'Queen Elizabeth's High School' is an 11-18 co-educational
grammar school, based in
Gainsborough in northern
Lincolnshire. It is well known within the local area as an institution of high academic excellence.
The school is
selective; pupils wishing to enter the school at age 11 must sit and pass the
Eleven Plus exam prior to entry. The school is a centre for sitting the exam.
History
Origins
Although the details are unclear, Gainsborough appears to have had a small grammar school from the 15th century provided by the local clergy, where possibly several of the Pilgrim Fathers received their early education. Many of the school's early records were lost during the reign of
Charles I, owing to the prominent Puritan sympathies of many associated with the school who sought to avoid detection, and so had the incriminating records destroyed.
Queen Elizabeth's High School formally originates however in 1589, when
Queen Elizabeth I granted a charter to Sir Robert Somerscale in order to establish Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School for boys, with the express purpose of providing an education in the Classics and Divinity for the sons of the emerging middle class in the town. In 1828, the
Chartist poet
Thomas Cooper sought to set up a rival grammar school, but failed, and saw his school absorbed by QEGS. Gainsborough High School, a
grammar school for girls, was founded in 1920.
Amalgamation
During the 1940s both schools re-situated to the present Morton Terrace site, on which the local
technical college was also based. Under the
Tripartite System they became fully state grammar schools, having been fee-paying before then. The schools merged to form the current setup of QEHS in 1983.
Recent History
In
2006, the
headmaster of 11 years, Mr. John Child MA (Cantab.), resigned his position to give way to the current head Mr. David Smart.
School Administration and Structure
Each year from 7 to 11 has ca. 180 students, and each year is divided into 6 ''forms'' (the Sixth Form years generally contain approximately 140 students and are divided into eight smaller forms).
[1]
The House System
There are four
houses at the school
[2],
Frobisher,
Raleigh,
Grenville and
Drake, named after notable explorers during the reign of
Queen Elizabeth I.
House Admin| | Drake | Frobisher | Grenville | Raleigh |
|---|
| House's Colour | Blue | Yellow | Green | Red |
|---|
| Head of House | Miss J. Tipton | Miss G. Wilkinson | Mr G. Harrison | Mrs M. Frecknall |
|---|
The houses compete in a closely-fought competition throughout each school year, taking part in a series of events ranging from
cricket and
football through to
debating and
drama, not to mention
guyball. The current holders of the inter-house championship are Drake house. Students can win colours for representing house and school in events.
The school contains approximately 1180 students from over a wide area including
Northern Lincolnshire,
Nottinghamshire and
South Yorkshire. There are roughly 80 teaching staff and many support staff.
The current Senior Management Team comprises
★ Mr DJ Smart - Headteacher
★ Mr PW Russell - Deputy Head (Curriculum)
★ Mr MA Cowling - Assistant Head (Student Welfare)
★ Mrs SL Pearson - Assistant Head (Lower School)
★ Dr MJ Fraser - Deputy Head (14-19 education and ICT)
★ Mr S Worrall - Deputy Head (14-19 education)
The School Day
As of 2007, the School has an eight period day, though many lessons are taught as double periods. There are
four periods in the morning and four in the afternoon. Each period lasts 35 or 45 minutes. Students have a 20 minute break mid-morning, and a 1 hour 15 minute lunch break.
[3]. Proposals have been mooted to change the school day from 2008, however these remain under discussion.
Subject Deparments
Music and Drama at the School
Members of Queen Elizabeth's High School and Gainsborough Choral Society perform in an annual Christmas carol concert, "Carols for All."
Philip Ainsworth conducts.
The school has many musical groups, run by the members of Music staff,
Philip Ainsworth and Mrs. J. Stockdale, with the school's various instrumental teachers. The school has a junior, senior and swing
band, a school
orchestra, a string ensemble and
chamber-sized brass groups, including a large brass group, a senior brass group, a horn group (and this year, a senior horn group) and a Year 9 brass group (of 5 students, who performed without a conductor). Music has a long history at QEHS, with the Anglican choral composer
W. Stanley Vann being head of Music during the 1930s.
The school runs basic music education for years 7 - 9 and students may then elect to take GCSE in Music in Years 10 and 11. Students can then, according to their GCSE results, take it to AS in Year 12 and then convert to A2 in Year 13. Results for Music at A-Level and GCSE tend to be high.
Drama is also strong at QEHS- recent productions have included
West Side Story and
The Importance of Being Earnest amongst others.
The present Head of Arts Faculty (comprising Art, Music and Drama) is Mrs B.A. Evans.
