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Bacup and Rawtenstall Grammar School

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Coordinates: 53°41′36″N 2°14′54″W / 53.6934°N 2.2482°W / 53.6934; -2.2482
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Bacup and Rawtenstall Grammar School
Address
Map
Glen Road

Waterfoot, Rossendale
,
Lancashire
,
BB4 7BJ

England
Coordinates53°41′36″N 2°14′54″W / 53.6934°N 2.2482°W / 53.6934; -2.2482
Information
TypeAcademy grammar
MottoFide et Labore (through faith and labour)
Established1703; 321 years ago (1703) (as Newchurch Grammar School)
1913 (modern)[1]
Local authorityLancashire County Council
Department for Education URN138835 Tables
OfstedReports
ChairD. S. King[2]
HeadmasterAlan B. Porteous[1][2]
GenderMixed
Age11 to 18
Enrolment1300
Websitehttp://www.brgs.org.uk/

Bacup and Rawtenstall Grammar School (BRGS) is a selective co-educational academy grammar school in Waterfoot, Rossendale, Lancashire, England. The school is named after the two main towns either side of Waterfoot, Bacup and Rawtenstall.

History

The school was founded in the 18th century as Newchurch Grammar School, opening in 1703[1] on land bequeathed by John Kershaw. The foundation stones for the current site were laid by the Mayors of Bacup and Rawtenstall on 1 July 1911. The school opened in 1913.

The current headmaster is Alan Porteous, who replaced the former headmaster, Marc Morris, in 2012. Morris joined the school in April 2005, to replace the retiring Martyn Morris (no relation), and moved to Hong Kong in July 2011, where he took the position of headteacher at Sha Tin College. Martyn Morris had retired after seventeen years in charge in December 2004.

Admissions

View of the school in 2006

The school is attended by approximately 1,300 students, split between the lower school (Years 7 to 11), which has 180 pupils per year (in six form groups of thirty pupils each), and the sixth form (Years 12 and 13) with approximately 200 pupils per year in several tutor groups.

Its status as a selective entry state school for years seven to eleven (aged 11 to 16) means that the school is vastly oversubscribed, with many children competing for each place by taking an entrance examination while in their final year of primary school. The admission process not only accounts for results of the examination but proximity to the school. Entry to the sixth form does not require an examination, but is conditional on the student having gained at least two grade 5 and two grade 6 GCSEs, and at least grade 4 in Maths and English Language.

Academic performance

The school ranks highly in British School league tables. In September 2013 it was rated as a 5 star school by Trinity Mirror.[3] The majority of students continue on to further education, and the school has a long history of sending students to the Russell Group and Oxbridge Universities.[4]

In 2015, BRGS was academically ranked in the top 10 in the country for English Baccalaureate performance.[5]

School life

The Sports Hall was opened by Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex in 2005.[6]

In 2016, BRGS was rated “outstanding” by Ofsted, the highest possible rating. It was rated outstanding in each sub-discipline, making it the best rating possible.[7] The sixth form also received the highest possible rating, with the report saying that the school’s culture creates “well-rounded citizens”. There were recommendations, however, to find ways to improve the secondary school pupils’ verbal communication skills, and to ensure everyone could take part in extracurricular activities.[8]

In 2022, it was rated overall “inadequate”, the lowest Ofsted rating, and put under special measures with a demand for immediate safeguarding reform. The 2022 report said that while education standards remained high and students were successful in extracurricular activities, student welfare was terrible. It said the school was an exam factory where a culture of bullying, racism, misogyny, “harmful sexual behaviour”, and homophobia prevailed, and that both students and parents had given up on reporting issues due to staff inaction. One area of education was rated poorly: failings in social and sex education, including at the sixth form, which contributed to the harmful sexual behaviour becoming “an accepted feature of school life” at BRGS. Students also failed to recognise that peers different to themselves are their equals. The report concluded that despite good grades and high ambitions, students leaving the school and sixth form “are ill-prepared to take up their roles as responsible citizens in a modern Britain”. A local councillor said that “Young people will have been traumatised by what they have experienced during their time there. They may never get over it”.[9][10]

Notable former pupils

See also: Category:People educated at Bacup and Rawtenstall Grammar School

Arts and design

Sportspeople

Other

Former teachers

References

  1. ^ a b c "Bacup and Rawtenstall Grammar School: About Us". Bacup & Rawtenstall Grammar School. 2018. Archived from the original on 5 July 2013. Retrieved 17 April 2018.
  2. ^ a b "Bacup and Rawtenstall Grammar School: Full Accounts Year Ended 31 August 2017". Companies House. Companies House. Retrieved 17 April 2018. [dead link‍]
  3. ^ "Trinity Mirror data team creates 'most comprehensive guide ever' to secondary schools in England and Wales". Press Gazette. Retrieved 16 March 2019.
  4. ^ Evans, Natalie (29 September 2013). "Secondary schools league table: Find out where yours ranks". mirror. Retrieved 16 March 2019.
  5. ^ Abbit, Beth (9 February 2015). "Rossendale grammar school ranked among best in country". rossendale. Retrieved 16 March 2019.
  6. ^ BRGS. “HRH The Earl of Wessex visits B.R.G.S.”, 31 October 2005. https://www.brgs.org.uk/news/2005-10-31-hrh-the-earl-of-wessex-visits-b-r-g-s
  7. ^ Roper, D. “Outstanding BRGS celebrating 'best ever' Ofsted report”, Rossendale Free Press, 18 July 2016. https://www.rossendalefreepress.co.uk/news/local-news/outstanding-brgs-celebrating-best-ever-10903161
  8. ^ Robinson, J. “Headteacher hailed as 'exceptional and visionary' after school receives highest Ofsted grade”, Lancashire Telegraph, 10 February 2016. https://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/news/14266776.headteacher-hailed-exceptional-visionary-school-receives-highest-ofsted-grade/
  9. ^ Tweed, L. “Once 'outstanding' school plagued by racism, homophobia, and misogyny according to scathing Ofsted report”, Manchester Evening News, 13 September 2022. https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/uk-news/once-outstanding-school-plagued-racism-25011387
  10. ^ Beaney, A. “Bacup and Rawtenstall Grammar School rated 'inadequate' by Ofsted”, Lancashire Telegraph, 13 September 2022. https://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/news/21326205.bacup-rawtenstall-grammar-school-rated-inadequate-ofsted/
  11. ^ Humphreys, Jemma (2 February 2008). "Interview: Natalie Casey". Chorley Citizen. Retrieved 19 January 2016.
  12. ^ Jajecznyk, S. “Valley actor Agyness Deyn stars in primetime crime drama Hard Sun”, Rossendale Free Press, 10 January 2018. https://www.rossendalefreepress.co.uk/news/valley-actor-agyness-deyn-stars-14137698
  13. ^ BRGS, "Duke Of Edinburgh Awards 2008-09", 5 January 2009. https://www.brgs.org.uk/news/2009-01-05-duke-of-edinburgh-awards-2008-09
  14. ^ ""Dr Ice" is honoured by Valley". Lancashire Telegraph. 13 June 2006. Retrieved 19 January 2016.
  15. ^ MacDonald, R. “Keira Walsh's Rossendale links honoured through surprise bus plans”, LancsLive, 23 August 2022. https://www.lancs.live/sport/football/football-news/keira-walshs-rossendale-links-honoured-24820616
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