Lymm High School is a
secondary school and
sixth form
In the education systems of England, Northern Ireland, Wales, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and some other Commonwealth countries, sixth form represents the final two years of secondary education, ages 16 to 18. Pupils typically prepare for A-l ...
with
academy status, located in
Lymm
Lymm is a village and civil parish in the Borough of Warrington, Cheshire, England, which incorporates the hamlets of Booths Hill, Broomedge, Church Green, Deansgreen, Heatley, Heatley Heath, Little Heatley, Oughtrington, Reddish, Rushgreen and ...
,
Warrington
Warrington () is a town and unparished area in the borough of the same name in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, on the banks of the River Mersey. It is east of Liverpool, and west of Manchester. The population in 2019 was estimat ...
,
Cheshire.
History
The date the school was founded is unknown, but the earliest known reference to the school is in a church document dated 1592, which mentions the 'Master of Lymm School'. In 1601, it was granted a royal charter and reconstituted as 'Lymm Grammar School' on its Damside site. It remained in this location for several hundred years, occupying some of the buildings which now make up St Mary's Church, until it was forced to sell its land in 1881 after a series of financial difficulties. The land was split into 11 lots, with 5 of them being purchased by G C Dewhurst, who was a member of the board of governors. In February 1882, he informed the board that he would give a different site near Higher Lane for a school and school house and would also pay for a road to be made to the site - Grammar School Road. An appeal was launched to raise the necessary funds for the construction of the buildings and a committee formed to co-ordinate the collection. The new buildings opened on 12 July 1885.
In 1900, a motion was made before the governors council to enable co-education. This was introduced in June 1902, with the first female students starting in the September. The School remained unchanged on its Grammar School Lane site until, in 1945, Headteacher J. R. Canney, advised Cheshire County Council to purchase
Oughtrington Hall to be used as an annexe. The hall was used by junior forms from 1945 to 1957, when the whole school was transferred to the site, with the buildings in Grammar School Road becoming the site of the newly formed Lymm Secondary Modern School.
The school became a (Controlled) Grammar School under the changes of an Education Act and Students were admitted to the school without payment of fees. A history of the school was written and published by a history master at the school, Derrick M Kay, in 1960. This was republished in facsimile by former students in 2021. It gave significantly more information than is currently recorded in this summary of the School's pedigree. At a similar time application was made to the College of Heralds and received for the full Coat of Arms. A revision of the School's Blazer Badge and Sixth Form Tie followed. The School was supported throughout by an enthusiastic Parent Teachers Association and Old Pupils Association who raised significant funds which paid for the provision of a swimming pool, a school camp in Anglesey near R.A.F. Valley and many other facilities to improve the life of the students.
The two institutions remained separate until their amalgamation under the Comprehensive system in the early 1980s In the Grammar School Road buildings were sold and demolished to make way for housing.
In the 1990s and early 2000s a development programme saw much of the surrounding farmland being bought for playing fields, and many of the existing playing fields being built on. This programme reached its peak in 2002, with the opening of the new Sixth Form Building (the original Sixth Form Building, from the amalgamation in 1994 until 2002, being sited in the old stable block of the original Oughtrington Hall).
Location
The school is located on Oughtrington Lane, towards the eastern side of
Lymm
Lymm is a village and civil parish in the Borough of Warrington, Cheshire, England, which incorporates the hamlets of Booths Hill, Broomedge, Church Green, Deansgreen, Heatley, Heatley Heath, Little Heatley, Oughtrington, Reddish, Rushgreen and ...
village, adjacent to the village Cricket Club in the grounds of
Oughtrington Hall, which houses the school library. In addition to the old hall and stables, there are 5 newer buildings (Blocks A, B, D, E, L, N and S) which house the majority of the classrooms and specialist facilities. The Original Sixth Form Block (Block S) contains a large central room known as the hexagon, where the sixth form students gather in their study periods, break and lunch, but can double up as a formal gathering area when required, for both school and non-school purposes.
Entry
Entry is non-selective, and available to all those residing in the
catchment area
In human geography, a catchment area is the area from which a location, such as a city, service or institution, attracts a population that uses its services and economic opportunities. Catchment areas may be defined based on from where people are ...
. This currently covers
Lymm
Lymm is a village and civil parish in the Borough of Warrington, Cheshire, England, which incorporates the hamlets of Booths Hill, Broomedge, Church Green, Deansgreen, Heatley, Heatley Heath, Little Heatley, Oughtrington, Reddish, Rushgreen and ...
,
Thelwall
Thelwall is a suburban village in the Borough of Warrington, Cheshire, England, close to the Lymm junction of the M6 motorway.
History
A fortified village was established at Thelwall in 923, in the reign of King Edward the Elder, which is me ...
,
High Legh
High Legh is a village, civil and ecclesiastical parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. It is north west of Knutsford, east of Warrington and south west of Manchester City Centre. Th ...
and
Statham, as well as parts of
Grappenhall
Grappenhall is a suburb of Warrington in the civil parish of Grappenhall and Thelwall, which had a population of 9,377 at the United Kingdom Census 2001, 2001 census.
History
Grappenhall is mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086 with the name '' ...
, Little Bollington,
Dunham Town
Dunham Town is a village in the civil parish of Dunham Massey in the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford, Greater Manchester, England. It was historically a part of Cheshire.
History
Dunham Town previously formed part of the parish of Bowdon, ...
, and areas of
Stockton Heath
Stockton Heath is a civil parish and suburb of Warrington, in the Borough of Warrington, Cheshire, England. It is located to the north of the Bridgewater Canal and to the south of the Manchester Ship Canal, which divides Stockton Heath from Lat ...
