Clitheroe Royal Grammar School

See Royal Grammar School for the other schools with the name RGS.

Clitheroe Royal Grammar School

Motto	Latin: In Saxo Condita; "Founded on Rock"
Established	1554
Type	Selective academy
Headteacher	Mrs Judith Child
Deputy Headteachers	Mr Jonathan Powell (Sixth Form), Dr Peter Halstead (Specialisms)
Chairman of Governors	Dr Andrew Clayton
Specialism	Languages
Location	Chatburn Road Clitheroe Lancashire BB7 2BA England
Local authority	Lancashire County Council
DfE URN	119812
Ofsted	Reports
Students	1290
Gender	Mixed
Ages	11–18
Website	Official website

Coordinates: 53°53′N 2°23′W / 53.88°N 2.38°W / 53.88; -2.38

York Street Building

Clitheroe Royal Grammar School is a co-educational secondary school in Clitheroe, Lancashire that used to be 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 44 years of sharing the school buildings with the boys, the newly-built Girls Grammar School opened in 1958 and amalgamated 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 1 January 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 in York Street and the Main School at the former Girls Grammar School buildings on Chatburn Road.

Uniform

The main school uniform consists of:

Item	Boys	Girls
Blazer	Royal Blue (3 silver-coloured buttons)	Royal Blue (2 plastic buttons)
Shirt	Plain White	Plain White
Tie	Clip on striped in blue, red, and yellow (with thinner stripes for prefects)	Clip on striped in blue, red, and yellow (with thinner stripes for prefects)
Lower Part	Grey, Charcole or Black Trousers	Black Trousers or Grey Skirt
Socks	Grey or Black	White
Shoes	Plain Black	Plain Black

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^[1], while some subjects also require specific grades in related GCSE subjects, where applicable.

Lessons

Clitheroe Royal Grammar School teaches the following for Years 7–11:

• English
• Mathematics
• Modern Foreign Languages
  • French
  • German
  • Spanish
• Latin (Year 8 onwards)
• Sciences
  • Biology
  • Chemistry
  • Physics

(At GCSE level, these can be taken separately, or as a Double Award)

• Humanities
  • History
  • Geography
  • Classical Civilisation (Year 10 onwards)
• Music
• Religious Studies (with Ethics for GCSE)
• Design and Technology
  • Food Technology
  • Resistant Materials
  • Systems and Control
  • Textiles
  • Graphic Products
• Information Communication Technology
• P.E. (Up to two hours a week in year 7–9 and one hour a week in year 10–11, no examination taken)

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

Sixth form

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. 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 inclined towards traditional academic subjects:

• Art and Design
• Biology
• Business Studies
• Chemistry
• Classical Civilisation
• Computing
• Critical Thinking
• Design and Technology: Product Design
• Drama and Theatre Studies
• Economics
• English (Language, Literature or Combined)
• French
• General Studies
• Geography
• General Studies
• German
• History
• Mathematics and Further Mathematics)
• Music
• Physical Education
• Physics
• Politics
• Psychology
• Religious and Ethical Studies
• Sociology
• Spanish
• Theatre Studies

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, which leads to a movement of teacher during the 15 minute breaks.

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 registration begins at 8:50am and lasts ten minutes, and the final bell rings at 3:45pm, or, on a Wednesday, 2:30pm. 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 fortnightly. Two representatives are elected from each of the 20 main-school forms in September, whose responsibility it is to go to these meetings and put forward points about the school. 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) or new facilities. 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. It happens 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 of 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 4 classrooms and 2 store rooms. In 2008, the school was awarded the Foundation International School Award in 2008 and the Full Award in 2009, recognisng the outstanding work with partner schools in France, Germany, Spain and Italy, as well as new links that are developing as the Talking Languages Together group develops.

School Newspaper

The school newspaper, the Royal Blazer was printed three times a year. 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. However, it has not been published since 2006.

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 on a weekly basis. The Main School society is run by the head of English.

Other Student Groups

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

• Drama Club
• Science Club
• Maths Club
• Quiz League
• Dance Club
• Debating Club
• Sport Teams
  • Basketball
  • Cricket
  • Football
  • Hockey
  • Netball
  • Rounders
  • Rugby
  • Skiing
  • Golf
• Music
  • Choirs
    • Junior Choir
      • Girl's Choir
      • Boy's Choir
    • Chamber Choir
  • Instrumental Groups
    • Concert Band
    • Guitar Ensemble
    • Orchestra
    • Swing Band
    • String Ensemble

Notable former pupils

See also: Category:People educated at Clitheroe Royal Grammar School

• William Blezard - Composer, b.1921, Padiham
• Pattie Coldwell - Broadcaster b.1952
• Bryan Cowgill Senior BBC TV executive who devised Grandstand and Match of the Day, Controller of BBC1 from 1974–77
• Martin Dobson - Footballer for Burnley and England
• Ross Eccles - Contemporary artist, b.1937
• Peter Hargreaves - Co-founder of Hargreaves Lansdown, b.1946
• Judith Hart, Baroness Hart of South Lanark DBE PC, senior Labour Party politician, MP for Lanark and Clydesdale
• Michael Hindley, Labour MEP from 1984-94 of Lancashire East, and from 1994-9 of Lancashire South^{[citation needed]}
• Captain James King Royal Navy Officer who saw service on Captain Cook's third voyage
• Sir John Lewis - First principal of Dixon's City Technology College, Bradford; one of the first CTCs in England, b.1946
• Sir David Melville CBE, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Kent from 2001-7, and Middlesex University from 1992-6
• William Slater CBE, President of the British Amateur Gymnastics Association from 1989–2000^{[citation needed]}
• Thomas Starkie - Lawyer born 1782
• Cyril Washbrook - Lancashire and England cricketer and selector.

External links

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