Bingley Grammar School

History

Bingley Grammar School's long tradition stems from its foundation in 1529, when a series of wealthy benefactors from among the people of Bingley provided a trust to support the education of the young people of the town.

Today, four hundred and eighty years later, the Foundation Trust Governors still meet each term to manage the assets of the trust, and to ensure that the proceeds are used to enhance the education of pupils of the School, now back to its former 'Voluntary Aided' status. From 2006 to 2011 the school was a Business and Enterprise college, assisted mainly by the voluntary and the Foundation.

The school received media attention in September 2009 when it required female pupils to wear trousers.

In November 2009 two teachers were suspended after it emerged that they accompanied pupils to a live sex show at a bar during a school trip to Bangkok's notorious red light district. As of February 2010 they were back working at the school.

In 2010 the previous headteacher, Mr Chris Taylor, resigned to become the headmaster for a school in West Sussex (Steyning Grammar School). He left during the Easter holidays. The new headteacher, Julia Wright, previous deputy head of Dixon's Academy, took over in September 2010. Between these two periods, Luke Weston, deputy head, was the acting headteacher. In March 2012 the quarterly school magazine 'Enterprising Times' stopped production and the e-publication 'The Torch' replaced it in a move to reduce paper consumption in the school. In 2012 the Vivo Miles system was introduced at the school.

Houses

The school works on a "house" system, the four houses named after the four founders of the school in 1529. These are Wooller, Milner, Sunderland (introduced in 1952) and Oldfield (introduced in 1967). Pupils can be identified as members of their house by one of the stripes on their ties - Red for Wooller, Blue for Milner, Green for Sunderland, and Yellow for Oldfield.

The houses compete every year in a series of events, from cross country, music and drama. In 2011 it was made compulsory for every pupil to partake in a house competition, fortunately this was accompanied with the additional of several competitions e.g. chess and Scrabble, and some other more strange competitions such as speed texting and an egg and spoon race. These changes were met with considerable criticism by the students.

A sports day event is held each year. The houses also gain points for 'credit stamps' (awarded for good work and behaviour) and aids in winning house competitions. At the end of each year house's win the House Cup.

Pupils are also separated into classes within the houses and years. Each Form has one/two tutor(s) who assist in their pupils' daily learning. Students attend form every weekday for half an hour before going to lessons.

The Foundation

The work which the Foundation Trust Governors have done in managing their assets has meant that they have been able, time and again, to support the School in its development.

During the 1990s, for example, the Foundation made possible the building of the sports hall by funding its construction in partnership with the Sports Council and “The Friends” of Bingley Grammar School; and today the Foundation is supporting a bid for Specialist School Status with a generous contribution towards the sponsorship target.

Whether helping to fund special events and expeditions for students, the Carol Service, (held at Bradford Cathedral), providing prizes for speech day, (this being held at St George's Hall, Bradford and the highlight of the school's academic calendar (held in December)), or underwriting major building projects, the Foundation carries on a tradition through which, over the years, citizens of Bingley have underpinned the work of the School to help provide education for the young people of the town.

Extra-curricular activities

The School competes in local and national competitions at rugby, hockey, netball, swimming and cricket. It hosts music groups and ensembles for players of all abilities. Its music department holds concerts, and has provided ensembles that have performed outside the school, such as at the Royal Albert Hall.

Transport

The nearest railway station is Crossflatts railway station, and the nearest bus stop is Keighley Road/Harold Street. The bus stop is used by services 662 and 760 which go from Bradford and Leeds (respectively) via Saltaire to Keighley, and vice versa. The 727 shuttles members of the public between Keighley, via East Morton to the school, then heads onto Cullingworth via Wilsden and Harden. To Leeds, Bradford and Keighley there is a frequent service, between 5 and 20 minutes, whereas to Cullingworth there is only one bus every hour and sometimes less. Overcrowding is a problem at school opening/closing times, with reports of buses taking up to ten minutes to load all of the passengers, causing severe traffic issues which is not helped by the large numbers of cars collecting/dropping off students. However, this was alleviated slightly in 2003 by the construction of the A650 relief road, colloquially known as "the Bingley Bypass".

There is also a school bus service at BGS, though, over recent years, there has been much controversy over the extreme levels of health and safety with the introduction of the MyBus service.

Headteachers

The headteachers and tenures listed are of the best known accuracy up to 1918, after this there are large gaps.

Notable alumni