The Minster School is a

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...

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

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 ...

in Southwell,

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated Notts.) is a landlocked county in the East Midlands region of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. The traditi ...

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, for children aged 11 to 18. There are approximately 1600 students on roll. Text was copied from this source, which is available under a
Open Government Licence v3.0
© Crown copyright. It has a small selective junior section (8 years- 11 years) for boy and girl

chorister A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which sp ...

s from

Southwell Minster Southwell Minster () is a minster and cathedral in Southwell, Nottinghamshire, England. It is situated miles from Newark-on-Trent and from Mansfield. It is the seat of the Bishop of Southwell and Nottingham and the Diocese of Southwell and N ...

and other pupils chosen for their musical ability. It has a smaller than average proportion of pupils on

free school meals A school meal or school lunch (also known as hot lunch, a school dinner, or school breakfast) is a meal provided to students and sometimes teachers at a school, typically in the middle or beginning of the school day. Countries around the world ...

, or of ethnic minority origin or with

Statement of Special Educational Needs Special educational needs (SEN), also known as special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) in the United Kingdom refers to the education of children who require different education provision to the mainstream system. Definition The definiti ...

. In December 2011 the School was graded Outstanding by Ofsted, in 30 out of 31 areas.

Admissions

The Minster School is a Church of England school with its roots in the 10th century. It has 400 pupils in the Sixth Form. The Junior Department was established over fifty years ago to provide free education for the choristers of

and has facilities for musically gifted pupils. Canon Blinston was the executive headteacher of the Minster School for 20 years. He served as the Head of Magnus School in Newark, the school with which the Minster School has joined. Mrs White was the head teacher up until December 2013. Mr C. Stevens was the acting head teacher until Matthew Parris joined the school in September 2014. The school is on ''Nottingham Road'' next to Southwell Leisure Centre.

History

The school was founded in 956 and is one of the oldest schools in England. From a gift of land by King Edwy to Oscytel,

Archbishop of York The archbishop of York is a senior bishop in the Church of England, second only to the archbishop of Canterbury. The archbishop is the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of York and the metropolitan bishop of the province of York, which covers th ...

thence was created a Chapter, a Church and a school to teach the singing boys Latin. The earliest named master, in 1313, was Henry de Hykeling. In 1547 the churchwardens petitioned

Edward VI Edward VI (12 October 1537 – 6 July 1553) was King of England and Ireland from 28 January 1547 until his death in 1553. He was crowned on 20 February 1547 at the age of nine. Edward was the son of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour and the first E ...

"that our Grammar School may also stand with such stipend as appertains the like, wherein our poor youth may be instructed" – his Commissioners replied "that the school is very meet and necessary to continue". In 1580 Hugh Baskafield, the Master, was discharged by the Chapter as "he had notoriously slacked and neglected his duties" while William Neep in 1716 ordered the school's rules to be written in English after abolishing the Latin version. The 1944 Education Act determined the Governors to seek "Aided Status". The fund-raising at that time suggested that this school's life would run from 956 A.D. to 2956 A.D. Once a

selective school A selective school is a school that admits students on the basis of some sort of selection criteria, usually academic. The term may have different connotations in different systems and is the opposite of a comprehensive school, which accepts all s ...

, known as Southwell Minster Collegiate Grammar School, and more recently until amalgamation with the local comprehensive known simply as Southwell Minster Grammar School. When comparatively small (intake was only about 35 per year during the 1960s), the school was in Minster Chambers, but those premises were vacated in 1964 for a site further down Church Street on the south-eastern side of the Minster. Upon amalgamation, this site, some considerable distance from the Nottingham Road site, became difficult to integrate into the life of the much bigger school. With the decision to concentrate redevelopment at Nottingham Road the Church Street site was sold. As the 1964 premises had been built upon the site of a Roman Villa an opportunity has arisen to restore this location. Amalgamation continued the school's traditional strengths and the school obtained specialist status in

music Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspect ...

and

humanities Humanities are academic disciplines that study aspects of human society and culture. In the Renaissance, the term contrasted with divinity and referred to what is now called classics, the main area of secular study in universities at the t ...

. Previously a

voluntary aided school A voluntary aided school (VA school) is a state-funded school in England and Wales in which a foundation or trust (usually a religious organisation), contributes to building costs and has a substantial influence in the running of the school. In mo ...

