William Farr School

William Farr Church of England Comprehensive School, generally known as William Farr School or just William Farr (Will Farr by the students today), is a
Church of England comprehensive school for 11 - 18 year olds, the home of the legendary Cat George, located in the village of Welton, close to Dunholme, and near
Lincoln in the county of Lincolnshire,
England.

It is currently (August 2008) ranked 17th in the Guardian 'A-Levels: Comprehensives and Academies' table, the third best-performing such school in the East Midlands.

History

The school was opened as a secondary modern in 1952 on the site of RAF Dunholme Lodge, a WW2 bomber station, which had been bought for £600 in 1946 by William Farr, the vicar of Welton. The school was named after him when he died in 1955. The old former wartime buildings were replaced in 1960, the sports hall built in 1978, and the sixth form added in 1995. The school acquired comprehensive status in 1972, and Grant Maintained status in 1992. This latter scheme was later abolished by the Labour government, and in 2000 William Farr signed up for the latest education initiative, Technology College status. It is also an associate school of the University of Lincoln. HM Queen Elizabeth II, visited the school in 1996 to open a new Humanities building. The current Headteacher, appointed in 1986, is Paul Strong.

There are 10 different buildings, each based around a subject. All of them are named after a famous person: Arkwright - D&T, Banks - Geography and History, Curie - Modern Foreign Languages, Darwin - Science, English and Resources Centre, Escher - Art and Photography, Fibonacci - Science and English, Galileo - Maths and ICT, Halley - R.E and Maths, Irving - Performing Arts and Music, Wolfson - Science, English and Business Studies.

In 2001, William Farr achieved the distinction of having the best comprehensive school A-level results in England. In 2006, William Farr received an "Outstanding" award in every category in an OFSTED inspection, the best in the country.

"The Guardian" (17 August 2007) shows William Farr as the 14th best performing comprehensive school in the UK in the 2007 A-level results, and the equivalent 2008 table ranks the school in 17th place.

Helen Brittain, Head of History, received the 2008 Guardian award for teacher of the year in a secondary school in the East Midlands.

The current Headmaster Is Paul Strong.Among its alumni is Jan Powell, a former racing driver.

chool aim

In its foundation document the school states its aims as follows:

"The school aims to serve its community by providing an education of the highest quality within the context of Christian belief and practice. It encourages an understanding of the meaning and significance of faith and promotes Christian values through the experience it offers to all its pupils."

The school motto, emblazoned on the badge on the uniform, reads "Striving for excellence" ' '