Tadcaster Grammar School
Encyclopedia
Tadcaster Grammar School is a secondary school
near Tadcaster
, North Yorkshire
, England
founded in 1557 by Owen Oglethorpe
as an all boys school. The school is no longer situated in the brewery town of Tadcaster
, rather in the hamlet of Toulston just outside the town. The school's catchment area welcomes children from Tadcaster
and its surrounding villages, as well as traditionally taking students from the York
area, from villages like Appleton Roebuck, Copmanthorpe
, Bishopthorpe
and Bilbrough
. It educates children aged 11–18, having a sixth form
also on site. Since 1998, the headmaster has been Geoff Mitchell. The school became a specialist Business and Enterprise College
in 2003 and received High Performing Specialist School Status in 2007, with the school achieving some of the best GCSE and A-Level results in the county of North Yorkshire
. The school has retained its name but is now a comprehensive school
, originally under the grammar school system, pupils who failed their 11 plus exam would have attended Wetherby Secondary Modern School (now Wetherby High School
). However, since Tadcaster
is now in the district of Selby
and Wetherby
is in the City of Leeds
, it is a difficult and bureaucratic
process to educate pupils on the opposite side of the borderline
to where they live. Although the school is most commonly organised through forms, there do exist four houses, Oglethorpe and Dawson, named after the two merging schools' founders, Fairfax, after English Civil War
commander-in-chief and alumnus Thomas Fairfax, and Calcaria, the roman name for Tadcaster
.
, Bishop of Carlisle
as a boys' school in Tadcaster
. It merged with the Dawson's Girls' School at the beginning of the 20th century.
In 1960 it moved to the site of Toulston Lodge, just outside of Tadcaster
. Although Toulston Lodge has now been converted into classrooms, as opposed to living quarters (once belonging to Oliver Cromwell
), the original fireplace is still in place, as is the skylight and the wooden elephants that surround it.
Since 2000, the school has seen many new buildings added including a new science block, library
, and an extension to the Design Technology
block. In addition, a new sixth-form block was constructed which also houses Religious Education
classrooms, and there is a new entrance area with three business classrooms.
During summer 2006, a new entrance was built with automatic doors, a new disabled ramp was built for access to the science block and a new path was built along the school car park to the pottery shed. Also, during summer 2009 a new disabled ramp was built for access into the English temporary buildings, specifically for the classrooms T22 and T21. There was also new wooden fencing built in and around the school car park. Another addition to the school was a wooden sculpture at the entrance. This was erected in memory of the fallen Old Tree, that had been a school landmark since the change of site in 1960.
policy. Boys must wear a black blazer
, embroidered with the hog
, the schools emblem
, black trousers, a white shirt and black shoes. Ties for lower school are teal and navy, with year 11 ties navy and patterned with the hog emblem
.
Girls wear a plain formal navy skirt, below the knee, a plain white shirt or a plain white blouse with revers
and a navy v-necked jumper with the school logo. Black shoes and dark tights must also be worn.
as its main sport, however in recent years has endured the most success with its Cricket
and Association Football teams, with many alumnus like Matthew Kilgallon
, Mark Ford
, David Brown
and current Leeds United youngster, Charlie Taylor
, making it as professional footballers.
Secondary school
Secondary school is a term used to describe an educational institution where the final stage of schooling, known as secondary education and usually compulsory up to a specified age, takes place...
near Tadcaster
Tadcaster
Tadcaster is a market town and civil parish in the Selby district of North Yorkshire, England. Lying on the Great North Road approximately east of Leeds and west of York. It is the last town on the River Wharfe before it joins the River Ouse about downstream...
, 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...
founded in 1557 by Owen Oglethorpe
Owen Oglethorpe
Owen Oglethorpe: Bishop of Carlisle was an English academic and bishop.-Childhood and Education:He was born in Tadcaster, Yorkshire, in approximately 1505-10 and educated at Magdalen College, Oxford, where he was elected a fellow in 1526 and received his MA in 1529 and his DD in 1536...
as an all boys school. The school is no longer situated in the brewery town of Tadcaster
Tadcaster
Tadcaster is a market town and civil parish in the Selby district of North Yorkshire, England. Lying on the Great North Road approximately east of Leeds and west of York. It is the last town on the River Wharfe before it joins the River Ouse about downstream...
