Education in Lincolnshire
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Lincolnshire is one of the few counties within the UK that still uses the Eleven plus to decide who may attend grammar school, in common with Buckinghamshire and Kent. Notable grammar schools in the county include:
- Skegness Grammar School - notable as the first school in Great Britain to apply for and receive, 'grant-maintained' status.
- King Edward VI Grammar School, Louth also uses the Eleven plus to select pupils. The school recently celebrated it's 450th Charter Day in 2001 to mark the day, on September 21st 1551, when King Edward VI signed the charter to maintain the school's existence following the dissolution of the religious guilds and the monastery in the town. Former pupils of 'KEVIGS' include Captain John Smith founder of Virginia, Sir John Franklin and Alfred Lord Tennyson.
- Boston Grammar School is another ancient educational institution, having been founded by charter of William and Mary in 1555. It was used as the model for Boston Latin School which was the first school of the new colony in what became the United States of America. Boston Grammar School's current library, built in 1567, is believed to be the oldest academic building in continuous use in England.
- The King's School, Grantham traces its history back to 1329 when the first teacher was appointed. In 1528 the school was re-endowed by Bishop Richard Foxe of Winchester who also founded Corpus Christi College, Oxford. The school library, a grade I listed building, was the original School House. Among its many old boys are Lord Burghley, Chancellor to Queen Elizabeth I, and Sir Isaac Newton.
- Kesteven and Grantham Girls' School with specialist science status, opened in 1910 on the present extensive and attractive site overlooking the town of Grantham. The original, fine buildings have been refurbished and, together with new buildings, additions and modifications made over the years, provide excellent accommodation and facilities for today's students. Its most famous old girl is Margaret Thatcher, Britain's first woman prime minister.
- Queen Elizabeth's High School in Gainsborough was founded in 1589 and has been a co-ed school since 1983. It performs excellently in all academic areas as well as having strong sports, public speaking and general knowledge teams. The school also hosts successful music concerts and drama productions throughout the year. The school has maintained the handsome original buildings which add a sense of class when seen from the road. Among its most famous old boys are Sir Halford Mackinder, founder of the School of Geography at Oxford University, and John Robinson, chaplain to the Pilgrim Fathers and Reformed theologian.
Despite the bias towards selection, there are four comprehensive schools in Lincolnshire with good (above average) results, and one with excellent results - The Priory (formerly the Lincoln School of Science and Technology) is well regarded and achieves results comparable with the selective schools. William Farr School at Welton recently topped the national list for 'A level' results and was described in a recent OFSTED report as "outstanding", achieving A level results well above most comprehensives, especially across the East Midlands. Another good comprehensive is The Deepings School in Market Deeping; the good comprehensives are generally in middle class areas. In the county are 63 state secondary schools and 8 independent schools, not including sixth form colleges, although only the two independent schools in Stamford are typically of the 'public school' mould. North East Lincolnshire LEA has 12 state schools and one independent school, and North Lincolnshire LEA has 14 state schools. In general, most school results in both these unitary authority LEAs are low for GCSE and A-level, with the exception of the Franklin College in Grimsby.
Unlike many areas of the UK, schools in Lincolnshire LEA luckily rarely fall victim to arson. However North East Lincolnshire has an arson problem[1] and to a lesser degree, Scunthorpe[2][3]. Due to Grimsby's teenage pregnancy epidemic, it even has a Young Mums Unit for pregnant schoolchildren.
[edit] 2007 GCSE results
The average percentage for 16 year olds with grades A-C at GCSE, including Maths and English, across England is 46.7% - for Lincolnshire LEA's 8400 pupils taking GCSE at 16 it is 50.6% - the second highest for LEAs in the East Midlands (Rutland is 58%). Some schools in Lincolnshire are woefully below this level. For the St Clement's College in Skegness, it is 5% - the lowest in Lincolnshire (although it is a secondary modern) and the third lowest result in England[4], but for the low-performing comprehensive Joseph Ruston College in Lincoln, it is 13% - the government target is 25% for comprehensives. For the St Bede's Catholic Science College in Boston and the Castle Hills Community College in Gainsborough it is 8% - these are secondary moderns. Lincoln has no selective schools, although its Priory School is an effective (and much needed) surrogate. It is also the largest school in Lincolnsh. The best performing secondary modern is St. George's College of Technology in Sleaford, which achieves results better than twelve comprehensives.
The average score by council district, for the % of pupils gaining 5 grades A-C including English and Maths, is (compare to average house price by district) :
- 1. West Lindsey 57.4
- 2. South Kesteven 57.3
- 3. North Kesteven 53.0
- 4. South Holland 49.0
- 5. East Lindsey 47.3
- 6. Lincoln 47.0
- 7. Boston 46.4
- (North Lincolnshire Unitary Authority 40.9)
- (North East Lincolnshire Unitary Authority 39.0)
The proportion of pupils at grammar schools in each district varies - it is 35% for Boston, 31% for South Kesteven, 23% for West Lindsey but only 16% for North Kesteven. East Lindsey, Boston and South Holland do not have any comprehensives.
[edit] School reorganisation
The Lafford High School secondary modern in Billinghay is closing in 2010 due to falling pupil numbers[5]. However, many primary schools in Boston and South Holland are struggling to cope with vast increases in numbers due to mass migration from Eastern Europe agricultural workers. The poorly performing comprehensives in Lincoln (Joseph Ruston and the City of Lincoln) are being replaced in September 2008 by two academies to be named under the Priory title, called the Priory Witham Academy and Priory City of Lincoln Academy, and costing £40m[6]. Boston Grammar School and Boston High School plan to merge, to local opposition[7].
Louth is having a new FE college being built, to be called the Wolds College[8], next door to the Cordeaux School.
Most secondary schools in Scunthorpe have been re-named or replaced in the past few years[9]. Grimsby has falling school numbers[10][11].
[edit] 2007 A level results
Caistor Grammar School received the best A level results for state schools in the East Midlands, followed by Bourne Grammar School, then Queen Elizabeth's High School in Gainsborough. Although North-East Lincolnshire performs well under the England average at GCSE, at A-level it performs much better- many LEAs in the Yorkshire & Humber region do not. North Lincolnshire also performs well under average at GCSE, but performs as well as Lincolnshire LEA overall at A-level, being well above average. These two anomalies are due to the John Leggott College in Scunthorpe and the Franklin College in Grimsby - both excellent sixth form colleges. Lincolnshire LEA gets the best results at A-level, on average, in the East Midlands (and some of the best in England for a traditional county). As found in other areas that have selective schools (e.g. Buckinghamshire and Warwickshire), the grammar schools significantly outclass the local independent schools at A-level.
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