Aylesbury Grammar School
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Aylesbury Grammar School is 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 ...
in
Aylesbury Aylesbury ( ) is the county town of Buckinghamshire, South East England. It is home to the Roald Dahl Children's Gallery, David Tugwell`s house on Watermead and the Waterside Theatre. It is in central Buckinghamshire, midway between High Wy ...
situated in the
English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...
county of
Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-ea ...
, which educates approximately 1300 students. Founded in 1598 in
Aylesbury Aylesbury ( ) is the county town of Buckinghamshire, South East England. It is home to the Roald Dahl Children's Gallery, David Tugwell`s house on Watermead and the Waterside Theatre. It is in central Buckinghamshire, midway between High Wy ...
,
Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-ea ...
by
Sir Henry Lee Sir Henry Lee KG (March 1533 – 12 February 1611), of Ditchley, was Queen's Champion and Master of the Armouries under Queen Elizabeth I of England. Family Henry Lee, born in Kent in March 1533, was the grandson of Sir Robert Lee (d.1539 ...
, Champion of
Queen Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen". El ...
, Aylesbury Grammar School celebrated 100 years on its current site in Walton Road in 2007. It is commonly referred to by its students, staff and others in the local area by the abbreviation AGS.


Admissions

As a selective state school, its entry requirements are dictated by the Buckinghamshire Transfer Test, formerly known as the '11-plus'. The school also takes students from outside the catchment area or out of county locations such as
Thame Thame is a market town and civil parish in Oxfordshire, about east of the city of Oxford and southwest of Aylesbury. It derives its name from the River Thame which flows along the north side of the town and forms part of the county border wi ...
and
Milton Keynes Milton Keynes ( ) is a city and the largest settlement in Buckinghamshire, England, about north-west of London. At the 2021 Census, the population of its urban area was over . The River Great Ouse forms its northern boundary; a tributary ...
, if spaces remain after all qualified in-catchment candidates have taken up their places. The school educates boys from the age of 11, in Year 7, through to the age of 18, in Year 13. The school has its largest intakes at Year 7 followed by Year 12. On completing
GCSE The General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) is an academic qualification in a particular subject, taken in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. State schools in Scotland use the Scottish Qualifications Certificate instead. Private sc ...
s, the vast majority of students stay on to complete their
A-levels The A-Level (Advanced Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education, as well as a school leaving qualification offered by the educational bodies in the United Kingdom and the educational aut ...
at the school's
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 ...
. The school is situated east of the town centre on the southern side of the A41, between
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 ...
(to the west) and Victoria Park (to the east). This site was built and opened in 1907, replacing an earlier building in St. Mary's Square in the town centre, which now forms part of the Buckinghamshire Museum.


Specialist status

In September 1997 the school was awarded specialist school status in Technology, and later successfully gained Science College status as its primary specialism. In April 2006 AGS gained a second college status as a
Language College Language Colleges were introduced in 1995 as part of the specialist schools programme (SSP) in the United Kingdom. The system enabled secondary schools to specialise in certain fields, in this case, modern foreign languages. Schools that succes ...
and then gained a second secondary college status in Maths and Computing in January 2008. The Specialist School programme was ended by the Government in 2010.


Academy status

In July 2011 the school became an
Academy An academy ( Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy ...
.


History


Single sex school

The school was created as a boys school from 1598 until 1907 when the school relocated to a new site on Walton Road, where it remains to this day. One condition, in order to receive funding for the new premises, was for the school to become co-educational. In the mid-1950s the school was rapidly outgrowing its site and so plans for a new school were made and the Council decided to reinstate the single-sex status and in 1959 the girls of Aylesbury Grammar School moved into their new school on the opposite side of the road, now called
Aylesbury High School Aylesbury High School (AHS) was founded in 1959, in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, when the previously co-educational Aylesbury Grammar School (founded 1598) split to become two single-sex grammar schools. The two institutions remain on adjacent s ...
. The current Headmaster is Mark Sturgeon who took over from Stephen Lehec at the start of the 2014–15 academic year.