, rather in the hamlet of Toulston just outside the town. The school's catchment area welcomes children from Tadcaster
Tadcaster
Tadcaster is a market town and civil parish in the Selby district of North Yorkshire, England. Lying on the Great North Road approximately east of Leeds and west of York. It is the last town on the River Wharfe before it joins the River Ouse about downstream...
and its surrounding villages, as well as traditionally taking students from the York
York
York is a walled city, situated at the confluence of the Rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. The city has a rich heritage and has provided the backdrop to major political events throughout much of its two millennia of existence...
area, from villages like Appleton Roebuck, Copmanthorpe
Copmanthorpe
Copmanthorpe is a village and civil parish in the City of York in the English county of North Yorkshire, south west of York, west of Bishopthorpe and close to Acaster Malbis, Askham Bryan and Askham Richard. According to the 2001 census the parish had a population of 4,262. Until 1996 it had...
, Bishopthorpe
Bishopthorpe
Bishopthorpe is a village and civil parish three miles south of York in the City of York unitary authority and ceremonial county of North Yorkshire, England. It is close to the River Ouse, and has a population of 3,174. Prior to 1996 it was part of the Selby district...
and Bilbrough
Bilbrough
Bilbrough is a village and civil parish in the Selby district of North Yorkshire, England, six miles south-west of York, and just outside the York city boundary. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 319....
. It educates children aged 11–18, having a 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,...
also on site. Since 1998, the headmaster has been Geoff Mitchell. The school became a specialist Business and Enterprise College
Business and Enterprise College
Business and Enterprise Colleges were introduced in 2002 as part of the Specialist Schools Programme in the United Kingdom. The system enables secondary schools to specialise in certain fields...
in 2003 and received High Performing Specialist School Status in 2007, with the school achieving some of the best GCSE and A-Level results in the county of 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...
. The school has retained its name but is now 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...
, originally under the grammar school system, pupils who failed their 11 plus exam would have attended Wetherby Secondary Modern School (now Wetherby High School
Wetherby High School
Wetherby High School is a secondary school in the Hallfield area of Wetherby, West Yorkshire. It is run by the City of Leeds Local Education Authority. The school is situated on Hallfield Lane, on the Hallfields Estate in Wetherby...
). However, since Tadcaster
Tadcaster
Tadcaster is a market town and civil parish in the Selby district of North Yorkshire, England. Lying on the Great North Road approximately east of Leeds and west of York. It is the last town on the River Wharfe before it joins the River Ouse about downstream...
is now in the district of Selby
Selby (district)
Selby is a local government district of North Yorkshire, England. The local authority, Selby District Council, is based in the town of Selby and provides services to an area which includes Tadcaster and a host of villages....
and Wetherby
Wetherby
Wetherby is a market town and civil parish within the metropolitan borough of the City of Leeds, in West Yorkshire, England. It stands on the River Wharfe, and has been for centuries a crossing place and staging post on the Great North Road, being mid-way between London and Edinburgh...
is in the City of Leeds
City of Leeds
The City of Leeds is a local government district of West Yorkshire, England, governed by Leeds City Council, with the status of a city and metropolitan borough. The metropolitan district includes Leeds and the towns of Farsley, Garforth, Guiseley, Horsforth, Morley, Otley, Pudsey, Rothwell,...
, it is a difficult and bureaucratic
Bureaucracy
A bureaucracy is an organization of non-elected officials of a governmental or organization who implement the rules, laws, and functions of their institution, and are occasionally characterized by officialism and red tape.-Weberian bureaucracy:...
process to educate pupils on the opposite side of the borderline
Borderline
Borderline or border line may refer to:*Border-In film:*Borderline , a film starring Paul Robeson*Borderline , a film noir starring Fred MacMurray*Borderline , a film starring Charles Bronson...
to where they live. Although the school is most commonly organised through forms, there do exist four houses, Oglethorpe and Dawson, named after the two merging schools' founders, Fairfax, after English Civil War
English Civil War
The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...
commander-in-chief and alumnus Thomas Fairfax, and Calcaria, the roman name for Tadcaster
Tadcaster
Tadcaster is a market town and civil parish in the Selby district of North Yorkshire, England. Lying on the Great North Road approximately east of Leeds and west of York. It is the last town on the River Wharfe before it joins the River Ouse about downstream...
