Bradford Grammar School

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Bradford Grammar School
Motto	Hoc Age ('Do It')
Established	1548
Type	Independent school Co-educational grammar school
Headteacher	Stephen Davidson
Location	Keighley Road Bradford West Yorkshire BD9 4JP  England
Students	1100
Gender	Co-educational
Ages	6 to 18
Colours	Blue & maroon
Built	1945
Went Co-ed	1999
Website	BradfordGrammar.com
Coordinates: 53°48′52″N 1°46′11″W / 53.81455°N 1.76981°W / 53.81455; -1.76981

Bradford Grammar School (BGS) is a co-educational, independent school in Frizinghall, West Yorkshire. Headmaster, Stephen Davidson is a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference (HMC). The school was founded in 1548 and granted its Charter by King Charles II in 1662.^{[citation needed]} Pupils are selected by competitive examination.

The school grounds have been used as a helicopter landing ground by the royal family when they are visiting the local area due to its large fields. The most recent landing was by the Princess Royal and Prince Charles has also landed at the school.^{[citation needed]}

The school motto is Latin: Hoc Age (Do This^[1]).

Contents 1 Education 2 Facilities 3 Sport 4 Extracurricular activities 4.1 Cadet Force 4.2 Debating 4.3 Music 4.4 Other 5 Arts 6 Annual Events 7 History 7.1 World War II 7.2 Frizinghall station 8 Alumni 9 References 10 External links

Education

In 2007, the pass rate for GCSE (Grades A* - C) was 100%, which was equalled by the A-Level students.^{[citation needed]} 31 courses are offered for A-Levels, and 97% of sixth-form pupils went on to study further education or deferred a year^[2]. The standard requirement for entry to the sixth form is nine B grades at GCSE, in 2008 the lower sixth had an average equivalent to ten A grades at GCSE.

The pupil to teacher ratio is 15:1,^{[citation needed]} and class sizes start at around 20 in the first year and are often below 10 by the final year. There are currently 925 pupils in the Senior School, including 276 in the Sixth Form and 188 in the Junior School (Clock House). The school became fully co-educational in September 1999, and girls now make up 30% of the school population. Currently there are 94 members of staff at the school, 17 of whom are part-time.

Current senior school fees are around £11,900 per annum and some bursaries are available to help with fees.^{[citation needed]}

Facilities

Work was recently completed on a brand new sports pavilion.

The school has also recently built a multi-million pound Sixth Form Centre, funded primarily by Roger Evans and pupils' fund-raising including a cafe in the new sixth form centre, nicknamed 'Angie's'. Paul Hockney, brother of artist David Hockney, funded the large theatre, where many school productions are performed, adjacent to the sports hall. The school's computing facilities have been updated regularly in the past few years, and the school now has ten IT suites. Pupils have access to their files and email from home, by remote login and all pupils have access to the internet and email throughout the day, and sixth formers have an IT room with printer in the Sixth Form Centre that can be used at any time. The school has a Design Technology department with 4 labs, and an electronics department, and in 2006 BGS had the best electronics A-Level results in the country.^{[citation needed]} The school has a science suite building with five Chemistry labs, four Biology labs, and seven Physics labs.

The grammar school also has a classics department; it is compulsory for all pupils to study Latin for two years, and pupils can choose to go on to study Latin, Classical Civilisation or Ancient Greek to A-Level. In Modern Languages, pupils have the option to study Japanese, Chinese (not to GCSE or A level standard), Russian, Spanish, French and German, and the school has a laboratory to facilitate the active learning of modern languages. There are twenty networked computers, all equipped with language software and the ability to speak to a member of staff,^{[clarification needed]} as well as to be paired up to perform role-plays.

Sport

The school's first sport for boys is rugby, and for girls it is netball, but there are opportunities to take part in other sports including squash, tennis, table-tennis, cross-country, swimming, canoeing, sailing, cricket, golf and rowing, on the River Aire. All students have a choice of which sport they would like to do and they can take up this sport on Wednesday afternoon when school ends at 12.45pm.

