Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School, Blackburn

For other uses, see Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School (disambiguation).

Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School, Blackburn

Motto	Disce Prodesse (Loosely translated as "Learn to be of service")
Established	1509
Type	Independent day school
Religion	Church of England
Headmaster	Simon Corns
Founder	Thomas Stanley, 2nd Earl of Derby
Location	West Park Road Blackburn Lancashire
Local authority	Blackburn
Students	630~
Gender	Coeducational
Ages	3–18
Houses	6
Colours
Publication	Q-news, Q-review
Former Pupils	Old Blackburnians
Website	www.qegs.blackburn.sch.uk

Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School (QEGS) is a co-educational independent school in Blackburn, Lancashire. Founded in 1509 as a boys' school, it is now a coeducational independent school with over 600 students from ages 3 to 18. Pupils come from a very wide geographical area, from [[Bolton to the south and to Colne in the east. It consists of an Infant School (nursery to Year 2), Junior School (Years 3-6), Senior School (Years 7-11) and Sixth Form.

The QEGS school logo.

History

The school is believed to have been founded in 1509, the first year of the reign of King Henry VIII, by Thomas Stanley, 2nd Earl of Derby, as a chantry school. It was situated adjacent to Blackburn Parish Church. The school survived the Reformation and in 1567 was granted a Royal Charter by Queen Elizabeth I. It thus became the “Free Grammar School of Queen Elizabeth in Blackburn in the County of Lancaster”.

In August 1819, the decision was taken to demolish the old parish church and rebuild it (the new church of St Mary the Virgin is now Blackburn Cathedral) and the school moved to a temporary home in nearby Market Street Lane until 1825. Its new site from 1825 was in the Bull Meadow area (“in the fresh air of the country”) but, as Blackburn itself expanded during the Industrial Revolution, the school there became too cramped. In 1884 the Blackburn Grammar School, as it was still then known, made one final move. The new site was on the west side of the town’s Corporation Park, close to Alexandra Meadows, the home of the East Lancashire Cricket Club and also the venue for a number of the early fixtures of the local football club Blackburn Rovers.

The school adopted independent status under the provisions of the Education Act of 1944 and later became a direct grant grammar school until the system was abolished in 1976. QEGS chose to revert back to its independent status rather than join the state sector. In conjunction with the change of status, girls were accepted into the Sixth Form for the first time. In 2001, it became fully coeducational.

The Good Schools Guide described the students as "bright, industrious and confident without appearing complacent or alarmingly sophisticated."

Pastoral Care

In February 2005, the School was commended (amongst other things) for the high standard of pastoral care offered to its pupils by the ISI inspection.

Q-Plus (Extended Hours Service) offers busy parents of Infant and Junior School pupils at QEGS a safe and secure environment for their children before and after the school day. The Breakfast Club runs from 7.45am each school day and children meet at the Q-Plus Club Room in Ormerod House on the Dukes Brow side of the site. From here they are escorted to Big School's the main dining hall to enjoy a range of breakfast options. After school, Q-Plus offers flexible collection arrangements, with children collected from the Infant School or Junior School and escorted back to the Q-Plus After-School Club.

House System

The system of “houses” was introduced at QEGS nearly 100 years ago by then Headmaster Arthur Holden and today every pupil, boy or girl, belongs to one of the six houses, each named after an Elizabethan sea captain.

• Drake
• Frobisher
• Grenville
• Hawkins
• Howard
• Raleigh

The Arthur Holden Trophy is awarded each year to the House that has amassed the greatest number of points in various sporting events held throughout the year. Points towards the Marsden Merit Trophy are earned by way of credits for good, positive and helpful behaviour, as well as in teams in a range of “academic” activities, such as the keenly-contested House Quiz, debating competitions and Maths Challenges.

Curriculum

The school has a strong track record of academic success, with nearly all pupils achieving the nationally recognised benchmark of at least 5 passes at GCSE grades A*-C, including English and mathematics. Over 70% of A level candidates typically obtain a place on their first-choice course at their first-choice university. It is one of the few schools which offers GCSE and A Level Classics.

Sport

QEGS has also received a Sportsmark Gold award with Distinction for the school's outstanding commitment to sport and its links with local sports clubs. The QEGS 1st XI football team has won the Independent Schools Football Association Cup three times, more than any other team, the most recent victory coming in 2004.

External Links

• School Website
• School Profile on ISC website

Notable Old Blackburnians

See also: Category:People educated at Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School, Blackburn

• James Beattie, footballer
• Robert Bolton, 17th century classical scholar & philosopher
• Richard Bowker CBE, formerly CEO, National Express Group
• Nick Dougherty, professional golfer
• Frank Fielding, footballer
• Christian Fraser, BBC Middle East Correspondent (formerly BBC Rome Correspondent)
• Krishnan Guru-Murthy, former BBC journalist & senior newscaster of Britain's Channel 4 News
• Russell Harty, television presenter & chat show host
• Wayne Hemingway, fashion designer
• Mick Jackson, author
• Sir Netar Mallick, professor of renal medicine
• Gordon Manley, climatologist.
• Sir Ernest Marsden, MC, nuclear physicist
• Frank Brian Mercer, inventor, director of Netlon.
• Chris Porter, footballer
• Michael Winterbottom, film director
• Ivor Bolton, conductor
• John Garstang, archaeologist, as well as author of A History of the Blackburn Grammar School published in 1897