Houses

Each student is placed into one of six Houses upon starting at the school, students are generally separated from others who they went to the same primary school with. The six houses are:


House trophy competitions

Each year, the school Houses compete in two trophy competitions: The Brodie Trophy (Sports) and The Watson Trophy (Arts). The Brodie Trophy was first contested in 1939 and was named in memory of Mr Palmer Brodie, a popular teacher involved in organising extra-curricular activities who died in a car crash in 1938. The Watson Trophy was first contested in 1968 and was named in memory of Colonel F.W. Watson, a former Chair of the Governing Body and friend of the school who died in 1966. In the current era the two trophies include the following events - Brodie (Athletics, Badminton, Basketball, Cross-Country, Football, Rugby, Squash, Swimming and Tennis), and Watson (Art, Chess, Music, Public Speaking, Quiz and Writing). At the end of each event the houses gain points for their placements and at the end of the year, these points are tallied up and a winner is declared for each trophy. Students have one House assembly per week.


Teaching system

In the first two years of the school, students are almost exclusively taught in their houses (with the exceptions of
Maths Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics ...
and Physical Education, in which pupils are streamed by ability in year 8–9, and by their second Foreign Language choice in year 8–9; until the 2008-09 academic year, where year 7s are now assigned two languages – French and either German or Spanish according to the house (Denson, Hampden and Lee study German; Paterson, Phillips and Ridley study Spanish) and then start learning
Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
in year 8). Tutor groups are also split up into groups of 20 for Design Technology lessons. From the start of the 2018-19 Academic Year, students in Year 9 are taught in teaching groups rather than their House groups. In Year 10 and above, the year group is reshuffled into different classes for each subject depending on their GCSE options.


Academic performance

In 2009, the school achieved the highest A-level results in Buckinghamshire.


AGS in the news

In May 1907 Aylesbury Grammar School moved to its current location on Walton Road, Aylesbury and the new premises, designed by local architect Fred Taylor A.R.I.B.A, were welcomed to cope with the ever-expanding numbers of students. The guest of honour at the opening ceremony was Lord Rothchild who had offered the land for purchase to Buckinghamshire County Council to build the school. As a condition of a grant from the Council to assist in constructing the new buildings both boys and girls were admitted to the new school. In December 1953 damage was caused by a fire, later attributed to faulty electrical wiring. The school fully reopened in the Easter of 1954. The damaged roof was replaced and a new hall, entrance area and classrooms were constructed. On 9 May 2014, boys at the school dressed up as the Jamaican bobsleigh team for their school-leaving celebrations and ' blacked up' as part of their costume. This came to public attention when an image of the schoolboys was tweeted by the then headmaster Stephen Lehec and was criticised for being racist. Lehec issued a formal apology, though in his analysis 'at no time was there an undertone of any act being of a derogatory or racist nature'. The matter was widely reported in local and national media.


