Yarm School
 Yarm School: The Friarage |
||||||||||||||||||
| Motto | Educating for Life, Popular: Yarm has flourished, Yarm is flourishing and Yarm will flourish | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Established | 1978 | |||||||||||||||||
| Type | Independent school HMC | |||||||||||||||||
| Headmaster | David M. Dunn | |||||||||||||||||
| Founder | R. Neville Tate | |||||||||||||||||
| Location | The Friarage, Grammar School Lane Yarm Stockton-on-Tees TS15 9EJ England Coordinates: 54°30′24″N 1°21′07″W / 54.50670°N 1.35202°W |
|||||||||||||||||
| Staff | 73 full time and 12 part time | |||||||||||||||||
| Students | circa. 1200 | |||||||||||||||||
| Gender | Co-educational | |||||||||||||||||
| Ages | 3–18 | |||||||||||||||||
| Colours |
|
|||||||||||||||||
| Former Pupils | Old Yarumians | |||||||||||||||||
| Website | Yarm School | |||||||||||||||||
Yarm School, founded in 1978, is a British co-educational "public school", situated within the Georgian market town of Yarm, Stockton-on-Tees, England, close to the River Tees and is a day school.
The school is a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference and is featured in the Good Schools Guide.[1]
Contents |
History [edit]
Yarm has an illustrious and proud, albeit short history. Yarm was founded in 1978 in reaction to the closure of the local state grammar school (Yarm Grammar School) to provide education for boys aged 13 to 18. The Preparatory School opened in 1991 (moving into the former grammar school buildings) in response to public demand for traditional preparatory school education, and later added an Early School for boys and girls aged 4 to 6 years and a Nursery for 3 year-olds.[2]
In 2001 the school became fully co-educational, it was the first co-educational school in the local area and as a result, many schools such as Ampleforth College and Teesside High School followed suit.
In late 2006 and early 2007 plans for a relocation needed planning permission from Stockton Council. The council refused permission, at which Yarm made an appeal. In 2008 the school retracted the relocation plans. A further £20m redevelopment plan, that included a large auditorium, was approved in 2009.[3] In 2006, the school expanded further with the acquisition of Raventhorpe Preparatory School which became the satellite feeder school Yarm at Raventhorpe.[4] However, in January 2013 it was announced that Yarm at Raventhorpe would be closed. This is because the school was no longer financially viable, however all Yarm at Raventhorpe pupils were offered places at Yarm Preparatory School.
Curriculum [edit]
The school teaches subjects towards the International General Certificate of Secondary Education and GCSE qualifications, including English and English Literature, Mathematics, Sciences (nearly all pupils study three sciences), and Languages (most pupils study French and German; Spanish is an option). Aside from compulsory subjects, students are able to study Humanities (including History, Geography and Classics etc.), Business Studies, Art and Design Technology. Some GCSEs can be studied outside of curriculum time, for example General Studies and Russian.
A levels are taken in Humanities, sciences, creative arts and social sciences[5]
Sports include rowing, rugby, cricket, hockey, netball, rounders, football and canoeing, partaking in sport is compulsory.
Extra-curricular activities [edit]
Pupils participate in activity sessions in beekeeping, horseriding, rowing, debating, stock broking, cricket, rugby and rowing, or continue academic study in Ancient Greek, Russian or general studies.
In 2010 the school held a mock election, where pupils from Sixth Form politics classes acted as candidates representing the main British political parties. The Conservative Party representative won by a large margin- over 100 votes.
Pupils help to raise money for their designated house charities. These charities can be local, national or international. Each house typically raises over £2,000 per year through a variety of fundraising activities.[6]
Sport [edit]
Most of the school's sports' pitches are located off the school site; Aislaby playing fields are located on the north side of the river near the village of Aislaby, whilst Green lane (the larger set of pitches) are located on the outskirts of Yarm. There are, however, facilities such as multi-weather playing fields for hockey and tennis are located on site. Tennis, rugby, cricket and hockey are played as fixtures for the boys; tennis, netball, rounders and hockey are played as fixtures for the girls.
In July 2009 a team of cyclists from the school won the over-16 category of the British Schools Cycling Association National 10 miles (16.1 km) Time Trial Championships.[7] The school also has a strong rugby tradition. Rugby is the main sport for boys and is compulsory for the first few years and the school also maintains strong links with the 'Yarm Old Boys' rugby team. The 1st XV made school history on 23rd March 2013, by winning the U18 Daily Mail Vase against Felsted School 17-15 at Twickenham.[8]
The school also has a competition boat club, the Yarm School Boat Club.[9] In 2009 it won 2 of the 32 categories in the Durham Regatta,[10] and has been successfully represented at Henley Royal Regatta.[11]
Combined Cadet Force [edit]
The school Cadet Force Contingent includes two sections: Army and RAF. The Army section is attached to the Yorkshire Regiment, with whom it goes on regular training, using facilities at nearby Catterick Garrison.
