Tadcaster Grammar School
Tadcaster Grammar School is a secondary school near Tadcaster, North Yorkshire, England, founded in 1557 by Owen Oglethorpe as an all-boys' school.
| Tadcaster Grammar School | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Address | |
Toulston , , LS24 9NB England | |
| Coordinates | 53.87786°N 1.30734°W |
| Information | |
| Type | Community school |
| Established | 1557 |
| Founder | Owen Oglethorpe |
| Local authority | North Yorkshire |
| Department for Education URN | 121693 Tables |
| Ofsted | Reports |
| Head teacher | Mr A Parkinson [1] |
| Gender | Mixed |
| Age | 11 to 18 |
| Enrolment | approx. 1,600 pupils |
| Website | https://tgs.starmat.uk/ |
The school is no longer situated in the brewery town of Tadcaster, but in the hamlet of Toulston just outside the town. The school's catchment includes Tadcaster and its surrounding villages, while traditionally taking pupils from the York area, including villages such as Appleton Roebuck, Copmanthorpe, Bishopthorpe and Bilbrough. It educates children aged 11–18 years old, and has an on-site sixth form. Since 2019, the headteacher has been Andrew Parkinson.[2]
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. In May 2012 the school received an Ofsted rating of 'Good' overall, with 'Outstanding' behaviour and safety of pupils. 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. 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 vertical forms, there do exist six houses, the established houses of Oglethorpe and Dawson, named after the two merging schools' founders, Fairfax, after the English Civil War commander-in-chief and alumnus Thomas Fairfax and Calcaria, the Roman name for Tadcaster, with two new houses, Toulston and Wharfe, whose names were selected by pupils.
History
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The school was founded in 1557 by Owen Oglethorpe, Bishop of Carlisle, as a boys' school in Tadcaster. It merged with Dawson's Girls' School at the beginning of the 20th century.
In 1960 it moved to the site of Toulston Lodge, just outside Tadcaster. Although Toulston Lodge has now been converted into classrooms, as opposed to living quarters, the original fireplace is still in place, as is the skylight and the wooden elephants that surround it. There is a claim that Toulston Lodge once belonged to Oliver Cromwell.
Since 2000 new school buildings added include a 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. Overall it includes three business rooms, one law room, three computer rooms, two science classrooms and three religious education rooms. In 2020, the religious education classrooms were converted to life skills classrooms, as the former rooms were moved to be closer to other humanities.
During the summer of 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. New wooden fencing was added 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, formerly a school landmark since the change of site in 1960.
Houses
School houses, into which the pupils of Tadcaster Grammar School are divided, are:
- Oglethorpe House — after Owen Oglethorpe, Bishop of Carlisle, and founder of the school in 1557. Green
- Dawson House — after Dawson's Girls' School, with which Tadcaster Grammar School was merged. Yellow
- Fairfax House — after English Civil War commander-in-chief and alumnus Thomas Fairfax. Blue
- Calcaria House — after the Roman name for Tadcaster. Red
- Toulston House — after school building Toulston Lodge, former residence of Oliver Cromwell. Orange
- Wharfe House — after the River Wharfe, which runs through Tadcaster. Purple
Notable former pupils
Alumni of Tadcaster Grammar School are referred to as 'Old Tadites'. Some notable 'Tadites' include:
- Thomas Fairfax, 3rd Lord Fairfax of Cameron – English Civil War General and parliamentary commander-in-chief.
- John Smith and Samuel Smith – Brothers who established John Smith's Brewery and Samuel Smith Brewery
- Thomas Potter – Industrialist and Liberal politician
- Adelle Stripe – Writer
- Charles Hague – Violinist and professor of music at the University of Cambridge
- Humphrey Smith – Multi-millionaire owner of Samuel Smith Brewery and businessman
- Glamour of the Kill – Heavy Rock band
- Alison Lloyd – Designer and founder of Ally Capellino
- David Brown – Tadcaster Albion footballer
- Matthew Kilgallon – Hamilton Academical footballer
- Mark Westaby – Strongman
- Grammatics – Alternative rock band
- Ed Bicknell – Musician
- Mark Ford – former Leeds United footballer
- Paul Blomfield – Labour Party politician
- Ross Greenwood – former Sheffield Wednesday footballer
- Charlie Taylor – Burnley footballer
- Lewis Cook - AFC Bournemouth and England footballer
- Thomas Staniforth - former footballer
References
- "Tadcaster Grammar School home page". Tadcaster Grammar School. Retrieved 17 February 2015.
- "Contact Headteacher | Tadcaster Grammar School". web.tgsbec.com. Retrieved 3 October 2015.