Notable people associated with Aylesbury Grammar School


Notable former pupils

*
Will Adam William Adam is a Church of England priest. He was appointed Archdeacon of Canterbury in 2022 and had previously been the Deputy Secretary General of the Anglican Communion and ecumenism, ecumenical advisor to the Archbishop of Canterbury. Educ ...
(b. 1969)
Archdeacon of Canterbury The Archdeacon of Canterbury is a senior office-holder in the Diocese of Canterbury (a division of the Church of England Province of Canterbury). Like other archdeacons, he or she is an administrator in the diocese at large (having oversight of ...
*
Jake Arnott Jake Arnott (born 11 March 1961) is a British novelist and dramatist, author of ''The Long Firm'' (1999) and six other novels. Life Arnott was born in Buckinghamshire. Having left Aylesbury Grammar School at 17, he had various jobs includin ...
(b. 1961) author, left school at 16 * Richard Baron, philosopher *
Tim Besley Sir Timothy John Besley, (born 14 September 1960) is a British academic economist who is the School Professor of Economics and Political Science and Sir W. Arthur Lewis Professor of Development Economics at the London School of Economics (LSE ...
, economist and former Member of the Bank of England's
Monetary Policy Committee Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) may refer to: * Monetary Policy Committee (India) The Monetary Policy Committee is responsible for fixing the benchmark interest rate in India. The meetings of the Monetary Policy Committee are held at least fo ...
* Angela Billingham (b. 31 July 1939), politician *
Rutland Boughton Rutland Boughton (23 January 187825 January 1960) was an English composer who became well known in the early 20th century as a composer of opera and choral music. He was also an influential communist activist within the Communist Party of Gre ...
(1878–1960), composer *
Richard Bracewell Richard Bracewell (born 28 November 1969) is an English film director best known for directing 2015 British comedy feature film ''Bill (2015 film), Bill'', which he also developed with writers Laurence Rickard and Ben Willbond . ''Bill'' was Br ...
(b. 1969), director, producer and scriptwriter *
Jules Buckley Jules Buckley (born 8 January 1980) is an English conductor, composer, and arranger. Personal Buckley was born and grew up in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire in the UK. He is the son of Keith Buckley (a doctor) and Joan Buckley, and attended Ayle ...
(b. 1980), conductor *
Kevin Cecil Kevin Robert Cecil (born 1969 in London) is a British screenwriter. Writing alongside Andy Riley (with whom he has been friends since attending Aylesbury Grammar School), he has won two BAFTA awards, the first for writing the Comic Relief one-o ...
, (b. 1969), scriptwriter * Scott Davies, (b. 1988), professional footballer *
Tom Dyckhoff Tom Dyckhoff is a British writer, broadcaster and historian on architecture, design and cities. He has worked in television, radio, exhibitions, print and online media. He is best known for being a BBC TV presenter of ''The Great Interior Desig ...
, (b. 1971), architecture critic and TV presenter *
John Edwards Johnny Reid Edwards (born June 10, 1953) is an American lawyer and former politician who served as a U.S. senator from North Carolina. He was the Democratic nominee for vice president in 2004 alongside John Kerry, losing to incumbents George ...
OBE (1904–1959), Labour MP from 1950–9 for Brighouse and Spenborough *
David Gurr David Hugh Courtney Gurr is a Canadian writer and author of literary novels and political thrillers. He was born William Le Breton Harvey Brisbane-Bedwell in 1936 in London, England but his name was changed by adoption in 1941. He was educated at ...
(b. 1956), cricketer for Oxford University and Somerset *
Alaric Hall Alaric Hall (born 1979) is a British philologist who is an associate professor of English and director of the Institute for Medieval Studies at the University of Leeds. He has, since 2009, been the editor of the academic journal '' Leeds Studies ...
(b. 1979), philologist *
Tim Harford Timothy Douglas Harford (born 27 September 1973) is an English economic journalist who lives in Oxford. Harford is the author of four economics books and writes his long-running ''Financial Times'' column, "The Undercover Economist", syndic ...
(b. 1973), journalist and presenter * Arthur Hughes (b. 1992), Actor *
Theo James Theo is a given name and a hypocorism. Greek origin Many names beginning with the root "Theo-" derive from the Ancient Greek word ''theos'' (''θεός''), which means god, for example: *Feminine names: Thea, Theodora, Theodosia, Theophania, ...
(b. 1984), English actor and producer * Sam Jones, (b. 1991), professional rugby player for
Wasps RFC Wasps Rugby Football Club is a professional rugby union team. They last played in Premiership Rugby, the top division of English rugby until being suspended on 12 October 2022. On 17 October 2022 the club entered administration, resulting in r ...
