The Humphrey Perkins School is a
secondary school
A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' secondary education, lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) ...
with
academy status which was founded in 1717 in
Barrow upon Soar,
Leicestershire
Leicestershire ( ; postal abbreviation Leics.) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East Midlands, England. The county borders Nottinghamshire to the north, Lincolnshire to the north-east, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire t ...
, in
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
.
History
Grammar school
The school was founded as the Humphrey Perkins Grammar School in 1717 in the will of Humphrey Perkins. Perkins was born in Barrow upon Soar and went to the
University of Cambridge
, mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts.
Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge.
, established =
, other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...
before becoming the
rector of
Holme Pierrepont
Holme Pierrepont is a hamlet and civil parish located south-east of the city of Nottingham in Nottinghamshire, England. It is in the Gamston ward of the Rushcliffe local authority in the East Midlands region. The population of the civil parish ...
, Nottinghamshire, until his death in 1717.
He left money for a
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 ...
to be built in Barrow upon Soar, and after land was acquired on an orchard near the centre of the village, the school opened in 1735 with 32 pupils.
In 1902 the school moved to larger premises on Cotes Road, with the school's first non-clergyman headmaster,
Fernsby, and 33 pupils. Of these pupils 32 were boys with just one girl, Nora May Wall. In 1927 the then headmaster, Keeble, introduced a school uniform of black blazer, badge and ties. Examples of this uniform are still kept by the current headmistress, along with a school rugby shirt. The four houses were named after pre-eminent Leicestershire families as Beaumont, Grey, Hastings and Latimer.
Secondary modern school
In 1947 the grammar school closed and a
secondary modern school was opened on the same site. In 1956 this became a single
bilateral school
In England, a partially selective school is one of a few dozen state-funded secondary schools that select a proportion of their intake by ability or aptitude, permitted as a continuation of arrangements that existed prior to 1997.
Though treated ...
, with approximately 500 pupils. Dunn became headmaster in 1960, and discussions began about whether Humphrey Perkins or the nearby
Rawlins Grammar School at
Quorn would be the 'Upper School' in the new two-tier Leicestershire education model.
Comprehensive three-tier system
In 1966 Humphrey Perkins was converted to a junior
high school
A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...
for 11- to 14-year-olds, with some 1000 pupils.
Academy
In September 2010, Peter Nutkins joined the school as Headmaster, and the school underwent a period of rapid reorganisation and development. On 1 January 2012 Humphrey Perkins became an Academy School and converted to an 11–16 that same year, taking older pupils from September 2013.
Teaching
The school was inspected in 2011–12 and issued with a notice to improve after being judged inadequate. Only 14 months later the school was judged as 'good' by the return OFSTED inspection as the improvements that had taken place brought about change.
Pupils within the school were given iPads to encourage creativity. The school held training events for other schools on the use of the devices in the classroom. Nutkins took a strong stance on including creative subjects in the curriculum and is a member of the Heads for Arts national lobby group.
In September 2017, most iPads were removed from the school, with pupils no longer having them, but the staff still use them.
Notable former pupils
*
Louise Lear, , BBC weather presenter, from
Rothley
Rothley ( ) is a village and civil parish within the Borough of Charnwood in Leicestershire, England. Situated around west of the River Soar and north of Leicester, it had a population of 3,612 inhabitants . The population measured at the 201 ...
(took her A-levels at Quorn)
*
Jenny Tomlinson
Jennifer Clare Tomlinson (née Mills) (born 10 August 1961) has been Archdeacon of Birmingham, England, since 2019.
Early life
Tomlinson was educated at Humphrey Perkins School up to the age of 16 and took her A levels at Rawlins Academy in Quo ...
, ,
Archdeacon of Birmingham
The Archdeacon of Birmingham is a senior ecclesiastical officer within the Diocese of Birmingham.
The archdeaconry was created within the Diocese of Worcester by Order-in-Council on 12 August 1892 (substantially from the Archdeaconry of Coventry ...
since 2019, from Quorn (took her A-levels at Quorn)
[''Leicester Mercury'' Thursday 18 January 1979, page 17]
References
* ''The History of Humphrey Perkins School'', Bernard Elliott, 1965
"Humphrey Perkins High School – 100 Years on the Cotes Road Site, John Hindley, 2002
* "Humphrey Perkins School", 2013
External links
Official School website
{{authority control
Academies in Leicestershire
Borough of Charnwood
Loughborough
Secondary schools in Leicestershire