Midhurst Grammar School
Encyclopedia
Midhurst Grammar School was a comprehensive
Comprehensive school
A comprehensive school is a state school that does not select its intake on the basis of academic achievement or aptitude. This is in contrast to the selective school system, where admission is restricted on the basis of a selection criteria. The term is commonly used in relation to the United...

 upper school
Upper school
Upper Schools tend to be schools within secondary education. Outside England, the term normally refers to a section of a larger school. There is some variation in the use of the term in England.-State Maintained Schools:...

 in Midhurst
Midhurst
Midhurst is a market town and civil parish in the Chichester district of West Sussex, England, with a population of 4,889 in 2001. The town is situated on the River Rother and is home to the ruin of the Tudor Cowdray House and the stately Victorian Cowdray Park...

, West Sussex
West Sussex
West Sussex is a county in the south of England, bordering onto East Sussex , Hampshire and Surrey. The county of Sussex has been divided into East and West since the 12th century, and obtained separate county councils in 1888, but it remained a single ceremonial county until 1974 and the coming...

. It served pupils aged 13 to 18 who usually joined the school from one of the local intermediate schools
Middle school
Middle School and Junior High School are levels of schooling between elementary and high schools. Most school systems use one term or the other, not both. The terms are not interchangeable...

. It was replaced in 2009 by the new Midhurst Rother Academy.

History

A school was founded in Midhurst for poor boys in 1672 by local businessman Gilbert Hannam. Initially a school for just 12 pupils, it has varied in size over its 300-year history. The buildings were extended in 1821, but fell into disrepair, with the school closing in 1859. It was re-opened in 1880 as a boys' day and boarding grammar school. By 1944 it was classified as a Voluntary Controlled school, run by West Sussex County Council
West Sussex
West Sussex is a county in the south of England, bordering onto East Sussex , Hampshire and Surrey. The county of Sussex has been divided into East and West since the 12th century, and obtained separate county councils in 1888, but it remained a single ceremonial county until 1974 and the coming...

. Later, in 1956 the school became a mixed school, accepting girls for the first time.
Falling pupil numbers, and the opening of the new Herbert Shiner secondary school in Petworth
Petworth
Petworth is a small town and civil parish in the Chichester District of West Sussex, England. It is located at the junction of the A272 east-west road from Heathfield to Winchester and the A283 Milford to Shoreham-by-Sea road. Some twelve miles to the south west of Petworth along the A285 road...

 meant that in 1966 the school merged with the then Midhurst County Secondary School to form a comprehensive school
Comprehensive school
A comprehensive school is a state school that does not select its intake on the basis of academic achievement or aptitude. This is in contrast to the selective school system, where admission is restricted on the basis of a selection criteria. The term is commonly used in relation to the United...

, while retaining the historic name. Shortly after this in 1970 local re-organisation saw the school change to become an upper school
Upper school
Upper Schools tend to be schools within secondary education. Outside England, the term normally refers to a section of a larger school. There is some variation in the use of the term in England.-State Maintained Schools:...

 accepting pupils at age 13 (rather than 11). Younger pupils attended either Midhurst Intermediate School
Midhurst Intermediate School
Midhurst Intermediate School was a maintained comprehensive middle-deemed-secondary school for pupils aged 10 to 13. It was one of only 11 schools of its type, and the only school in the United Kingdom to be labelled as 'intermediate'...

 or the Herbert Shiner School in Petworth
Petworth
Petworth is a small town and civil parish in the Chichester District of West Sussex, England. It is located at the junction of the A272 east-west road from Heathfield to Winchester and the A283 Milford to Shoreham-by-Sea road. Some twelve miles to the south west of Petworth along the A285 road...

.
Proposals were brought forward by the Local Education Authority
Local Education Authority
A local education authority is a local authority in England and Wales that has responsibility for education within its jurisdiction...

 in 2002 to revert to a two-tier structure in the area, which would have seen the Grammar School become an 11-18 school once again. However, this was opposed by the local community.

The school did eventually close in 2008 as part of a move to revert to two-tier provision, with a new academy replacing both the grammar school and the intermediate schools under the name of Midhurst Rother College
Midhurst Rother College
Midhurst Rother College is a mixed Academy for students aged 11 to 18, in Midhurst, West Sussex. It was officially formed on 1 January 2009 following the closure of three predecessor schools in the area. It serves a wide rural area in the Rother Valley of West Sussex...

.

