Penistone Grammar School
Penistone Grammar School is a co-educational secondary school and former grammar school in Penistone, in the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley, South Yorkshire, England. Founded in 1392, it is the 45th oldest extant school in England with its most notable alumnus being Nicholas Saunderson, the probable inventor of Bayes theorem, in the 18th century.[1] The school has undergone many expansions, requiring the erection of several buildings, and now houses over 1,600 pupils from age 11 to 18.[2] Its current OFSTED overall rating is grade 2 ('good') following an Ofsted inspection in October 2013.
| Penistone Grammar School Advanced Learning Centre | |
|---|---|
 North side view with the main entrance | |
| Address | |
Huddersfield Road , , S36 7BX | |
| Coordinates | 53.5327°N 1.6361°W |
| Information | |
| Type | Community school |
| Motto | "Never Stop Flying" |
| Established | 1392 |
| Founder | John Clarel |
| Local authority | Barnsley |
| Department for Education URN | 106653 Tables |
| Ofsted | Reports |
| Headteacher | Paul Crook |
| Gender | Co-educational |
| Age | 11 to 18 |
| Enrolment | 1,696 |
| Colour(s) | Black, white and red |
| Website | www |
History
The school was founded as the Free Grammar School of Penistone in 1392, when it is recorded that a gift of land was made by John Clarel, Lord of the Manor at Penistone, for the purpose of a school. Later, the school was situated in the town centre on a site opposite St. John the Baptist Church and across the road from the old Cloth Hall. In 1443 the Free Grammar School of Penistone received further bequests and in 1547, after the dissolution of the chantries, the school continued as the free school for the children of Penistone. Following further endowments, the school was rebuilt in 1702 and enjoyed a considerable period of academic renown under a series of very able Masters. In 1892 the school withdrew from its town centre site to a position about half a mile north-west of the town centre. Around this time the school took fee-paying boarders, had a strong reputation for mathematics and science, and a tradition of sending students to the University of Cambridge. The school remains on this site.
The school was originally an all-boys grammar school, with girls being admitted for the first time in 1907. In the late 20th century the school ceased to be a grammar school, becoming one of the first neighbourhood comprehensive schools in the country. It became fully comprehensive in 1969, with partial selection (for more distant pupils) for a few years prior to that. The comprehensive school initially retained its Grammar school name and traditions such as the house system and speech night. These traditions were gradually scaled back, with uniform downgraded from blazers to sweaters during the 1990s. In 2011, the school restored its traditional house system and uniform, and entirely demolished and rebuilt its buildings in a modern style.
The school motto was traditionally "Disce Aut Discede" ("Learn or leave"), with the school colours being traditionally red and black. It used the coat of arms of the founder, John Clarel, which showed six martlets, as its logo. In 2003 the school changed its historic motto to "Learning and Achieving Together". It rebranded again in 2010 with the motto "Never Stop Flying", a reference to martlets having no legs so always being in flight, changing the logo and school ties to show a single stylised martlet in flight.
The school's history is now described in a walkway to the new building, with each road named after points in the school's history.
Present day
In September 2003 the school obtained specialist status to become a Business and Enterprise College. The school has also received an Artsmark Silver award[3] and has recently been re-certified as an investor in people.
The new £35 million state of the art school building opened on 2 May 2011, with a complete demolition of the old ones except for Fulford and Weirfield blocks. Fulford was ultimately demolished in early 2014 after much protest from past students and locals.
After taking over from headteacher of 5 years Glynis Gower in 2007, Joanne Higgins stood down in November 2017 with Paul Crook taking her place as principal.
The sixth form at Penistone currently has 224 students in attendance.[2] Penistone Grammar School is the only maintained school in the Local Education Authority of Barnsley to have a sixth form.
