Matthew Humberstone School

Matthew Humberstone School

Motto	Striving for excellence
Established	1882
Closed	2010
Type	Voluntary controlled school
Religion	Church of England
Head	Mr Steve Cook
Founder	Matthew Humberstone
Specialism	Business & Enterprise
Location	Chatsworth Place Cleethorpes North East Lincolnshire DN35 9NF England
Local authority	North East Lincolnshire
DfE URN	118113
Ofsted	Reports
Staff	Teaching: 84, Non-teaching: 37 [1]
Students	1,254
Gender	Coeducational
Ages	11–16
Colours	Royal blue
Publication	Matthew Humberstone School Magazine
+Special measures	2007[when?]
-Special Measures	28 March 2008
Website	matthewhumberstone.com

Coordinates: 53°33′00″N 0°02′56″E / 53.550078°N 0.048875°E / 53.550078; 0.048875

Matthew Humberstone Church of England School, often shortened to MHS or, more affectionately, Matty, was a comprehensive school in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, with a Church of England tradition. The school was a specialist Business and Enterprise College and the only Church of England secondary school in North East Lincolnshire.

History

The school was founded in 1823 by Matthew Humberstone, a London customs officer who lived in Humberston, with a gift of £500 in his will. When it opened on Clee Road in 1882 it was an all-boys grammar school with only 15 students, and known as the Clee Foundation School.^[2] Old Clee, the area after which it was named, was actually mostly in Grimsby.

The Clee Grammar School for Boys (also known as the Clee Humberstone Foundation School and Old Clee Grammar School) was on the south side of Clee Road (then the A18, now the A46) in Old Clee, opposite Clee Crescent. It had around 500 boys, rising to nearly 1000 by the mid-60s, and was a voluntary controlled school with a two-form entry. The original neo-gothic school building was extended between the wars with a quadrangle of classrooms, a large assembly hall and a spacious science wing (not without architectural merit). In the late 50s a swimmming pool and gymnasium complex was provided by a local benefactor, Mr Justice Kirby. A less architecturally successful "new block" was constructed to provide more teaching space in the early 60s. The grammar school had a variable to good reputation which culminated in 1964 when almost 10% of the sixth-form gained places at Oxford or Cambridge universities.Genesis played at the grammar school on 19 December 1970^[3]. The school magazine of the grammar school was called The Humberstonian. There was a school song ("Some men boast of their ancient lineage, Humberstone none had he...") and the school's original Coat of Arms boasted a Latin tag, "Fax mentis honestae gloria" (Glory is the beacon of a noble spirit). Further east along Clee Road (the boundary at that point between Grimsby and Cleethorpes) was Cleethorpes Girls' Grammar School, later the site of the Lower School of The Lindsey School. At the boys' grammar school, in the 1940s and 1950s, a physics teacher for seven years was Dr Albert Lammington Bettison, who had been a wartime atomic scientist. He drowned when walking and was cut off by the tide, aged 37 in October 1953, and his body was found by Cleethorpes police at the beach at North Cotes. There were several other notable science teachers at the grammar school in the 50s and 60s, Joseph Gregory (Chemistry) and Brian Leatherbarrow (Biology).

The Beacon Hill Secondary Modern School was on Chatsworth Place

Comprehensive

They merged in September 1973 to form a comprehensive school. Being outside of the borough of Grimsby (by a few metres), it was controlled by the Lindsey County Council Education Committee, based in Lincoln. It had 1,750 boys and girls, with the headmaster being Mr D Johnston. Less than a year after it was formed, it was administered by the Grimsby Division of Humberside Education Committee.

The school used to be on two sites - the former secondary modern and grammar school, being separated by Davenport Drive. This was not of greatest benefit to school administration, so the school's students all moved to the upper school site in September 2008. There were plans to merge the school with St Mary's Catholic School on Wootton Road in Nunsthorpe (another low performing school) and have a joint school on the Upper School site at Chatsworth Place. This site was also next to St Joseph's RC Primary School on Philip Avenue.

This former plan was amended and the new 'joint faith' school will be built on the old Lower School site on Clee Road (A46). The new school is to be called 'St Andrew's School' and is due to open in 2012. Although at the time of writing (May 2010) no building works have started nor has the old building been demolished

New school

It merged with St Mary's Catholic School to form St Andrew's College in September 2010. This involved knocking down former buildings of the Clee Grammar School for a new school to open in 2012. A closing re-union event for former staff and students of the school was held on Saturday 17 July 2010.

Discipline System

In September 2006, the school began using Positive Discipline as its discipline system.

Awards

• The school was awarded the Learning and Skills beacon by the Department for Education and Skills.^[1]
• It was awarded the Basic Skills Agency award.^[1]
• It was an Investor in People.^[1]
• It was also an Investor in Careers.^[1]
• It received the technology colleges award.^[1]
• It was also been awarded the Excellence and Diversity award.^[1]
• In August 2004, it received the International Award from the British Council.^[2]
• It reached the final of Global Rock Challenge numerous times.^[2]

Special measures

In 2007, the school was placed in special measures by a team of school inspectors. They were taken out of special measures by a group of Her Majesty's School Inspectors on 28 March, 2008. It received low results at GCSE and SATs - well under the English average.

Notable alumni

• Peter Bore, footballer

As Clee Grammar School for Boys

• Sir Jack Baker CBE, President from 1944-57 of the British Trawlers Federation
• Steve Brailey, Chief Executive of Sheffield International Venues
• Douglas Malcolm Jackson Clark, author who wrote under the name James Ditton
• Jimmy Fell, footballer
• Leonard Hall, RAF meteorologist who took part in the escape from Stalag Luft III in March 1944
• Abraham Lyons, Conservative MP from 1931-45 for Leicester East
• Geoff Margason, Director from 1984-8 of the Transport Research Laboratory
• Dr Edmund Marshall, former Labour MP from 1971-83 for Goole
• Dr Nigel Martin, former Durham University maths lecturer & Lib Dem candidate for City of Durham in 1992 & 1997 general elections and now councillor for Neville's Cross and former Principal of Trevelyan College
• Guy McCracken LVO, Chief Executive (Food Retail) from May 2005 - December 2008 of The Co-operative Group, and former Managing Director from 1993-8 of the Food Division of Marks & Spencer
• Dr Madsen Pirie, President of the Adam Smith Institute think tank.
• Clive Richardson former CEO of Insyte (BAE Systems Integrated System Technologies) and former COO of QinetiQ
• Sir Thomas Robinson, fish merchant
• Very Rev Edward Frank Shotter, Dean of Rochester from 1989-2003, and Director from 1974-89 of the Institute of Medical Ethics
• John Tudor (minister)
• Jeffrey Wilkinson, Chief Executive from 1992-2000 of Spear & Jackson

See also

• Humberston Maths and Computing College, nearby to the south, and in North East Lincolnshire
• List of schools in North East Lincolnshire

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d e f g} Eteach profile of the school
2. ^ ^{a b c} School website
3. ^ http://www.genesis-movement.co.uk/php/listtour.php?tourid=2&addcommentsall=

External links

• St Andrew's College
• Matthew Humberstone C of E School
• EduBase

News items

• School proposals in November 2006
• Head resigns in September 2006 when school is put in Special Measures
• Knives found in September 2004