Beverley Grammar School

The date of the school’s foundation is unknown, but it has been supposed to be as old as Beverley Minster, with which it was associated for centuries. The exact date of the foundation of the Minster is also uncertain, but it was probably in existence by the tenth century. Ketell’s Miracles of St John, dating from around the year 1100, refers to a schoolmaster at Beverley. In 1306, the records of the chapter of the Minster record the appointment of a new master of the grammar school (scolas gramaticales ).[11]

Masters of singing and grammar were employed at Beverley more or less continuously during the middle ages.[12] The school disappeared at the time of the dissolution of the monasteries. In 1552, the burgesses of Beverley petitioned the Crown for land worth £60 for the maintenance of the Minster and also for the establishment of a new grammar school, as the town then had a population of about 5,000 but no school. It is unclear exactly when a new school was founded, but a schoolmaster is referred to in the town’s accounts for 1562, and in 1575 the town paid his whole salary.[13]

In 1816/1817, the school moved away from the churchyard to a site next to the Schoolmaster’s house in Keldgate. Owing to lack of funds, it was closed in 1878, but a new school was founded in 1890 in Albert Terrace which also operated as a grammar school. It moved to Queensgate in 1902.[14]

BGS in summer

The school premises are located between Queensgate and Sloe Lane in Beverley.

The expressive arts block was completed in October 1999 and includes five English classrooms, music practice rooms, music teaching rooms and a drama studio. This was named after the former head of the school and the Chairman of Governors – Richard Michael Scrowston.

The sixth form block incorporating a sixth form common room, teaching rooms, an ICT room, a private study room and offices for staff was opened in 2004. However, since this time, this block has been turned into a Maths block, with the old Maths rooms being used for a larger office space, English and Business Studies teaching and a careers library.

The school is based in Beverley, England and the Beverley Westwood can be seen from its rear classrooms and Science Department. The school's main building and reception are situated at the top of its drive with two main entrances at the front of the school site through its main gate and far path.

The building consists of two main structures and a cluster of subject specific buildings surrounding it. The staff room, the main hall, Business Studies, the psychology classrooms and the Careers Room are situated in the main building. The Geography Department, Languages Section and a history room are in the smaller section of the main building. The Science Department are situated in both sections. Surrounding subjects are the Technology Department, the Maths Block, Sports Hall, Expressive Arts Department and the 6th form block.

In the school's Joint Sixth form 98% achieved a pass with 52% achieving A*/A/B grades in A levels in 2013.[15]

A quarter of all results were A or A*. The average point score per pupil is 812 points in 2013.[15]

On 21 August 2014 the school announced on their website that 74% of their pupils had achieved an A* to C grade, additionally 1 in 4 of the pupils achieved 5A to A*.[16]

The school motto, Adolescentiam alunt, senectutem oblectant, is taken from the Roman Statesman and writer Cicero's Pro Archia Poeta, a defence of the poet Aulus Licinius Archias against a charge of not being a Roman citizen. The full quote is Haec studia adolescentiam alunt, senectutem oblectant, secundas res ornant, adversis perfugium ac solacium praebent, delectant domi, non impediunt foris, pernoctant nobiscum, peregrinantur, rusticantur ("These studies sustain youth and entertain old age, they enhance prosperity, and offer a refuge and solace in adversity, they delight us when we are at home without hindering us in the wider world, and are with us at night, when we travel and when we visit the countryside.")[17]

The school traditionally had a 4 house system (Conington, Minster, School and Fisher). In the 1980s the form groups were named after the four houses. In the 1990s the governors decided to increase the numbers in the school and move from a 4 Form system to a 5 form system. Burden House was then formed to fill the fifth house. The houses can be associated by their colours listed below.[18]

• Burden – Yellow

Burden House was named after Henry Burden who was the Headmaster of the school between 1912 and 1935. He was largely seen as creating the modern school.

• Connington – Light Blue

John Conington (10 August 1825 – 23 October 1869) who was an English classical Scholar. He was born in Boston, Lincolnshire and was reputed to have been extremely clever learning the alphabet by fourteen months and being able to read at three and a half.

• Fisher – Dark Blue

Fisher House was named after the Catholic martyr John Fisher who was born in Beverley in 1469. He became a Vice Chancellor of Cambridge University.

• Minster – Red

Minster House was named after Beverley Minster and commemorates the founding of the school in 700 AD by St John of Beverley in Beverley Minster.

• School – Green

This was named after the original school which started inside the Minster and then was moved to a building in the Minster grounds. It later moved to a site in a larger building down Keldgate. In the 1890s it moved to this present site and was in the building that is now the Art Block. The Main school building was erected in the 1930s and has been considerably modernised and added to over the years.[19]

• John Alcock (1430–1500), Lord Chancellor of England[20]
• John Andrew (1931–2014), Anglican clergyman in New York City
• Ken Annakin (1914–2009), film director
• Chris Fraser (1988), Animator on ITV hit Series Newzoids
• Sir Hugh Cholmeley, 1st Baronet (1600–1657), soldier in the English Civil War
• John Conington (1825–1869), English classical scholar
• William Howe De Lancey (1778–1815), the Duke of Wellington's Chief of Staff at the Battle of Waterloo
• Kyle Edmund (b. 1995), tennis player
• Saint John Fisher (c. 1469–1535), Catholic bishop
• Neil Mallender (b. 1961), England cricketer and international umpire[21]
• Thomas Percy (1560–1605), alleged Gunpowder plotter
• Jim Ratcliffe (b. 1952), Chairman and CEO, Ineos,[22] UK's richest man according to Sunday Times Rich List 2018.[23]
• Paul Robinson (b. 1979), football goalkeeper
• Smithson Tennant (1761–1815), chemist
• Tony Topham (1929–2004), British academic and writer[24]

• List of the oldest schools in the world
• List of schools in the East Riding of Yorkshire

Wikisource has original text related to this article:

Beverley Grammar School

• Beverley Grammar School website
• 2004 League table data
• The School's house information