Harrogate Grammar School: Difference between revisions
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==Ofsted== |
==Ofsted== |
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We are all really delighted with the outcomes of the recent OFSTED inspection, in which we gained an ‘Outstanding’ grade, the highest possible. This is a tremendous achievement for all involved with the school. We know our success is built upon the partnership between the school, students and parents, and that without that foundation such an achievement would not be possible. |
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In the most recent OFSTED inspection, the school gained an "outstanding" grade. |
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The OFSTED report emphasises our exceptional examination results but also makes clear that the school is just as successful in ensuring that all young people feel supported and safe and enjoy a rich and varied school life beyond the classroom. |
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Our students played a major part in the inspection process as the inspectors spoke to them informally and attended the student Senate. Our young people are fantastic ambassadors for the school and the inspectors were extremely impressed with their attitudes, behaviour and positive view of their school. |
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Although we are now officially outstanding we are certainly not complacent. The next stage in our development is to build on this secure foundation and make HGS the truly world class institution it promises to be. |
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== Alumni == |
== Alumni == |
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Revision as of 20:37, 23 March 2008
| Harrogate Grammar School | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Location | |
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Arthurs Avenue, Harrogate, North Yorkshire, HG2 0DZ Great Britain | |
| Information | |
| Type | Comprehensive |
| Motto | Arx Celebris Fontibus |
| Established | 1903 |
| Principal | Mr. Richard Sheriff |
| Faculty | 120 |
| Number of students | 1,740 |
| Information | 01423 531127 |
| Sixth form | 460 |
| admin@hgs.n-yorks.sch.uk | |
| Fax | 01423 521325 |
| Website | http://www.hgs.n-yorks.sch.uk/ |
Harrogate Grammar School is a specialist Language and Technology College in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England, UK. It has about 1700 pupils and there are about 400 pupils in the sixth form. The current headmaster is Mr. Richard Sheriff who became the full time headmaster of the school in January 2007. Mr Sheriff was appointed to replace the previous headmaster, Dr. Phillip Limbert, who left to take up the post as executive headteacher at two schools in Kent. On the 5th March 2008, the "new gym" roof was badly damaged in a fire at the school[1], which was thought to be started accidentally as there was building work going on around that area.
Early history
Harrogate Grammar School was founded in 1903 as the Municipal Secondary Day School of Harrogate. Its original premises were simply a collection of rented rooms in Haywra Cresent.[2] By the time the school achieved Grammar School status in 1931 the school had long since outgrown its premises as the original roll of 44 pupils had grown to 666. Work began on the 'new' Grammar School in Arthurs Avenue, to which the staff and pupils transferred in 1933.
Expansion
During World War II evacuees poured in to Harrogate from the cities. This swelled the roll at the school to 900, still a small number compared with the current roll of 1337 (as of 2006).
To keep pace with these numbers there have been various periods of building expansion, notably in the 1970s with the addition of a sports hall, gymnasium, music, technology facilities.
In 1973 the school became a Comprehensive School, but the headmaster of the time was not in favour of the comprehensive school system and began a campaign for the school to retain at least its grammar school name if not the status. After a lengthy battle with the local authority the school won its bid to retain its name and is still know as Harrogate Grammar School today.
In the 1980s a new sixth form block was added to the school and has recently been further extended. A humanities building was added in the 1990s. A new-build library and IT suite were opened in July 2006. The most recent addition to the school's facilities is a series of temporary classrooms, added in January 2007.
Specialist status
In 2002 Harrogate Grammar School acquired Specialist Language Status and now enjoys state-of-the-art language-learning facilities as well as the services of six native speaker language assistants each year. In 2006 the school was recognised as an extremely successful specialist school and was invited to take on a second specialism in technology.
Motto
The school shares its motto with the town of Harrogate. "Arx Celebris Fontibus" translates from Latin as "Citadel famous for its springs".
Sport
The school also enjoys an extensive compliment of extra curricular activities which includes Sport.
