Southwell Minster School

Infobox UK school
name = Minster School


size =
latitude =
longitude =
dms = dms
motto =
motto_pl =
established =
approx = 1100
closed =
c_approx =
type = Secondary
religion = C of E
president =
head_label = Headteacher
head = Canon PJ Blinston
r_head_label =
r_head =
chair_label = Chair of Governors
chair = Mr A W Poole
founder =
founder_pl =
specialist = Music, Humanities
specialist_pl =
street = Nottingham Road
city = Southwell
county = Nottinghamshire
country = England
postcode = NG25 0LG
LEA = Nottinghamshire
ofsted = 122898
staff =
enrollment = 1510
gender = Coeducational
lower_age = 8
upper_age = 18
houses =
colours =
publication =
free_label_1 =
free_1 =
free_label_2 =
free_2 =
free_label_3 =
free_3 =
website = http://www.minster.notts.sch.uk
website_name = The Minster School

Southwell Minster School is a state funded comprehensive school in Southwell, Nottinghamshire, England.

Admissions

The Minster School is a Church of England Voluntary Aided Comprehensive School. It has 300 pupils in the Sixth Form. The Junior Department was established over fifty years ago to provide free education for the choristers of Southwell Minster and has special facilities for musically gifted pupils. For twenty-five years it has also provided a Junior School curriculum for other pupils who wish to develop their abilities in a musically stimulating environment. Unusually for a secondary school, it takes pupils from the age of eight.

Canon PJ Blinston is the headteacher of the Minster School. It is on "Nottingham Road" next to Southwell Leisure Centre.

History

The school was founded in about 1100 to educate the choristers at the cathedral.

It was formerly a selective school, known as Southwell Minster Collegiate Grammar School.

It has specialist status in humanities and music.

In April 2006, work began on a new £29m school building including a new sports hall. On the July 16 2008, Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex officially opened the new school building, having opened in September 2007, when he also opened the Veterinary Nursing Centre at the Brackenbury Agricultural College. Previous to this, a site on "Church Street" was used.

Academic performance

It often gets the best GCSE results in Nottinghamshire (not including Nottingham LEA), with exceptional results for a comprehensive. However in 2007 it got the joint second best results with Rushcliffe Comprehensive School, narrowly beaten by the excellent West Bridgford School.

At A level, it again does very well for a comprehensive school, but fourth in Nottinghamshire LEA, behind two West Bridgford Schools and the National School in nearby Hucknall.

Alumni

* Ian Baxter, managing director of the [http://www.rhgroup.co.uk/Default.aspx RH Group]
* Paul Franks, cricketer
* Mathew Horne, who plays Gavin in BBC's Gavin & Stacey
* Ben Inman of The Choirboys
* Tom Ryder, rugby player
* Marie Toms, former British Waterski [http://www.marietoms.co.uk champion]

outhwell Minster Collegiate Grammar School

* Frederick Wollaston Hutton, scientist
* Alvin Stardust

External links

* [http://www.minster.notts.sch.uk Official website]
* [http://www.penoyre-prasad.net Architects of new buildings]
* [http://www.edubase.gov.uk/establishment/summary.xhtml?urn=122898 EduBase]

News items

* [http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/gallery/2008/sep/16/newschools.minster?picture=337664796 Gallery: the school designed by teachers and pupils | guardian.co.uk | October 2008]
* [http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2008/sep/16/newschools "Guardian" article September 2008]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/nottinghamshire/7067725.stm Fire at former site in October 2007]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/nottinghamshire/6236260.stm School flooded in June 2007]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/nottinghamshire/4942614.stm New buildings in April 2006]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/2835575.stm Town council unhappy with school plans in March 2003]