Lady Manners School

Infobox UK school
name = Lady Manners School


size = 134px
latitude = 53.20601
longitude = -1.68362
dms = dms
motto = "Pour y Parvenir"
motto_pl =
established = 1636
approx =
closed =
c_approx =
type = State rural comprehensive
religion =
president =
head_label = Headteacher
head = Mr A Duncan Meikle
r_head_label =
r_head =
chair_label =
chair =
founder = Grace, Lady Manners
founder_pl =
specialist =
specialist_pl =
street = Shutts Lane
city = Bakewell
county = Derbyshire
country = England
postcode = DE45 1JA
LEA = Derbyshire
ofsted = 112996
staff =
enrollment = 1461
gender = Coeducational
lower_age = 11
upper_age = 18
houses =
colours =
publication =
free_label_1 =
free_1 =
free_label_2 =
free_2 =
free_label_3 =
free_3 =
website = http://www.ladymanners.net/
website_name =

Lady Manners School is an English secondary school situated in Bakewell, a market town in the Peak District National Park. It was founded on 20th May 1636 by Grace, Lady Manners, who lived at Haddon Hall, the current home of Lord and Lady Edward Manners, and has also in the past been known as the Bakewell Grammar School. It is now a member of the Peak 11 group of secondary schools in the Peak District.

According to the report of the 2005 inspection of the school by Robin Coulthard, which rates the school as "outstanding","Lady Manners provides its students with an excellent education. Standards are high and students achieve very well as a result of teaching that is very good in the main school and excellent in the sixth form" - 2005 OFSTED Report [http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/reports/112/112996.pdf]

History

Lady Manners has a long history of providing education in the Peak District area. It began as a boys' school, but later changed to admit girls as well. It was a successful grammar school, but later changed to become a comprehensive school. Nevertheless, it retains much of the character of a grammar school.

Beginnings

In May 1636 Grace, Lady Manners bought some land at Elton which was to provide an annual income of £15 for "the mayntayninge of a Schoolemaister for ever to teach a free Schoole within the Townshippe of Bakewell, for the better instructinge of the male children of the Inhabitants of Bakewell and Great Rowsley aforesaid..."

The schoolmaster would "be appointed by the Lords of the Manor of Haddon, in the said Countie of Derby, being the heires or posteritie of the said Grace, Ladie Manners..." and as with the Pursglove Grammar School in Tideswell, the deed stipulated that the schoolmaster was to remain unmarried, and "if the said Schoolemaister shall at any time afterward marry, or shall live disorderly or scandalously, that then the said Schoolemaister shall have noe benefitt by the said Annuitie or rente charge, but shall be displaced from the said Schoole". Additional to his annuity, the schoolmaster was permitted to take a registration fee of a shilling for each new boy. Additionally the schoolmaster would have received a pay rise following Grace's death as her 1649 will allowed for the all the monies generated by the land at Elton to be used for school use (during her life she had kept 25% of the income). The school is first referred to as a "Grammer Schoole" in her will.

The original school day ran from 7 to 11 a.m. and 1 to 5 p.m. "except Sundays and holidays".

19th Century

In 1806 the schoolmaster, Rev. M. Chapman handed over to the Rev. J. Browne who was appointed by the Duke of Rutland receiving an annual salary of £50 and, for a while, the school became known as "Mr. Browne's".

Up until now, the school had shared accommodation with the older Chantry School, South Church Street, Bakewell. In 1826, the school moved around the corner to The Old Town Hall, King Street. The Old Town Hall had been built in 1709 and, as well as being Town Hall, and Buttermarket, the upper floor had been used for Court and Quarter Sessions.

In 1846 Rev. T. Hurst, a graduate of Pembroke College, Cambridge, and a curate at the Parish Church, took over as schoolmaster.

