Colyton Grammar School

Colyton Grammar School

File:Essequamvideri.jpg
Motto	Esse Quam Videri Be rather than seem to be
Established	1546
Type	foundation, selective
Headteacher	Mr. P. Evans M.Ed.(Reading)
Chairman of Governors	Christopher Bastin
Specialism	Science
Location	Whitwell Lane Colyford Devon EX24 6HN England
DfE URN	113555
Ofsted	Reports
Students	801, and 217 in the sixth Form
Gender	Mixed
Ages	11–18
Colours	Blue      Gold
Website	www.colytongrammar.devon.sch.uk

Coordinates: 50°43′41″N 3°04′21″W / 50.728°N 3.0725°W / 50.728; -3.0725

Colyton Grammar School (commonly abbreviated to 'CGS') is a co-educational grammar school located in the village of Colyford in East Devon and teaches students from years 7 to 13 (ages 11 to 18).

The school has one of the finest academic records in the country, and features consistently amongst the top co-educational schools. In GCSE and A-Level, the success rates far exceed national averages and are also significantly higher than the average for other grammar schools^{[citation needed]}.

The school has an open campus style setting situated on a site of over 18 acres (73,000 m²) in total. There have been a number of improvements to the site over recent years, including the construction of a new sixth form study centre, sports hall, chemistry block and arts centre as well as a host of other renovation and landscaping works to improve the continuity of outside areas.

The School has 823 students and 80 staff. Paul Evans became headteacher in 2008, succeeding Barry Sindall who held the position of headteacher for 18 years

History

The school was founded in 1546, by a group of twenty yeomen and merchants who bought some land from the crown "for the benefit of Colyton". Their first act was to endow a Grammar School "for the goodly and virtuous education of children in Colyton for ever".

The school was first situated in a single room over the porch of the parish church until the Feoffees hired a room in the town and the school was moved. In 1612, the school moved to the Church House, which had been enlarged by having another storey built on to it.

The first headmaster on record was William Hull, who joined the school in 1603, for a salary of £5 a year. The first headmistress - Mrs. Susanah Stokes - was appointed in 1792. It was only in 1875 that the school was established as a day and boarding school with its current name - Colyton Grammar School.

On June 20, 1876, school population reached record low of just one pupil. Numbers steadily increased again and by August 1884, there were 33 pupils. School was closed in 1900, due to a lack of pupils. It remained closed for 5 years until 1905, when it was re-opened with a new headmaster.

In 1913, a change in the school's constitution allows girls to be admitted for the first time and the school officially becomes a co-educational grammar school. A Board of Governors - 15 people - was instituted in 1914. In 1929, the school moved to its present site in Colyford.

Recent developments

The school began its development and expansion in 1991, with the technology block (later renamed the Feoffees' Building), housing science, art, home economics and technology classrooms. A new music suite was completed in 1993, followed by the Walker Building in 1996 - a library and resources centre, history classrooms, language classrooms/lab and IT suite. Shortly after, the new canteen opened in 1998 and the year after, 1999, the Sixth Form Study Centre was completed. 2001, saw the construction of the Coly Building - a suite of four classrooms for geography, history and technology. In 2003, an additional IT room was opened. A new Sports Hall - complete with sprung flooring, changing rooms and dance studio - was built in 2004, as well as the re-surfacing of the all-weather pitch. In 2006, a new Arts Centre and a re-built Chemistry Block, were completed. The latest development, finished in Summer 2008, was The Sindall's building, containing an extended sixth form centre, to allow for the new 3-year sixth form. The Sindall's building also houses two new physics laboratories. This has also allowed for the refurbishment of technology rooms and teaching, with three new or refurbished technology rooms and a CAD/CAM suite. The development also included a major reshuffle of room allocations to subjects such as Geography, Religious Studies and History, as well as Technology and Physics, to allow more effective teaching and efficient room allocating. The school now has solar panels on the roof of Take Five, the canteen, as well as developing an eco-woodland reserve to make the school more environmentally friendly. Also a Green Society is in place to help save the world.

The school is involved with the AQA 'English Baccalaureate' but has no current plans to follow other leading grammar and independent schools in the county by offering the International Baccalaureate as an alternative to A levels.

The school, as of 2007, had students taking GCSEs in year 10 as opposed to year 11, allowing for a three year Sixth Form.

On 1st January 2011, Devon County Council ceased to maintain the school. The school became one of the Coalition Government's Academies. Colyton Grammar School Academy Trust, an exempt charity and company limited by guarantee assumed responsibility for this state funded independent school.

• Ofsted School Inspection Report:

"Colyton Grammar School is an outstanding school which works very hard and very successfully to serve its students well. The school has a positive ethos. High standards of attainment and attitude are promoted within a sharing and caring community."

The school has been classified by Ofsted as 'Outstanding' in three successive reports.

• Good Schools Guide 2003:

"Excellent, steadily maintaining its position as one of the strongest academic state schools in the country. Proud students speak highly of the school with an unpretentious confidence. Excellent attitudes and behaviour. Academically outstanding grammar school [which] instills self belief."

• The Daily Telegraph 'Schools Guide':

"First rate academic school; very good teaching. Friendly, purposeful, well-ordered; the school hums with activity and enthusiasm."

• The Independent 'Guide To Good Schools':

"The school's teaching includes active learning, group work, and solving real problems for industry within the curriculum. GCSE and A-Level results are outstanding."

• The Financial Times:

"There are some state schools, such as Colyton Grammar School, which can match the best independent schools."

• Colyton Grammar was the Sunday Times 'Top State Secondary School' for 2006 and 2008, and was named by that newspaper as 'Co-educational School of the Year' for 2000,2002,2006 and 2007.

• The school has been acknowledged as 'outstandingly successful' in the Annual National Report of the Chief Inspector of Schools.

External links

• Colyton Grammar Homepage - Official School Website
• Colyton Grammar School Parents Association - Official CGS PA website
• NAGTY - Colyton Grammar School - CGS @ The National Academy for Gifted and Talented Youth
• CGS Ofsted Report - Ofsted School Inspection Report (PDF)
• CGS Marine Challenge Blog - Commentary on the Y8 marine challenge competition
• Old Colytonians 1958 - 63/65 - Single year-group website