, in December 2018 the school converted to academy status.

Buildings

In April 2006, work began on a new £34m school building. On 16 July 2008,

Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex and Forfar, (Edward Antony Richard Louis; born 10 March 1964) is a member of the British royal family. He is the youngest child of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and the youngest sibl ...

officially opened the new school building, in operation since September 2007. The Minster School won the 2009 RIBA Sorrell Foundation Schools Award due to the highly functional design of the school. It no longer has boarding facilities.

Old Southwellians

* Andrew Cooney, previously the youngest man to walk to the

South Pole The South Pole, also known as the Geographic South Pole, Terrestrial South Pole or 90th Parallel South, is one of the two points where Earth's axis of rotation intersects its surface. It is the southernmost point on Earth and lies antipod ...

. *

Paul Franks Paul John Franks (born 3 February 1979) is a former English professional cricketer. He played a single One Day International (ODI) as a right-arm pace bowler for England, and had a long career in county cricket for Nottinghamshire. Playing c ...

, cricketer *

Charles Harrison Charles Harrison may refer to: * Charles Harrison (artist) (1942-2009), British Conceptual artist & member of the artist group Art & Language * Charles Harrison (Australian politician) (1915–1986), member of the South Australian House of Assembly ...

, organist *

Mathew Horne Mathew Frazer Horne (born 6 September 1978) is an English actor, comedian, television presenter and narrator. He is best known for appearing on several BBC sketch shows and sitcoms, most notably ''Gavin & Stacey'' (as Gavin Shipman), ''The C ...

, actor and comedian * Tom Ryder, rugby player *

Marie Toms Marie Louise Toms (born 8 December 1979) is a British waterskier. She was a member of the British Waterski Team from 1991 to 2004, after which she took a break from the sport, returning in 2007 to win the British National Slalom Championship in th ...

, former British Waterski champion *

Hayley Turner Hayley Turner (born 3 January 1983) is an English jockey who competes in flat racing. Originally from Nottingham, she is based in Newmarket. In 2008 Turner became the first woman to ride 100 UK flat race winners during a calendar year. She ...

, British jockey *

Sian Welby Sian or Siyan may refer to: __NOTOC__ People *Siân, a Welsh girl's name; list of people with this name Places *Sian, Iran (disambiguation), various places in Iran *Sian, Russia, a rural locality in Amur Oblast, Russia *Xi'an, China, formerly roman ...

, TV presenter and columnist * Ben Inman, singer and composer

Southwell Minster Collegiate Grammar School

* Frederick Hutton, scientist *

Henry Fynes Clinton Henry Fynes Clinton (14 January 1781 – 24 October 1852) was an English classical scholar, chronologist and Member of Parliament. Life He was born in Gamston, Nottinghamshire, the eldest son of Rev. Charles Fynes, prebendary of Westminster ...

Alvin Stardust Bernard William Jewry (27 September 1942 – 23 October 2014), known professionally as Shane Fenton and later as Alvin Stardust, was an English rock singer and stage actor. Performing first as Shane Fenton in the 1960s, Jewry had a moderately s ...

William Hodgson Barrow William Hodgson Barrow (1 September 1784 – 29 January 1876) was an English Conservative politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1851 to 1874. Barrow was the son of the Rev. Richard Barrow, of Southwell and his wife Mary Hodgkinson, dau ...

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

(MP) for South Nottinghamshire 1851–1874. * The Rev. William Williams. *

Vaughan Grylls Vaughan Grylls is a British artist, photographer, and author. Known for his fine art photography and sculptures, Grylls first received recognition for his 1960s pun-sculptures and, later, for his 1980s photography and panoramic photo collages. ...

, artist and educationalist

References

Notes

Citations

Bibliography

External links

*
Old Southwellians' Society

Architects of new buildings

EduBase

Most Recent Ofsted Report, Dec. 2011
{{DEFAULTSORT:Minster School, Southwell Choir schools in England Secondary schools in Nottinghamshire Church of England secondary schools in the Diocese of Southwell and Nottingham Primary schools in Nottinghamshire Academies in Nottinghamshire Southwell, Nottinghamshire