail crash
The Harrow and Wealdstone rail crash was a three-train collision at Harrow and Wealdstone station in Wealdstone, Middlesex (now Greater London) during the morning rush hour of 8 October 1952. The crash resulted in 112 deaths and 340 injuries, 88 ...
.
This collection is now in the Railway Heritage Centre of the Danum Museum.
Notable faculty members
*
H. J. Blackham (taught divinity in the early 1930s)
*
Squadron Leader
Squadron leader (Sqn Ldr in the RAF ; SQNLDR in the RAAF and RNZAF; formerly sometimes S/L in all services) is a commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many countries which have historical British influence. It is als ...
Ernest Kinghorn, Labour MP from 1945 to 1951 for
Great Yarmouth (taught languages)
Alumni
Hall Cross Comprehensive School
*
David Firth, animator behind
Salad Fingers
''Salad Fingers'' is a British animated web series created by David Firth in 2004. It revolves around the eponymous Salad Fingers, a thin, green, mentally troubled man who inhabits a desolate world. As of March 2022, there have been twelve ep ...
, the fat-pie website and one half of the cult mockumentary anti-hero, MC Devvo
*
Barry Middleton
Barry John Middleton (born 12 January 1984) is regarded as one of the greatest British field hockey players in history. He played as a midfielder and forward for England and Great Britain and is the most capped British hockey player in history ...
, England international hockey player.
*
Louis Tomlinson, pop singer and songwriter, and actor.
*
Tan France
Tanveer Wasim "Tan" France ( Safdar; born 20 April 1983) is a British-American fashion designer and television personality. Of Pakistani descent, he is one of the first openly gay South Asian men on a major show and one of the first out Muslim ...
, fashion designer and television personality, founder of brand Kingdom & State and fashion expert on ''
Queer Eye''.
*
Lee Cowling, Former professional footballer and football coach for Manchester United, Nottingham Forest and Mansfield Town.
*
Darius Henderson
Darius Alexis Henderson (born 7 September 1981) is an English professional footballer who last played as a striker for Eastleigh.
Born in Sutton, England, (although he is often mistakenly cited as being born in Doncaster, where he moved at a y ...
, Former professional footballer for Sheffield United, Watford, Millwall and Nottingham Forest.
Doncaster Grammar School for Boys
*
Edmund Beckett, 1st Baron Grimthorpe
Edmund Beckett, 1st Baron Grimthorpe, KC (12 May 1816 – 29 April 1905), known previously as Sir Edmund Beckett, 5th Baronet and Edmund Beckett Denison, was a "lawyer, mechanician and controversialist" as well as a noted horologist and archit ...
(briefly)
*
H.J. Blackham, philosopher and humanist
*
Rodney Bickerstaffe
Rodney Kevan Bickerstaffe (6 April 1945 – 3 October 2017) was a British trade unionist. He was General Secretary of the National Union of Public Employees (1982–1993) and UNISON (1996–2001), Britain's largest trade union at the time. He l ...
, former leader of Britain's largest trades union, UNISON.
* Prof
Thomas Charlton, Jackson Professor of Engineering from 1970 to 1979 at the
University of Aberdeen
, mottoeng = The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom
, established =
, type = Public research universityAncient university
, endowment = £58.4 million (2021)
, budget ...
, and Professor of Civil Engineering from 1963 to 1970 at
Queen's University Belfast
*
Ronald Dearing, CB, former Chairman of the Post Office, Chancellor from 1993 to 2000 of the
University of Nottingham
, mottoeng = A city is built on wisdom
, established = 1798 – teacher training college1881 – University College Nottingham1948 – university status
, type = Public
, chancellor ...
, and known for the
Dearing Report
The Dearing Report, formally known as the reports of the National Committee of Inquiry into Higher Education, is a series of major reports into the future of Higher Education in the United Kingdom, published in 1997. The report was commissioned by ...
which laid the foundations of tuition fees (
top-up fees
Tuition fees were first introduced across the entire United Kingdom in September 1998 under the Labour government of Tony Blair to fund tuition for undergraduate and postgraduate certificate students at universities; students were required to p ...
) at universities.
* Sir
Eric Denton CBE, marine biologist, Royal Society Research Professor from 1964 to 1974 at the
University of Bristol
, mottoeng = earningpromotes one's innate power (from Horace, ''Ode 4.4'')
, established = 1595 – Merchant Venturers School1876 – University College, Bristol1909 – received royal charter
, type ...
*
Percy Elland, Editor from 1950 to 1959 of the
Evening Standard
The ''Evening Standard'', formerly ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), also known as the ''London Evening Standard'', is a local free daily newspaper in London, England, published Monday to Friday in tabloid format.
In October 2009, after be ...
* Prof
Robert Fox, Professor from 1988 to 2006 of the History of Science at the
University of Oxford
, mottoeng = The Lord is my light
, established =
, endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019)
, budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20)
, chancellor ...
