Loughborough Grammar School

Infobox UK school
name = Loughborough Grammar School


size =
dms = yes
motto = "Vires Acquirit Eundo"
(Latin: "We Gather Strength As We Go")
motto_pl =
established = 1495
approx =
closed =
c_approx =
type = Independent
religion = Christian
president = Prof. R. J. Mair
head_label = Headmaster
head = Paul B. Fisher MA
r_head_label = Chaplain
r_head = Canon Tony Cox
chair_label = Chairman of Governors
chair = H. M. Pearson
founder = Thomas Burton
founder_pl =
specialist =
street = Burton Walks
city = Loughborough
county = Leicestershire
country = England flagicon|England
postcode = LE11 2DU
phone = [phone]
fax = [phone]
LEA =
ofsted =
staff = c.100 full-time
enrollment = c.1200
gender = Boys
lower_age = 10
upper_age = 18
houses = Abney, Yates, Pulteney and Davys
colours = Navy and Red color box|Navy color box|Red
publication =
free_label_1 =
free_1 =
free_label_2 =
free_2 =
free_label_3 =
free_3 =
website = http://www.lesgrammar.org/
website_name =

Loughborough Grammar School (commonly LGS) founded in 1495 by Thomas Burton, is a selective, fee-paying, independent Secondary school in Loughborough, Leicestershire, England. It is a day school for over 1100 pupils and a boarding school for nearly 100. All pupils are boys. It is one of three schools known as the Loughborough Endowed Schools, along with Loughborough High School and Fairfield Preparatory School. The Endowed Schools share a board of governors.

History

Founding

LGS was founded after Thomas Burton, a prosperous wool merchant from Loughborough, willed money for priests to pray for his soul upon is death in 1495; these priests went on to found the school that would become LGS.

The school moved to its present location in 1850, coinciding with the founding of the High School.

The school celebrated its quincentenary in 1995, when it was visited by HM Queen Elizabeth II.

Campus

, as is the gatehouse [http://www.charnwood.gov.uk/environment/loughborough-statutorylist.html#loughborough7c]

On the western side of Burton Walks are located the Science building (Chemistry and Physics), Murray Building (Biology), Pullinger Building (Mathematics) as well as the Hodson Hall, where most school functions and assemblies are held, the Burton Hall, primarily a dining hall, and the Art and Design department, Sports Hall, swimming hall and the Combined Cadet Force's buildings. A number of houses on this side of the Walks are now owned by the School, including Buckland House, the administrative hub of the School, containing the Headmaster and Deputy Headmasters' offices as well as the general office and reprographics. Others include Red House, formerly used for music lessons but now largely occupied by the Business Studies and Economics departments, Friesland House and others, containing Network Services and the Bursary. Both the Headmaster of the Grammar School and the Headmistress of the High School traditionally reside in properties on the Walks.

The astroturf tennis and hockey pitches are not strictly part of the Grammar School, but are shared with the High School. The Music School (2006), is also another of these shared buildings, it includes a performance space as well as practice rooms and recording facilities.

In addition to the main campus, the School owns a 70 acre site at the nearby village of Quorn, consisting of sports facilities, primarily rugby, football and cricket pitches.

The school has repeatedly tried to get the public right of way along Burton Walks revoked, citing security concerns; this connects the council estate of Shelthorpe with Loughborough town centre. [cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/leicestershire/4392833.stm |title=Schools move to close short cut |publisher=BBC News |date=2005-03-30 |accessdate=2007-02-27] To date these efforts have been unsuccessful.

Academics

Candidates sit an entrance examination to gain admission to the school, usually at the age of 10, so as to enter Year 7 at the age of 11. However, the middle school system that still prevails in North West Leicestershire led the School to introduce a smaller Year 6 intake for pupils leaving their primary schools after Year 5, as happens in a middle school system. There is also a 13+ exam, for those wishing to enter at Year 9, and a 16+ exam for boys wishing to enter at Sixth Form level.

Boys are entered for Key Stage 3 examinations in Year 9, GCSE examinations in Year 11, AS-levels in Year 12 and A2-levels in year 13. Boys usually take 9 subjects for GCSE, 4 for AS-level and 3 for A-level.

