Clitheroe Royal Grammar School

Clitheroe Royal Grammar School

Motto	Latin: In Saxo Condita; "Founded on Rock"
Established	1554
Type	Grammar school; Academy
Headteacher	Judith Child
Deputy Headteachers	Jonathan Powell (Sixth Form), Catherine Reeves (Main School)
Chairman of Governors	Andrew Clayton
Location	Chatburn Road Clitheroe Lancashire BB7 2BA England Coordinates: 53°53′N 2°23′W / 53.88°N 2.38°W / 53.88; -2.38
DfE number	888/5403
DfE URN	136390 Tables
Ofsted	Reports Pre-academy reports
Students	1290
Gender	Mixed
Ages	11–18
Website	Official website

Clitheroe Royal Grammar School is a co-educational grammar school in the town of Clitheroe in Lancashire, England, formerly an all-boys school. It was founded in 1554 as "The Free Grammar School of King Philip and Queen Mary" "for the education, instruction and learning of boys and young men in grammar; to be and to continue for ever."

After 42 years of sharing the school buildings with the boys, the newly-built Girls Grammar School opened in 1957, and merged with the Boys Grammar School in 1985. CRGS celebrated its 450th anniversary in 2004, an event marked by the planting of a tree by HRH The Duke of York.

After becoming a Grant Maintained School in September 1991, Clitheroe Royal Grammar School became a Foundation School with a Foundation under the School Standards and Framework Act 1998. Most recently on January 1, 2011, the School converted to Academy School Status under the Academies Act 2010.

Clitheroe Royal Grammar School continues to thrive on two sites, with the Sixth Form Centre occupying the historic buildings on York Street, and the Main School at the former Girls Grammar School buildings on Chatburn Road.

Intake

The Main School intake each year is 120 children who have each reached the required standard in the School's entrance examination, with places being offered preferentially to candidates living within the School's defined 'Catchment Area'. These are then divided into four forms (C, R, G and S), of 30 pupils each. This means the pupil population at Main School is about 600 (120 per year, with five years). Sixth Form entry is based on GCSE performance and takes in around 330 students per year. The matriculation requirements are five grade Bs at GCSE, with at least a Grade C in English Language and Mathematics, while some subjects also require specific grades in related GCSE subjects.

Lessons

For years 7-11 Clitheroe Royal Grammar School teaches:

• Religious Studies (with Ethics for GCSE)
• Design and Technology
  • Food Technology
  • Resistant Materials
  • Systems and Control
  • Textiles
  • Graphic Products
• Information Communication Technology

Students also do a rotation of Personal/Social/Health Education (PSHE) dealing with citizenship and society, among other things.

Sixth form

York Street Building

The school was originally based at St Mary's churchyard, and was moved to the York Street site in 1814, in rooms that are now used to teach Art and Foreign Languages. The school was extended in 1878, and again in 1914, to include what is now the Library. In 2009, the site was extended further to create more classrooms and a conference room. The sixth form centre has a wider selection of courses and is one of the largest sixth forms in the United Kingdom. The courses offered are primarily traditional academic subjects:

Teaching

The school employs around 80 teachers, along with laboratory and IT technicians. The teachers often have both upper and lower school classes on two sites.

Timetable

Unlike many other schools, CRGS does not operate a singles/doubles system. Instead, the timetable consists of five hourly periods per day, with a fifteen-minute break between each, allowing teachers to go between the two sites. Lunch is between third and fourth periods, and lasts an hour. Main School and Sixth Form registration begins at 8:50 am and lasts ten minutes, and the final bell rings at 3:45 pm, or, on a Wednesday, 2:30 pm (12:30 for Sixth Form). Assemblies are usually held every Tuesday for part of the first period at Main School, and less frequently at the Sixth Form.

School Council

The school has a student council that meets weekly, alternating between the committee of four people (chair, two vice-chairs, and a secretary) and the entire representative body. Two representatives are elected from each of the 20 main-school forms in September, whose responsibility is to go to these meetings and put forward points about the school; these 40 students form the whole representative body. These are usually ideas from pupils passed on to the council members in a tutorial period. Often, these relate to fund-raising events (outside of the Fourth Year Charity Committee), new facilities or programmes within the school. A similar system operates at the Sixth Form.

