Skipton Girls' High School
Encyclopedia
Skipton Girls' High School, founded in 1886 by the Petyt Trust, is an all girls selective
grammar school situated in Skipton
, North Yorkshire
, England
. The school recently became a foundation school
. Around 800 girls aged 11 to 18 are educated at the school, of which 190 are in the sixth form
. The current headteacher is Mrs Janet Renou, who took up the position in September 2002. The previous headteacher was Diana Chambers.
as an Engineering College
in September 2003, becoming the first all girls school to achieve this status. It also has Investors in People
accreditation.
sisters, Curie (yellow) after Marie Curie
, Franklin (blue) after Rosalind Franklin
and Johnson (green) after Amy Johnson
. The house mottos are "Sisters of the Past, Present and Future", "Cure Ignorance; Radiate Knowledge", "Success is in Everyone's Genes" and "Soaring in the Skies of Success" respectively.
Inter house competitions take place to earn house points, and at the end of the year, they are counted up to reveal a winner. Competitions range from baking cakes and carving pumpkins to carol singing and talent shows.
These houses were invented under Mrs Renou's headship, after she had abolished the previous house system, with a view to promoting a feminist focus in the students. In the interim, the school went two years without a house system. Previous to this change, the houses were Broadbent, Larner and Wise, named after former headmistresses of the school.
The original four houses were Clifford (yellow), de Romille (red), Norton (blue) and Pembroke (green). These were names that linked the school to the Craven area - Clifford, de Romille and Pembroke all being related to Skipton Castle.
The aim of the sixth form is to foster an environment which challenges gender stereotypes, raises the post-16 participation rate in engineering, mathematics, science and technology and contributes nationally to the pool of young women entering the most demanding professions.
Sixth formers are expected to follow the Dress Code, which states that students should wear business dress, (black suit and optional coloured top with dark coloured shoes), which is appropriate for a working day.
Sixth Form students have their own facilities in West Bank House across the road from the main school. West Bank house has its own study areas (AKA The nest), ICT suites and bistro, providing an environment in which students can both work and relax. All these facilities are for the exclusive use of sixth form students.
The Students organise a range of parties over the year to raise money for the year 13 Summer balls which have always been a great success.
SGHS offers 22 different A and AS Level courses, including some which are shared with Ermysted's Grammar School Sixth Form. These include:
Art and Design
Biology
Business (Applied)
Chemistry
Engineering (Applied)
English Language
English Literature
French
Geography
German
Government and Politics
History
Mathematics
Further Mathematics
Music
Physical Education (E.G.S.)
Physics
Psychology
Religious Studies
Theatre Studies
E.G.S. – Taught at Ermysted's Grammar School
The school also offers students the choice to partake in the AQA Baccalaureate. This “umbrella qualification” brings together students’ achievement at A Level with their wider achievements in our Sixth Form. To gain the AQA Baccalaureate a student needs to gain at least 3 A Levels in any combination of subjects and an AS Level in General Studies. They must also undertake an Extended Project and 100 hours of enrichment activity inside and / or outside school over the two years of your course. This covers the three broad areas of Community Service, Personal Development and Work-Based Learning.
Selective school
A selective school is a school that admits students on the basis of some sort of selection criteria, usually academic. The term may have different connotations in different systems....
grammar school situated in Skipton
Skipton
Skipton is a market town and civil parish within the Craven district of North Yorkshire, England. It is located along the course of both the Leeds and Liverpool Canal and the River Aire, on the south side of the Yorkshire Dales, northwest of Bradford and west of York...
, North Yorkshire
North Yorkshire
North Yorkshire is a non-metropolitan or shire county located in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England, and a ceremonial county primarily in that region but partly in North East England. Created in 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972 it covers an area of , making it the largest...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. The school recently became a foundation school
Foundation school
In England and Wales, a foundation school is a state-funded school in which the governing body has greater freedom in the running of the school than in community schools....
. Around 800 girls aged 11 to 18 are educated at the school, of which 190 are in the sixth form
Sixth form
In the education systems of England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, and of Commonwealth West Indian countries such as Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago, Belize, Jamaica and Malta, the sixth form is the final two years of secondary education, where students, usually sixteen to eighteen years of age,...
. The current headteacher is Mrs Janet Renou, who took up the position in September 2002. The previous headteacher was Diana Chambers.
Status
The school was awarded specialist statusSpecialist 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...
as an Engineering College
Engineering college
Engineering colleges generally refer to institutes of higher education which offer an engineering course at degree level. The duration of the course is four to five years depending upon the university to which the college is affiliated. The students learn little of basic science concentrating...
in September 2003, becoming the first all girls school to achieve this status. It also has Investors in People
Investors in People
Launched in 1991 Investors in People is a business improvement tool administered by UK Commission for Employment and Skills and supported by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills ....
accreditation.
Admission
As a Foundation School the Governors are responsible for the admissions. Girls who wish to join the school sit a selection test. There is no selection test for entrance into sixth form as students are admitted on the basis of their GCSE grades and a reference from their current school.Academic standards
Following the inspection on 5 March 2008 the school was rated Outstanding, Grade 1 on a five point scale. The report said "This is an outstanding school. Standards are high and students achieve very well. ... The headteacher’s vision and drive are widely recognised within the school and the staff show high levels of unity and shared purpose. Students enter with standards of attainment that are well above average and these are built on very effectively throughout the school. .... The school has established suitable channels of communication with parents but could do more to actively involve parents in school life."Old Girls' Guild
The Old Girls' Guild was started on 24 November 1917. The Guild still meets twice each year, for the Spring Reunion and Autumn Luncheon. The idea of the guild developed during Miss Larner's years as Headmistress during which staff and former pupils would meet. Miss Broadbent continued this, organising social events. The Guild's first magazine was published in 1918 and with the exception of 1920 one has been published every year. Bound copies of the magazine can be seen at Skipton Reference Library.School Houses
Every girl from Year 7 to Year 13 is in one of the four houses, each of which has a house colour. Each house is named after a woman or women of note from history: Bronte (red) is named after the BrontëBrontë
The Brontës were a nineteenth-century literary family associated with Haworth in the West Riding of Yorkshire, England. The sisters, Charlotte , Emily , and Anne , are well-known as poets and novelists...
sisters, Curie (yellow) after Marie Curie
Marie Curie
Marie Skłodowska-Curie was a physicist and chemist famous for her pioneering research on radioactivity. She was the first person honored with two Nobel Prizes—in physics and chemistry...