After internal remodeling in 2018, work started on a £4.3 million two-storey extension in 2019, expected to provide an additional 250 places at the school. The project is due to be completed February 2020 and will be linked to the main school by a walkway.[4]
List of headmasters
| Years | Name | Education | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| c.1392–1433 | Rev. John Del Rodes | Custos of Saint John's Chapel | |
| c.1433–1450 | Rev. John Smyth | Chaplain | |
| 1450–1472 | Rev. William Wordsworth | Chantry Priest at St Mary's | |
| 1472–1477 | Rev. William Walker | Chantry Priest at St Mary's | |
| 1477–1534 | Rev. William Addy Snr | Chantry Priest at St Mary's | |
| 1534–1556 | Rev. William Addy Jnr | Chantry Priest at St Mary's | |
| 1556–1613 | Mr John Hyde, MA (Cantab) | St John's College, Cambridge | |
| 1613–1630 | Mr Richard Hey | Died 28 May 1630 | |
| 1630–1632 | Rev. Roger Audesley | ||
| 1632–1644 | Mr John Coatehill | Died 8 May 1644 | |
| 1644–1666 | Rev. George Didsbury, BA | Clare College, Cambridge | Died 24 April 1666 |
| 1666–1668 | Rev. John Revel, BA | Christ's College, Cambridge | Resigned |
| 1668–1702 | Mr Nathan Staniforth, MA (Cantab) | Christ's College, Cambridge | Died 24 November 1702 |
| 1702–1726 | Mr John Ramsden | Died 12 March 1726 | |
| 1726–1751 | Rev. Jonathan Perkin | Christ's College, Cambridge | Died 3 May 1751 |
| 1751–1776 | Rev. Francis Haigh, BA | Christ's College, Cambridge | Died 15 November 1776 |
| 1776–1786 | Rev. Joseph Horsfall | Resigned | |
| 1786–1836 | Mr Jonathan Wood | Died 22 April 1836 | |
| 1836–1855 | Rev. Samuel Sunderland, BA | Vicar of Penistone. Died 18 July 1855 | |
| 1855–1867 | Rev. John Wesley Aldom, MA | Trinity College, Dublin | Resigned |
| 1867 | Rev. Alfred Steane | Appointed but never acted | |
| 1867 | Mr George Curtis Price, BA | Appointed but declined | |
| 1867–1868 | Mr Walter Mooney Hatch, BA | New College, Oxford | Resigned after a few months |
| 1868–1884 | Mr Theophilus Jackson | Resigned | |
| 1884–1885 | Mr Othman Blakey | Resigned | |
| 1885–1888 | Mr Harry Hardy | Resigned and became assistant 1888 | |
| 1888–1892 | Mr Lionel Ernest Adams, BA | Resigned | |
| 1893–1921 | Mr Joseph Woodward Fulford, MA | ||
| 1921–1928 | Mr Guy Wilfred Morris, MA | Resigned | |
| 1928–1958 | Mr Eric Fisher Bowman, CBE, MA | ||
| 1958–1976 | Mr Wilfrid Burgess Simms, MA | ||
| 1976–1997 | Mr Martin Antony (Tony) Bould, BA | ||
| 1997–1999 | Mr Andrew White | ||
| 1999–2002 | Mrs Pamela Caunt | ||
| 2002–2007 | Mrs Glynis Gower | Retired | |
| 2007–2017 | Ms Joanne Higgins, BA | Resigned | |
| 2017– | Mr Paul Crook, BEd |
Notable Old Penistonians
- Prof Nicholas Saunderson (1682–1739) - Mathematician and Lucasian Professor at Cambridge University from 1711 to 1739[7]
- Noel Moore (1928–2008) - Civil Servant who oversaw the decimalisation project
- Prof Alan Mercer (1931–2014) - Professor of Operational Research, founding member of Lancaster University's Department of Management Science[8]
- Heather Armitage (1933–) - British gold medal sprinter[9]
- Prof David Hey (1938–2016) - Historian[10]
- Prof Jean Bacon (1942–) - Professor of Computer Science at the University of Cambridge[11]
- Paul Copley (1944–) - Actor and voice-over artist
- Katherine Brunt (1985–) - England Women's Cricketer[12]
- Marc Roberts (1990–) - Professional Footballer[13]
- John Stones (1994–) - England Footballer[14]
References
- Stephen M. Stigler (1983), "Who Discovered Bayes' Theorem?" The American Statistician 37(4):290–296.
- Penistone Grammar School "Current Staff and Student Numbers FOI Request 2019", 14 October 2019
- Archived 14 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine
- "School extension underway". Barnsley Chronicle. 15 February 2019. Retrieved 14 September 2019.
- Dransfield, John N (1906). A History of the Parish of Penistone. James H. Wood (The Don Press).
- Bould, Martin Antony, ed. (1992). Six hundred glorious years 1392-1992.
- David Hey (2002). A History of Penistone and District. Wharncliffe books. p. 50. ISBN 1-903425-21-2.
- J J O'Connor and E F Robertson, Stefan Banach, MacTutor History of Mathematics (University of St Andrews, Scotland, April 2015)
- "Heather Armitage - Penistone Grammar School's Olympic Medallist". www.pgs-archive.co.uk. Retrieved 4 February 2018.
- Dyer, Christopher (25 February 2016). "David Hey obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved 8 April 2018.
- Jean Bacon, an oral history conducted in 2001 by Janet Abbate, IEEE History Center, Hoboken, NJ, USA.
- Westbury, Isabelle (25 July 2015). "How England bowler Katherine Brunt shed the burden of bullying to face the Aussies". Daily Mail. Retrieved 8 April 2018.
- "Roberts: 'I've done it the long way round' - Barnsley News from the Barnsley Chronicle". Barnsley Chronicle. 29 May 2015. Retrieved 8 April 2018.
- Thomson, Doug (13 May 2014). "Why John Stones' elevation to England's stand-by squad brings pride to Penistone". Huddersfield Examiner. Retrieved 8 April 2018.