Commemoration Day

Every year the school holds a commemoration day to remember the founding of the school, on St. John the Baptist's Day in the local parish church of Mary Magdalene.

From the Statutes, dated 1622:

We ordaine and be yt a Statute of this Schoole for ever. That from henceforth once every year upon St John Baptists day called Midsommer day in the forenoone there shalbee a Sermon preached in the Church of Clitherow where the Maister Usher and Schoolers of the said Schoole shalbee p'sent before the Governors of the said Schoole and therein shalbee a comemoracon of the foundation of the said Schoole with an exhortation to the said Governors Schoolmr and Usher that they faithfully and diligently p'forme their duties.

Or, modernised:

Let this be a Statute of this school forever. Every year upon St John the Baptist's day (Midsummer's day) in the morning there shall be a Sermon preached in Clitheroe Church where the Master Usher and Scholars of the School shall be sent before the Governors the School and there shall be a commemoration of the foundation of the School with an exhortation to the Governors, Headteacher and Usher that they faithfully and diligently perform their duties.

Language College bid

After failing in the bid to become a Technology College, a language college committee was set up at CRGS in the autumn term of 2005, seeking to get specialist Language College status for the school. Along with the help of members, staff meetings were held on Tuesday lunchtimes. The bid was successful, and the school now receives extra funding for expansions and developments into further language areas.

As a result of the new status, taster courses in Mandarin, Urdu and Russian are being held, which should soon be extended to the local community. The building program has been completed, and contains four classrooms and two store rooms. In 2008, the school was awarded the Foundation International School Award in 2008 and the Full Award in 2009, recognising the outstanding work with partner schools in France, Germany, Spain and Italy.

School Newspaper

The school newspaper, the Royal Blazer, was printed three times a year until 2006. The paper was distributed within school free of charge, and was put up for sale in the local area. Students were encouraged to contribute articles on subjects important to them and the local community. With a readership approaching 2,000 (students, parents, teachers, old boys and girls), it was an important publication for the school.

Student Groups

There are many groups for students to join and be an active part of, including:

Debating Societies

There are debating societies at both the Main School and Sixth Form College. The latter is named "Soundbite," and is run by a small group of upper-sixth students. Soundbite fields debaters to most of the major university competitions including Oxford, Cambridge and Durham, and meets weekly. The Main School society is run by the head of English.

Notable former pupils

• Sir William Addison^[1] (1905–1992), historian and author
• William Blezard^[2] (born 1921), composer
• Pattie Coldwell^[3] (1952-2002), television presenter and journalist
• Bryan Cowgill^[4] (1927-2008), senior BBC TV executive who devised Grandstand and Match of the Day, Controller of BBC1 from 1974 to 1977
• Martin Dobson^[5] (born 1948), footballer for Burnley and England
• Ross Eccles^[6] (born 1937), contemporary artist
• Peter Hargreaves^[7] (born 1946), co-founder of Hargreaves Lansdown
• Judith Hart, Baroness Hart of South Lanark DBE PC,^[8] (1924-1991), senior Labour Party politician, MP for Lanark and Clydesdale
• Michael Hindley^[9] (born 1947), Labour MEP from 1984 to 1994 of Lancashire East, and from 1994-9 of Lancashire South
• Louise Hulland,^[10] radio presenter and journalist
• Captain James King^[11] (1750–1784), Royal Navy officer who saw service on Captain Cook's third voyage
• Samantha Murray^[12] (born 1989), modern pentathlon London 2012 Silver Olympic Medalist
• Dixon Robinson (1795-1878), Lancashire Lawyer, Steward of the Honor of Clitheroe, Landowner, Limeburner, and Philanthropist, resident of Clitheroe Castle.
• Thomas Starkie^[13] (1782-1849), lawyer and jurist
• Jon Schofield^[14] (born 1985), Kayak K2 200m London 2012 Bronze Medalist

See also

• Listed buildings in Clitheroe
• List of English and Welsh endowed schools (19th century)

References

External links

Wikisource has original text related to this article: Royal Grammar School, Clitheroe

• Clitheroe Royal Grammar School - Official Website
• Ofsted - Recent Ofsted Report
• League Table Results - Latest results for 2009