Yarm School
| Motto | Educating for Life, Unofficial: (non scholae sed vitae discimus) | |||||||||||||||||
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| Established | 1978 | |||||||||||||||||
| Type | Independent school HMC | |||||||||||||||||
| Headmaster | David M. Dunn BA | |||||||||||||||||
| Founder | R. Neville Tate MA BSc | |||||||||||||||||
| Location | The Friarage, Grammar School Lane Yarm North Yorkshire TS15 9EJ England  |
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| Staff | 73 full time and 12 part time | |||||||||||||||||
| Students | circa. 950 | |||||||||||||||||
| Gender | Co-educational | |||||||||||||||||
| Ages | 3–18 | |||||||||||||||||
| Colours |
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| Former Pupils | Old Yarmies | |||||||||||||||||
| Website | Yarm School |
Coordinates: 54°30′24″N 1°21′07″W / 54.50670°N 1.35202°W
Yarm School[1] is a fee-paying Public School situated within the market town of Yarm, North Yorkshire, England.
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[edit] Situation
The senior school is situated in the Friarage buildings and grounds, on the River Tees, at the southern end of the Georgian market town of Yarm. 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 the larger Green Lane playing fields are located next to Yarm railway station.
[edit] Reputation
According to the commercially published 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".The school also performs successfully at all levels with pupils getting a total of 1102.2 A/AS points per pupil and 242.8 A/AS points per entry in 2010- http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-12168129. At GCSE, in 2010 28.2% of entries were A* and 60% of GCSE entries were either A* or A's- http://www.yarmschool.org/general-information/results/gcse-results/
[edit] Admissions
The school is a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference and is featured in the Good Schools Guide.[2]
As of 2011 tuition costs are around £11,000 a year.[3]
[edit] History
Yarm is one of the youngest public schools in the country, founded in 1978 in reaction to the closure of the local state grammar school (Yarm Grammar School) and provided education for boys aged 13–18. 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.
In 2001, the school became fully co-educational, a move which has since been replicated by other independent schools in the region, including Ampleforth College.
[edit] School Crest
The school crest shows a Phoenix rising from flames, a reference to the school's history as being established from the closure of the previously existing grammar school in Yarm. The founding Headmaster Mr. Tate got this idea from a local insurance company as well as the idea of the school was rising from the ashes.
[edit] Expansion
In 2006, the school expanded further with the acquisition of Raventhorpe Preparatory School which became the satellite feeder school Yarm at Raventhorpe.[4]
[edit] Google Earth
In December 2006 the school reached international media when it became apparent graffiti on the roof of a school building was visible from space as imaged by Google Earth. Neither the image nor the graffiti remain on the school Friarage.[5] This was a practical joke by a few members of the then Upper Sixth.
[edit] Redevelopment
In late 2006 and early 2007 there were plans for a relocation attempt which needed planning permission from Stockton Council. Stockton Council denied the permission for planning permission at which Yarm made an appeal. In 2008 the school dropped the idea for planning saying that they would try to extend the possibilities within the school.
Extensive redevelopment plans, including a large auditorium, were approved in 2009.[6]
[edit] Subjects
English Language and English Literature (IGCSE) Mathematics (most sets do IGCSE), Either Dual Award Science or separate Biology, Chemistry and Physics (IGCSE) Pupils must do at least French, most pupils do German,
Pupils must then do three from the following; History, Geography, Latin, Classical Civilisation, Business Studies (IGCSE), Design & Technology:- Resistant Materials, Electronics or Textiles, Art, Music or Religion and Philosophy. Russian and Classical Greek (for pupils who do Latin A-level) GCSE can usually be studied in Lower Sixth of the Sixth Form.
General studies can be studied in the activities sessions on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
Subjects available at A level are :- Humanities and Arts: History, Geography, English Literature, Religion and Philosophy. Sciences:Biology, Physics, Chemistry, Maths, Further Maths, . Social Sciences: Politics, Economics, Business Studies, Psychology. Creative: Art, Design Technology, Music, Theatre Studies. Languages: French, German, Spanish.
[edit] Houses
There are four houses in the Senior School, each with its own housemaster or housemistress and tutor team. Each house has its own colours. The many inter-house competitions play an important role in school life and belonging to a particular house contributes significantly to pupil identity.
Pupils help to raise money for their designated house charities. These are usually a mixture of local, national and international charities. Each house typically raises over £2,000 per year for their charities through a variety of fundraising activities.[7][8]
[edit] Houses and colours
The houses are named after prominent Saints associated with the North East of England. The houses and their colours are:
- Aidan
- Bede
- Cuthbert
- Oswald
[edit] Year Groups
At Yarm, the year pupils join the Senior School is known as the 'First Year'. This is followed by the 'Second Year' and 'Third Year'. The 'Fourth Year' (once known as the 'Remove') and 'Fifth Year' are the GCSE years, whilst the 'Lower Sixth' and 'Upper Sixth' are the 'A' Level years.
[edit] Sports
Yarm offers a variety of sports including rowing, rugby, cricket, hockey, netball, rounders, football and canoeing. Some of these are extra-curricular activities and are mostly done in an activities session.
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-mile Time Trial Championships.[9]
The school is fortunate enough to be located next to the River Tees, and Yarm School Boat Club enjoys considerable local and national success, including regular victories at the annual Durham Regatta[10] and two gold medals at the 2009 Henley Women's Regatta,[11] as well as representation at the prestigious Henley Royal Regatta
[edit] Combined Cadet Force
Within the school is a Cadet Force Contigent including two sections, Army and RAF. The Army section is attached to the Yorkshire Regiment, and goes on regular training with them, making use of 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 when many schools remember those who died in Boer War, World War I, World War II 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 where they get hands on experience on flying the Grob Tutor plane. Cadets in the RAF section are also able to attend Gliding events at bases such as Topcliffe and go on Easter camps with RAF sections from other schools.
The CCF go on annual camps to different military locations, most recently to Munster, Germany in 2010 and Crowborough in 2011.
[edit] Other Extra curricular activities
On Tuesdays and Thursdays, pupils participate in the activity sessions. Pupils choose from a broad range of activities, such as Beekeeping, Horseriding, Rowing, Debating Society and Stock Broking. There is also an opportunity to train for school sports like Cricket, Rugby and Rowing or continue academic study e.g. Ancient Greek, Russian and General Studies.
Also in keeping with the events of the time, 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 (UK) representative won by a large margin- over 100 votes.
[edit] Academic performance
The school gets very good A-level results, and the best for all secondary schools in the borough.[citation needed] See the reputation section.
[edit] Notable Old Yarumians
- James Wharton, Conservative MP since 2010 for Stockton South
- Simon Webster, rugby union for Scotland
- Paul Johnston, cricketer
- Russell Earnshaw (rugby union)
[edit] Yarm Grammar School
- Wendy Craig, actress
[edit] References
- ^ Yarm School - Home Page
- ^ Yarm School The Good Schools Guide
- ^ Yarm School, Stockton-on-Tees
- ^ Yarm School steps (From The Northern Echo)
- ^ The Piddler on the roof | The Sun | News
- ^ Gazette Live - News - Local News
- ^ Grassroots - Yarm and Eaglescliffe | AccessMyLibrary
- ^ [1] Yarm School Newsletter archive
- ^ Joy for cycling trio after national success - Yarm - TS15
- ^ http://www.durham-regatta.org.uk/uploads/year2009/prizegiving09.pdf
- ^ Henley Women's Regatta