Languages at the school
Similarly to
music, students chose their own preferences with
language. All students in year 7 take 3 periods of
French and
German and (at present) 1 period of
Latin a week. At the end of year 7, students must drop one of these subjects. They then continue through to year 9 with the chosen two. They must then take a
GCSE in either French or German (of their remaining two) and are given the choice to take Latin at GCSE, providing the student has taken it into year 9. Students may take either French or German at
A-Level, but the school doesn't offer Latin A-Level owing to a lack of resources, though
Classical Civilisation can be taken as an A-Level, which includes sections of what would be taught on the Latin A-Level course.
With the school announcing a specialism in Languages at the same time as the Latin teacher is due to retire, Latin is due to be phased out of the curriculum in favour of Spanish over the next academic year. This has prompted some criticism from students, staff and parents alike.
The present Head of Languages is Mr S.R. Owen.
Mathematics at the school
The Maths department is one of the strongest faculties within the school. A large 7-room wing of the school is dedicated to the department, together with an office for faculty staff. From year 8 to year 11, students are set by ability into one of four groups. At A-level, the subject stands as one of the most popular, with a number of the most able students electing to study Further Maths. A selection of top-set students take part in the UK Maths Challenge every year. The current Head of Mathematics is Mr Chris Frost, supported by deputy Mrs Julie Hopkinson. The department as a whole comprises 8 full time members of staff and 3 part time teachers.
[4]. From 2007, the most able students will be given the option of taking the GCSE earlier than normal (in year 10) and commencing A-level study earlier.
Technology at the school
The school has a modern technology suite situated in the middle school, opened by Prince Charles the
Prince of Wales in
1999. It comprises two
woodwork rooms (33 & 34), and one room each for
Electronics (32),
Graphics (35) and
Food Technology (36). Additionally, three fixed computer rooms (27, 28 & 29) are used both for teaching of
ICT and Computing, and for use by other faculties by prior arrangement. All students study Technology and ICT up until Year 9, where they must opt to take at least one technology course for GCSE. The A levels offered in Computing and CDT remain popular. The current Head of Technology is Mr W. Shaw, whilst the Head of IT department is Mr. D. Fogg.
The IT department maintains all computer equipment elsewhere in the school, with a support team of 3 technicians. One of the main ICT teaching rooms was refurbished in Summer 2007 with new computers, and the department is currently implementing a whole school plan to supply all teachers with laptops and fit data projectors and network points to all classrooms, in preparation for the introduction of electronic registration.
Sport and other Extra-Curricular Activities
QEHS has a thriving sporting calender, with football, rugby, cricket and athletics being the main boys sports, and hockey, netball, tennis and athletics being the main girls sports. From Year 10, these choices can also include squash, badminton and golf amongst others.
Sporting facilities are considered to be very good at QEHS, with four cricket pitches, two hockey pitches, two rugby pitches and three football pitches available. Several long-jump pits and tennis courts are also on site. The school has the use of the local public swimming baths and squash courts on the Avenue in Gainsborough.
Inter-school matches are played against other
grammar schools in Lincolnshire, and a few
public schools and
secondary modern schools. In recent years cricket has proved particularly successful at QEHS, with several sides proving victorious in local competitions. Several Elizabethans have also been active at county level, including Yorkshire, Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire and Lincolnshire.
Pupils are encouraged to serve the community, and several do volunteer work in the local area. Many Sixth-Formers have taken part in
Young Enterprise and this has proved another area in which the school has succeded. The
Duke of Edinburgh's Award Scheme has similarly thrived.
QEHS has built up an excellent reputation locally for debating, with teams winning several competitions locally and nationally, including the Youth Speaks Competition.
The Head of PE is currently Mr S. F. Curry.
School Buildings
As the school in its current state derived from an amalgamation of three former institutions, the main school buildings can be divided into three parts. Each part of school differs slightly in both architectural design and function.
College House
A large Victorian house was previously in use in the school as part of the old girl's school. It is, however currently un-occupied on a day-to-day basis, being used for storage by caretakers. It sees occasional use for art exhibitions as well as bi-annual language oral examinations (due to its location in a quiet part of the campus, in an area that can be sectioned off for long periods of time easily). It is connected to the main buildings by a passageway (normally locked) accessible near room 9. A scheme was mooted as part of the specialism bid for College House to be turned into a music centre, however this was dropped due to lack of funds.
Lower School
The ''Lower School'' buildings are the northmost on the school site, and originated from the former ''Girl's High School''.
Today, the buildings are used to accommodate a number of
humanities departments, as well as departmental teaching rooms for
science. The building's main hall, ''Lower School Hall'' is used for sporting activies, occasional internal examinations, as well as house and, ironically, ''Middle School'' (Years 10 & 11) assemblies. The building has been added to by a mixture of portable and permanent classrooms, some of which have been demolished and replaced recently.
The school's numbering scheme commences in Lower School, starting at room 1, a
biology laboratory, and moving through to room 18, one of number of recently constructed
portable classrooms
Middle School
The ''Middle School'' buildings are the central buildings of the school site, and originated from the former Gainsborough Technical College.