Rugby union is the School's main sport for Boys which is played every Saturday morning during the season which lasts usually from September to March. Many of the boys who have played the 15-a side game who learned the sport at the school have gone on to better things with Martyn Wood selected for England Under 18's in 1994. He soon became a professional rugby player and played for London Wasps and Bath before injury saw his Retirement from the game in 2006. Most recently former headboy, Edward Pickles has been regularly playing for England Under 19's. Also many boys have gone on to play for the Yorkshire and North Yorkshire County sides. The School teams did well during the 2006-2007 season with the Senior and Under 13's both winning the Yorkshire Cup competition with the Under 16's coming close reaching the semi finals. This year the 1st XV made an assault on the National Cup competition but were knocked out in the third round by Woodhouse Grove School from Bradford. Current player and Year 13 student, Philip Swainston currently plays for England Under 19's.
Football is not quite as popular as Rugby but over the past few years seems to have got a bit more time. Most of the teams are taken by Non-PE Staff. Last season's best achievement was the Under 12 team who had a superb season winning the Area League and thrashing teams, (most notably 6-0 Vs St Aidans) and also going on a great Area Cup run all the way to the final which sadly ended in a 2-0 defeat against St Aidans, whom saw the Year 7's miss out on a double and also a whole season unbeaten. Indeed that defeat was the only the game they lost all year. The team consisted of Dominic Taylor, Steven Townsend, Gregory Mcvey, Rory Hodson, Josh Reaney, Charles Edmonson, Jake Mills,Jake Reaney, Joe James, Tom Blackburn(Leeds Academy), Felix Peach, Louise Swain, Jake Hallet and last but not least Ryan Smith. Other players that did not make the team were Arran Laird.
The School now finally boasts a 1st XI side which was non existent in previous years. The next step in football is to get the sides into the County Cup competition which sadly HGS have not been in lately which considering the talent of many of the boys is a crying shame.
The Girls are starting to compete in the sport as of late and many now play for club sides at weekends.
There have been many honours in the sport for HGS. This year, Year 10 pupil, Luke Garbutt was selected to play for England Under 16's and made two appearances in the Victory Shield competition which England won in November 2007. The Leeds United youngster played a crucial role at left-back in his sides 2-1 win over Scotland.
Jonny Richardson in Year 9 is currently on the books of Bradford City.
Cricket was a success for the School during Season 2007. The Under 13's (Year 8) ended up reaching the Semi finals of the Lord Taveners National Cup. They had previously won the North Yorkshire Cup the previous year while the team had been in Year 7. The following September they beat Leeds Grammar to win the Full Yorkshire Cup competition therefore seeing them qualify for the National Stages representing, Yorkshire. The team defeated Yarm School in the Last 16 before putting out in a shock victory, hot favourites Manchester Grammar School to reach the Semi finals. The team were edged out against Loughborough Grammar School and therefore the dream ended. However the team's achievement will never be forgotten. The team will surely want to do the same thing again next year.
Other sports for boys include hockey, tennis, basketball, athletics and cross country.
The main sport for girls is netball. The teams have enjoyed success over the past few years. In 2005-2006 The Under 16 team (Year 10/11) got to the national stages of English School's in Manchester following success in County and Area tournaments. The same team have gone on to qualify for the national stages again in 2008 which will be held in March 2008 in Bournemouth. Grammar are seen in the Harrogate & District Area as the strongest team. This year they have continued their fine achievement with the Sixth form girls reaching the national stages like they did two seasons back with sisters, Rachel and Amy Garrett playing for Leeds Carnegie and also featuring in trials for England. Since September 2007, the new Year 7 netball teams have also been doing very well on the netball court.
Hockey is also another popular sport among girls and sometimes boys as well. In 2006-2007 The Under 15 girls team (Year 9/10) recently won the Harrogate & District tournament for the first time since 1982. Grammar's hockey team play their home games on the Shale, a ground which has proven to be a frustration for visiting opponents but also for its notorious gravel which during bad conditions such as Rain and Snow can prove to be dangerous as well as affecting the quality of the general game. This means that many of Grammar's matches have been played away.
