Harrogate Grammar School
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| Harrogate Grammar School | |
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Arx Celebris Fontibus
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| Location | |
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| Arthurs Avenue, Harrogate, North Yorkshire, HG2 0DZ GBR |
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| Information | |
| Principal | Mr. Richard Sheriff |
| Students | 1,740 |
| Faculty | 120 |
| Type | Comprehensive |
| Established | 1903 |
| Information | 01423 531127 |
| Sixth form | 460 |
| admin@hgs.n-yorks.sch.uk | |
| Fax | 01423 521325 |
| Homepage | 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.
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[edit] 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.
[edit] 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.
Sporting facilities are presently undergoing a refurbishment programme. The boys changing facilities were improved in 2007 and work is currently being carried out on both gyms with plans for a new fitness suite.
[edit] 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.
[edit] Motto
The school shares its motto with the town of Harrogate. "Arx Celebris Fontibus" translates from Latin as "Citadel famous for its springs".
[edit] Sport
Physical Education is compulsory from Year 7-11. There is the option to take the subject for GCSE and A-level. Students have the option to gain a Junior Sports Leader Award or Step into Sport qualification.
Extra-curricular sport available currently includes:
- Rugby
- Football
- Netball
- Hockey
- Badminton
- Tennis
- Cricket
- Athletics
- Cross Country Running
- Basketball
- Aussie Rules Football
- Indoor Hockey
[edit] 2007-2008 Season Review
The Year 7 and 8 Boy's Rugby teams have made it to the national finals at Twickenham Stadium for the first time after both won their regional sections. The Year 7 and 8 Boys football teams both won the Area Cup Competition.
The Under 18 Netball team finished in the last six of the country having reached the national finals in Bournemouth. The Year 10 girls have formed a Rugby team to compete in the North Yorkshire Youth Games. A girls cricket club will start this season.
[edit] 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]. There is also the option to retake Maths and English GCSE if students choose to.
The Sixth form includes a study centre, 19 classrooms and also 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.
The Sixth form is however slightly too small for the huge number, therefore it is known that students will access the Library for extra space or ICT rooms.
[edit] Student Representative team
The team consists of:
Head Boy: James Auckland
Head Girl: Emily Parton
Deputy Boys: Daniel Dodson, Harry Taylor
Deputy Girls: Emily Simmons, Jess Gilbert
Senior Prefects: Jo Frith, Sandra Boye, Sam Cox, Zoe Winston, Joel Smith, Dan Birch, Tom Munro, Jade Cawthorne, Matthew Day, Rosie Locke, Afreen Rahman,
[edit] House System
The School operates a House system. The School originally introduced the House system in the 1950's but it was then scrapped for a variety 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.
[edit] 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.
[edit] 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.
[edit] 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]
[edit] Charity Work
The school is involved with fundraising for charitable causes and raises several thousand pounds each year. The annual charity is selected by a charities committee composed of a selection of staff and students. The same committee organises and oversees the school's fundraising activities.
The main fundraising event in the school year is the "charities week", when a variety of fundraising activities take place. Previous activities have included a talent show, teachers' fashion show, a Stars in Their Eyes-style competition, bake sale and sponsored hair shaving. Traditionally a sponsored stay awake where pupils attempt to remain awake over night in the school is the closing event of the charities week.
In the past the school has supported the following charities:
- Send a Cow appeal - 2006
- Teenage Cancer Trust - 2007
- Lights For Learning - 2008
[edit] Ofsted
In the most recent OFSTED inspection, the school gained an "outstanding" grade.
[edit] 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)
- Phil Swainston - England Youth International, member of Leeds Carnegie Academy and Harrogate Rugby Club 1st XV Squad member
[edit] Achievement links
[edit] References
- ^ Pupils flee as blaze hits hall - Harrogate Today
- ^ Harrogate Grammar School History. Retrieved on 2007-02-05.
- ^ Harrogate Grammar School. Retrieved on 2007-02-03.
- ^ Education Bullying victim paid £6,000 by council. Retrieved on 2007-02-03.
- ^ 58 (Harrogate) Squadron History. Retrieved on 2007-02-05.
- ^ Major Blaze at Grammar School. Retrieved on 2007-02-05.
