Bourne Grammar School

Bourne Grammar School (BGS) is a co-educational grammar school with academy status on South Road (A15), in Bourne, Lincolnshire, England. The school was founded in 1330. It previously held Arts College Status, and was awarded Academy status in January 2012, although it retains its former name.

Bourne Grammar School
Address
South Road

Bourne
,
Lincolnshire
,
PE10 9JE

England
Coordinates52°45′45″N 0°22′24″W
Information
TypePublic Grammar School
MottoVigila et Ora
(Watch and pray)
Religious affiliation(s)Non-religious
Established1330
FounderLincoln Cathedral
Department for Education URN137793 Tables
OfstedReports
Chairman Of The GovernorsMr S Dharamraj
HeadmasterJonathan P J Maddox
Staff130[1]
GenderCoeducational
Age11 to 18
Enrolment1500+ (Over 370 in Sixth Form)[1][2]
HousesBehn, Meitner, Tinbergen, Rorschach
Colour(s)    Red and Gold
PublicationBGS Bulletin
Former pupilsOld Brunnians
School SongChristian, seek not yet repose
Re-Endowed1636
Websitehttp://www.bourne-grammar.lincs.sch.uk/

History

Original foundation

The original foundation dates from no later than 1330, when a new headmaster was admitted to the school by the Lincoln Cathedral Chapter. It was re-endowed in 1636 by a bequest of William Trollope, who had built the old school building in 1626.[3] That building still exists in the Abbey Churchyard, although it was re-roofed and partially rebuilt in 1736 and the school moved to its present site in July 1921.[4]

In its original form, it appears to have been operated by the regular canons of Bourne Abbey but that was dissolved in 1536. The school continued but the nature of its management structure in this period is not wholly clear. In 1626, William Trollope provided it with a new building and in 1636, on his death, he endowed it as the "Free Grammar School of King Charles in the Town of Bourne in the County of Lincoln, of the foundation of William Trollope, gentleman", with £30 per year to pay the teacher's salary.

New buildings

In 1736, the building was re-roofed and partially rebuilt.[5] With maintenance and the installation of better heating, the existing building continued until 1904, but it was feared the coming railways would have made better-equipped schools more accessible causing the school to fade away. Efforts were made to reinstate it once the First World War was over, and in 1920, it opened in the building of the former National School, in North Street. In 1921, once its longer-term premises in South Road were usable, it moved there.[6] At this stage, it was run by trustees under the name of the 'Harrington and Trollope Secondary School', after Robert Harrington and William Trollope, two local seventeenth-century philanthropists whose bequests had been made for the poor and the school of Bourne respectively. Kesteven County Council topped up the funds required with an annual grant and by paying for free places at the school for pupils who qualified for assistance.[7]

In 1947, following the end of the Second World War and the Education Act 1944, management was taken over by the Kesteven County Council and the current name was adopted. Since 1974, the county concerned has been Lincolnshire, previously being controlled by the Kesteven Education Committee at Sleaford. In the 1970s, the school roll was around 400.

In 2018 a new £3.5m building opened for the Science department. The block includes fifteen laboratories, a staff room, toilet facilities, and a climate-control system.[8]

Houses

There is a house system and Form Groups within the school designated by the letters A to H in all year groups (although Sixth Form students do not have a traditional 'tutor period' like the lower school). All students are assigned 1 of 4 houses: Behn (Aphra Behn), Meitner (Lise Meitner), Rorschach (Hermann Rorschach) and Tinbergen (Nikolaas Tinbergen). Each house's name was chosen by its original leader in 2012 (the four members of staff coming from the Drama, Physics, Psychology and Biology departments of the school respectively). This replaced the system of five houses ('V', 'W', 'X', 'Y', 'Z') to match the five form groups in each year (everyone in each form being from one house) that existed before the school's expansion in 2012.

Badge

The school badge is a red shield with two gold bars and three red discs above: an escutcheon argent with two bars vert and three pommes in the chief. The heraldry is derived from that of the Bourne Town Council (formerly Bourne UDC), which in turn, is based on the arms of the Wake family, medieval lords of the Manor of Bourne. The school shares the town motto Vigila et Ora, meaning "Watch and Pray". The reference is Christ's injunction to His disciples in St Matthew's Gospel:[9] "Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak." (Matthew 26:41).

Recognition

The school states it achieves "Advanced level" results in the top three for schools in the East Midlands.[10] Its headmaster reported in his weekly bulletin that their 2017 GCSE results placed them second in Lincolnshire[11] The Progress 8 for the 2017/18 academic year was +0.68, indicating a high improvement of student ability across their time at the school.[12]

Notable alumni

See also

References
  • Birkbeck, J. D. (1986); A History of Bourne Grammar School; includes the lyrics of the school song, 'Vigila et Ora'. OCLC 19268473

Footnotes
  1. TES employer page
  2. https://www.bourne-grammar.lincs.sch.uk/page/?title=School+Information&pid=27
  3. Birkbeck p. 2
  4. Birkbeck, p. 7
  5. Birkbeck pp. 2-3
  6. Birkbeck p. 7
  7. Birkbeck p. 7
  8. Sarah, Barker (1 December 2017). "State-of-the-art £3.5m science block completed at Bourne Grammar School". Lincolnshire Reporter. Retrieved 16 June 2019.
  9. Chapter 26, verse 41
  10. "Grammar school says children told to leave due to poor grades..." 4 September 2017. Retrieved 26 December 2018.
  11. Headmaster's Bulletin 8th September
  12. Official School Governor's Report 2018
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