Rounders, tennis, badminton, football, cross country and athletics are also played for the girls.
In terms of course, Physical Education is offered at GCSE and A-level. There is also the Young Community Sports Leader award for Year 10 and the Step into Sport programme for Year 12/13.
The current reporter for the School's sport coverage is Year 12 pupil Birchy.
Sixth Form
The school has undergone a period of growth in its sixth form and now has a roll of 460 students. The increased provision for sixth form began in the 1980s when a dedicated sixth form block was added. Increasing numbers have meant that the sixth form accommodation has been extended in recent years with the latest addition being a number of temporary classrooms which were installed in early 2007.
Qualifications taught in the sixth form include GCE Advanced Subsidiary Level Qualifications, the GCE Advanced Level Qualifications and the increasingly popular International Baccalaureate diploma[3].
Sixth formers are encouraged at the School to take up roles as Prefects or House Captains. Prefects can then apply for the role as a Senior Prefect. A boy and girl from the Senior Prefect team are then elected as Head Boy and Girl.
The Sixth Form centre also includes a "Luxury" dining facility called "The Gate" which is run and maintained by the canteen staff, it sells various foods such as paninis, bagels and pizza. this dining facility is exclusive to the sixth form.
House System
The School operates a House system. The School originally included the House system in the 1950's but it was then scrapped for a minority of reasons. It was however resurrected in 2001. The Houses consist of: Red, Green, Yellow and Blue.
Students in all year groups from each House system have the chance to represent their House in a large number of Sport, Writing, Art, Music and drama activities that take place across the School Academic year.
The current holders of the House Shield are Green House who were captained to victory in the 2006-2007 season by Phil Swainston and Rosie Green.
Bullying
In 1999, North Yorkshire County Council paid £6000 in an out-of-court settlement to John Carnell, a former pupil who claimed that Harrogate Grammar School persistently failed to protect him from bullying.[4] The school denied these claims and now has an Anti-Bullying Policy in place, which can be inspected on request. In 1999 John Carnell and his mother Liz Carnell founded the charity Bullying Online.
Air Training Corps
On February 17 1939 No 58 (Harrogate) Squadron of the Air Defence Cadet Corps was established at the school by the Air League of the British Empire.[5] The squadron has since moved to separate premises and no longer has an association with the school. However, there are still several students from the school who are active cadets at the squadron.
Fire
At approximately 1830 on March 5 2008 emergency services were called to attend to a fire on the roof of the "New Gym", a gymnasium, measuring approximately 40m by 20m.[6]
Charity Work
Harrogate Grammar School is very involved within its charities, over the years it has produced phenomenal figures, exceeding over £5000 each year. The money is raised from the students and open days held by the school for the public. The schools efforts to get pupils involved into charity work are rigorous and most students take a part in the charity work, from purchasing a cake, to shaving their hair.
Ofsted
In the most recent OFSTED inspection, the school gained an "outstanding" grade.
Alumni
- Jenny Duncalf - Professional squash player: Current British National Championship holder
- Steven Collins - Ex-York City football youth player
- Martyn Wood - Ex rugby professional star.
- Hugo Speer- Professional actor who has appeared in The Bill and Heartbeat
- Jamie Brambleby - Entered for the Physics Olympiad, will support England in the Finals, located in Vietnam. (Source: The Link)
Achievement links
References
- ^ http://www.harrogateadvertiser.net/harrogatenews/Pupils-flee-as-blaze-hits.3852670.jp
- ^ "Harrogate Grammar School History". Retrieved 2007-02-05.
- ^ "Harrogate Grammar School". Retrieved 2007-02-03.
- ^ "Education Bullying victim paid £6,000 by council". Retrieved 2007-02-03.
- ^ "58 (Harrogate) Squadron History". Retrieved 2007-02-05.
- ^ "Major Blaze at Grammar School". Retrieved 2007-02-05.