Skegness Grammar School

Infobox UK school
name = Skegness Grammar School


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motto = "Murus Aeneus Conscientia Sana"
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established = 1933 (at current site)
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closed =
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type = Selective Day and Boarding Grammar
religion = Secular and non-denominational
president =
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head = Mr Roy Ballantyne
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founder = William de Waynflete 1483
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specialist = Sixth Form Centre
Sports College
Mathematics and Computing College
specialist_pl =
street = Vernon Road
city = Skegness
county = Lincolnshire
country = ENG
postcode = PE25 2QS
LEA =
ofsted = 120696
staff =
enrollment = 799
gender = Co-educational
lower_age = 11
upper_age = 19 (in certain cases)
houses = Lumley
Magdelen
Newton
Tennyson
colours = Bottle Green and Gold
publication =
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website = http://www.skegnessgrammar.lincs.sch.uk/index.php
website_name = Skegness Grammar Website

Skegness Grammar School is a selective grammar school, a sixth form centre and a specialist school with two disciplines, firstly as a sport college and since 2006 also a mathematics and computing college, located in Skegness Lincolnshire for children aged between eleven and eighteen. Selection to the school roll is by Lincolnshire's eleven plus examination or, in the case of boarders by entry test or personal interview.

The current school roll consists of 799 pupils including the sixth forms whilst the sixth form consists of 204 pupils. Unusually for a state grammar school it is able to offer a local boarding facility for around seventy state boarding children who do not live locally, or whose parents are required to work away from Lincolnshire or abroad.

Originally founded over five hundred years ago by a notable Lord High Chancellor of England, Skegness Grammar School was the very first British secondary school to be awarded Grant Maintained status by the government in 1988. The school has been classed as a High Performing Specialist School, due to the progress the students have made over the five years of compulsory education in years seven to eleven. Formal evaluation of the recent Sixth Form results has shown that they have established and maintained excellent teaching standards that have led to equally high levels of progress. The school is proud that most of its students have chosen to stay at the school for the on site Sixth Form to complete their studies.

The school’s name is frequently shortened by pupils, teachers and local residents to ‘TSGS’ for "The Skegness Grammar School".

History

Magdalen School

In 1483 William Waynflete also called William of Wainfleet later the Bishop of Winchester, Provost of Eton College and Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain founded Magdelen College School in his home town of Wainfleet to act as a satellite feeder school for Magdelen College at Oxford University that he had also founded. There is also a school named after him at Waynflete School in Portland, Maine, USA.

Four hundred and fifty years later in 1933 Magdelen College School closed its Wainfleet facility and relocated to Skegness where it was renamed Skegness Grammar School.

Boarding at the School

Since 1991 the school has been able to offer state boarders accommodation in the school’s Wainfleet Hall boarding facility on Low Road, Wainfleet. The house can accommodate up to seventy boarders. The only other school in the county that can accommodate boarders is De Aston Comprehensive School, Market Rasen. The Skegness Grammar's boarding facility is run on behalf of the school by the husband and wife team of Mr and Mrs V Camp.

Boarding fees currently range between £5,820 - £6,930 per annum and flexible boarding is available on request. For a family that strongly desires a Grammar School education for a child, that is not available in their own area, Skegness would appear to be a possible solution.

A ‘buddy’ system is used at Wainfleet Hall to make new boarders feel at home and pre-school open days are arranged.

chool Houses

The school is organised into four houses all named after historically prominent people or famous Lincolnshire men:

Lumley - named after Lord Lumley, Earl of Scarborough who was a landowner and local Member of Parliament responsible for helping to establish Skegness as a major Victorian holiday resort through the building of fine buildings and arranging for the arrival of the railway in the town.

Magdelen - named after the biblical character and favourite disciple of Jesus, Mary Magdalene and was the name used by the school's founder for the original school Magdelen College School in Wainfleet

Newton - named after Lincolnshire's famous son Sir Isaac Newton, FRS (4 January 1643ndash 31 March 1727) who was an English physicist, mathematician, astronomer, natural philosopher, alchemist and theologian.

Tennyson - named after locally born Alfred Lord Tennyson (6 August 1809 – 6 October 1892) who was Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom and one of the most popular classical English poets of all time.