(
Linacre College
Linacre College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in the UK whose members comprise approximately 50 fellows and 550 postgraduate students.
Linacre is a diverse college in terms of both the international composition of its m ...
)
*
Kevin Marsh, BBC executive, Editor from 2002 to 2006 of the ''
Today
Today (archaically to-day) may refer to:
* Day of the present, the time that is perceived directly, often called ''now''
* Current era, present
* The current calendar date
Arts, entertainment, and media Films
* ''Today'' (1930 film), a 1930 ...
'' programme
* Prof
Roger Needham
Roger Michael Needham (9 February 1935 – 1 March 2003) was a British computer scientist.
Early life and education
Needham was born in Birmingham, England, the only child of Phyllis Mary, ''née'' Baker (''c''.1904–1976) and Leonard Wi ...
CBE, Professor of Computer Systems from 1981 to 1998 at the
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world's third oldest surviving university and one of its most pr ...
, Head of the
University of Cambridge Computer Laboratory
The Department of Computer Science and Technology, formerly the Computer Laboratory, is the computer science department of the University of Cambridge. it employed 35 academic staff, 25 support staff, 35 affiliated research staff, and about 15 ...
from 1980 to 1995, and invented important algorithms (
Needham-Schroeder protocol) for computer security
* Rev Prof
Christopher Rowland,
Dean Ireland's Professor of the Exegesis of Holy Scripture
The position of Dean Ireland's Professor of the Exegesis of Holy Scripture was established at the University of Oxford in 1847. This professorship in the critical interpretation or explanation of biblical texts, a field known as exegesis, was i ...
since 1991 at the
University of Oxford
, mottoeng = The Lord is my light
, established =
, endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019)
, budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20)
, chancellor ...
* Prof
Denis Sargan
John Denis Sargan, FBA (23 August 1924 – 13 April 1996) was a British econometrician who specialized in the analysis of economic time-series.
Sargan was born in Doncaster, Yorkshire in 1924, and was educated at Doncaster Grammar School and ...
, Professor of Econometrics from 1964 to 1984 at the
London School of Economics
The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) is a public university, public research university located in London, England and a constituent college of the federal University of London. Founded in 1895 by Fabian Society members Sidn ...
(LSE).
*
John Scott-Scott, rocket scientist
*
Edward Smallwood, Liberal MP from 1917 to 1918 of
Islington East
Doncaster High School for Girls
*
Madge Adam, astronomer.
*
Margo Gunn, actress
*
Jane Harrison, one of four women to have been awarded the
George Cross
Doncaster Grammar School
*
Thomas Britten, international footballer (
Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...
1878 and 1880)
[The English players in 1870s Scottish football](_blank)
Andy Mitchell, Scottish Sport History, 12 April 2021
*
John Cartwright, Emeritus Professor of the Law of Contract,
University of Oxford
, mottoeng = The Lord is my light
, established =
, endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019)
, budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20)
, chancellor ...
*
Gillian Coultard
Gillian Coultard (born 22 July 1963) is an English former football player, and former England captain. She is one of England Women's most capped internationals, with 119 appearances, and was the highest capped outfield England international e ...
, football player, former Captain of the
England Woman's football team
Old Danensians
Alumni and former staff of Doncaster Grammar School, Doncaster High School for Girls, Hall Cross Comprehensive School and Hall Cross Academy, known as Old Danensians, are able to join the Old Danensians' Club.
The object of the club is to maintain connections between past members of the School with one another and the School, and generally promote the welfare of the foundation.
[
]
Hall Cross Academy
The 2012–2013 term saw the establishment change its name to Hall Cross Academy.
Academic performance
GCSE results for the school are slightly above average. At A-level it performs well, with some of the best results in South Yorkshire, and the third best in Doncaster LEA. Results in Doncaster at GCSE are notably low, but they are much better at A level, similar to the situation in Grimsby and Hull.
Gallery
File:Hall_x_today.jpg, An external view of the academy
Image:Hall_x_library.jpg, The library, as seen from the balcony
Image:Hall_x_library_window.jpg, A close up of the stained glass library window
Image:Hall_Cross_001.jpg, Students at the Thorne Road site, 1887
Image:Hall_Cross_009.jpg, The first students to attend the Thorne Road site, 1870
Image:Hall_Cross_005.jpg, The original school building, 1869
See also
*
Listed buildings in Doncaster (Town Ward)
Town ward is a ward in the metropolitan borough of Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The ward contains 105 listed buildings that are recorded in the National Heritage List for England. Of these, two are listed at Grade I, the highes ...
References
External links
Hall Cross Academy website2007 Ofsted reportEduBase
{{authority control
Educational institutions established in the 14th century
1350 establishments in England
Grade II listed buildings in South Yorkshire
Grade II listed educational buildings
Secondary schools in Doncaster
George Gilbert Scott buildings
Academies in Doncaster