The school recently built a new all-weather pitch over the old running track, and since the completion, hockey has become very popular. Along with the astro-turf, the school also built four new tennis courts, making the total number of tennis courts nine. The school also had a new £1,000,000 pavilion built in 2008. The school has two squash courts (each with their own showers and changing rooms) that also have been revamped in the last few years. BGS has five rugby pitches, and many national tournaments are held in the grounds. The sports hall is large and has recently been refloored. The school has an equipped gym with rowing machines, cycling machines, a treadmill and weights although modernisation is needed. The school also has an impressive climbing wall, climbing is a popular Wednesday afternoon activity. The school has a modern swimming pool, where swimming and water polo fixtures and training are often held, and a further senior gym for basketball.

Extracurricular activities

Cadet Force

As an alternative or a supplement to extracurricular sport, the school maintains a volunteer Combined Cadet Force. In the 1960s, this was reduced to just the Army contingent. However, in recent years the numbers have swelled and the RAF section has been reopened, and pupils now regularly fly and partake in RAF courses. The school owns its own 25 meters shooting range. In later years, The CCF has been regenerated by the efforts of Squadron leader Dheeraj Bhasin. Bhasin has served as a pilot in the Royal Air Force and has being the commandant of the Jaguar Weapons Training School and Head of Fast Jets He has also served in Kosovo and taken a major role in Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Debating

The school is known at national level for its competitive debating teams.^{[citation needed]} Three pupils over the past five years have been selected for the England Schools' Debating team which competes at the World Schools Debating Championships, the best record of any school in England,^{[citation needed]} and former pupils of the school have reached the Grand Final of the World Universities Debating Championships.^{[citation needed]}

Music

The school has many musical groups and clubs including an orchestra, folk group, early music group, choir, junior orchestra, windband, samba band and string group. As well as this pupils can have private music lessons in school.

Other

The school has a science club for the junior years, a physics group for sixth formers and a biology club, all of which meet regurlarly at lunchtimes. Pupils take part in the maths team challenge, maths challenge and olympiad, physics challenge and chemistry olympiad every year.

Arts

The interior walls of the school are decorated with artwork by pupils and a number of David Hockney's works are on display in public and private areas of the school. The music suite has several practice rooms and holds concerts throughout the year including some with major orchestral works, some featuring one instrument and some featuring the musicians of a particular year group. A musical is staged every year and rock and folk concerts end the year. The Hockney Theatre hosts a programme through the year and a full-time technician manages a student production team to service the performances. Curriculum evenings by the lower school drama groups (LSD and STD) or the A-Level Theatre Studies groups are placed between plays written specifically for pupils, Shakespeare performances, comedies and musicals. Recent productions have included Oliver!, Grease, Hedda Gabler, As You Like It, Blood Brothers, The Merchant of Venice, Peer Gynt and The Merry Wives of Windsor. In March 2007 the BGS Dramatic Society staged The Wiz, a jazz version of The Wizard of Oz.

Annual Events

Founders day is an annual event held at Bradford Cathedral to remember the start of the school and notable characters from its history. attendance is compulsory for 1st to 4th years and some of the 6th form. Prize giving is held in the Price hall. A number of speeches from a guest (the guest in 2008 was Lord (Digby) Jones of Birmingham), the chairman of the governors and the headmaster are given. Then prizes are presented to those who have performed well at any aspect of school life. The spring fair is held around the whole school, and has many stalls and entertaining activities, especially the army assault course and the drama workshops. This year it is held on Saturday, May 9 at the school.

The school also regurlarly takes part in charity fundraising events such as Children In Need and Comic Relief.

History

World War II

The 'new' school building in Frizinghall was actually completed in 1939, however the start of World War II prevented the building from being opened as a school. During the war, the main school building was used as a Primary Training Centre^[3], and there is still evidence of this around the building. During this time, many of the pupils from BGS were evacuated to Settle^[4] and returned when the building was released from army occupation and completed. Inside the school there is a large memorial to the former pupils who died in the war.

