Hymers College

Infobox UK school
name = Hymers College


size =
latitude = 53.748401
longitude = -0.365094
dms =
motto = "High Merit, High Reward"
motto_pl =
established = 1893
approx =
closed =
c_approx =
type = Independent school
religion = Church of England
president =
head_label = Headmaster
head = Mr. David Elstone
r_head_label =
r_head =
chair_label = Chairman of the Governors
chair = Mr Mike Roberts
founder = Rev. John Hymers
founder_pl =
specialist =
specialist_pl =
street = Hymers Avenue
city = Hull
county = East Riding of Yorkshire
country = England
postcode = HU3 1LW
LEA = Hull City Council
ofsted =
staff = 105 teaching, 20 support
enrollment = c. 1000 students
gender = Coeducational
lower_age = 8
upper_age = 18
houses =
colours = Red & Black color box|red color box|black
publication = The Hymerian
free_label_1 =
free_1 =
free_label_2 =
free_2 =
free_label_3 =
free_3 =
website = http://www.hymerscollege.co.uk/
website_name = www.hymerscollege.co.uk

Hymers College is a co-educational independent school located on the site of the old Botanic Gardens of Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It was established in 1893 as a boys' school, but expanded to include girls from the 1970s onwards.

Hymers today

There has been a steady development of buildings and facilities. In recent years additional land has been purchased, a theatre (opened by and named after Dame Judi Dench), science laboratories, an all-weather sports pitch, and other sports facilities have been constructed. A new junior school has also been built. A swimming pool has recently been added in 2005.The school library was closed in 2001, with the majority of books being redistributed to decentralised 'resource rooms', much to the chagrin of a number of pupils. This was upon the advice of government inspectors, who argued that the library in its previous form was underused.

Hymers College is the best performing school in Kingston-upon-Hull in terms of examination results and league-table position, consistently producing an A2 Level pass rate of 92% (updated 2006 figure). The school often claims to be the 'best value for money' independent school in the country with school bills at about £8,000 p/a. It is a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference (HMC).

In addition to academic success, Hymers students are known for achieving excellence in other extracurricular areas. Mainstream sports are rugby and cricket, hockey and netball and as a measure of these teams it is worth noting that the 2004/2005 1st rugby team only lost to one school on their tough fixture list, St Peter's School, York, including victories over Stonyhurst, Ampleforth and Bradford Grammar School. In Summer of 2005 a 1st/2nd rugby team toured Canada, visiting Calgary, Edmonton and Banff amongst other places. All four matches played were won, including a fixture against the Alberta U18 representative side.

A regular series of concerts showcase the musical talent in the school; highlights in the music department include a tour of the Rhineland area of Germany in Summer 2005 and regular visits by professional musicians and groups to perform with Hymers players and conduct masterclasses.

A masonic lodge linked to the school exists, the website of which can be found at http://www.6885.org.

Army Cadet Force detachment

Unlike most independent schools who have a CCF (Combined Cadet Force) unit, Hymers has its own Army Cadet Force (ACF) detachment currently containing around 40 cadets ranging from recruits to senior NCOs.

Hymers College RLC Detachment is affiliated to 150th Transport Regiment of the Royal Logistic Corps. The detachment is in B Company of Humberside and South Yorkshire ACF.

In the early 1990s , a pupil (who was also a cadet at another detachment in Hull) approached a teacher who had previously been in the army and suggested that the college should form its own cadet unit. Much time and thought was put into the scheme and the arrangements were made. The detachment's regimental affiliation was uncertain, many old Hymerians had fought during the wars in various units but one above all others featured in the records: The Parachute Regiment. No sponsor Parachute Regiment unit was available. The local (TA) unit was the only option, that was Royal Corps of Transport (TA) in Hull at the time the detachment formed. The detachment had the Royal Corps of Transport cap badge for only a few months before the amalgamation of the Royal Corps of Transport into the Royal Logistic Corps. For many years the detachment made use of the college's biology labs and then the school gymnasium. The gymnasium had space for drill indoors, air rifle shooting as well as a small armoury, this was a great improvement on science labs. The detachment commander became the company commander of E company (South Humberside) while the detachment remained in B company. When the detachment commander became the commander of A company instead of E company the detachment became part of A company (east Hull and eastern part of East Yorkshire), this only lasted about a year and the detachment and its commander returned to B company. The detachment moved out of the gymnasium building into a new pre-fabricated building as couple of years ago. A concrete .22 shooting range has recently been added next to the main building.

The detachment commander is the same teacher who started the detachment in the early 1990s. Other adult instructors have also assisted with APC training, some of these have been Old Hymerians. The cadets are taught the same APC subjects at the detachment as all other Army Cadet Force (ACF) Detachments in the UK these include: Skill at Arms, Fieldcraft, Map and Compass, etc.

This detachment is the only one in the country to have 12 above standard certificates for its annual inspections.The land on which the detachment is built is on a 99 year lease to the Ministry of Defence and receives no funding from the College.

Old Hymerians

Former pupils are know as Old Hymerians and the Old Hymerians Association exists for their benefit. Some notable old Hymerians are:
*Tom Biggs, rugby player
*Michael Bilton, actor
*Graham Binns, brigadier who commanded the 7th Armoured Brigade (the "Desert Rats") during Operation Telic 1 (the 2003 invasion of Iraq) when they took Basra.
*Kevin Boyd, Olympic swimmer
*John Burgan, documentary film director
*Nigel Chapman, director of BBC World Service
*Jon Driver, neuroscientist
*Adam Greendale, rugby player
*Ian Hare, organist
*Simon Hoggart, journalist
*Stuart Matthewman, musician with Sade
*Arthur Milne, astrophysicist
*Katie O'Brien, tennis player
*Sean O'Brien, writer
*David Prutton, professional football player
*John Townend, politician
*Paul Trynka, rock journalist, former editor of Mojo
*Rob Vickerman, rugby player [ [http://www.england-rugby.com/englandrugby/index.cfm?fuseaction=News.News_Detail&storyid=13070 England Rugby, profile from 16 February 2006] Retrieved 17 August 2007]
*Tom Whittaker, rugby player
*Jemma McKenzie-Brown, actress

References

External links

* [http://www.hymerscollege.co.uk/ Website of Hymers College, Hull]
* [http://www.oldhymerians.com/home.php Old Hymerians Association website]
* [http://www.6885.org/ Old Hymerians Masonic Lodge website]
* [http://www.hymersacf.co.uk/ Hymers College ACF website]