Jeffery - During the academic year 2007/2008 the roll intake was sufficiently large to produce a fifth year nine form. The additional form was allocated to a newly created house named "Jeffery". It is understood that for 2008/2009 the form will progress into year ten with the same house name.Fact|date=August 2008

Grant Maintained

The Education Reform Act of 1988 introduced the concept of Grant-maintained schools which shifted the school funding away from the local education authority to direct grant support by central government. Skegness Grammar was the first school in the UK to both apply for and be awarded grant maintained status.

The grant maintained system was dis-established by the new Labour government in 1998 and schools were offered the choice of returning to local education authority funding or opting for foundation status.

pecialist College status

In 2004 Skegness Grammar was awarded specialist school status as a Sports College. The new sports facilities provided include a multi use "astroturf all weather pitch", sports hall, four tennis courts and eight mini courts, cricket nets, sports pavilion and climbing wall. As a Sports College the available facilities are up to date and second to none. The college was awarded the prestigious Sportsmark in 2006 and 2007 as well as becoming a Coach Centre of Excellence. Skegness is now the hub school for the Lincolnshire Coastal Sports Partnership with a membership of 8 Secondary and 32 Primary and Special Schools.

Two years later in 2006 a second speciality was added to the school when it was granted specialist status as a Mathematics and Computing College. Continuing investment in modern teaching facilities that support the high quality of teaching and learning has remained a high priority for the school. Modern technology is used to underpin teaching and learning across the curriculum and the school has added three recently modernised and refurbished ICT suites. Recently a new Conference Centre with state of the art video conferencing facilities for pupils has been added

The School today

ixth Form Centre

The latest addition to the school, a dedicated sixth form centre, has been recently opened on the site to house students in years twelve and thirteen with separate study and common room facilities.

The school ethos

The school states that:

‘’ Our traditional grammar school curriculum is enhanced by a wide range of extracurricular and enrichment programmes and enables our pupils to apply for the top courses at the top universities. We are proud of our school and its long record of past achievements but our focus is firmly on our current pupils, the challenges facing them and our responsibility to equip them to meet the demands of a rapidly changing world.’’

Two Anniversaries

In 2008 Skegness Grammar School will celebrate the school's seventy fifth anniversary of the move from Wainfleet to Skegness and the 525th anniversary of its original founding.

Results

In the 2006 school league table results for secondary schools in the county of Lincolnshire, the school came 5th out of 35 for attainment at A level/AS level. The school also ranked 7th in the whole of the East Midlands region.

Ofsted

Following the Ofsted inspection in 2000 the school was awarded the Ofsted gold standard. Following the inspection in 2004, the school received a first class award.

Ofsted specifically commented:

"TSGS is renowned across the county and beyond for its academic success and for the development of well rounded, inspired and motivated individuals. This was widely commented on in our last Ofsted report. An emphasis on high academic standards and strong discipline but with a wide range of sporting and other activities. It receives able pupils who are keen to do well and the school is particularly successful in creating an orderly and productive environment where standards of behaviour are excellent and relationships very good." (Ofsted 2004)

In the most recent 2008 Ofsted report Skegness Grammar received a Grade 1 assessment for the school's performance and Grade 2 for both the boarding facility and the sixth form.

chool Badge

The school badge is the Coat of Arms of the Earldom of Scarbrough. It depicts an "Escutcheon Argent" bearing "Fess Gules" with three "Hunting Hawks", the crest depicts a "Cormorant astride a crown". Its meaning is:

* The "escutcheon" is the shield and the colour "argent" or white represents "Peace and sincerity".

* The "fess" is the broad cross band and its colour of "gules" or red stands for "Military fortitude and strength".

* The three hunting hawks stands for "One who fears not to signal his approach in peace or war".

* The cormorant astride the crown depicts a "Swift striking warrior and conqueror of foreign kingdoms".

Notable alumni

* Jack Cotton (professional footballer with Lincoln City F.C.)
* Adam Millson (professional footballer with Boston United F.C.)
* Neil Wallis, deputy editor of the News of the World, former editor of the Sunday People.

References

ee also

* [http://www.skegnessgrammar.lincs.sch.uk Skegness Grammar School]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/bsp/hi/education/06/school_tables/secondary_schools/html/925_5400.stm BBC - Skegness Grammar School exam results]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/3327807.stm BBC - Grammar schools dominate the league tables]
* [http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/portal/site/Internet/menuitem.7c7b38b14d870c7bb1890a01637046a0/?event=getReport&urn=120696&inspectionNumber=313719&providerCategoryID=8192&fileName=\\school\\120\\s5rti_120696_20080620.xml-The TSGS's latest Ofsted report (May 2008)]