Frizinghall station

Frizinghall station closed in 1965 and remained closed for 22 years. During this time, staff and pupils at the school campaigned hard to get the station reopened. In the end, it was due to the efforts of an English teacher, Robin Sisson^{[citation needed]} who has since died, that the station was reopened. Now, over half of the passengers travelling on the Bradford lines alight or embark at Frizinghall station.

Alumni

• John Sharp (1645–1714), Archbishop of York
• Abraham Sharp (1653–1742), mathematician and scientific instrument maker
• David Hartley (1705–1757), philosopher and physician
• James Scott (1733–1814), writer
• John William Whittaker (1790–1854), clergyman
• George Douglas (1859–1947), dyer
• Hudson Shaw (1859–1944), historian and orator
• Frederick Delius (1862–1934), composer
• Sir Charles Harris (1864–1943), civil servant
• C. J. Cutcliffe-Hyne (1865–1944), novelist
• Henry de Beltgens Gibbins (1865–1907), economic historian
• Henry Ward (1865–1911), photographer and author
• William Binnie (1867–1949), civil engineer
• Sir Frank Watson Dyson^[5] (1868–1939), Astronomer Royal
• Charles Wilson^[6](1869–1959), physicist
• John Lawrence Hammond^[7] (1872–1949), historian and journalist
• Sir William Rothenstein^[8] (1872–1945), artist
• Albert Rutherston (1881–1953), painter and illustrator
• Sir Henry Clay (1883–1954), economist and Warden of Nuffield College, Oxford
• Humbert Wolfe (1885–1930), poet and civil servant
• Charles Fairburn (1887–1945), railway engineer
• John Rawlings Rees (1890–1969), psychiatrist
• Sir Mortimer Wheeler^[9] (1890–1976), archaeologist and broadcaster
• Arthur Raistrick (1896–1991), civil engineer, industrial archaeologist and pacifist
• Harry McEvoy (1902–1984), breakfast cereal manufacturer
• Richard Eurich (1903–1992), painter
• H. L. A. Hart^[10] (1907–1992), legal philosopher
• Geoffrey Barraclough^[11] (1908–1984), historian
• Ronald Illingworth (1909–1990), paediatrician
• William Henry Walsh (1913–1986), philosopher
• Michael Wharton^[12] (1913–2006), columnist Peter Simple
• Alan Bullock^[13] (1914–2004), a.k.a. Baron Bullock of Leafield, historian
• Denis Healey, Baron Healey^[14] (born 1917), Chancellor of the Exchequer
• Sir Ken Morrison^[15] (born 1931), Executive Chairman of Morrisons
• David Hockney^[16] (born 1937), artist
• Malcolm Laycock^[17] (1938-2009), radio presenter and producer
• Michael Jack^[18] (born 1946), politician
• Jonathan Silver (1949–1997), entrepreneur and art gallery owner
• Richard Nerurkar, marathon and 10,000 metres runner
• Boris Rankov (born 1954), Professor of Roman History at Royal Holloway, University of London; 6-time Boat Race winner with Oxford
• Roger Mosey (born 1958), Head of BBC Television News
• John Mann (politician), (born 1960), Member of Parliament for Bassetlaw
• Ashley Metcalfe (born 1963), former Yorkshire County Cricket Club cricketer
• Adrian Moorhouse^[19] (born 1964), Olympic gold medallist swimmer
• Robert Hardy^[20] (born 1980), bassist of Franz Ferdinand
• Dan Scarbrough (born 1978), England rugby union player (Full back / Wing)
• Charlie Hodgson^[21] (born 1980), England rugby union player (Fly half)
• Alistair Brownlee^[22](born 1988) British triathlete

References

External links

• Bradford Grammar School website
• BGS Old Bradfordian Association
• BGS Boat Club website