Queen Elizabeth's School (also known as QE) is a co-educational

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) ...

in Wimborne Minster, Dorset, England.

Introduction

QE is an upper school, taking students between the ages of 13 and 18. In November 2014 there were 1,482 pupils, including 391 in the sixth form. It is situated to the west of Wimborne Minster alongside the National Trust's

Kingston Lacy Kingston Lacy is a country house and estate near Wimborne Minster, Dorset, England. It was for many years the family seat of the Bankes family who lived nearby at Corfe Castle until its destruction in the English Civil War after its incumbent ow ...

estate and serves a wide area. Students travel from as far afield as Sixpenny Handley near Salisbury to the north, Alderholt on the Hampshire border to the east and

Blandford Forum Blandford Forum ( ), commonly Blandford, is a market town in Dorset, England, sited by the River Stour, Dorset, River Stour about northwest of Poole. It was the administrative headquarters of North Dorset District until April 2019, when this ...

to the west. However, most students live in or around Wimborne, the main feeder schools being Allenbourn Middle School, Cranborne Middle School, Emmanuel CofE Middle School and

St Michael's Church of England Middle School Colehill is a parish, neighbouring Wimborne Minster, in Dorset, England, with a population of 7,000 (2001), reducing slightly to 6,927 at the 2011 census. History The name Colehill originated in 1431 as Colhulle, becoming Colhill in 1518 a ...

. QE is a Church of England school, with close links to the Minster in Wimborne. QE has a house system of students Lancaster (red) Stuart (purple) Tudor (green) Wessex (blue) and York (yellow)

History

Queen Elizabeth's was founded by

Lady Margaret Beaufort Lady Margaret Beaufort (usually pronounced: or ; 31 May 1441/43 – 29 June 1509) was a major figure in the Wars of the Roses of the late fifteenth century, and mother of King Henry VII of England, the first Tudor monarch. A descendant of ...

(1443–1509), the mother of Henry VII. Her father, John Beaufort, 1st Duke of Somerset, occupied the Kingston Lacy estate in the mid-15th century and Lady Margaret was brought up there. When John Beaufort died he was buried at Wimborne Minster and his daughter set up a chantry to say masses for his soul in perpetuity. Later, in her will, she included a provision that the chantry priest "should teach Grammar freely to all who come thereto". Tithes on properties belonging to her estate were assigned for the payment of the Grammar School's expenses. In 1563 Queen Elizabeth I reconfirmed the provisions of Lady Margaret’s will on condition that from then on the school be known as Queen Elizabeth's Free Grammar School in Wimborne Minster.

Grammar to Comprehensive

Until Victorian times the curriculum continued to centre on Greek and Latin (varied with cockfighting in the 18th century). Student numbers were low until the beginning of the 20th century. At the first inspection by the new Education board in 1905 there were 27 boarders and 37 day boys. By 1929 there were 150 pupils; by 1939, 272; by 1960, 500. In 1945 QE became a voluntary controlled school under the Department of Education. The first 30 girls joined in 1953. Between 1965 and 1975 about 90% of state secondary schools in England abandoned selection and became comprehensives. As part of this sweeping change Queen Elizabeth’s Grammar School merged with Wimborne Secondary Modern and moved to the present site.

New buildings

In February 2006 it was announced that QE School would be completely rebuilt under the Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme. Additional funding was secured by making the new building a demonstration project for sustainable schools - features included a ground-air heat exchanger system and biomass boilers. The school was designed by architects Feilden Clegg Bradley in partnership with Mouchel, and constructed by

Carillion Carillion plc was a British multinational construction and facilities management services company headquartered in Wolverhampton in the United Kingdom, prior to its liquidation in January 2018. Carillion was created in July 1999, following a ...

.''Queen Elizabeth's School Wimborne Redevelopment'' DorsetforYou
Students influenced the design from the start, working alongside the planners. The new buildings went up next to the old ones and were occupied in October 2011.

Academy

On 1 November 2014 QE converted to an academy. The managing company, Queen Elizabeth’s School (Wimborne Minster), is registered in England and Wales: Company Number 8696394. When it became an academy, the school'
unique reference number
(URN) changed t
141526
The old UR
113883
should be used to find historical data such as performance tables.

References

External links

Edubase

The Web site devoted to the boys and girls of Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School Wimborne, collectively known as, The Old Winburnians
{{Schools in Dorset Upper schools in Dorset Wimborne Minster Educational institutions established in the 15th century 1497 establishments in England Church of England secondary schools in the Diocese of Salisbury Academies in Dorset People educated at Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School, Wimborne Minster