Sir James Smith's School
Encyclopedia
Sir James Smith's School is a small humanities
college in the town of Camelford
, North Cornwall
, United Kingdom
, providing education at secondary level. The headteacher is Jon Lawrence, who succeeded Angela Perlmutter in January 2007.
in 1679, at a property overlooking the town, the school has been state run since 1962 when it moved to Dark Lane. It was the first purpose-built comprehensive school
in Cornwall. Until July 1962 it was Sir James Smith's Grammar School at College Road and no secondary modern school existed for the district. The new school at Dark Lane was designed by the county architect, F. K. Hicklin, and Kenneth Sprayson continued to be headmaster. (The school building at College Road was built about 1879 and extended twice before being vacated and used as offices for the rural district council.)
and covers an extensive and sparsely populated district of north Cornwall, stretching along the coast from Crackington Haven
to Boscastle
, Tintagel
, and Port Isaac
. Inland Delabole
, St. Teath and St Breward
and the isolated hamlets and farmsteads of Bodmin Moor
are included. This area is one of the most economically deprived in the EU. Available employment is frequently part-time and/or seasonal and the average wage is the lowest in the UK; whereas property and living costs are among the highest.
The last decade has seen an extension to the adult education building; the Salon United for careers in hair and beauty therapy (2007); the West End music and drama suite (2004); a new reception and office suite (2003); a new Mathematics block (2001) and The Princess of Wales
Design Centre (Arts and Technology) (1992). The school is undergoing further building work to facelift sections of the exterior (whose concrete
facade has not aged well).
In 2005 Sir James Smith's School became the first specialist humanities college in Cornwall.
In October 2007 it was announced that the school's Sixth Form block would be closing with immediate effect. No new students were to be admitted in the following September. The news was greeted with grave concern among many teachers, students, parents and locals. Year 12 will be permitted to finish their studies at the school. Future year 11 graduees will henceforth have to travel to other Sixth Form centres at Wadebridge
, Bude
or Truro College
.
In 2001 a protest by students, requesting that shorts to be added to the uniform, resulted in many being locked out of the school. As of 2009, shorts have been added to the uniform. In 2007, a redesigned physical education
kit was introduced, consisting of a blue shirt with a black horizontal band.
If a child does not wish to wear shorts as P.E. kit then a tracksuit may be worn but only in black or dark blue. Make-up is allowed on the school grounds and stud ear-rings are permitted.
being a Latin term for a house or group. The first elements of the names are derived from common place-name elements in Cornish: chy (house), tre (farmstead), pol (pool), and lan (originally an enclosure, but in placenames usually combined with the name of a saint to refer to a church). The demes are equivalent to the house system followed by many neighbouring schools. (A division into Drake House (green) and Wallis House (red) was in existence at one time in the grammar school; then Bottreaux, Carew, Grenville and Molesworth houses in the comprehensive school.) An in-school competition followed to name them: those selected were all from the Cornish language
, with deme added to the end. Despite the recent adoption, some demes have already attained distinctive characteristics: Tredeme, for example, have a reputation for academic prowess whereas a stereotypical Landeme student would be expected to excel in sport. This is frequantly changing and varies among year groups as people join and leave the school.
At the end of the term in 2008 at the deme presentation awards ceremony Tredeme were announced as the winners of the award for best deme in the 2007-2008 term. This was the first time since the introduction of the deme system back in 2004 that Tredeme have won the award.
Humanities
The humanities are academic disciplines that study the human condition, using methods that are primarily analytical, critical, or speculative, as distinguished from the mainly empirical approaches of the natural sciences....
college in the town of Camelford
Camelford
Camelford is a town and civil parish in north Cornwall, United Kingdom, situated in the River Camel valley northwest of Bodmin Moor. The town is approximately ten miles north of Bodmin and is governed by Camelford Town Council....
, North Cornwall
Cornwall
Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...
, United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, providing education at secondary level. The headteacher is Jon Lawrence, who succeeded Angela Perlmutter in January 2007.
History
Founded as a grammar schoolGrammar school
A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and some other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching classical languages but more recently an academically-oriented secondary school.The original purpose of mediaeval...
in 1679, at a property overlooking the town, the school has been state run since 1962 when it moved to Dark Lane. It was the first purpose-built 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...
in Cornwall. Until July 1962 it was Sir James Smith's Grammar School at College Road and no secondary modern school existed for the district. The new school at Dark Lane was designed by the county architect, F. K. Hicklin, and Kenneth Sprayson continued to be headmaster. (The school building at College Road was built about 1879 and extended twice before being vacated and used as offices for the rural district council.)
