Richmond School

Richmond School & Sixth Form College, often referred to simply as Richmond School, is a coeducational secondary school located in North Yorkshire, England. It was created by the merger of three schools, the oldest of which, Richmond Grammar School, is of such antiquity that its exact founding date is unknown. The first mentions of it in writings, however, is estimated, to be between 1361 and 1474. It was officially ratified as an educational establishment in 1568 by Elizabeth I.[1][2]

For other uses, see Richmond School (disambiguation).

Richmond School & Sixth Form College
School Seal
Address
Darlington Road

Richmond
,
North Yorkshire
,
DL10 7BQ

England
Coordinates54.406710°N 1.724630°W / 54.406710; -1.724630
Information
TypeAcademy
EstablishedUnknown, records exist since 1361. Current establishment founded 1971. (precursors 1566, 1940, 1950)[1]
FounderElizabeth I[1][2]
Local authorityNorth Yorkshire
TrustAreté Learning Trust
Department for Education URN145090 Tables
OfstedReports
Head MistressJenna Potter
Staff159[3]
GenderCoeducational
Age11 to 18
Enrolment1,312[4]
Websitehttp://www.richmondschool.net/

The school is on the outskirts of Richmond, near the Yorkshire Dales. It accepts both boys and girls and serves a wide catchment area across most of the north-west corner of North Yorkshire, including Swaledale.

History

Richmond Grammar School

Richmond School was the first school in Richmondshire. It accepted only boys and its only entry requirements were that pupils could read and write. Its original founding date is not known, however it first appears in a registry estimated to have been written in 1361–1474. It was awarded a charter ratifying its status on 14 March 1568 by Queen Elizabeth I and was one of the first free grammar schools in England.[2] The school was built on what is now the churchyard of St Mary's Church,[1][5] which stands opposite to and further up the hill to the former Richmond Lower School Building. In 1677 a new building replaced the Elizabethan one and this was used until 1850 when the school moved into a smaller building which still stands, and until 2011 was used for teaching.[6]

The name of the school from its foundation was Richmond School as it was the only school in the town for a long period of time. In later years it was referred to locally as "The Grammar School" although this was not its official name. Following the merger of the school with the Secondary Modern and the Girls' High School into a single comprehensive school the decision was made to retain the name 'Richmond School' for the new establishment.

Notable heads
  • Rev. Anthony Temple (1724–1795). Temple succeeded in getting 29 of his pupils sent to Oxford and Cambridge.[1]
  • James Tate (1771–1843), Headmaster 1796–1833. Tate was even more successful; Richmond School become a nationally known school for classical learning. Tate sent up many scholars to Cambridge (they were known as "Tate’s Invincibles"). 21 became fellows, 13 of them at Trinity College.[7]
  • Thomas Henry Stokoe (1833–1903), Headmaster 1863–1871. Stokoe was a renowned clergyman and author.
The Original 1850 School Building
The 1850 building with later extension
The 1850 building and subsequent extension in 2009 showing a flat roofed extension built in the Twentieth Century. Another extension was built at the west end of the building at about the same time

Richmond Girls’ High School

In 1940 a Girls’ High school was built, designed by Modernist architect Denis Clarke Hall.[5] The school was built approximately 1 mile (1.6 km) from the Boys Grammar School near Darlington Road, having its main entrance in The Avenue.

Richmond Secondary Modern School
The former Secondary Modern Building. Photo taken in 2007

In 1950 Richmond Secondary Modern School was built[5] to accommodate those who had not passed their 11-plus exam and so did not qualify for admission to either Richmond School or the Girls' High School. Large buildings were constructed about 200 yards from the Girls’ High School.

Comprehensive school

In 1971 all three schools merged to create a comprehensive school named Richmond School.[5] The then-headmaster of the Grammar School, J.D. Dutton, became the headmaster of the new combined school. All three original sites were still used but for different purposes. The school was split into three sections: Lower School for Year 7, Middle School for Years 8–10 and Upper School for Years 11–13. These were situated in the former Richmond (Grammar) School, the former Secondary Modern School and the Girls’ High School respectively, although significant extensions were added to all sites until the school's investment as part of a DfES 'Building Schools for the Future' programme.

