Bingley Grammar School
Encyclopedia
Bingley Grammar School is a school for both boys and girls from the ages of 11–18 and is located on the outskirts of Bingley
, West Yorkshire
, England
.
Today, four hundred and eighty years later, the Foundation Trust Governors still meet each term to manage the assets of the trust, and to ensure that the proceeds are used to enhance the education of pupils of the School, now back to its former 'Voluntary Aided' status.
From 2006 to 2011 the school was a Business and Enterprise college, assisted mainly by the voluntary and the Foundation.
The school hit the headlines in September 2009 when it forced all its female pupils to wear trousers, following a furore over skirt lengths.
In November 2009 two teachers were suspended after it emerged that they accompanied pupils to a live sex show at a bar during a school trip to Bangkok
's notorious red light district
. As of February 2010 they were back working at the school.
In 2010 the previous headteacher, Mr Chris Taylor, resigned to become the headmaster for a school in Surrey. He left during the Easter holidays. The new headteacher, Mrs Julia Wright, previous deputy head of Dixon's Academy, took over in September 2010. Between these two periods, Mr Luke Weston, deputy head, was the acting headteacher.
The houses compete every year in a series of events, from cross country, music and drama. In 2011 it was made compulsory for every pupil to partake in a house competition, fortunately this was accompanied with the additional of several competitions e.g. chess
and Scrabble
, and some other more strange competitions such as speed texting and an egg and spoon race
. These changes were met with considerable criticism by the students.
A sports day event is held each year. The houses also gain points for 'credit stamps' (awarded for good work and behaviour) and aids in winning house competitions. At the end of each year house's win the House Cup.
Pupils are also separated into classes within the houses and years. Each Form has one/two tutor(s) who assist in their pupils' daily learning.
During the 1990s, for example, the Foundation made possible the building of the sports hall by funding its construction in partnership with the Sports Council and “The Friends” of Bingley Grammar School; and today the Foundation is supporting a bid for Specialist School Status with a generous contribution towards the sponsorship target.
Whether helping to fund special events and expeditions for students, the Carol Service, (held at Bradford Cathedral
), providing prizes for speech day, (this being held at St George's Hall, Bradford
and the highlight of the school's academic calendar (held in December)), or underwriting major building projects, the Foundation carries on a tradition through which, over the years, citizens of Bingley
have underpinned the work of the School to help provide education for the young people of the town.
, hockey
, netball
, swimming
and cricket
.
.
, and the nearest bus stop is Keighley Road/Harold Street. The bus stop is used by services 662 and 760 which go from Bradford
and Leeds
(respectively) via Saltaire
to Keighley
, and vice versa. The 727 shuttles members of the public between Keighley
, via East Morton to the school, then heads onto Cullingworth
via Wilsden
and Harden
. To Leeds, Bradford and Keighley there is a frequent service, between 5 and 20 minutes, whereas to Cullingworth there is only one bus every hour and sometimes less. Overcrowding is a problem at school opening/closing times, with reports of buses taking up to ten minutes to load all of the passengers, causing severe traffic issues which is not helped by the large numbers of cars collecting/dropping off students. However, this was alleviated slightly in 2003 by the construction of a the A650 relief road, colloquially known as "the Bingley Bypass".
There is also a school bus service at BGS, though, over recent years, there has been much controversy over the extreme levels of health and safety with the introduction of the MyBus
service.
Bingley
Bingley is a market town in the metropolitan borough of the City of Bradford, in West Yorkshire, England. It is situated on the River Aire and the Leeds and Liverpool Canal...
, West Yorkshire
West Yorkshire
West Yorkshire is a metropolitan county within the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England with a population of 2.2 million. West Yorkshire came into existence as a metropolitan county in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972....
, 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...
.
History
Bingley Grammar School's long tradition stems from its foundation in 1529, when a series of wealthy benefactors from among the people of Bingley provided a trust to support the education of the young people of the town.Today, four hundred and eighty years later, the Foundation Trust Governors still meet each term to manage the assets of the trust, and to ensure that the proceeds are used to enhance the education of pupils of the School, now back to its former 'Voluntary Aided' status.
From 2006 to 2011 the school was a Business and Enterprise college, assisted mainly by the voluntary and the Foundation.