Geography
The catchment area for Sir James Smith's is largely ruralRural
Rural areas or the country or countryside are areas that are not urbanized, though when large areas are described, country towns and smaller cities will be included. They have a low population density, and typically much of the land is devoted to agriculture...
and covers an extensive and sparsely populated district of north Cornwall, stretching along the coast from Crackington Haven
Crackington Haven
Crackington Haven is a coastal village in Cornwall, United Kingdom. It is located in the civil parish of St Gennys at at the head of a cove on the Atlantic coast. The village is seven miles south-southwest of Bude and four miles north-northeast of Boscastle.Middle Crackington and Higher...
to Boscastle
Boscastle
Boscastle is a village and fishing port on the north coast of Cornwall, England, in the civil parish of Forrabury and Minster. It is situated 14 miles south of Bude and 5 miles north-east of Tintagel....
, Tintagel
Tintagel
Tintagel is a civil parish and village situated on the Atlantic coast of Cornwall, United Kingdom. The population of the parish is 1,820 people, and the area of the parish is ....
, and Port Isaac
Port Isaac
Port Isaac is a small and picturesque fishing village on the Atlantic Coast of North Cornwall, United Kingdom. The nearest towns are Wadebridge and Camelford, both ten miles away in opposite directions. Port Gaverne, commonly mistaken to be part of Port Isaac, is a hamlet that has its own...
. Inland Delabole
Delabole
Delabole is a large village in north Cornwall, England, UK. It is situated approximately two miles west of Camelford.The village of Delabole came into existence in the 20th century; it is named after the Delabole Quarry. There were three hamlets: Pengelly, Medrose and Rockhead...
, St. Teath and St Breward
St Breward
St Breward is a civil parish and village in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is situated on the western side of Bodmin Moor approximately 6 miles north of Bodmin.The parish name derives from Saint Branwalader...
and the isolated hamlets and farmsteads of Bodmin Moor
Bodmin Moor
Bodmin Moor is a granite moorland in northeastern Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is in size, and originally dates from the Carboniferous period of geological history....
are included. This area is one of the most economically deprived in the EU. Available employment is frequently part-time and/or seasonal and the average wage is the lowest in the UK; whereas property and living costs are among the highest.
The School in the 21st century
The school has 600 pupils aged 11–16. It is one of the smallest state secondary schools in the UK. For comparison, neighbouring secondary schools have between 1200 - 2100 pupils aged 11–16 and 200+ sixth formers.The last decade has seen an extension to the adult education building; the Salon United for careers in hair and beauty therapy (2007); the West End music and drama suite (2004); a new reception and office suite (2003); a new Mathematics block (2001) and The Princess of Wales
Diana, Princess of Wales
Diana, Princess of Wales was the first wife of Charles, Prince of Wales, whom she married on 29 July 1981, and an international charity and fundraising figure, as well as a preeminent celebrity of the late 20th century...
Design Centre (Arts and Technology) (1992). The school is undergoing further building work to facelift sections of the exterior (whose concrete
Concrete
Concrete is a composite construction material, composed of cement and other cementitious materials such as fly ash and slag cement, aggregate , water and chemical admixtures.The word concrete comes from the Latin word...
facade has not aged well).
In 2005 Sir James Smith's School became the first specialist humanities college in Cornwall.
In October 2007 it was announced that the school's Sixth Form block would be closing with immediate effect. No new students were to be admitted in the following September. The news was greeted with grave concern among many teachers, students, parents and locals. Year 12 will be permitted to finish their studies at the school. Future year 11 graduees will henceforth have to travel to other Sixth Form centres at Wadebridge
Wadebridge School
Wadebridge School is a mixed comprehensive school in the town of Wadebridge, Cornwall, England. It has 1200 pupils. The headteacher of Wadebridge School is Miss Tina Yardley...
, Bude
Bude
Bude is a small seaside resort town in North Cornwall, England, at the mouth of the River Neet . It lies just south of Flexbury, north of Widemouth Bay and west of Stratton and is located along the A3073 road off the A39. Bude is twinned with Ergué-Gabéric in Brittany, France...
or Truro College
Truro College
Truro College is a tertiary institution located in Truro, Cornwall, in the United Kingdom. Following an exchange of governing bodies, Truro College merged with Penwith College in April 2008—the combined institution is known as Truro and Penwith College, though the sites retain their original names...
.
School day
The school is different from the majority of schools in the region and the UK, as it finishes early. However, the school day includes 5 one hour lessons:- 8:20-8:40 Tutorial/Deme Assembly
- 8:40-9:40 First Lesson
- 9:40-10:40 Second Lesson
- 10:40-11:00 Break Time
- 11:00-12:00 Third Lesson
- 12:00-13:00 Fourth Lesson
- 13:00-13:30 Lunch Time
- 13:30-14:30 Fifth Lesson
- 14:30 End of school day, or After school clubs until 15:30.
