Steyning Grammar School is a coeducational comprehensive day and boarding, senior school and sixth form, located in Steyning, West Sussex, England.
| Steyning Grammar School | |
|---|---|
 Coat of arms of the School | |
| Location | |
 | |
Shooting Field , , BN44 3RX England | |
| 50°53′36″N 0°19′46″W / 50.89334°N 0.32936°W | |
| Information | |
| Type | Academy |
| Motto | Every Person the Best they Can Be[1] |
Religious affiliation | Church of England |
| Established | 1614 |
| Founder | William Holland |
Local authority | West Sussex |
| Trust | Bohunt Education Trust |
| 148221 Tables | |
| Ofsted | Reports |
Chair of Governors | Susan Gearing |
Headteacher | Aidan Timmons (acting) |
| Gender | Coeducational |
| Age | 11 to 18 |
| Enrolment | 1,944 pupils |
| Campuses | 3 |
| Colours | Blue and Red |
| Alumni | Old Grammarians |
| Website | http://www.sgs.uk.net/ |
The school has two lower school sites catering for Years 7 and 8. The original site was located in Church Street, Steyning, which moved to The Towers in Upper Beeding in August 2022. A second site opened at Rock Road in Storrington in September 2017, on the former site of Rydon Community College. A larger upper school site at Shooting Field, Steyning caters for students in Years 9 to 11 who study the Key Stage 4 curriculum over three years. The school's Sixth Form College for students in Years 12 and 13 is also based at the Shooting Field site. The Shooting Field site is served by Brighton & Hove bus route 2 once a day each weekday morning.[2]
History
edit
Steyning Grammar School was founded and endowed as a grammar school in 1614 by William Holland, an Alderman of Chichester. In 1968, it merged with Steyning Secondary Modern School to form the current comprehensive school. The combined school shares two sites in Steyning. The original half-timbered Church Street site housed years 7 and 8 until the end of the 2021-22 academic year after which this age group ('Lower School') transferred to the Towers site in nearby Upper Beeding. The main Shooting Field site houses years 9-11 and the sixth form college. A third lower school site opened in Storrington in September 2017 following the closure of Rydon Community College. Indoor physical education lessons are taught at Steyning Leisure Centre, which a joint project between the school and local councils.[3]
On 11 March 2020, after only two one-hour meetings open to the community[citation needed], school governors voted to convert the 400-year-old school to an academy as part of the Bohunt Education Trust (BET). A teaching union warned that the school has "nothing to gain and everything to lose" and there was talk of strike action after the plans were announced.[4] Converting Steyning Grammar School into an academy "would give Bohunt complete control over its curriculum and the hiring of teachers".[4]
Bohunt Education Trust (BET) runs nine schools in total, including secondary schools in Worthing and Horsham.
In December 2021 a viral report of a "bleak" Christmas dinner composed of "a mince pie, dry bread roll, slice of turkey, single pig in blanket, and a tiny square of stuffing" went viral, reports indicating the school apologised and the £3.50 cost of the meal was refunded.[5]
In July 2022 Steyning Grammar School was chosen to be part of the Government School Rebuilding Programme and will amalgamate the three school sites into one site at the current Shooting Field site. The project is not expected to be completed until at least 2028 or later.[6]
Notable alumni
edit- Greg Barker, Baron Barker of Battle, Conservative MP for Bexhill and Battle 2001-2015[7]
- Tom Blundell, head of biochemistry at the University of Cambridge[8][9]
- Ernest Marshall Cowell, surgeon and military officer[10]
- Richard Du Cann QC, barrister and judge[11]
- Bernard Holden, President of the Bluebell Railway and pioneer in railway preservation[citation needed]
- Owain Jones, cricketer[12]
- Adam Stephen Kelly, award-winning film writer, director and producer[citation needed]
- Ralph Lainson, parasitologist[13]
- Peter Marshall, author and anarchist[citation needed]
- Geoffrey Munn. Historian; retired managing director of London jewellers, Wartski, BBC Antiques Roadshow jewellery expert[14]
- Elizabeth Norton, historian[citation needed]
- John Pell, 1611–85, originator of Pell's equation[15]
- Maisie Peters, singer[16]
- Jessica Rosemary Shepherd, botanical artist and botanist[17]
- Connor Swindells, actor[18]
- John Trevett (1942–2019), cricketer[19]
- Ted Walker, 1934–2004, poet, author and dramatist[20]
- Lancelot Ware OBE, 1915–2000, co-founder of Mensa[21]
Boarding
editSteyning Grammar School has a boarding site located at Church Street.[22] It is around half a mile away from the Upper School site in Shooting Field.[citation needed] Steyning is one of a small number of state schools with boarding facilities.[23][failed verification]
Boarders can join at the beginning of Year 9 and Year 12 to follow GCSE and A-level courses respectively.[citation needed]
References
edit- ↑ "SGS 'MOST WICKET' WIN". 18 October 2012.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link) - ↑ "Steyning Grammar School (adj)". buses.co.uk. Retrieved 17 March 2024.