.
History
The school was founded in 1557 by Owen OglethorpeOwen Oglethorpe
Owen Oglethorpe: Bishop of Carlisle was an English academic and bishop.-Childhood and Education:He was born in Tadcaster, Yorkshire, in approximately 1505-10 and educated at Magdalen College, Oxford, where he was elected a fellow in 1526 and received his MA in 1529 and his DD in 1536...
, Bishop of Carlisle
Bishop of Carlisle
The Bishop of Carlisle is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Carlisle in the Province of York.The diocese covers the County of Cumbria except for Alston Moor and the former Sedbergh Rural District...
as a boys' school in Tadcaster
Tadcaster
Tadcaster is a market town and civil parish in the Selby district of North Yorkshire, England. Lying on the Great North Road approximately east of Leeds and west of York. It is the last town on the River Wharfe before it joins the River Ouse about downstream...
. It merged with the Dawson's Girls' School at the beginning of the 20th century.
In 1960 it moved to the site of Toulston Lodge, just outside of Tadcaster
Tadcaster
Tadcaster is a market town and civil parish in the Selby district of North Yorkshire, England. Lying on the Great North Road approximately east of Leeds and west of York. It is the last town on the River Wharfe before it joins the River Ouse about downstream...
. Although Toulston Lodge has now been converted into classrooms, as opposed to living quarters (once belonging to Oliver Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell was an English military and political leader who overthrew the English monarchy and temporarily turned England into a republican Commonwealth, and served as Lord Protector of England, Scotland, and Ireland....
), the original fireplace is still in place, as is the skylight and the wooden elephants that surround it.
Since 2000, the school has seen many new buildings added including a new science block, library
Library
In a traditional sense, a library is a large collection of books, and can refer to the place in which the collection is housed. Today, the term can refer to any collection, including digital sources, resources, and services...
, and an extension to the Design Technology
Design Technology
Design and Technology is a school subject offered at all levels of primary and secondary school. In some countries such as England it is a part of the National Curriculum. It is offered in many countries around the world such as Brunei, Bermuda, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, Jordan...
block. In addition, a new sixth-form block was constructed which also houses Religious Education
Religious Education
Religious Education is the term given to education concerned with religion. It may refer to education provided by a church or religious organization, for instruction in doctrine and faith, or for education in various aspects of religion, but without explicitly religious or moral aims, e.g. in a...
classrooms, and there is a new entrance area with three business classrooms.
During summer 2006, a new entrance was built with automatic doors, a new disabled ramp was built for access to the science block and a new path was built along the school car park to the pottery shed. Also, during summer 2009 a new disabled ramp was built for access into the English temporary buildings, specifically for the classrooms T22 and T21. There was also new wooden fencing built in and around the school car park. Another addition to the school was a wooden sculpture at the entrance. This was erected in memory of the fallen Old Tree, that had been a school landmark since the change of site in 1960.
Uniform
The school is well known for its strict uniformUniform
A uniform is a set of standard clothing worn by members of an organization while participating in that organization's activity. Modern uniforms are worn by armed forces and paramilitary organizations such as police, emergency services, security guards, in some workplaces and schools and by inmates...
policy. Boys must wear a black blazer
Blazer
A blazer is a type of jacket. The term blazer occasionally is synonymous with boating jacket and sports jacket, two different garments. A blazer resembles a suit coat cut more casually — sometimes with flap-less patch pockets and metal buttons. A blazer's cloth is usually durable , because it is an...
, embroidered with the hog
Hog
-Animals:Other than the Domestic pig, Sus scrofa or Sus scrofa domestica, there are other species commonly called hogs, including:*The Red river hog*The Giant forest hog-Other:* The Hogs, the offensive line of the NFL's Washington Redskins....
, the schools emblem
Emblem
An 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:...
, black trousers, a white shirt and black shoes. Ties for lower school are teal and navy, with year 11 ties navy and patterned with the hog emblem
Emblem
An 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:...