Campus

The school was based on an unusual campus in the north of the town, after several changes in recent years. Various buildings are spread over a disparate site. Lucas House was added to the school's property in 1997, with a new extension added in 1999, and a further Sports Complex developed in 2006. The campus remains in use for the academy.

Curriculum

The school was a specialist
Specialist school
The specialist schools programme was a UK government initiative which encouraged secondary schools in England to specialise in certain areas of the curriculum to boost achievement. The Specialist Schools and Academies Trust was responsible for the delivery of the programme...

 Science College
Science College
Science Colleges were introduced in 2002 as part of the now defunct Specialist Schools Programme in the United Kingdom. The system enabled secondary schools to specialise in certain fields, in this case, science and mathematics...

. However, its pupils followed the National Curriculum in Years 9, 10 and 11. The school was the only 13-18 comprehensive school in the Local Authority, with pupils taking the Year 9 National Curriculum Tests
National Curriculum assessment
National Curriculum assessments are a series of educational assessments, colloquially known as Sats or SATs, used to assess the attainment of children attending maintained schools in England...

 just 8 months after joining the school from one of the local intermediate schools.
A level courses were offered in a variety of fields.

In 2006 Mr Peter May M.A. (Oxons) - Headteacher at The Weald School, Billingshurst
The Weald School, Billingshurst
The Weald School is a maintained comprehensive secondary school for pupils aged 11 to 18. It caters for around 1500 pupils in years 7 to 13, including over 200 in its sixth form. It is now a specialist Technology school and a sports college. The school opened in 1956, and celebrated its 50th...

 was appointed by the Local Authority as Executive Headteacher, with an Operational Headteacher, Jonathon Barrott, previously the Deputy Headteacher (who died on the evening of February the 12th 2009 after losing his battle with pancreatic cancer), also in operation at the school.

In their September 2007 report, Ofsted
Ofsted
The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills is the non-ministerial government department of Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Schools In England ....

 reported that the school was being efficiently run with their value-added exam results proving to be well above the national average

Academy Replacement

The school grounds (and temporarily the buildings) are to be used for a new school with academy status. The local authority brought forward proposals in tandem with a consultation on amending the age of transfer in the area. This led to a new academy school opening in the town, taking pupils from the age of 11.

There was considerable opposition to these plans, and a group of local citizens of the Rother Valley, including many former and current students, formally questioned the plans for many reasons and questioned the fairness of the consultation procedure, citing a "rushed process", particularly considering length of Midhurst Grammar School's history. Their campaign is known as "NAME" - No Academy in Midhurst or Easebourne.

Midhurst Grammar School closed on the 19th of December 2008, with a ceremony taking place in the former River Site Hall, ex-staff, ex-students as well as many of the current staff and students were present as Scott Ind & Chloe Oram delivered the closing speech as last Head Boy and Girl respectively. Its replacement, Midhurst Rother College
Midhurst Rother College
Midhurst Rother College is a mixed Academy for students aged 11 to 18, in Midhurst, West Sussex. It was officially formed on 1 January 2009 following the closure of three predecessor schools in the area. It serves a wide rural area in the Rother Valley of West Sussex...

, opened in January 2009.
The new buildings of Midhurst Rother College will be sited on the river site; work is due to start at the end of 2010.

Old Midhurstians

Midhurst Grammar School alumni are known as 'Old Midhurstians', including:
  • H. G. Wells
    H. G. Wells
    Herbert George Wells was an English author, now best known for his work in the science fiction genre. He was also a prolific writer in many other genres, including contemporary novels, history, politics and social commentary, even writing text books and rules for war games...

     - Author
  • Ian Serraillier
    Ian Serraillier
    Ian Serraillier was a British novelist and poet. He was also appreciated by children for being a storyteller retelling legends from Rome, Greece and England...

     - Author
  • Charles Lyell
    Charles Lyell
    Sir Charles Lyell, 1st Baronet, Kt FRS was a British lawyer and the foremost geologist of his day. He is best known as the author of Principles of Geology, which popularised James Hutton's concepts of uniformitarianism – the idea that the earth was shaped by slow-moving forces still in operation...

     - Geologist
  • Mark Rowland
    Mark Rowland
    Mark Robert Rowland is a retired British athlete, who was a bronze medallist at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul....

     - Athlete
  • Sam Callis
    Sam Callis
    Samuel 'Sam' Callis is an English actor and film director, best known for his role as Sergeant Callum Stone in The Bill.-Biography:...

     - Actor
  • Scott Ind - Last Head Boy
  • Chloe Oram - Last Head Girl

Rob Calcraft - Founder of REN

External links

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