King James's School, Almondbury

King James's School is a coeducational secondary school located in Almondbury in the English county of West Yorkshire.[1]

King James's School
Address
Saint Helen's Gate

Almondbury
,
West Yorkshire
,
HD4 6SG

England
Coordinates53°37′46″N 1°44′32″W
Information
TypeAcademy
Established1547 (1547)
(royal charter, 1608)
Local authorityKirklees
Department for Education URN138706 Tables
OfstedReports
PrincipalMr Ian Rimmer
GenderCoeducational
Age11 to 16
Websitewww.kingjames.org.uk

History
The school library 'The Big' (left) and headmaster's study (right)

King James's Grammar School[2] was founded as chantry school in 1547 and received its name and a royal charter in 1608 thanks to the efforts of three men who travelled on horseback to London to get a royal charter from the king. They rode from Farnley Tyas, the nearby village, having been sent to London to get the charter by the local wealthy men from Almondbury who wanted a local school for their offspring to visit. Extensions were made to the school by William Swinden Barber between 1880 and 1883,[3] in 1938/9 and 1963,[4] and in 2022.[5]

The grammar school era ended in 1976 when it became a comprehensive school: King James's School. The school was designated a specialist Science College in 2004. In September 2012 the school converted to academy status. The current principal is Mr Ian Rimmer.

The school today

King James's School is a comprehensive secondary school with a catchment area that includes Almondbury, Dalton, Grange Moor, Kirkheaton and Lepton.[6] The school offers GCSEs, BTECs and Cambridge Nationals as programmes of study for pupils.[7]

The school made headlines in 2017 after the issuing of its new rule book which contained 40 new rules. These rules claim students were not allowed to smile, look out of the window or use words such as 'dunno' when the school were approached for a comment on their new rules; they declined to comment. Various news sites titled the school 'Britain's strictest school.'[8]

In Easter of 2022, a new building on site was completed after numerous delays in order to accommodate the new students who were previously situated at a different site following the closure of Almondbury Community School.[9]

Publications

The school is the subject of two histories: A History of King James's Grammar School in Almondbury (author: Gerald Hinchliffe) and King James's School in Almondbury: An Illustrated History[4] (editors: Roger Dowling and John Hargreaves).

A book Morning Assembly[10] (editor: Roger Dowling; text: Harry Taylor/Andrew Taylor) gives a detailed account of the life of former headmaster Harry Taylor together with a compilation in facsimile form of some 100 prayers collected by Harry Taylor for use each day at morning assembly.

A book No Beating about the Bush[11] (editor: Roger Dowling) gives a diary-style account of the final teaching year of Head of Latin and deputy Headmaster David Bush.

Notable former pupils

King James's Grammar School
Cover of Report Book from King James's Grammar School Almondbury (student's name redacted)
King James's Grammar School custom colour-coded exercise book c. 1972. Chemistry was dark blue, physics (shown here) cream, and so on.

See also

References
  1. "King James School". www.kingjames.org.uk.
  2. "King James's School home page". Archived from the original on 23 May 2010.
  3. Historic England. "Entrance block and extensions to north and north west at King James Grammar School (1232192)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 1 March 2014.
  4. Dowling, Roger (2008). King James's School in Almondbury: An illustrated history 1608-2008. The Old Almondburians' Society. ISBN 9780955731402.
  5. Rimmer, Ian. "From the Study". The Almondburian. July 2022: 6-7. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
  6. "King James School". Archived from the original on 15 February 2015.
  7. "Course Information 2". Archived from the original on 15 February 2015.
  8. "'Britain's strictest school' bans looking out the window... and smirking". 11 September 2017.
  9. Earnshaw, Tony (13 November 2021). "Delayed school extension leaves pupils split between sites for months". YorkshireLive. Retrieved 8 March 2022.
  10. Taylor, Harry (2012). Morning Assembly. The Old Almondburians' Society. ISBN 9780955731419.
  11. Bush, David A. (2020). No Beating about the Bush. The OldAlmondburians' Society. ISBN 9780955731426.
  12. "George Beharrell - Graces Guide". www.gracesguide.co.uk.
  13. "Bio - Faculty History Project". www.lib.umich.edu.
  14. Cowling, Elizabeth (11 September 2016). "Alex Danchev obituary" – via www.theguardian.com.

Further reading
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