.
Girls wear a plain formal navy skirt, below the knee, a plain white shirt or a plain white blouse with revers
Revers
A revers or rever is a garment or part of a garment that is reversed to display the lining or facing outside. The word is a corruption of reverse. This is most commonly the lapels or cuffs, and the term is mostly used when they are made in a contrasting material...
and a navy v-necked jumper with the school logo. Black shoes and dark tights must also be worn.
Sport
Historically the school has leant towards Rugby FootballRugby football
Rugby football is a style of football named after Rugby School in the United Kingdom. It is seen most prominently in two current sports, rugby league and rugby union.-History:...
as its main sport, however in recent years has endured the most success with its Cricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
and Association Football teams, with many alumnus like Matthew Kilgallon
Matthew Kilgallon
Matthew Shaun Kilgallon is an English professional footballer currently playing for Sunderland. He is a central defender who can also operate at left back.-Leeds United:...
, Mark Ford
Mark Ford (footballer)
Mark Stuart Ford is an English former professional footballer who played in the Football League for Leeds United, Burnley, Torquay United and Darlington and in the Belgian First Division for Lommel. He was capped twice for the England under-21s.-Career:Ford was born in Pontefract and attended...
, David Brown
David Brown (footballer born 1989)
David Brown is an English professional footballer. He most recently played for Bradford Park Avenue. He is a striker and scored on his Football League debut for Bradford City, before he was released after just five games.-Career:...
and current Leeds United youngster, Charlie Taylor
Charlie Taylor (footballer born 1993)
Charles James Taylor is an English footballer who plays for Leeds United at left back. He is a current England under-19 international.-Club career:...
, making it as professional footballers.
Notable alumni
Alumni of Tadcaster Grammar School are referred to as 'Old Tadites'. Some notable 'Tadites' include:- Thomas Fairfax, 3rd Lord Fairfax of CameronThomas Fairfax, 3rd Lord Fairfax of CameronThomas Fairfax, 3rd Lord Fairfax of Cameron was a general and parliamentary commander-in-chief during the English Civil War...
- English Civil WarEnglish Civil WarThe English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...
General and parliamentary commander-in-chief. - John Smith & Samuel Smith - Brothers who established John Smith's BreweryJohn Smith's BreweryJohn Smith's is a brewery founded in 1758 by Backhouse & Hartley at Tadcaster in North Yorkshire, England. John Smith bought the brewery in 1847. John Smith's is the sixth highest selling beer brand in the United Kingdom, and the highest selling ale brand. The brewery is currently owned by...
and Samuel Smith BrewerySamuel Smith BrewerySamuel Smith's Old Brewery, popularly known as Samuel Smith's or Sam Smith's, is an independent brewery in Tadcaster, North Yorkshire, England. It is Yorkshire's oldest brewery, founded in 1758.-History:... - Thomas PotterThomas Potter (Mayor of Manchester)Thomas Potter, was a British industrialist and Liberal politician.-Early life:Born in April 1774 the seventh of nine children of draper John Potter and his wife Anne Hartley. He was born at Tadcaster, Yorkshire.-Personal life:...
- Industrialist and LiberalLiberal Party (UK)The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...
politician - Adelle StripeAdelle StripeAdelle Stripe is a poet from Tadcaster, North Yorkshire. In 2006, alongside Tony O'Neill and Ben Myers she formed possibly the first literary movement spawned via a social networking site, The Brutalists, who the BBC described as a 'group of young writers with a back-to-basics approach to...
- Poet - Charles HagueCharles HagueCharles Hague , was a professor of music at Cambridge University.Haguewas born in 1769 at Tadcaster, Yorkshire, and was taught music and the violin by an elder brother. In 1779 he removed with his brother to Cambridge, where he studied the violin under Manini and thorough-bass and composition under...
- Violinist and professor of music at Cambridge University - Humphrey SmithHumphrey SmithHumphrey Richard Woollcombe Smith in Tadcaster, Yorkshire, England is an owner of the Samuel Smith Brewery.Smith is the son of Geoffrey Roy Holland Smith and Rosamond Margaret Stirling Woollcombe. He has one brother, Oliver Geoffrey Woollcombe Smith, and two sisters, Clarissa Catherine...