, Franklin (blue) after Rosalind Franklin
Rosalind Franklin
Rosalind Elsie Franklin was a British biophysicist and X-ray crystallographer who made critical contributions to the understanding of the fine molecular structures of DNA, RNA, viruses, coal and graphite...
and Johnson (green) after Amy Johnson
Amy Johnson
Amy Johnson CBE, was a pioneering English aviator. Flying solo or with her husband, Jim Mollison, Johnson set numerous long-distance records during the 1930s...
. The house mottos are "Sisters of the Past, Present and Future", "Cure Ignorance; Radiate Knowledge", "Success is in Everyone's Genes" and "Soaring in the Skies of Success" respectively.
Inter house competitions take place to earn house points, and at the end of the year, they are counted up to reveal a winner. Competitions range from baking cakes and carving pumpkins to carol singing and talent shows.
These houses were invented under Mrs Renou's headship, after she had abolished the previous house system, with a view to promoting a feminist focus in the students. In the interim, the school went two years without a house system. Previous to this change, the houses were Broadbent, Larner and Wise, named after former headmistresses of the school.
The original four houses were Clifford (yellow), de Romille (red), Norton (blue) and Pembroke (green). These were names that linked the school to the Craven area - Clifford, de Romille and Pembroke all being related to Skipton Castle.
Sixth form
The school has an excellent reputation for its sixth form. Results consistently put the sixth form in the top 50 state schools in the country for A Level achievement. In 2009 the pass rate was over 99%, with 62% of entries reaching either A or B grade. The school gained the highest grade (1) in 26 out of 29 possible areas, including ‘Achievement’ and ‘Quality of Teaching and Learning’ in the Sixth Form. A significant number of students go on to Oxford and Cambridge each year.The aim of the sixth form is to foster an environment which challenges gender stereotypes, raises the post-16 participation rate in engineering, mathematics, science and technology and contributes nationally to the pool of young women entering the most demanding professions.
Sixth formers are expected to follow the Dress Code, which states that students should wear business dress, (black suit and optional coloured top with dark coloured shoes), which is appropriate for a working day.
Sixth Form students have their own facilities in West Bank House across the road from the main school. West Bank house has its own study areas (AKA The nest), ICT suites and bistro, providing an environment in which students can both work and relax. All these facilities are for the exclusive use of sixth form students.
The Students organise a range of parties over the year to raise money for the year 13 Summer balls which have always been a great success.
SGHS offers 22 different A and AS Level courses, including some which are shared with Ermysted's Grammar School Sixth Form. These include:
Art and Design
Biology
Business (Applied)
Chemistry
Engineering (Applied)
English Language
English Literature
French
Geography
German
Government and Politics
History
Mathematics
Further Mathematics
Music
Physical Education (E.G.S.)
Physics
Psychology
Religious Studies
Theatre Studies
E.G.S. – Taught at Ermysted's Grammar School
Ermysted's Grammar School
Ermysteds Grammar School is a LEA-funded selective boys' Grammar School in Skipton, North Yorkshire, England, teaching over 800 pupils.It is the seventh oldest state school in Britain and was founded by Peter Toller in the 15th century. The first official record of the school was seen in Peter...
The school also offers students the choice to partake in the AQA Baccalaureate. This “umbrella qualification” brings together students’ achievement at A Level with their wider achievements in our Sixth Form. To gain the AQA Baccalaureate a student needs to gain at least 3 A Levels in any combination of subjects and an AS Level in General Studies. They must also undertake an Extended Project and 100 hours of enrichment activity inside and / or outside school over the two years of your course. This covers the three broad areas of Community Service, Personal Development and Work-Based Learning.
Notable former pupils
- Claire BrooksClaire Brooks[Kathleen] Claire Brooks OBE, was a British lawyer and Liberal and Liberal Democrat party politician in the radical tradition.- Biography :...
(1931–2008), Lib Dem politician - Elizabeth HarwoodElizabeth HarwoodElizabeth Harwood was an English lyric soprano. After a music school, she enjoyed an operatic career lasting for over two decades and worked with such conductors as Colin Davis and Herbert von Karajan...
(1938–1990), opera singer - Ruzwana BashirRuzwana BashirRuzwana Bashir was the first British-born Asian woman to become President of the Oxford Union and is a Fulbright Scholar.-Early life:Bashir was educated at Skipton Girls' High School, in North Yorkshire...
, first British Asian woman to become President of the Oxford UnionOxford UnionThe Oxford Union Society, commonly referred to simply as the Oxford Union, is a debating society in the city of Oxford, Britain, whose membership is drawn primarily but not exclusively from the University of Oxford... - Rebecca Rose Bradley, first teenager to reach the South Pole on a husky-drawn sled.
- Katherine LangrishKatherine LangrishKatherine Langrish is a British author of fantasy for children and young adults. She was brought up in Yorkshire and Herefordshire, and wanted to be a writer from a young age...
, fantasy writer