According to White's Directory of Derbyshire (1857) [http://www.n.f.wilson.btinternet.co.uk/474-488.htm White's 1857 Directory of Derbyshire, pages 474-488] at n.f.wilson.btinternet.co.uk (accessed 15 November 2007)] -

Under "Charities", White's Directory adds "Lady Manners, in 1637, left a rent charge of £15 per annum, out of lands at Elton, to a schoolmaster, for the instruction of male children of the township of Bakewell and Great Rowsley. The master also receives a voluntary addition of £40 from the Duke of Rutland, making in the whole, £55 per annum; and according to the revised regulations and rules, 20 youths are admitted on the foundation, on the payment of 1s. for registration, and instructed in English generally, Latin, and Greek. at 5s. 3d. per quarter. Mr. Wm. Kay, L.C.P., the master, has good accommoda­tion for boarders, at his own residence, Bridge street."

In 1862 the school was briefly annexed to Mr. William Kay's private Grammar and Commercial Academy in Bridge Street but remained in the King Street premises. A School Inquiry Report of 1866 states that the Foundation had become "a mere appendage and advertisement to an inferior commercial boarding school kept by the headmaster". At this time "there were then thirty-two boarders, fourteen dayboys not on the Foundation, and seven who were".

When Mr. Kay died in 1874, Archdeacon Balston, then Vicar of Bakewell, and a former Headmaster of Eton, recommended that the school should be closed, and in the absence of a suitable successor the monies from Lady Manners' Foundation should be allowed to accumulate. The school closed in 1874, and remained closed for 22 years. Lady Manners School ceased to exist.

A new start

The Charity Commissioners decided that a new building could be built "to be used as a grammar school by day, earning through its examinations grants from the Science and Art Department, and as a centre for technical classes in the evenings". The new school backed onto Bath Gardens and was opened on 22 September 1896. The school now admitted girls as well as boys - a pre-condition of the County Council's grant of £600 towards the building costs. This was the first time an endowed School of this type had become co-educational.

The school opened with fifty pupils on roll, all between the ages of eight and eighteen. The first Headmaster was Charles J. Mansford, B.A.(London). Subjects taught were Religious Knowledge, English, Classics, Mathematics, Science, French and Drawing. Boys did Woodwork, girls did Domestic Science. The Bakewell Show Ground was used for games. Fees were £2 per head, but this meant the school operated at a loss and so the County Council agreed to fund 12 scholarships.

The school was one of the first to establish a more modern curriculum. An article in "Review of Reviews" (1898) says "Within the school there is a School of Science, affiliated with South Kensington, about one half of the scholars being so classed. Girls are taught exactly the same science, for instance, as boys, and at the same time, in the same room. So far the science taught embraces Practical and Theoretical Chemistry, with Practical and Theoretical Physics". [ [http://www.sciper.org/print/RR1-17-1-17.html "Give Us This Day Our Daily Bread"] in "Review of Reviews", 17 (1898), 63–68 (accessed 16 November 2007)]

The 20th Century

In 1900 two boarding houses were set up, at Dagnall for boys, and in The Avenue for girls, and in 1909 the Old Bath House (now Haig House) was bought as extra premises for Fifth and Sixth Form, and Staff.

In 1919 four acres of land who bought in Shutts Lane for use as a playing field. This remains part of the school playing field today.

The Foundation Stone of new school buildings, on the present School site in Shutts Lane, was laid by the Duke of Rutland on 20th May 1936, on the 300th anniversary of the founding of the School by Grace, Lady Manners in 1636. The new buildings were opened on 24 February 1938.

During World War II Lady Manners School shared their building with Manchester Grammar School who had been evacuated. On a two week rotation, Lady Manners pupils went to school in the morning (including Saturday), and Manchester Grammar pupils in the afternoon. The following week, this was reversed.

In 1972 Grace, Lady Manners Grammar School became a secondary comprehensive, admitting all pupils within its catchment for secondary education.