- Multi-millionaire owner of Samuel Smith BrewerySamuel Smith BrewerySamuel Smith's Old Brewery, popularly known as Samuel Smith's or Sam Smith's, is an independent brewery in Tadcaster, North Yorkshire, England. It is Yorkshire's oldest brewery, founded in 1758.-History:...
and businessman - Glamour Of The KillGlamour of the KillGlamour of the Kill are an English pop-rock band from York, United Kingdom. Also styled as 'GOTK' they have also had Kerrang! video of the week with the track 'Feeling Alive'.- History :"Glamour of the Kill" were formed in January 2007...
- Heavy RockHard rockHard rock is a loosely defined genre of rock music which has its earliest roots in mid-1960s garage rock, blues rock and psychedelic rock...
band - David BrownDavid Brown (footballer born 1989)David Brown is an English professional footballer. He most recently played for Bradford Park Avenue. He is a striker and scored on his Football League debut for Bradford City, before he was released after just five games.-Career:...
- Bradford CityBradford City A.F.C.Bradford City Association Football Club is an English association football club based in Bradford, West Yorkshire, playing in League Two....
Footballer - Matthew KilgallonMatthew KilgallonMatthew Shaun Kilgallon is an English professional footballer currently playing for Sunderland. He is a central defender who can also operate at left back.-Leeds United:...
- SunderlandSunderland A.F.C.Sunderland Association Football Club is an English association football club based in Sunderland, Tyne and Wear who currently play in the Premier League...
Footballer - Rusko (musician)Rusko (musician)Christopher Mercer, more commonly known as Rusko, is an English dubstep record producer and DJ who was born on 26 January 1985 in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England.-History:Rusko graduated from Leeds College of Music with a degree in Music Performance...
- DubstepDubstepDubstep is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in south London, England. Its overall sound has been described as "tightly coiled productions with overwhelming bass lines and reverberant drum patterns, clipped samples, and occasional vocals"....
Artist - Mark WestabyMark WestabyMark Westaby is a British strongman competitor, notable for being a repeat competitor at the World's Strongest Man.- Biography :...
- strongmanStrength athleteA strength athlete is a person who trains for or competes in events in which muscular strength and power play a primary role. Such events include weightlifting and powerlifting, strength athletics and strongman competitions, and arm wrestling, as well as the "heavy throws" of track and field:... - GrammaticsGrammaticsGrammatics were a British alternative rock band from Leeds, England, predominantly influenced by British bands of the 1990s such as Blur, Pulp, and Suede.The band also quotes the following musical influences: Cursive, My Bloody Valentine, Nirvana, Radiohead, Elliott Smith, Queens Of The Stone Age,...
- Alternative RockAlternative rockAlternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...
band - Ed BicknellEd BicknellEd Bicknell was on the Hull University entertainments committee, arranging bands for the students, when he first got a taste for the music industry. Moving to London, he worked as a drummer for Jess Conrad and then as a booker for John Sherry Artists, finding work for a number of prog-rock/college...
- Musician - Mark Ford (footballer)Mark Ford (footballer)Mark Stuart Ford is an English former professional footballer who played in the Football League for Leeds United, Burnley, Torquay United and Darlington and in the Belgian First Division for Lommel. He was capped twice for the England under-21s.-Career:Ford was born in Pontefract and attended...
|Mark Ford]] - Leeds United Footballer - Paul BlomfieldPaul BlomfieldPaul Blomfield is a British Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament for Sheffield Central since 2010. Twice Sabbatical President of the Students' Union at St John's College, York, he was also a member of the National Executive Committees of both the National Union of...
- Labour PartyLabour Party (UK)The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
Politician - Ross GreenwoodRoss Greenwood (footballer)Ross Michael Greenwood is an English footballer, currently playing for Gainsborough Trinity.-Biography:Greenwood was born in York and grew up in the village of Copmanthorpe...
- Footballer - Charlie TaylorCharlie Taylor (footballer born 1993)Charles James Taylor is an English footballer who plays for Leeds United at left back. He is a current England under-19 international.-Club career:...
- Leeds United Footballer