- ↑ Council, Horsham District (31 July 2020). "Steyning Leisure Centre". Horsham District Council. Retrieved 26 March 2025.
- 1 2 "Strike threats as 400-year-old school votes for academy plans". The Argus. Brighton. 17 March 2020.
- ↑ "School apology after bleak Christmas lunch photo goes viral". BBC News. 16 December 2021.
- ↑ "A new shake-up of schools is being proposed in a rebuilding scheme in West Sussex". SussexWorld. 1 July 2024. Retrieved 15 February 2025.
- ↑ "Barker of Battle, Baron, (Gregory Leonard George Barker)", Who's Who, Oxford University Press, 1 December 2007, doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.U41898, retrieved 9 June 2026
- ↑ "Winter Graduation Ceremonies 2001" (Press release). University of Sussex. 10 January 2001. Retrieved 17 June 2014.
- ↑ "Blundell, Sir Thomas Leon, (Sir Tom)", Who's Who, Oxford University Press, 1 December 2007, doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.U7914, retrieved 9 June 2026
- ↑ "Cowell, Sir Ernest Marshall (1886 - 1971)". Plarr’s Lives of the Fellows. Retrieved 9 June 2026.
- ↑ "du Cann, Richard Dillon Lottunlocked". Who's Who (UK). 1 December 2007. Retrieved 9 June 2026.
- ↑ "Player profile: Owain Jones". CricketArchive. Retrieved 15 May 2020.
- ↑ Whitworth, Jimmy (10 January 2019). "Lainson, Ralph". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Retrieved 9 June 2026.
- ↑ "Munn, Geoffrey Charles, (born 11 April 1953), jewellery historian, television presenter and writer; Managing Director, Wartski Ltd, 1990–2018". Who's Who and Who Was Who. doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.U257918.
- ↑ "Pell, John (PL624J)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
- ↑ "Maisie Peters wins Steyning Grammar School annual talent show". Great British Life. 6 March 2015. Archived from the original on 12 October 2023. Retrieved 28 September 2023.
- ↑ "Pupil's work pays off at show". West Sussex County Times. Chichester. 20 June 2003. p. 20.
- ↑ "Billingshurst actor stars in new film in cinemas across the UK". West Sussex County Times. Chichester. 19 October 2018.
- ↑ "Player profile: John Trevett". CricketArchive. Retrieved 5 April 2020.
- ↑ Rose, Colin (2 April 2004). "Obituary: Ted Walker". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 16 June 2014.
- ↑ Tomes, Jason (January 2006). "Ware, Lancelot Lionel (1915–2000)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/74545. Retrieved 9 September 2016. (Subscription, Wikipedia Library access or UK public library membership required.)
- ↑ "Boarding Contact Details". Steyning Grammar School. 6 October 2022.
- ↑ "Steyning Grammar School Boarding". www.sgs.uk.net. Archived from the original on 1 March 2021. Retrieved 23 January 2021.
Further reading
edit- Breach, Powell (1900). "Wm. Holland, Alderman of Chichester, and the Steyning Grammar School". Sussex Archaeological Collections. 43. Lewis: Sussex Archaeological Society. doi:10.5284/1085811.
External links
edit- Official Steyning Grammar School website
- Steyning Grammar School Old Boys website
- "Steyning: Education". A History of the County of Sussex: Volume 6 Part 1: Bramber Rape (Southern Part). 1980. pp. 245–46. Retrieved 24 May 2006.