Churston Ferrers Grammar School

Churston Ferrers Grammar School

Established	1957
Type	Academy
Headteacher	Robert Owers
Specialism	Humanities College
Location	Greenway Road Brixham Devon TQ5 0LN England
DfE URN	136388
Ofsted	Reports
Students	897[1]
Gender	Co-educational
Ages	11–18
Website	churstongrammar.com

Coordinates: 50°23′45″N 3°33′27″W / 50.395948°N 3.557532°W / 50.395948; -3.557532

Churston Ferrers Grammar School (CFGS, also known as Churston Grammar School) is a selective coeducational Grammar School with Academy status, situated in the village of Galmpton in Torbay, South Devon. It is also a specialist Humanities College.

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, prior to the opening of the Churston Ferrers school was head of the Dartmouth Grammar School which closed at the same time. 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 at the bottom of the school grounds 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 it added a new classroom block and sports facility. In late September 2008 the school had a new block consisting a humanities classroom, study centre and I.T. rooms, the humanities classroom is 7T's form room currently. This building was named 'The Cube' by the students in a poll from a selection of alternative names. The maths hut, which contained 32 and 33 will soon be abolished. There is also an MFL building, AKA Modern Foreign Languages. Form 7S, 7G and several other forms are based there.

Academic Houses

There are 5 academic houses at CFGS, Thompson (T), Gilbert (G), Singer (S), Christie (C) and Brunel (B). Students are also organised into year groups in which they are then sorted into one of the five forms. Each form class has its own appointed form tutor as well as the whole year having a Head and assistant head of Year.

There are currently 5 houses named after people who were famous in the area. They consist of Brunel, Christie, Gilbert, Singer and Thompson. For Example if you were a Year 7 in Gilbert, you would be in form 7G.

Headmasters

Appointment	Name
1957	Mr. Donald W. Carter
1972	Mr. Ron Beal
1975	Mr. David Beresford-Williams
1979	Mr. John Parsons
1997	Mr. Steven Kings
2007	Mr. Robert Owers

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, 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 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 or navy tights and black shoes with a low heel.

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:

A2	2003	2004	2005	2006
A-E	99.4%	100%	100%	99.74%
A-C	80%	81%	88.6%	90.03%
A-B	49%	59%	65.6%	66.04%

Churston GCSE results:

GCSE	1993	1994	1995	1996
A*-C	94.1%	94.3%	97.8%	95.6 %
5D*-E	9%	9%	9.1%	9.4%
D-E*	3.3%	4%	5%	5.8%

The school has no present plans to offer sixth formers the option of either the International Baccalaureate or the Pre-U.

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 is one of the few in the state sector to run a Combined Cadet Force.

Notable former pupils

See also: Category:People educated at Churston Ferrers Grammar School

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:

• Kirk Brandon, musician
• E. H. H. Green, historian
• Andy Parsons, comedian

References

1. ^ "Establishment: Churston Ferrers Grammar School Academy". EduBase. Department for Education. http://www.edubase.gov.uk/establishment/summary.xhtml?urn=136388. Retrieved 5 April 2011. 

External links

• Official website
• Old Churstonians Society