In January 2006 the school was successful in bidding for a DfES grant of £30 million to be spent redeveloping the school.[8] A large factor that played a part in the grant was that Richmond is the only school in North Yorkshire to have sites which are 1 mile apart. In addition to the £30 million a successful bid was made to make the school sustainable. This brought the total investment to over £32 million. In 2009 it was announced that those entering the school in the academic year 2010–11 would be the last to use the original 1850 site (now called Lower School) in their first year in the school; all years would be taught at the same Darlington Road site and the Lower School would be sold off. The Lower School was later bought by North Yorkshire County Council in 2012 for £400,000 to be used as their new headquarters.[9]

In February 2014, the Governing body of the school resigned en masse in response to North Yorkshire Education Authority issuing the school with a Warning Notice under the Education and Inspections Act 2006.[10] In the resignation statement, the Full Governing Body rejected the assertions in the Warning Notice as unevidenced and contrary to the opinions expressed in Ofsted's recent inspection report.[10] The Local Authority confirmed that measures were underway to appoint an Interim Executive Board.

Academy

Previously a community school administered by North Yorkshire County Council, in December 2017 Richmond School converted to academy status. The school is now sponsored by the Areté Learning Trust.

School seal

In the Elizabethan Charter it was stated that Richmond Grammar School had the right to a "common seal for their businesses," and in 1566–67 a new seal for the school was introduced. The seal was still in existence in 1958.

In the centre of the seal was the figure of Saint James of Compostela. For several years Richmond Grammar School published an annual collection of poetry and prose writing by pupils in a small publication called "The Compostelian".

A description of the seal is found in L.P. Wenham's Book (page 27): "The Central figure is that of St. James the Greater in pilgrim's garb. His feet are bare, he has a bushy beard, wears a long, loose dress, has an escallop shell on his broad-brimmed hat, a strip or wallet hangs at his side from his girdle, his left hand holds a rosary and a small barrel or gourd, while in his right hand he carries a palmer's staff. At each side of him, upon Gothic shaped shields are the arms of France (new) and England quarterly; in the field are three lilies of France and two leopards of England."[11]

The legend around the edge of the seal reads in Renaissance capitals:

SIGILLVM COMVNE LIBRE SCOLE BVRGENSIVM DE RICHMOND[1]

SIGILLVM COMVNE translates as "the common seal", DE RICHMOND means "of Richmond", while LIBRE SCOLE BVRGENSIVM means "of the independent [free] school of the town".

The whole legend, in Elizabethan Latin, means in English "The common seal of the independent school of the town of Richmond".

Uniform
A pre-2010 Richmond School tie

School uniform consists of black trousers or a skirt, a white shirt a school tie and a navy blue school jumper or black blazer with the school seal embroidered in colour. The legend on the uniform's seal is not the original Latin, but instead is simply 'Richmond School Yorkshire'.[12] The previous school tie was of navy blue, gold and burgundy School colours. Until 1971 when the schools merged the tie incorporated a coloured stripe to signify the 'house' of the pupil. Green for Tate, yellow for Zetland, red for Gower and blue for Friary. The latter house was composed solely of boarding pupils from the Friary. From 2010 ties became of block colour dependent on the academic year of pupils.

Sport
The Richmond Sixth Form Mixed Hockey Team after winning the National Sixth Form Hockey Championships in 2008

The school has a strong tradition of sport. Until 2003 male students at the Lower School had to perform a 1-mile run to and from playing fields at Easby. They also played rugby at Theakston Lane, now the ground of Richmond RFC. Nowadays, the school has several playing fields and pitches at its Darlington Road site. These include cricket pitches, several full-size football and rugby pitches, an all-weather AstroTurf pitch and a large grass athletics track which is locally known as "Wembley" as its dimensions are so close to those of the famous stadium. As part of the redevelopment of the school a large sports hall and gym were also constructed.[13] The school allows the local community sports programmes to use its facilities out of term time and multiple training sessions take place at the site.