The school hit the headlines in September 2009 when it forced all its female pupils to wear trousers, following a furore over skirt lengths.
In November 2009 two teachers were suspended after it emerged that they accompanied pupils to a live sex show at a bar during a school trip to Bangkok
Bangkok
Bangkok is the capital and largest urban area city in Thailand. It is known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon or simply Krung Thep , meaning "city of angels." The full name of Bangkok is Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahintharayutthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom...
's notorious red light district
Red Light District
Red Light District may refer to:* Red-light district - a neighborhood where prostitution is common* The Red Light District - the title of the 2004 album by rapper Ludacris* Red Light District Video - a pornography studio based in Los Angeles, California...
. As of February 2010 they were back working at the school.
In 2010 the previous headteacher, Mr Chris Taylor, resigned to become the headmaster for a school in Surrey. He left during the Easter holidays. The new headteacher, Mrs Julia Wright, previous deputy head of Dixon's Academy, took over in September 2010. Between these two periods, Mr Luke Weston, deputy head, was the acting headteacher.
Houses
The school works on a "house" system , the four houses named after the four founders of the school in 1529. These are Wooller, Milner, Sunderland and Oldfield. Pupils can be identified as members of their house by one of the stripes on their ties - Red for Wooller, Blue for Milner, Green for Sunderland, and Yellow for Oldfield.The houses compete every year in a series of events, from cross country, music and drama. In 2011 it was made compulsory for every pupil to partake in a house competition, fortunately this was accompanied with the additional of several competitions e.g. chess
Chess
Chess is a two-player board game played on a chessboard, a square-checkered board with 64 squares arranged in an eight-by-eight grid. It is one of the world's most popular games, played by millions of people worldwide at home, in clubs, online, by correspondence, and in tournaments.Each player...
and Scrabble
Scrabble
Scrabble is a word game in which two to four players score points by forming words from individual lettered tiles on a game board marked with a 15-by-15 grid. The words are formed across and down in crossword fashion and must appear in a standard dictionary. Official reference works provide a list...
, and some other more strange competitions such as speed texting and an egg and spoon race
Egg and spoon race
An egg-and-spoon race is a sporting event in which participants must carry an egg or other roundish object on a teaspoon, tablespoon or wooden spoon and race to the finish line without dropping the egg or without running while the egg is not on the spoon...
. These changes were met with considerable criticism by the students.
A sports day event is held each year. The houses also gain points for 'credit stamps' (awarded for good work and behaviour) and aids in winning house competitions. At the end of each year house's win the House Cup.
Pupils are also separated into classes within the houses and years. Each Form has one/two tutor(s) who assist in their pupils' daily learning.
The Foundation
The work which the Foundation Trust Governors have done in managing their assets has meant that they have been able, time and again, to support the School in its development.During the 1990s, for example, the Foundation made possible the building of the sports hall by funding its construction in partnership with the Sports Council and “The Friends” of Bingley Grammar School; and today the Foundation is supporting a bid for Specialist School Status with a generous contribution towards the sponsorship target.
Whether helping to fund special events and expeditions for students, the Carol Service, (held at Bradford Cathedral
Bradford Cathedral
Bradford Cathedral , full name Cathedral Church of St Peter, is situated in the heart of Bradford in West Yorkshire, England, on a site used for Christian worship since the 8th century when missionaries based in Dewsbury evangelised the region...
), providing prizes for speech day, (this being held at St George's Hall, Bradford
St George's Hall, Bradford
St George's Concert Hall is a grade II* listed Victorian building located in the centre of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. Originally designed with a seating capacity of 3,500, the Hall seats 1500 people....
and the highlight of the school's academic calendar (held in December)), or underwriting major building projects, the Foundation carries on a tradition through which, over the years, citizens of Bingley
Bingley
Bingley is a market town in the metropolitan borough of the City of Bradford, in West Yorkshire, England. It is situated on the River Aire and the Leeds and Liverpool Canal...
have underpinned the work of the School to help provide education for the young people of the town.
Athletics
The School competes in local and national competitions at rugbyRugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
, hockey
Hockey
Hockey is a family of sports in which two teams play against each other by trying to maneuver a ball or a puck into the opponent's goal using a hockey stick.-Etymology:...