Uniform
The school uniform was changed in 2011 and now consists of:- Black V-neck jumper (with the school emblemEmblemAn emblem is a pictorial image, abstract or representational, that epitomizes a concept — e.g., a moral truth, or an allegory — or that represents a person, such as a king or saint.-Distinction: emblem and symbol:...
--a red camelCamelA camel is an even-toed ungulate within the genus Camelus, bearing distinctive fatty deposits known as humps on its back. There are two species of camels: the dromedary or Arabian camel has a single hump, and the bactrian has two humps. Dromedaries are native to the dry desert areas of West Asia,...
--embroidered on the top left) - Red Tie ( small camels are pictured on the tie)
- Black jumpers/cardigans for Year 11s to signify that they are the senior pupils
- Black skirt
- Tailored shorts (Summer Only)
- White Shirt
- Black or white socks
- Black or grey trousersTrousersTrousers are an item of clothing worn on the lower part of the body from the waist to the ankles, covering both legs separately...
; bottle green or black skirtSkirtA skirt is a tube- or cone-shaped garment that hangs from the waist and covers all or part of the legs.In the western world, skirts are usually considered women's clothing. However, there are exceptions...
for girls - Black Shoes
In 2001 a protest by students, requesting that shorts to be added to the uniform, resulted in many being locked out of the school. As of 2009, shorts have been added to the uniform. In 2007, a redesigned physical education
Physical education
Physical education or gymnastics is a course taken during primary and secondary education that encourages psychomotor learning in a play or movement exploration setting....
kit was introduced, consisting of a blue shirt with a black horizontal band.
If a child does not wish to wear shorts as P.E. kit then a tracksuit may be worn but only in black or dark blue. Make-up is allowed on the school grounds and stud ear-rings are permitted.
Deme system
In 2004 the deme system was introduced: DemeDeme
In Ancient Greece, a deme or demos was a subdivision of Attica, the region of Greece surrounding Athens. Demes as simple subdivisions of land in the countryside seem to have existed in the 6th century BC and earlier, but did not acquire particular significance until the reforms of Cleisthenes in...
being a Latin term for a house or group. The first elements of the names are derived from common place-name elements in Cornish: chy (house), tre (farmstead), pol (pool), and lan (originally an enclosure, but in placenames usually combined with the name of a saint to refer to a church). The demes are equivalent to the house system followed by many neighbouring schools. (A division into Drake House (green) and Wallis House (red) was in existence at one time in the grammar school; then Bottreaux, Carew, Grenville and Molesworth houses in the comprehensive school.) An in-school competition followed to name them: those selected were all from the Cornish language
Cornish language
Cornish is a Brythonic Celtic language and a recognised minority language of the United Kingdom. Along with Welsh and Breton, it is directly descended from the ancient British language spoken throughout much of Britain before the English language came to dominate...
, with deme added to the end. Despite the recent adoption, some demes have already attained distinctive characteristics: Tredeme, for example, have a reputation for academic prowess whereas a stereotypical Landeme student would be expected to excel in sport. This is frequantly changing and varies among year groups as people join and leave the school.
- Chydeme - blue
- Tredeme - orange
- Poldeme - purple
- Landeme - yellow
At the end of the term in 2008 at the deme presentation awards ceremony Tredeme were announced as the winners of the award for best deme in the 2007-2008 term. This was the first time since the introduction of the deme system back in 2004 that Tredeme have won the award.
Magazine
The pupils produced a school magazine in the 1950s and 1960s called The Camel: the issues for 1957-1962 are numbered Vol. I, no. VI - XI and 1964 is not numbered.Notable alumni
- Trevor ColmanTrevor ColmanTrevor Colman is a Member of the European Parliament for South West England. He represents the 2nd seat in the constituency, for the United Kingdom Independence Party....
- UKIP MEPMember of the European ParliamentA Member of the European Parliament is a person who has been elected to the European Parliament. The name of MEPs differ in different languages, with terms such as europarliamentarian or eurodeputy being common in Romance language-speaking areas.When the European Parliament was first established,...
for South West EnglandSouth West England (European Parliament constituency)South West England is a constituency of the European Parliament. For 2009 it elects 6 MEPs using the d'Hondt method of party-list proportional representation, reduced from 7 in 2004.-Boundaries:...
. (2008- ) - Jenny RoweJenny RoweJennifer Rowe is a British civil servant and Chief Executive of the new Supreme Court of the United Kingdom.-Early life:Jenny Rowe was born on 2 October 1955, and educated at Sir James Smith's School, Camelford...
- Civil servant and Chief Executive of the new Supreme Court of the United KingdomSupreme Court of the United KingdomThe Supreme Court of the United Kingdom is the supreme court in all matters under English law, Northern Ireland law and Scottish civil law. It is the court of last resort and highest appellate court in the United Kingdom; however the High Court of Justiciary remains the supreme court for criminal...
.