In keeping with many other Independent Schools, the choice of subjects at the school tends to be more traditional, although recently Drama Studies and PE Courses in the Sixth Form have been offered.

Extracurricular activities

Combined Cadet Force

Loughborough Grammar School runs a large and successful Combined Cadet Force (CCF), comprising Army, Navy and RAF sections. Major events include the annual Remembrance Parade in Loughborough in November, and the Annual Review in May. In 2003, Lt Col George Beazley was awarded the MBE in recognition of his work with the CCF. [cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/2615961.stm |title=Military honours: Army |publisher=BBC News |date=2002-12-31 |accessdate=2007-02-27] The CCF used to occupy a number of old Nissen-style huts, but these have been replaced with a purpose-built Cadet Force building, part sponsored by the MOD. This was opened in 2005.

Music and Drama

The Construction of a new Music School by the Endowed Schools in 2006 enabled a greater level of cooperation than had previously been possible. An excellent orchestra, choir and a number of swing/jazz bands are amongst the ensembles run at the Music School, and these perform regularly at school concerts and elsewhere. The Endowed Schools Big Band and Concert Band have competed nationally at the English Concert Band Festival, and these bands also tour abroad regularly.

High quality dramatic productions have become a signature of the Grammar School in recent years, and another area of cooperation between the Endowed Schools. The 182-seat Drama Studio, located within the Queen's Building, plays host to a number of plays every year. Recent productions have included Andrew Lloyd Webber's Jesus Christ Superstar and Eclipse. In addition to purely extracurricular productions, the English Department's teaching of A-level Theatre Studies produces further theatrical output; such as Brecht's "The Resisitble Rise Of Arturo UI" (2008) and other devised performances.

In March 2008 students from the LGS and the LHS joined together to put on a performance of Shakespeares "A Midsummer Nights Dream" a cast totaling over 30 students had practised since before Christmas and produced a 'fantastic' production that was sold out on all three nights which is was performed.

port

The major sports at the School are rugby, hockey, cricket, tennis, athletics, football and cross country. In 2007, the boys did very well, only losing one game out of 10 they topped the table and played some outstanding football. Boys in 1st-3rd year have a 60 minute PE lesson and a 90 minute 'games' session per week, with extra training for those representing their school or houses. Boys in 4th-5th year have a 90 minute 'games' session each week. The School competes in national competitions in these sports, and has a full structure of teams from U12 to U18 level. The senior rugby, cricket and hockey teams have all toured abroad in recent years, including a cricket tour to South Africa. Boys also partake in other sports at a lesser, often recreational, level or represent their houses. These include swimming, basketball, badminton, fencing, football, golf, sailing and table tennis.

There has been a limited introduction of football in recent years. Originally, football was only played in lunch breaks and by members of the sixth form in 'games'. However, a 1st XI Football Team was formed in 1999 and football may soon filter down to lower years. This policy has not been without its detractors; many view rugby as a more 'gentlemanly' sport that is thoroughly enshrined in the school's ethos. However, soccer was once the traditional sport of the school: rugby football is a relatively modern innovation at Loughborough (as befits a sport only developed in the 1820s), and the reintroduction of soccer is far from radical, considering that it was identified as the official winter sport until the 1952 school prospectus ( [http://www.loughgs.leics.sch.uk/archives/frameset.htm LGS archives] ). Football is however the most popular sport among the vast majority of boys as it is by far the most popular sport in the nation itself.

Other

The school runs an active Duke of Edinburgh's Award scheme, a Scout Troop and biannual expeditions, which have visited areas such as the High Atlas Mountains of Morocco, the Himalayas and Greenland. A number of clubs and societies run regularly, including a Debating Society and a school magazine, entitled "VOX". The school also plays Bridge to an extremely high level, and has produced numerous players who have represented the UK in international competitions.

The school engages in regular charity fund-raising events, including non-uniform days and concerts. [cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/leicestershire/3536343.stm |title=Computers help land mine victims |publisher=BBC News |date=2004-03-05 |accessdate=2007-02-27]

House System

The school operates a house system; every boy is placed in one of four houses: Abney (Green, after Sir Thomas Abney), Yates (Yellow, after William Yates), Pulteney (Purple, after Richard Pulteney) and Davys (Sky blue, after George Davys) and boys below the Upper Sixth have a small line in one of these colours on their school tie, between larger stripes for the school's red and navy colours. The houses are named after alumni. The house system provides internal competition in a number of sporting disciplines as well as quiz, chess, backgammon, bridge and music competitions, with a points system (40 for winning an event down to 10 for finishing fourth) calculating the eventual winner of the Stamper Cup. The Eagle trophy is awarded to the house that wins the most points in non-sporting house competitions.