, netball
Netball
Netball is a ball sport played between two teams of seven players. Its development, derived from early versions of basketball, began in England in the 1890s. By 1960 international playing rules had been standardised for the game, and the International Federation of Netball and Women's Basketball ...
, swimming
Swimming (sport)
Swimming is a sport governed by the Fédération Internationale de Natation .-History: Competitive swimming in Europe began around 1800 BCE, mostly in the form of the freestyle. In 1873 Steve Bowyer introduced the trudgen to Western swimming competitions, after copying the front crawl used by Native...
and 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...
.
Music and drama
Bingley Grammar School hosts a wide number of music groups and ensembles for players of all abilities. The music department hosts a wide range of concerts and runs many music ensembles. Some of these have performed in very high-profile locations, such as the Royal Albert HallRoyal Albert Hall
The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall situated on the northern edge of the South Kensington area, in the City of Westminster, London, England, best known for holding the annual summer Proms concerts since 1941....
.
Specialist status
Bingley Grammar School was a specialist school for Business & Enterprise from 2006 to 2011. Due to this, students had previously been required to take Business at GCSE but since the 2010 introduction of the English Baccalaureate this is now not mandatory (but still heavily recommended by the school).Transport
The nearest train station is Crossflatts railway stationCrossflatts railway station
Crossflatts railway station serves the Crossflatts area of Bingley, north of Bradford in West Yorkshire, England. The station is on the Airedale Line, north west of Leeds and north west of Bradford Forster Square. The station, and all trains serving it, are operated by Northern Rail.The...
, and the nearest bus stop is Keighley Road/Harold Street. The bus stop is used by services 662 and 760 which go from Bradford
Bradford
Bradford lies at the heart of the City of Bradford, a metropolitan borough of West Yorkshire, in Northern England. It is situated in the foothills of the Pennines, west of Leeds, and northwest of Wakefield. Bradford became a municipal borough in 1847, and received its charter as a city in 1897...
and Leeds
Leeds
Leeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial...
(respectively) via Saltaire
Saltaire
Saltaire is a Victorian model village within the City of Bradford Metropolitan District, West Yorkshire, England, by the River Aire and the Leeds and Liverpool Canal...
to Keighley
Keighley
Keighley is a town and civil parish within the metropolitan borough of the City of Bradford in West Yorkshire, England. It is situated northwest of Bradford and is at the confluence of the River Aire and the River Worth...
, and vice versa. The 727 shuttles members of the public between Keighley
Keighley
Keighley is a town and civil parish within the metropolitan borough of the City of Bradford in West Yorkshire, England. It is situated northwest of Bradford and is at the confluence of the River Aire and the River Worth...
, via East Morton to the school, then heads onto Cullingworth
Cullingworth
Cullingworth is a village and civil parish in West Yorkshire, England, between Bradford and Haworth. The village is well known locally for holding events such as the Brontë Vintage Gathering every year and the Great Yorkshire Bike Show in 2005. The surrounding countryside is mainly used for sheep...
via Wilsden
Wilsden
Wilsden is a village and civil parish to the west of Bradford, in West Yorkshire, England. Wilsden is close to the Aire Valley and the nearby villages of Cullingworth, Harden, Cottingley and Allerton. Wilsden re-acquired civil parish status in 2004...
and Harden
Harden
Harden may refer toas a surname:* Arthur Harden* Duane Harden* Henry Eric Harden* James Harden *James Harden , Northern Irish politician...
. To Leeds, Bradford and Keighley there is a frequent service, between 5 and 20 minutes, whereas to Cullingworth there is only one bus every hour and sometimes less. Overcrowding is a problem at school opening/closing times, with reports of buses taking up to ten minutes to load all of the passengers, causing severe traffic issues which is not helped by the large numbers of cars collecting/dropping off students. However, this was alleviated slightly in 2003 by the construction of a the A650 relief road, colloquially known as "the Bingley Bypass".
There is also a school bus service at BGS, though, over recent years, there has been much controversy over the extreme levels of health and safety with the introduction of the MyBus
MyBus
MyBus is a service operated on behalf of the States of Jersey by Connex Transport Jersey, a local subsidiary of Veolia Transport. MyBus offer frequent bus routes around the island of Jersey...
service.