The school offers primarily a choice of rugby or football to boys and hockey and netball to girls as part of their compulsory education. However, the school offers multiple extra-curricular clubs and teams including athletics, golf, trampolining and cheerleading among others.[14]

Sporting teams are popular including a mixed hockey team which won the national title in 2008.[15] Rugby and football are also popular with various wins.

Headmasters

Richmond Grammar School

Richmond School

  • 1962–1991 J. Derek Dutton
  • 1991–1992 J. A. Lynch
  • 1992–2002 Jim Jack[16]
  • 2002–2009 Phil Beever[16]
  • 2010–2017 Ian Robertson[17]
  • 2018– Jenna Potter[18]

Notable former pupils

Richmond Grammar School

Richmond Girls’ High School

Richmond School

References
  1. Wenham 1958
  2. "A Brief History of Richmond". Richmond Grammar School. Archived from the original on 2 January 2012. Retrieved 28 December 2010.
  3. "Staff List – Richmond School & Sixth Form College". Retrieved 23 April 2021.
  4. "Richmond School Ofsted". 8 October 2020. Retrieved 23 April 2021.
  5. The History of Richmond School – A Summary, Richmondschool.net. Retrieved 28 December 2010.
  6. Mitchinson, James, ed. (9 October 2017). "School's proud project wins cash". The Yorkshire Post. p. 9. ISSN 0963-1496.
  7. Carr, William (23 September 2004). "Tate, James". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/26985. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  8. "New School Update, Background". Richmondschool.net. Archived from the original on 10 February 2010. Retrieved 28 December 2010.
  9. "Former Richmond Lower School sold to district council for £400,000". Darlington and Stockton Times. 2012. Retrieved 8 March 2022.
  10. "Richmond School governors step down en masse". Darlington and Stockton Times. 21 February 2014. Retrieved 28 February 2014.
  11. Wenham 1958, p.27
  12. "Uniform Policy". Richmond School. Retrieved 28 December 2010.
  13. "Students flock to new community sports facilities" (PDF). Richmond School. Retrieved 29 December 2010.
  14. "School Departments | Physical Education". Richmond School. Retrieved 29 December 2010.
  15. "First national title for Richmond". The Northern Echo. Retrieved 29 December 2010.
  16. "Proud headteacher bows out with top-class results". The Northern Echo. Retrieved 29 December 2010.
  17. "Richmond School's head pledges: "We want to be the best."". The Northern Echo. Retrieved 29 December 2010.
  18. Willis, Joe (24 July 2017). "Richmond School deputy appointed new headteacher". Richmondshiretoday.co.uk. Retrieved 22 June 2019.
  19. Marshall, William (23 September 2004). "Chapman, Thomas". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/5126. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  20. "Edward Kay" (PDF). Fretwell.kangaweb.com.au. Retrieved 22 June 2019.
  21. Falkiner, C. L. (23 September 2004). "Beresford, Marcus Gervais". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/2198. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  22. "Chris Beetles Gallery".
  23. Paul Stenning (24 November 2013). Success – By Those Who've Made It. Pg.90. In Flight Books. ISBN 978-1628475869
  24. "Students pick up awards at prize-giving night with BAFTA chief executive as guest speaker".
  25. "Welcome to the Official Website of Leeds Carnegie – We're Back!". Leedscarnegie.co.uk. Retrieved 22 June 2019.
  26. "Archived copy" (PDF). www.richmondschool.net. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 June 2019. Retrieved 13 January 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  27. "Richmond School > Our School > Heritage". Richmondschool.net. Retrieved 22 June 2019.
  28. "Teenager achieves his dream signing for Boro". The Northern Echo. 21 January 2021. Retrieved 30 January 2022.

Literature
  • Wenham, Leslie P. (1958). The History of Richmond School, Yorkshire. The Herald Press. ASIN B0018H5RA2.
  • Animal Farm Programme. Richmond School. 2005.
  • Bugsy Malone Programme. Richmond School. 2004.
  • A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum Programme. Richmond School. 2007.
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