Traditions

Pupils wear a traditional uniform, which includes shirt, tie and blazer, the latter two of which bear the school's emblem - a male peacock with feathers spread (the peacock was the symbol of the Duke of Rutland, an aristocrat who traditionally had great influence in the Bakewell area). Other traditions which hark back to the school's days as a grammar include the appointment each year of a Head Boy and Head Girl, plus prefects and senior prefects, from among the sixth form pupils, and an annual commemoration service (known as "commem" among students and teachers at the school), held in honour of its founder Grace, Lady Manners. The school also places its greatest sporting emphasis on rugby union, and the first team has had success in Britain and on international tours.

Emblem and motto

The school's peacock emblem is the crest above the arms of the Manners family. The motto, 'Pour y parvenir', is also derived from the Manners family and its translations include "To attain", "Strive to Attain" and "Just do it". [ [http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/132779 Manners arms and motto] at geograph.org.uk (accessed 16 November 2007)]

New Buildings

The school has been repeatedly extended in recent years, from the Cavendish library (named for the family surname of the Dukes of Devonshire, the influential aristocratic family of the nearby Chatsworth estate) in the 1990s to a new sixth form centre and sports facilities opened in 2005. This latest extension was funded partly by the sale of the school's boarding house, Castle Hill, which until its sale provided catered accommodation for school pupils.

Music & the school orchestra

In July 2004 the Lady Manners School Orchestra reached the national finals of the National Festival of Music for Youth and performed in the Royal Festival Hall, London.

In July 2005 the orchestra, conducted by Robert Steadman, was awarded "outstanding performance" at the National Festival Music for Youth Finals at Symphony Hall, Birmingham and in November 2005 they were invited to play at the Schools' Prom at the Royal Albert Hall where the 70+ strong orchestra performed a suite from John Williams' score from "Jurassic Park" and Elgar's "Pomp & Circumstance March No. 1" ("Land of Hope and Glory"') with a 5,000 strong audience singing along and indoor fireworks.

In July 2007 the school's Senior String Orchestra, also conducted by Robert Steadman, was awarded "outstanding performance" at the National Festival of Music for Youth at Symphony Hall, Birmingham performing a programme of Edward Elgar, Robert Steadman and Edvard Grieg.

In July 2008 the music department managed to achieve the unprecedented by having 5 ensembles reach the National Festival of Music for Youth: the School Orchestra (who performed King Arthur a new work written by Jonathan Roberts (a 6th-form student), Nimrod from the "Enigma Variations" by Elgar and Riverdance by Bill Whelan; the String Orchestra who performed two movements from the by Holst, the Prelude from Psycho by Bernard Hermann and Frolicsome Finale from "Simple Symphony" by Benjamin Britten; the School Jazz Orchestra who performed a programme of four works including Birdland; the School Brass Band; and the Senior String Quartet who performed Dvorak and Scott Joplin.

Famous Alumni

*Thomas Denman (1733-1815) - physician
*Colin Heath - footballer formerly of Manchester United, currently playing for Farsley Celtic
*Billy Hughes (1914–1995) - member of parliament and educator
*Peter Lawton [ [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0493387/ Peter Lawton biography at IMDb] ] - actor known for his role as Craig Jackson in Emmerdale
*Sir Maurice Oldfield - former director-general - "C" - of MI6, 1973-78
*Becky Measures - radio DJ at Peak FM
*Cath Urquhart - The Times travel editor (former Head Girl)
*Alison Uttley - Writer
*Laura Wade - Playwright
*Phillip Whitehead - the late Labour MEP for the East Midlands, former chairman of the European Parliamentary Labour Party, television producer and Labour MP for Derby North 1970-83 [ [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article784650.ece Philip Whitehead's Obituary in the Times] ]

References

External links and Sources

* [http://www.ladymanners.org.uk The school's official website]
* [http://education.guardian.co.uk/egweekly/story/0,,1578520,00.html Article by Roy Hattersley in THE GUARDIAN, 27/09/2005]
* [http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/reports/112/112996.pdf 2005 OFSTED Report]
* "The Story of the School of Grace Lady Manners, Bakewell" by R.A. Harvey, published J.W. Northend, Sheffield, 1982.