Greneway Middle School, Royston

History

The Greneway Middle School first opened to pupils on 9 September 1969 following Hertfordshire County Council’s introduction of a three-tier system of first, middle and upper schools. The opening ceremony was performed on 3 July 1970 by Royston’s then MP, Shirley Williams, who was later appointed Secretary of State for Education. The school building had previously housed the Royston Secondary School (for pupils aged 11 to 16 years old) since 1954, when it was first built. The school’s name is a reference to the 'Grene Highway' that at one time linked Royston and the surrounding villages.

In 2007, the school installed the Hexagon, a wooden shelter designed to provide pupils with somewhere peaceful and quiet to go at break times. A spokesperson for the school said, "The children are really enjoying the Hexagon. They can use it for reading or as somewhere quiet to go at break times. It is a good shelter if the pupils are outside at break in the winter and it will be lovely in the summer." The school’s fund-raising association, Friends of Greneway School (FoGs), gave £4,000 towards the structure’s building costs.

The school runs an active listener programme which trains pupils, mainly from Year 6, in how to counsel their peers at the school if they are experiencing bullying, are dealing with emotional issues or have other worries at school. Pupils who have undergone training wear a special ‘Peer Mentor’ badge so that pupils with concerns can identify them. In October 2007, the school’s active listener co-ordinator said, "We've been running this programme for several years and it's been very successful. […] Since the active listening scheme started we've put a stop to several cases of bullying. The children are taught their limits, and they know that if they discover anything serious which is going on that they must come straight to me or another member of staff." She added, "As well as being available to their fellow pupils when needed, the active listeners take it in turns to run a drop-in centre every Tuesday. It gives them responsibility and we hope it makes the school a better place for everybody".

In November 2011, Greneway Middle School joined with Royston’s other middle school, Roysia, and the town’s upper school the Meridian School to form the Royston Schools Academy Trust, Hertfordshire’s first multi-school academy. The move gained the new body additional funding and greater freedom from the control of Hertfordshire County Council, allowing greater flexibility in terms of its members’ curriculums.

Leadership

The School’s first headteacher was Ken Charles, who introduced basketball and mini basketball to Royston when he took up the post in 1969. He had previously taught the sport in a school in Harrow early in his career under the guidance of PE teacher Joe Jagger, father of the singer Mick Jagger.

Subsequent Greneway headteacher Rhona Seviour later became a school inspector and Technology Advisor for Hertfordshire.

Sue Kennedy retired as headteacher in 2012 after leading the school for seven years. She had served as the School’s deputy head before becoming its leader.

The Greneway Middle School’s current headteacher is Laura Rawlings (née Flitton), who had served as the head of the science department and leader of ICT before becoming the school’s leader.

Awards and achievements

In April 2006, the school became one of the first in England to receive ICT Mark accreditation from the British Educational Communications and Technology Agency (Becta), the government-funded body which at that time had responsibility for promoting the use of ICT in schools and colleges nationally. Neil McLean, executive director of educational practice at Becta, said: "Greneway School thoroughly deserves this accolade. It clearly demonstrates how important it is to take a holistic approach to using ICT in a school. By doing this, its investment in new technologies has contributed to improvements in learning".

In September 2011, Greneway Middle School won third place in the Hertfordshire Sports Partnership Service to Sport Awards. The county-wide competition recognises both the quality of PE teaching within schools and the institutions’ community links in the field of sport.

In November 2012, the school became the first in England to gain a fourth consecutive Artsmark award. A special Artsmark Gold award was presented by former Greneway Middle School pupil Alison Balsom, who said, “I had a wonderful time studying music with many of the teachers who are in this hall today. Whenever I play music anywhere in the world I remember how privileged I am, and I’m very pleased to be at Greneway today, it’s a pleasure to be back.”

In December 2013, Greneway Middle School was runner-up in the School of the Year category at the Hertfordshire Sports Partnership awards. In July 2014 it was awarded the Association for Physical Education’s quality mark with distinction. The award was presented by Jan Wood MBE, head of the North East Herts Sports Partnership, who said, “This is a richly deserved award and I am delighted to award it to Greneway. All of our young people are entitled to benefit from a high quality physical education and we all know that this supports other learning right across the curriculum. It also contributes to healthy and active lifestyles, improves emotional well-being, and develops key skills such as leadership, confidence and social skills.” In January 2015, Greneway Middle School achieved the School Games Gold Kitemark award for the third year in a row.

Notable students and staff

Notable former students of The Greneway Middle School include:

Notable current and former staff of the school include:

Music, dance and drama

The Greneway Middle School’s pupils have participated in numerous artistic activities, including:

In April 2007, two Greneway Year 8 pupils completed successful musical auditions for leading institutions the Royal College of Music and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. In June of the same year the school held a special fund-raising concert by the pupils to raise the money for their tuition fees of approximately £3,000 per year. The students played solos, duetted together and played with the Royston Town Band.

Pupils from Greneway Middle School have joined those from other schools across Hertfordshire to participate in two concerts at the Royal Albert Hall organised by the Hertfordshire Music Service.

Youth Makes Music

Founded by Greneway Middle School’s first headteacher Ken Charles in the 1990s, and organised by the Rotary Club of Royston, the annual Youth Makes Music concerts at the University of Cambridge’s West Road Concert Hall have seen musicians and singers from the school join forces with those from other local schools. In March 2014, Ken Charles announced he would be retiring after organising the event for 17 years.

School productions

Past school productions include student performances of:

Greneway’s Got Talent

The school holds a school-wide talent contest, Greneway’s Got Talent, every two years. In 2008 more than 300 pupils entered the contest, with four acts from each age group performing in the final stage of the contest which was judged by professional musicians and dancers. Other students had designed the stage set and concert programme for the event.

Sports

The Greneway Middle School’s sports teams have achieved successes including:

In May 2006, the school’s Year 8 athletes achieved "a unique treble", representing the North Hertfordshire district in athletics, basketball and mixed sports hall athletics at the Herts Youth Games at the University of Hertfordshire’s Sports Village. Greneway’s was the only school team in the competition, with the other county districts being represented by elite groups from their athletics clubs.

In July 2006, Greneway Middle School’s Year 7 cricket team were North Hertfordshire Schools Cricket Champions after beating Baldock’s Knights Templar School at Letchworth Cricket Club.

In November 2011, the school’s Year 8 basketball team won their 199th consecutive home win having been undefeated at Greneway since 1995.

In June 2015, the school’s Year 5/6 boys' football team achieved "an unprecedented quadruple", winning the Stevenage and North Herts Schools' under-11 seven-a-side title, the North East Herts under-11 nine-a-side championship, the North East Herts seven-a-side title, and the Hertfordshire Wix under-11 nine-a-side competition. Reporting the achievement, Cambridge News noted, "and they achieved all of that without conceding a goal".