* Richard Lee (b. 1982), footballer *
David Millar David Millar (born 4 January 1977) is a Scottish retired professional road racing cyclist. He rode for Cofidis from 1997 to 2004 and Garmin-Sharp from 2008 to 2014. He has won four stages of the Tour de France, five of the Vuelta a España an ...
(b. 1977), cyclist and commentator *
Kris Needs Kris Needs (born 3 July 1954) is a British journalist and author, known for writings on music from the 1970s onwards. He became editor of proto-punk and early punk rock ''ZigZag'' magazine in August 1977 at 23 and has since written biographi ...
(b. 1954), journalist and author *
Christian Purslow Christian Purslow (born 14 December 1963) is a British businessman who is the chief executive officer of the Premier League club Aston Villa Football Club. He was the co-founder of private equity firm MidOcean Partners and was the former managing ...
(b.1963), former Managing Director of Liverpool Football Club, Chief Executive of Aston Villa Football Club *
Andy Riley Andy Riley (born 1970) is a British author, cartoonist, and Emmy-winning screenwriter for TV and film. Riley has written and drawn many best-selling cartoon books, including '' The Book of Bunny Suicides'' (2003) and its sequels, and ''Great L ...
, (b. 1970), author and scriptwriter *
Eddie Robson Eddie Robson (born 20 December 1978) is a British writer and novelist best known for his sitcom '' Welcome to Our Village, Please Invade Carefully'' and his work on a variety of spin-offs from the BBC Television series ''Doctor Who''. He has w ...
, (b. 1978), author and scriptwriter * Peter Rost, Conservative MP from 1983–92 for Erewash and from 1970–83 for South East Derbyshire *
Kevin Sacre Kevin Sacre-Dallerup (born Kevin Bignell on 23 March 1978), accessed 30 May 2007 is a British actor. He is most famous for his performance as Jake Dean in the Channel 4 British soap opera ''Hollyoaks'', a role he played from 2002 to 2010. Earl ...
, actor * Peter Smith, Biologist *
Rob Stringer Robert Adrian Stringer (born; August 13, 1962) is a British music industry executive. He is the chairman of Sony Music Group and CEO of Sony Music Entertainment. He is also a Director of Luton Town F.C. Stringer was listed Second on the 202 ...
, chairman of
Columbia/Epic Label Group Columbia/Epic Label Group was an American record label group, owned by Sony Music Entertainment. The Columbia/Epic configuration began as the "Sony Music Label Group" during the last year of the Sony BMG merger, and was restructured in 2009 to fo ...
, and brother of Sir
Howard Stringer Sir Howard Stringer (born 19 February 1942) is a Welsh-American businessman. He had a 30-year career at CBS, culminating in him serving as the president of CBS News from 1986 to 1988, then president of CBS from 1988 to 1995. He served as chairm ...
* Frederick Taylor, historian *
Shailesh Vara Shailesh Lakhman Vara (born 4 September 1960) is a Ugandan-British politician, who served as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland from July to September 2022. A member of the Conservative Party, he has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) ...
, Conservative MP since 2005 for North West Cambridgeshire * Toby Vintcent, (b.1962), Writer, Politician and former soldier *
Alex Wilkie Alex James Wilkie FRS (born 1948 in Northampton) is a British mathematician known for his contributions to model theory and logic. Previously Reader in Mathematical Logic at the University of Oxford, he was appointed to the Fielden Chair of Pur ...
FRS, (b. 1948) mathematician *
Theodore Zeldin Theodore Zeldin (born 22 August 1933) is an Oxford scholar and thinker whose books have searched for answers to three questions: Where can a person look to find more inspiring ways of spending each day and each year? What ambitions remain un ...
CBE, author and historian


See also

*
Aylesbury High School Aylesbury High School (AHS) was founded in 1959, in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, when the previously co-educational Aylesbury Grammar School (founded 1598) split to become two single-sex grammar schools. The two institutions remain on adjacent s ...
*
Dr Challoner's Grammar School Dr Challoner's Grammar School (also known as DCGS, Challoner's Boys or simply Challoner's) is a selective grammar school for boys, with a co-educational Sixth Form, in Amersham, Buckinghamshire, England. It was given academy status in January ...
* Royal Grammar School *
Sir William Borlase's Grammar School (Follow things worthy of thyself) , established = , type = Academy grammar school , head = Kay Mountfield (since 2018) , founder = Sir William Borlase , specialist = Performing Arts College , address = Wes ...
*
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


Department for Education Performance Tables

EduBase


News items



{{DEFAULTSORT:Aylesbury Grammar School Boys' schools in Buckinghamshire Aylesbury Grammar schools in Buckinghamshire 1598 establishments in England Educational institutions established in the 1590s Academies in Buckinghamshire