The cadets learn military based skills such as climbing, abseiling, weapons training, orienteering and tactical assault simulation. There are several CCF Camps, Military Training Weekends and cadet competitions each year, during which the cadets go on field manoeuvres in order to apply the skills they have learned to a practical situation. The cadets are required to present themselves for inspection by the masters in charge of the CCF on a weekly basis.
The cadets represent Yarm School on Armistice Day on parade in Yarm High Street, in memory of the Boer War, First World War, Second World War and the Korean War.
An annual dinner is held for CCF staff members and cadets. Parents of cadets are invited to the dinner by the Contingent Commander. This happens late in the Autumn term and is an opportunity to reflect on the contingent's successes. The dinner represents that of a military mess dinner.
The RAF Section goes on flying days to RAF Leeming for experience in flying the Grob Tutor plane. Cadets in the RAF section also attend Gliding events at bases such as Topcliffe, and Easter camps with RAF sections from other schools.
The Contingent also regularly participates in local competitions such as Colts Canter, The SAAM at Strensall and Tremlett Trophy and is successful in these events and in beating their rivals St Peter's School and Ampleforth College.
The CCF go on annual camps to different military locations, most recently to Munster, Germany in 2010, Crowborough in 2011 and Wathgill in 2012.
Awards and recognition [edit]
According to the Good Schools Guide, the school is "cheerful and welcoming" and is a happy balance of the "traditions of grammar School with modern, forward-thinking attitude". School pupils received a total of 1102.2 A/AS points per pupil and 242.8 A/AS points per entry in 2010. At GCSE, in 2010 28.2% of entries were A* and 60% of GCSE entries were either A* or A's.
The school gets very good A-level results and was listed as the 20th top performing Independent Sixth Form in The Independent.[12]
Houses and year groups [edit]
There are four houses in the Senior School, each with its own housemaster or housemistress and tutor team. Each house has its own colours, and competes in inter-house competitions such as Drama and Sports. Houses are named after prominent saints associated with the North East of England: Aidan, Bede, Cuthbert and Oswald. There are five Senior School year groups, plus a Lower and Upper Sixth.
News [edit]
In December 2006 two ex-students added a graffito of a penis on the roof of the Friarage building, which was recorded by Google Earth. The graffito has since been removed.[13]
Notable Old Yarumians [edit]
 |
This article's list of alumni may not follow Wikipedia's verifiability or notability policies. (May 2012) |
Politics [edit]
- James Wharton – Conservative MP since 2010 for Stockton South
- Chris Myers – Former Special Adviser to William Hague
Sport [edit]
- Simon Webster – Rugby union player
- Paul Johnston – Cricketer
- Russell Earnshaw Rugby Union player
- Katherine Copeland MBE – GB rowing Olympic gold medallist
Yarm Grammar School [edit]
- Wendy Craig – actress
References [edit]
- ^ "Yarm School". The Good Schools Guide. The Original Straight Talking Guide To Good Schools. Retrieved 2 June 2012.
- ^ "Yarm School History". Yarm School. Yarm School. Retrieved 19 December 2012.
- ^ "Plans for Yarm School redevelopment approved". Evening Gazette. Gazette Media Company Limited. 11 June 2009. Retrieved 2 June 2012.
- ^ "Yarm School steps". The Northern Echo. Newsquest (North East) Ltd. 15 December 2006. Retrieved 2 June 2012.
- ^ School "Yarm School Sixth Form Academic Curriculum". Retrieved 19 December 2012.
- ^ "Grassroots - Yarm and Eaglescliffe.". AccessMyLibrary: Europe Intelligence Wire. Gale (Cengage Learning). 26 March 2003. Retrieved 2 June 2012.
- ^ Fiona (Administrator) (3 July 2009). "Joy for cycling trio after national success". Gazette Live. Gazette Media Company Limited. Retrieved 2 June 2012.
- ^ "Yarm School wins the U18 Daily Mail Vase".
- ^ "Yarm School BC", Britishrowing.org. Retrieved 1 May 2012
- ^ "Durham Regatta Winners 2009". Durham Regatta Winners 2009. Durham Regatta. 2009. Retrieved 2 June 2012.
- ^ "YSBC beats Emmanuel School". Youtube. 5 July 2010. Retrieved 19 December 2012.
- ^ "Top 100 Independent Sixth Forms". News Group Newspapers Limited. Retrieved 19 December 2012. Text "The Independent" ignored (help)
- ^ Ben Ashford (1 August 2007). "The Piddler on the roof". The Sun. News Group Newspapers Limited. Retrieved 2 June 2012.
External links [edit]
|
|||||||||||||||||
