Sutton Grammar School
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| Established | 1899 |
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| School type | Grammar School |
| Students | approx. 820 |
| Ages | 11 - 18 |
| Location | Manor Lane, Sutton, Surrey, SM1 4AS, England, United Kingdom |
| Website | http://www.suttongrammar.sutton.sch.uk |
Sutton Grammar School for Boys is a selective Grammar School in the London Borough of Sutton in south-east England. It was founded in 1899 on a different site (between Throwley Way and the High Street - the area now occupied by a tower block behind the 'Wilkinson' store) and has undergone several name changes. The school has large sports grounds in Northey Avenue in Cheam and acquired a new sports hall in 2005. The present site was opened in 1928. All boys are required to take the "11+" test to get into this school .This enables such a school like Sutton Grammar to pick and choose out the more able students then the lesser able, which in turn leads to better results.
The Headmaster is currently Gordon Ironside who took over in 1990 from Nigel Green, who had a short-lived career at the school after taking over from Peter Collins. The current Deputy Headmaster is Guy Gibson.
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[edit] The School
Sutton Grammar is located in central Sutton, just off the main High street. There has been extensive recent building work, with a Humanities Block, library, DT workshop, Music Room (with soundproofed practice facilities) and a Sports Hall (opened July 2005 by Sir Bobby Robson) being some of the more notable projects. The school used to be known as Sutton County Grammar School and Sutton Manor School (owing to its proximity with the old Sutton Manor).
The school admits students from the age of 11 to 18, or Years 7 through 13 (Upper Sixth) in the English Academic system. There are 120 pupils in each year for the main school (years 7-11) and then slightly less for the Sixth Form, varying year on year depending on how many choose to leave. It was recently ranked as the best school in the country for physics in the Good Schools Guide 2005.
The school operates a successful prefect system with a head boy, senior prefects and prefects chosen yearly. This and other qualities are thought to make Sutton Grammar an attractive option to many Universities around the country; Oxbridge regularly admits 10 or more students from Sutton Grammar and a further 5 or more students are admitted to study medicine, dentistry and veterinary sciences per year.
Entry requirements for 6th form are 4 A grades and 2 B grades at GCSE. Some subjects have specialist requirements in addition to this. Pupils who wish to join the Sixth Form from other schools are required to achieve higher grades and to pass an admissions interview.
[edit] The Buildings
The buildings are constructed from red brick with cavity insulation installed between the red brick and the breeze blocks that give the buildings the structure. The oldest building is that of the main school which has Victorian panel windows and swing-back 'western style' doors.
There are five buildings that make up the teaching part of the school:
The main school: the original building that includes the hall and the recently reconstructed drama studio (which used to be the gym), as well as the multiple science laboratories, English and Maths rooms.
The Humanities block: built in 1997 and containing a large IT classroom and is where history, geography, religious education as well as art is taught.
The sports hall: recently constructed, with modern foreign language classrooms occupying its 1st floor. Opened at a special party day in 2006 by Sir Bobby Robson, who had helped fund part of the hall.
The music and DT block: contains the music classroom, music practice rooms the two DT rooms; one serves electronics and contains its own IT suite, the other is for DT graphics and has a practical workshop with heavy machinery as well as a design suite.
The canteen: was completed in 2006 serving new healthy foods and 'sit down meals.'
In addition, Sutton Grammar School has a large library building, containing hundreds of fiction, non fiction and reference books. The library always has a full time adult librarian on duty. There are several computers in the library for students to do homework and coursework on. The heated outdoor swimming pool is accessible via the main building.
There have been many recent developments in terms of the buildings at Sutton Grammar. The music/DT block, and the humanities block were both constructed on or around the year 2000. the library also dates from about 6 years ago. The old canteen was demolished to make way for the new sports hall and language classrooms, and a new one was built across the playground in 2005/6.
[edit] Sport
Sutton Grammar has a wide variety of sports teams, but places a strong emphasis on basketball, soccer and cricket. The school puts out two teams in each year group from 7 to 10 and for year 11 to sixth form 3 teams of combined ages play weekly. The current school basketball team, self-titled the 'Sutton Spartans' is coached by Colin Leonard and is vying for the National Schools Title as well as competing in the Surrey Men's League. Sports such as cross country, football and rugby take place at the extensive grounds at Northey Avenue (reached by coach).
[edit] Houses
Sutton Grammar has a house system. There are four houses; blue, brown, green and red. The houses are highly competitive, and a number of events and competitions take place where they compete against each other, such as music, drama and football. The hotly contested House Drama trophy competed for by years 7-9 has been two years in the hands of Blue house but was won in 2005 by Red house with their winning performance of "King Arthur and the Knights of Utter Incompetence". The aim of House Drama is for the Year 9's of each house to write, cast, direct, produce and light a play with members of their own house as the cast, and was most recently won by Blue house, only to be later disqualified by the headmaster in his end of year speech due to a joke he deemed inappropriate . The house with the most 'house shield points' at the end of the year wins the highly sought after house trophy. House Drama, House Music and the numerous House Sport competitions contribute, along with the number of 'house points' awarded to pupils for academic achievements, to which house wins the House Shield, which was recently won by Blue house in 2006, despite the events of house drama.
[edit] Combined Cadet Force
Sutton Grammar (formerly Manor) boasts one of the most highly respected cadet forces in the country. Over the years boys from Sutton’s CCF have both served and fought for their country in successive campaigns and wars. In recent years the cadet force has established itself as a worthwhile and modern after school activity for Sutton Grammar’s pupils with the introduction of more external activities, as well as the traditional military programmes; however the tradition of a number cadets joining up for regular service continues. The expansion of the CCF continues with new members and the involvement in recent years of the girls of Nonsuch High School for Girls in the Army section (sponsored by the Blues and Royals of the Household Cavalry) but not yet in the RAF section which maintains all male membership.
The Officer team of the CCF is headed by Squadron Leader Hobbs, an Old Suttonian, ex-head cadet and ex-Head Boy. The CCF continues to thrive under the leadership of this officer team and an annually appointed Cadet Corporal Major (Army Section) and Cadet Warrant Officer (RAF Section) from the ranks of the Sixth form cadets. Ex-cadets are able to stay in contact with each other via the Old Suttonians Cadet Association (OSCA), which is affiliated to the OSA.
Cadet camps are considered the highlight of the Cadet year, with the practical application of the skills acquired from parade evenings.
[edit] The Old Suttonians Association (OSA)
The Old Suttonians Association (OSA) is the membership group for old boys of the school and it regularly fields sports teams and holds reunion events. 2006 sees the one hundredth anniversary of the Old Suttonians Football Club.
[edit] Notable alumni
- Brian Paddick - Deputy Assistant Commissioner, Metropolitan Police
- Lancelot Ware - Co-founder of MENSA
