Churston Ferrers Grammar School

History

The school was founded in 1957 and accommodated around 350 pupils, drawn from the surrounding areas including those of the schools it replaced and as far afield as Totnes. Its first headmaster, Donald W. Carter, was head of the Dartmouth Grammar School until its closing in 1957 when Churston opened. He led the school until 1972 when he retired.

In 2011, the school became an academy.

Location

The school is next to Churston railway station on the Paignton and Dartmouth Steam Railway. Its main playing fields are separated from the remainder of the school by the railway line and are currently accessible via a path under the railway line at the bottom of the main school playing field, or via Dartmouth road and the pavilions which were opened at the start of 2009.

Buildings

The school has occupied its current buildings since opening and was largely unchanged for the first half of its existence. When the school expanded in the late 1980s, a new classroom block and sports facility was added. Later, in the 1990s, the school expanded further with a Modern Foreign Languages block. In late September 2008, the school had a new block consisting of: a humanities classroom; a study centre; an IT room and two new departmental offices. This building was named 'The Cube' by the students in a poll from a selection of alternative names. For some time, there was a "maths hut", which was a temporary building that housed two Mathematics classrooms. This was eventually demolished in 2011 to make way for the new Sixth Form Centre which was completed in the summer of 2012. Also in 2016 a remodeling and extension of the Modern Foreign Languages block created a new section of the school for Art and Music.

Academic houses

There are 5 academic houses at CFGS: Brunel, Christie, Gilbert, Singer and Thompson. Within the school, they are mainly referred to by their respective initial, and each have an individual colour (B - blue, C - green, G - red, S - purple, T - yellow). Throughout the academic year, there are many inter-house competitions in which house points are awarded to the winning form. House points are also awarded to students throughout the year for achievements, such as a piece of work or an extra-curricular activity, and can be banked through the system ePraise.

Students are organised into year groups which managed by a Head of Year and Assistant Head of Year. Year groups are then subdivided into 5 house-based forms who are managed by form tutors.

Uniform

School uniform is required for pupils in years 7 to 11 but not the sixth form.

Boys

Boys' uniform consists of white shirt, navy V-necked sweatshirt with school badge, grey school trousers, navy school tie, grey or white socks and black shoes.

In summer, boys can wear the uniform above or a white polo shirt with a school logo, and no tie.

Historically, boys' uniform consisted of a navy sweater and grey jacket with school badge in place of the current sweatshirt.

Girls

Girls' uniform consists of white shirt, navy skirt or trousers, navy V-necked sweatshirt or cotton cardigan or jumper with school badge, white or black ankle socks or black, navy or nude tights and black shoes with a low heel.

It was introduced in early 2012 that in summer, like the boys, girls could wear the polo shirts instead of the usual blouses.

Academic status

Partly as a result of its selective intake, the school features favourably in the school league tables results. There are currently around 850 pupils, including a 240 in the sixth form and it is heavily over-subscribed.

In the 2005/2006 Ofsted inspection, Churston Ferrers Grammar School gained an overall "Outstanding" report.

Churston A-Level results:

Churston GCSE results:

The school has no present plans to offer sixth formers the option of either the International Baccalaureate or the Pre-U. It does however currently offer the AQA/English Baccalaureate to sixth form students.

Sports and extra-curricular

Rick Wooldridge (England junior basketball coach) was a teacher at the school from the mid 1970s and remains coach of the basketball team. As a result, the school has a particularly strong interest in this game.

The school had an enthusiastic debating society which would regularly debate the issues of the day in its lecture theatre.

The school was one of the few in the state sector to run a Combined Cadet Force however this has now ceased to function.

In October 2013, Churston started its own 'Muggle Quidditch' club where students can take part in a sport based on the fictional game in the popular book series, Harry Potter.

Notable former pupils

Following on the success of the 50th anniversary of the founding of the school, the Old Churstonians' Society was formed and is open to all past students and teachers.

Notable former students include: