Penistone Grammar School

Penistone Grammar School is a comprehensive school and former grammar school in Penistone, in the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley, South Yorkshire, England. It was founded in 1392 and its most notable alumnus is Nicholas Saunderson, the probable inventor of Bayes theorem, in the eighteenth century.^[1] The school has undergone many expansions, requiring the erection of several buildings, and now houses nearly 1,600 pupils from age 11 to 18. The school motto was until recently Disce Aut Discede ("Learn or leave"), but a 2003 rebranding changed it to "Learning and Achieving Together". The school colours are red and black, and its coat of arms is the six footless martlets of the Clarel family. The school was rebranded again in 2010, changing the logo to one similar to the Seagate logo, and changing the motto to Never Stop Flying. Its current OFSTED overall rating is grade 3 ('satisfactory') as of the February 2012 inspection.

History

The school was founded as the Free Grammar School of Penistone in 1392, when it is recorded that a gift of land was made by John Clarel, Lord of the Manor at Penistone, for the purpose of a school. Later, the school was situated in the town centre on a site opposite St. John the Baptist Church and across the road from the old Cloth Hall. In 1443 the Free Grammar School of Penistone received further bequests and in 1547, after the dissolution of the chantries, the school continued as the free school for the children of Penistone. Following further endowments, the school was rebuilt in 1702 and enjoyed a considerable period of academic renown under a series of very able Masters. In 1892 the school withdrew from its town centre site to a position about half a mile north-west of the town centre. Around this time the school took boarders. The school remains on this site.

The school was originally an all-boys grammar school. Girls were admitted for the first time in 1907. In the late twentieth century the school ceased to be a grammar school, becoming one of the first neighbourhood comprehensive schools in the country. It became fully comprehensive in 1969, with partial selection (for more distant pupils) for a few years prior to that. The comprehensive school initially retained its Grammar school name and traditions such as the house system and speech night. These traditions were gradually scaled back, with the standard of uniform downgraded from blazers to sweaters in the 1990s. However, as of the academic year beginning 2011, the school has reverted to blazers and restored its traditional house system. The schools history is now encapsulated in a walk way to the new building, with each road named after specific points in the school's history.

Present day

In September 2003 the school obtained specialist status to become a Business and Enterprise College. It is the only maintained school in the Local Education Authority of Barnsley to have a Sixth Form (See below for more details). The school has also received an Artsmark Silver award.^[2] In addition the school has recently been re-certified as an investor in people.

The new £35 million state of the art school building opened on 2 May 2011, with a complete demolition of the old ones except for Fulford and Weirfield blocks. The new building has a range of flexible learning spaces to enable teachers to deliver learning in new, innovative ways. The school introduced a new Vertical Tutoring System where pupils of different ages are spread around to help each other improve test scores and homework. The system has received both positive and negative reviews but continues to go ahead. The outcome of a meeting of the governing body held on Tuesday 28 April 2009 to discuss the name of the Advanced Learning Centre being built in Penistone as part of the Building Schools for the Future programme was to keep the existing name. As well as a complete rebuilding of the school, other changes are also being looked into such as variable times at school within the day, extending learning opportunities within the wider community and increases opportunities of learning away from school and increased use of technology. This fits into the Barnsley LA plan for Advanced Learning Centres (ALCs) to replace their existing secondary schools. The school has now restored some of its traditions, including the full uniform and house system; The houses are named after the old school buildings: Fullford, Netherfield, Bowman, Weirfield, and Saunderson. The new school is said to be much more vibrant and colourful. This is because each block is the colour of a house. For example, the Humanities and Performing Arts block is the colour of Bowman (purple). The colour of the Maths, English and Languages block is the colour of Saunderson (light blue). The colour of the Technology, Science and Art is the colour of Netherfield (green). The colour of the P.E block is the colour of Fulford (orange) and the colour of the 6th Form is the colour of Weirfield (teal).

Penistone Grammar School also incorporates a sixth form centre. The sixth form currently has around 250 students in attendance. Penistone Grammar School is the only maintained school in the Local Education Authority of Barnsley to have a sixth form and so this gives the school an advantage over many of its surrounding rival schools, when it comes to 16 - 18 education.

The future of the old Fulford block is under dispute in 2013, with the council seeking to demolish it and many locals protesting to preserve its history.

The school's uniform consists of a black blazer, with the logo on the left pocket and 1392 on the right lower pocket, a black tie with a coloured bird and stripe (colour depends on house colour), black trousers/black skirt(girls), black shoes and a white shirt. As of December 2013, house captains and prefects wear inverted ties (house colour tie with black bird and stripe).

Notable alumni

• Heather Armitage, athlete. Britain's best woman sprinter of the 1950s. Married name: Young.
• Jean Bacon née Goodram (b. 1942)- Professor of Computer Science at Cambridge, Fellow of Jesus College Cambridge.
• Mark Beevers (b. 1989) - footballer, Millwall.
• John Blackwell - Professor, Case Western Reserve University, Department of Macromolecular Science & Engineering
• Roland Boyes (1937–2006) - left-wing MP for Durham from 1979 to 84 and Houghton & Washington 1983-97. Front bench spokesman for environment and defence. Book of photographs "People in Parliament" 1990. Strong supporter of Alzheimers's Research Trust.
• David Briggs, Emeritus Fellow of Wolfson College Cambridge. 1974-2001: Lecturer in Plant Sciences Cambridge. Author with Max Walters of "Plant Variation and Evolution".
• Katherine Brunt (b. 1985) - cricketer, played for England (and World Cup winner).
• Anne Campbell née Lucas (b. 1940) - MP for Cambridge from 1992 to 2005; Chair of the Fabian Society, 2008.
• Paul Copley (b. 1944) - actor often in Radio 4 radio plays, stereotypically playing a Yorkshireman.
• Sam Ellis (b. 1982) - 2006 European Athletics Championships 800m bronze medalist.
• Alec Ewart Glassey (1887–1970) - politician, MP for East Dorset from 1929-31.
• John Haigh (b 1941) Emeritus Reader in Mathematics, University of Sussex, UK.
• Steven Houghton (b. 1971) - actor, starred in London's burning
• Kieran Hyde (b. 1990) - rugby league player.
• Noel Moore (1928–2008) - civil servant who oversaw the decimalisation project.
• Malcolm A.S. Moore (b 1944)-Cancer research.Enid A. Haupt Professor of Cell Biology, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York ( since 1974).
• Chris Morgan (b. 1977) - footballer, Sheffield United.
• John Porrill - Professor of Computational Neuroscience at Sheffield University
• Nicholas Saunderson (1682–1739) - mathematician and Lucasian Professor at Cambridge University from 1711 to 1739.
• John Stones (b. 1994) - footballer, Everton.
• Rolo Tomassi - Mathcore Band
• Max Walters (1920-2005) 1973-83:Director of the University Botanic Garden in Cambridge, Fellow of King's College. 1948: married Lorna Strutt, a Penistone alumnus.
• Ellen Whitaker (b. 1986) - showjumper and European bronze medallist.

References

Alan Mercer Professor of Economics Dean of Lancaster University in the 1900s http://www.research.lancs.ac.uk/portal/en/people/alan-mercer(798cafbf-ad59-462a-b8f5-2ccc8fd9a627).html

External links

• PGS Archive
• History of PGS
• Penistone Grammar School website
• PGS performance at BBC News
• Bohemian Rhapsody Video
• pgsonline
• OFSTED report