Alumni

The School has an old boys' association, the Old Loughburians Association (OLA). Notable Old Loughburians include:

* Sir Thomas Abney (1640 - 1721), merchant, Lord Mayor of London and member of parliament.
* Richard Pulteney FRS (1730 - 1801), botanist.
* Rev. George Davys (1780-1864) educator of Queen Victoria, later Dean of Chester and Bishop of Peterborough.
* Joseph Shaw (1786-1859), Academic and Master of Christ's College, Cambridge.
* William Yates (1792-1845), Baptist missionary and orientalist.
* Charles McCurdy (1870 – 1941), Liberal MP and government minister.
* G.W. Briggs (1875-1959), hymn author, author of school hymn.
* Sir William L. Coates, director of ICI.
* Sir Sidney Wadsworth, judge in the Indian Civil Service.
* Clifford Dyment (1914 - 1971), poet.
* Johnnie Johnson (1915-2001) Senior RAF Officer and top-scoring British WWII flying ace.
* A.D. Walsh FRS (1916-1977), chemist.
* George W. Cooke FRS (1916 - 1992), chemist and deputy director of Rothamsted.
* Bob Cort of the Bob Cort Skiffle Group, popular musician.
* Peter Carter (1921-2004), law professor.
* John Stamper (1926 - 2003), aircraft designer.
* Peter Preston (born 1938), former editor of The Guardian, journalist.
* Richard Hudson (born 1939), linguist.
* Tudor Parfitt (born 1944), professor of Modern Jewish Studies at UCL.
* Robin Parfitt (1946-2006), educationalist and headmaster of Danes Hill School
* Stephen Mitchell (born 1949), head of radio news at the BBC.
* Bruce Woolley (born 1953) performer/songwriter.
* Marcus Rose, (born 1957) rugby player, former England full-back.
* Felix Buxton, one half of the dance duo Basement Jaxx.
* Ben Hammersley (born 1976), journalist.
* Tom Frankenburg (born 1989), Adidas sponsored athlete.
* James Hacking (born 1988), professional football freestyler with some sick moves.
* James Wells(born 1988), karate superstarNovelist Colin Dexter was briefly a master at the school.

Trivia

* In 2007, the Deputy Head of Sixth Form, Robert Dockerill, was convicted of making indecent images of a child and five of possessing indecent images of boys in year 7. [http://www.cps.gov.uk/derbyshire/cps_derbyshire_news/press_releases/former_teacher_sentenced_for_child_porn_offences/]
*On 24 March 2006, the school hosted BBC Radio 4's Any Questions. [cite news|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/news/anyquestions_transcripts_20060324.shtml |title=Transcript: Any Questions? 24 March 2006 |publisher=BBC |date=2006-03-24 |accessdate=2007-02-27]
*The school's former Campus Network Manager, Mark McMorran, pioneered the use of thumbprint sensors to register students' attendance. [cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/leicestershire/3997195.stm |title=Register scanner gets thumbs-up |publisher=BBC News |date=2004-11-09 |accessdate=2007-02-27]
* On 15 March 2007, the Loughborough High School for Girls hosted Schools Question Time, in association with the BBC and BT.
* World War II flying ace Johnnie Johnson was caught swimming in the open air pool with a young lady and expelled. It was only after his World War II success that the school then asked him to get involved with them again.
* The 2007 and 2008 House Championships were won by Abney House

Further reading

* "History of Loughborough Endowed Schools" by Alfred White, Loughborough Grammar School, Loughborough, 1969 ISBN 0950074004
* "Five Hundred Years Enduring: A History of Loughborough Grammar School", by Nigel Watson, James & James, London, 2000, pp. 144, E28.00, ISBN 0-907-383-432.

References

External links

* [http://www.lesgrammar.org Official website]
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* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/bsp/hi/education/04/school_tables/secondary_schools/html/855_6012.stm BBC league table report for LGS ]

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