. In recent years, this area has been dramatically reduced in size in response to the growing number of pupils, leading to an increase in the catchment area for nearby
Bridgewater High School.
Ofsted inspections
The school was judged to be "outstanding" in a 2008
Ofsted inspection.
The new headteacher at Lymm High School, Angela Walsh, (who was banned from teaching and fired in 2016, due to personal usuage of school money) was commended in January 2009 for her 'clear vision' in maintaining the school's excellent standards. She said: "I feel privileged to have joined this exceptional school, and our fantastic inspection results are thanks to the hard work and commitment of students, staff and parents."
Although the school achieved an outstanding in the above inspection, during the December 2013 inspection, the schools standards have significantly dropped. The school was judged to be good in all areas, therefore resulting in an overall "Good" achievement for the school.
Halls
All students are members of a hall as well as of the school. 2 forms per yeargroup from year 7-13 go into each hall. The halls system was established in September 2002, with the original four
houses
A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air condi ...
(named after key local families) being supplanted by a five new ones (named after local stately homes). The original houses were Domville, Ridgeway, Warbuton and Watkin; the new halls are
Arley Arley may refer to:
Places England
* Arley, Cheshire, a village
** Arley Hall, Cheshire
* Arley, Warwickshire, a village
* Upper Arley
Upper Arley () is a village and civil parish near Kidderminster in the Wyre Forest District of Worcestershi ...
,
Dunham,
Moreton Moreton may refer to:
People Given name
* Moreton John Wheatley (1837–1916), British Army officer and Bailiff of the Royal Parks
Surname
* Alice Bertha Moreton (1901–1977), English sculptor, draughtsman and artist
* Andrew Moreton, a p ...
,
Tatton and
Walton Walton may refer to:
People
* Walton (given name)
* Walton (surname)
* Susana, Lady Walton (1926–2010), Argentine writer
Places
Canada
* Walton, Nova Scotia, a community
** Walton River (Nova Scotia)
*Walton, Ontario, a hamlet
United Kingdo ...
. Each hall has an associated colour.
Sport
In rugby, the school has won the Daily Mail Vase along with the Under 15's
Daily Mail Cup
The National Schools Cup are a set of annual English schools' rugby union cup competitions, with the U18 Cup being the main competition. The finals of the Cup and Vase competitions are held at Twickenham Stadium, whilst finals for the Plate and Bow ...
in 2006. In rowing, the school regularly wins head of the river at a number of different regattas.
Old Students Association
Old students of the school are known as 'Old Lymmians', with the 'Lymm Old Students Association' acting as their co-ordinating body. As of 2005, its primary tasks are communicating school related news through its thriving local and international membership, organising local events (Such as its regular rambling trips), raising money for the school, orchestrating reunions, and providing
networking events
The Old Students Association tie is composed of alternate diagonal stripes of dark green, dark blue, and white. The Old Students Association blazer is dark green, edged with a 1-inch-wide border of white cotton.
Weekend programmes
The
Manchester
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
Japanese School (マンチェスター日本人補習授業校 ''Manchesutā Nihonjin Hoshū Jugyō Kō''), a
weekend Japanese educational programme, is held at the Language Centre at Lymm High School.
Famous Old Lymmians
Notable Alumni of the School include:
*
Tim Curry
Timothy James Curry (born 19 April 1946) is an English actor and singer. He rose to prominence for his portrayal of Dr. Frank-N-Furter in the film ''The Rocky Horror Picture Show'' (1975), reprising the role he had originated in the 1973 London ...
- actor
*
George Davey Smith
George Davey Smith (born 9 May 1959) is a British epidemiologist. He has been professor of clinical epidemiology at the University of Bristol since 1994, honorary professor of public health at the University of Glasgow since 1996, and visiting ...
, epidemiologist
*
Neil Fairbrother
Neil Fairbrother (born Neil Harvey Fairbrother; 9 September 1963) is an English former cricketer who played 75 One Day International matches and 10 Test matches as a batsman for England. Fairbrother, named by his mother after her favourite playe ...
- cricketer, team captain of Lancashire in 1992–1993
*
D. J. Finney - Professor of Statistics, University of Edinburgh
*
Maurice Flanagan - founding CEO of the Emirates airline
*
Sir David Hopwood - microbiologist and geneticist
*
Ruth Lea, Baroness Lea of Lymm - Conservative public policy researcher, Member of
House of Lords
The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminste ...
*
David Strettle
David Strettle, (born 23 July 1983), is a former English rugby union wing.
Early life
Strettle grew up in Thelwall, Cheshire, attending Lymm High School and playing for Lymm RFC. Strettle then went on to study at Sheffield Hallam Universi ...
- England rugby player
*
Richard Egington
Richard Phillip Egington (born 26 February 1979 in Warrington, Cheshire) is a British rower. He won a silver medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics for Great Britain in the men's eight. He was part of the British squad that topped the medal table at ...
- Olympic rower
*
Al Crosby - Musician, currently lead guitarist with English Punk Rock band
The Drones
*
Keir McGuinness - Chair Art 360 Foundation
See also
*
List of English and Welsh endowed schools (19th century)
This is a list of some of the endowed schools in England and Wales existing in the early part of the 19th century. It is based on the antiquarian Nicholas Carlisle's survey of "Endowed Grammar Schools" published in 1818 with descriptions of 475 sc ...
References
External links
*
Old Students Association webpage
{{authority control
Secondary schools in Warrington
Educational institutions established in the 1590s
1590s establishments in England
Academies in Warrington
Schools with a royal charter
Training schools in England