Leicester Grammar School
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Leicester Grammar School (LGS), founded in 1981 is an independent secondary school situated in the centre of Leicester, United Kingdom, close to Leicester Cathedral, with which it has close links. The school's location is unusual for a secondary school in the United Kingdom for its proximity to the city centre, as well as being included in the Guildhall Conservation Area, one of three designated conservation areas within Leicester.
The current headmaster is Christopher P. M. King, M. A. . The school has just over 60 teaching staff and 700 pupils [1], all of whom are day-students. Each student is a member of a house, allowing a system of inter-school competition in sports and other pastimes such as chess, General Knowledge and Karaoke.
Contents |
[edit] Entrance Assessment
In common with many other independent schools, it requires prospective pupils to undertake a series of entrance examinations before they are accepted into the school. The majority of these pupils take the entrance examination when 10 or 11 years old, and these pupils present a large proportion of new students [2]. An entrance examination for pupils wishing to join the school after studying for GCSEs is also required before entry into the school's sixth form.
[edit] Buildings
The St Nicholas Building, referred to as St Nicholas', was the original building the founders of Leicester Grammar School acquired[citation needed]. It houses classrooms used for sciences, including biology and chemistry, form rooms for pupils in junior years, modern foreign language, geography, latin, ICT, mathematics classrooms and The Great Hall, a space used for house meetings and band practice.
The St Martin Building (St Martin's), on Peacock Lane, provides form rooms for the preparatory year as well as art rooms and a design and technology department.
The St Katharine Building (St Katharine's), on Guildhall Lane, is dedicated to the English, history politics and economics departments, in addition to a drama studio for pupils studying drama and theatre studies. The St Katharine Building also contains form rooms for more senior pupils, a sixth form common room and a canteen, which replaced the previous school kitchens near the Great Hall in the St Nicholas building. It also contains the maths office and senior and junior library
The school also has access to other buildings in the city centre, some of which are used by sixth formers for private study, notably a small building situated on Friar Lane.
[edit] Education
Leicester Grammar provides education for approximately 700 (2005/6) pupils aged between 10 and 18, including GCSEs and A-Levels. Some of the rarer subjects offered by the school include Ancient Greek and Latin (which is compulsory for years 7 and 8).
[edit] Houses
On entrance into the school, pupils and teachers alike are designated a house, which they belong to for the entirety of their studies. New entrants to the school are designated to the same house as older siblings. Each house has a colour, which is incorporated into both house jumpers and t-shirts used during sports.
- See also: Leicester Grammar School uniform
There are currently four houses in Leicester Grammar School:
- Vice-Chancellor
- Dukes
- Judges
- Masters
[edit] Sports
As Leicester Grammar School is situated in the centre of Leicester, pupils are transported by bus to various sporting activities in and around Leicester.
[edit] Uniform
Leicester Grammar School pupils are obliged to wear a basic school uniform. Leicester Grammar School also issues an obligatory uniform for sports and physical education lessons, with PE shirt collars being the colour of the pupil's respective house.
[edit] Boys
- Male sixth form pupils are able to wear suits and ties as long as they are deemed presentable to the public,
- Pupils in lower years must wear navy blue blazers, white shirts and charcoal trousers, with a tie embossed with the school emblem.
[edit] Girls
- Female pupils in the sixth form are able to wear smart clothes, including suits, as long as they are deemed presentable to the public,
- Pupils in lower years must wear a skirt in the school tartan, a white blouse and a navy blue blazer similar to those worn by the boys.
[edit] House Jumpers
Pupils in years below the sixth form also have the option of wearing a house jumper- a V-necked jumper with a line of colour (of their respective house) running around the neckline, apart from Masters which has yellow instead of dark blue on the jumper (because dark blue wouldn't show up).
[edit] Performance
Leicester Grammar School has come within the top 200 schools in Great Britain[citation needed] several times in the past few years. The school out-performs local state schools in both results and attendance [3].
[edit] Local Ties
The school is closely linked with Leicester Grammar Junior School, which the Leicester Grammar School Trust was given responsibility to in 1992 by the Sisters of Charity of St.Paul, based in Selly Park, Birmingham [4].
Leicester Grammar School remains close with Leicester Cathedral despite a significant presence of pupils from other faiths in the school. Choir rehearsals, School Foundation Day and Christmas services are held in the cathedral, as well as most daily school assemblies.
[edit] Notable Alumni
Alumni of Leicester Grammar School are known as Old Leicestrians.
- Harry Ellis, a rugby player for the Leicester Tigers and England.
- Luke Abraham, a rugby player for the Leicester Tigers and has represented England U18 and England U21.
- Sarah Teather, a British politician who is the Member of Parliament for Brent East.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Leicester Grammar School homepage,
- A map of the Guildhall Conservation area, including Leicester Grammar School,
- BBC News page, with data on performance and attendance,
- Leicester Grammar School's entry in the Schools Guidebook
| Leicestershire Schools |
|---|
| Comprehensive Schools: Ashby School | Beauchamp College | Bosworth Community College | John Cleveland College | De Lisle Catholic Science College | Ibstock Community College | Longslade Community College | Rawlins Community College | Robert Smyth School | Saint Martin's Catholic High School | Woodbrook Vale | Wreake Valley Community College |
| Sixth Form Colleges: Regent College | Welbeck College | Wyggeston and Queen Elizabeth I College |
| Independent Schools: Fairfield Preparatory School |Leicester Grammar School | Loughborough Grammar School |Loughborough High School | Ratcliffe College |
| FE Colleges: Gateway College | Leicester College | Loughborough College |
| Junior Schools: Bridge Junior School
|
| Former Schools: Rosebery Primary School |