Notable former pupils
- Sir Fred HoyleFred HoyleSir Fred Hoyle FRS was an English astronomer and mathematician noted primarily for his contribution to the theory of stellar nucleosynthesis and his often controversial stance on other cosmological and scientific matters—in particular his rejection of the "Big Bang" theory, a term originally...
, a British astronomer - A blue plaque outside the reception from the Institute of Physics commemorates this. - Benjamin GottBenjamin GottBenjamin Gott was one of the leading figures in the industrial revolution, in the field of textiles. His factory at Armley Mills, Armley, Leeds, was once the largest factory in the world and is now home to the Armley Mills Industrial Museum.Gott was born in Calverley, Pudsey in West Yorkshire,...
, a leading figures in the industrial revolution - Dr Ramson Mumba and his wife Linda Mumba, founders of the El Shaddai International Christian CentreEl Shaddai International Christian CentreEl Shaddai International Christian Centre is a group of churches led by Ramson Mumba. He started His first church in 1998 in Bingley, West Yorkshire, and then moved to Bradford in 2000, experiencing considerable growth. In 2004, Ransom Mumba moved to London to plant a church, and churches have...
, a group of churches - Austin Vernon Mitchell, Labour Member of Parliament for Great Grimsby in England.
- Derek BenfieldDerek BenfieldDerek Benfield was a British playwright and actor.He was born in Bradford, Yorkshire, and educated at Bingley Grammar School. He was the author of the stage farce Running Riot and the second actor who played Patricia Routledge's character's husband in Hetty Wainthropp Investigates...
, actor - Martin WhitcombeMartin WhitcombeMartin Alun Whitcombe is a former Rugby Union Footballer of the 80's and 90's.He learnt to play rugby at Keighley RUFC and went on to have a long playing career for Leicester Tigers, Bedford RFC, Sale FC, and Leeds Tykes, at prop i.e. 1 or 3...
, Leicester TigersLeicester TigersLeicester Tigers is an English rugby union club that plays in the Aviva Premiership.Leicester are the most successful English club since the introduction of league rugby in 1987, a record 9 times English champions - 3 more than either Bath or Wasps, the last of which was in 2010...
, YorkshireYorkshireYorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform...
& England 'B'England SaxonsEngland Saxons is the current name of England's men's second national rugby union team. The team has previously been known by a number of names, such as England B, Emerging England and, most recently, England A...
. International Rugby UnionRugby unionRugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
Player - Simon HaughtonSimon HaughtonSimon J. Haughton is an English former rugby league player.Simon Haughton was an England international and played at the 1995 Rugby League World Cup....
, international Rugby League player who represented Wigan, England and Great Britain. - John Wilson (industrial chemist)John Wilson (industrial chemist)John Wilson CBE, MC & Bar, FRIC was Director of the British Rayon Research Association from 1948 to 1958. He was married to Edith Wilson and had six children.-Early life:...
- Joshua Reece, bassist, guitarist, drummer and backing vocalist of The Faux Romantics. Also appeared on The SlipThe Slip (album)The Slip is the seventh studio album by American industrial rock act Nine Inch Nails, released on July 22, 2008. It was the fourth consecutive Nine Inch Nails release to be produced by frontman Trent Reznor with collaborators Atticus Ross and Alan Moulder...
album, released by Nine Inch NailsNine Inch NailsNine Inch Nails is an American industrial rock project, founded in 1988 by Trent Reznor in Cleveland, Ohio. As its main producer, singer, songwriter, and instrumentalist, Reznor is the only official member of Nine Inch Nails and remains solely responsible for its direction...
in 2008 - Christopher Leslie, Labour MP for Nottingham East (UK Parliament constituencyNottingham East (UK Parliament constituency)Nottingham East is a borough constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election.-Boundaries:...
, formerly MP for Shipley (UK Parliament constituencyShipley (UK Parliament constituency)-Elections in the 2000s:-Elections in the 1990s:-Elections in the 1980s:-Elections in the 1970s:-Elections in the 1910s:...
and director of the New Local Government NetworkNew Local Government NetworkThe New Local Government Network is a United Kingdom think tank which was founded in 1996. Its director is Simon Parker, previously of Demos, the Institute for Government and the Confederation of British Industry....
.