Today, the buildings are used to accommodate a number of departments, including
English,
Technology and
Information Technology. A small hall in this area is fitted out as a performing Arts Studio. The
Science department headquarters are located near room 31, a Physics lab, and upstairs there are two
Chemistry classrooms, a prep lab, and offices. This was also home to the old
boardroom which, as of September 2007, will be used as the headteacher's office. A new boardroom has been created in the area of the central buildings used as a staffroom.
Upper School
The ''Upper School'' buildings are the southernmost on the school site, and originated from the former ''Boy's Grammar School''.
Today, the buildings are used to accommodate a number of departments.
Mathematics occupies most of the southern corridor, with 7 dedicated teaching rooms and a staff office. The
Science department has two Physics and one Chemistry lab, as well as the central technician's office.
Music is spread near the corridor towards "Middle School", and two large classrooms as well as several smaller practice rooms are available for their use. The
Art department is located near Music, and encompasses a converted gym. The building also includes the library (which itself has a sixth form private study area, careers room and offices), the main ("hot") canteen, and the school shop.
The building contains two large halls used for assemblies and examinations. One, known as the ''Sports Hall'', is, as its name implies, the main sports hall of the school and is also used to accommodate ''Lower School'' (Years 7-9) assemblies and GCSE exams. Another, ''Upper School Hall'' is used for Upper School (Years 10-13) assemblies, as well as A-level exams.
Outbuildings
Near the end of the Maths corridor in Upper School, there is a large outside block known as the "languages block", as it is primarily used for teaching foreign languages. It comprises four brick-built classrooms and two more temporary
Portakabins. Offices for faculty staff, language assistants and a Head of Year are situated in the building.
Other outbuildings include the Cricket Pavillion, which was erected during the early 1990s by the late Mr John Tiffen, but which has of late fallen into disuse and been the subject of several break-ins by local vandals. A workshop is situated nearby in a Portakabin, and forms the base for the Property Department.
Sixth-Form Centre
The School's ''Sixth Form'' has its own
dedicated building, situated at the south of the school
campus. It features a large main
common room, two smaller rooms (one of which is the Councillor Mrs Jean Bassett Room), and a large room with computing facilities for study (known as room 80). Outside the building is a car park for the use of sixth-form students and teaching staff.
[5]
As of September 2007, teachers Mr Simon Hopkinson (Head of Sixth Form) and Mr Nigel Dawson (Assistant Head of Sixth Form) as well as an administrative assistant, have offices in this centre also.
The majority of sixth form
lessons still take place in regular
classrooms elsewhere in the school, however several rooms (notably 57, 67, 68, 75, 80, 81, 82) are set aside exclusively for sixth form teaching and other uses.
The QEHS ''Sixth Form'' is quite successful; its AS and A2 performance scores 396.5 (the national average is 277.6) (From
BBC League Tables).
Many pupils go on to
Russell Group Universities for further study, including a small number each year who successfully attain undergraduate places at
Oxbridge Colleges.
For the future
Mr. Smart, the
incumbent Headteacher, will be entering the school for application of
specialist status in Music and Languages. It is hoped that this will become effective in 2010.
[6]
Not all members of the student body and their parents were happy with this decision. It was suggested that David Smart was purposefully misleading in his approach to informing parents and students about specialist status so that he could rush a decision. It has since been agreed among PTA members and staff that Music and Languages would be a good move for specialism for the school. This decision caused particular anger among the Sports department, and the resulting protest involved a large number students silently protesting on the schools' field. Whether or not the protest was supported or encouraged by members of the sports department remains unresolved. Head teacher David Smart referred to the protest as "ridiculous".
A visible sign of the changes to the school has been the installation of 6 LCD display screens at various locations around the school, which are set to scroll notices of sports practices, room changes, revision sessions, student meetings etc. This replaced the previous system of such announcements being broadcast in assemblies, and is administered by the ICT Department, supported by the school's office staff.
Student Voice
Another of Mr. David Smart's contributions to the school is "increased importance of students' views." A new school council was started shortly after Mr. Smart started his period as Head. It was aimed towards allowing students to have a say in how (not if) the school was to change. Unfortunately, some students feel their views were ignored.
Many rumours have been spread throughout the school in connection with Mr. Smart changing the house system. This has left the headteacher out of favour with many of the students.
See also
★
Grammar School (general)
★
Grammar schools in the United Kingdom
★
Eleven plus
★
Gainsborough, Lincolnshire
External links
★
Queen Elizabeth's High School - Offical Website
★
Rate My Teachers
★
QEHS on google maps
★
QEHS on Microsoft Virtual Earth (higher resolution than Google Maps)
العربية
中国
Français
Deutsch
Ελληνική
हिन्दी
Italiano
日本語
Português
Русский
Español
