Pate's Grammar School

Pate's Grammar School
Address
Princess Elizabeth Way Cheltenham , Gloucestershire , GL51 0HG England
Coordinates	51°54′25″N2°07′01″W / 51.907°N 2.117°W / 51.907; -2.117
Information
Type	Grammar school; Academy
Motto	Latin: Patebit tum quod Latuit English: That which is hidden shall be revealed
Established	1574;450 years ago (1574)
Founder	Richard Pate
Department for Education URN	136353 Tables
Ofsted	Reports
Head teacher	James Richardson
Staff	87 teaching, 35 support
Gender	Coeducational
Age	11to 18
Enrolment	995
Houses	Beaufort   Gloucester   Richmond   York   Pembroke
Colour(s)	Black, grey, white, red
Publication	Reveal Pate's Progress The Grammar School Gazette
Alumni	Old Patesians
Website	www.patesgs.org

Pate's Grammar School is a grammar school with academy status in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. It caters for pupils aged 11 to 18. The school was founded with a fund bestowed to Corpus Christi College, Oxford, by Richard Pate in 1574. The school became co-educational in 1986, when Pate's Grammar School for Girls merged with Cheltenham Grammar School.

Pate's has been awarded 'State Secondary School of the Year' twice by The Sunday Times in their Good Schools Guide in 2012 and 2020. ^{[1] [2]} In 2013, and again in 2024, the school was given an Outstanding judgement by Ofsted.

Academic achievements

At GCSE level in 2004, 100% of pupils entered earned five A* to C grades, ^[3] and the school came twelfth in the BBC table of performance in A-/AS-Level. ^[4] Again in 2005, 100% of pupils earned five A* to C grades at GCSE, ^[5] and in 2006, 100% of pupils passed in at least seven subjects with grades A* to C. ^[6] In 2008, more A* grades were achieved collectively than any other grade put together at GCSE level.

The physics department was recognised as the best in the country in a survey published by The Observer in May 2006. ^[7]

In 2012 Pate's achieved the fourth best state secondary school results in the United Kingdom. It was also awarded with 'State Secondary School of the Year'. ^[8] In 2019 the school was ranked as one of the top secondary state schools in the UK with 95.6% of grades at A*-B at A-level and 87.5% of grades at 9-7 at GCSE. ^[9]

Sporting achievements

The senior rugby team was coached by ex-England scrum-half Peter Kingston until his retirement in 2009. ^[10] In 2007 Pate's senior rugby teams completed a season unbeaten for the first time in 21 years. ^[11]

The Old Patesians club has grounds and a clubhouse in Leckhampton, which was built when their previous premises were demolished to make way for Cheltenham's tallest building, Eagle Tower.

Community

The school competes in the Young Enterprise competition held amongst schools nationwide. The school was also named as one of the four winners of the annual BBC School's Question Time competition in 2009. ^[12] During the 1970s the school were winners of the BBC radio show Top of the Form.

Pate's is also involved with charity work and has a Charity Committee appointed each year; in 2007–2008, over £16,000 was raised.^{[ citation needed ]} The school is situated in a deprived area of Cheltenham and under the headmaster Richard Kemp deprived students were encouraged to apply.

The current headmaster is James Richardson, who took over from Russel Ellicot in September 2023. ^[13]

Developments

The boys' school was established in 1586. The Gothic premises in the High Street were demolished in 1967 to make way for a concrete supermarket, at a time when many other historic buildings, which would now be listed and protected, were also lost.^{[ citation needed ]} The school playing field existed quite remote from the school in Hesters Way, and a replacement school was built there, after the boundaries had been altered to make way for the Princess Elizabeth Way and Coronation Square council developments. The majority of pupils lived in more affluent areas on the opposite side of the town and needed to commute by public transport. The building opened in 1965 and was designed by the architects Chamberlin, Powell & Bon, and featured innovative use of concrete and brick construction, a copper-clad dome over the library and a moat, but its striking appearance was not universally popular, frequently drawing comparisons with a prison. By the 1980s the concrete had developed significant structural problems. ^[14] Following the merger with the girls grammar school in 1986, the school became multi-site for a time, utilising the former Monkscroft school buildings on a nearby site, predominantly for lower school pupils. The combination of the issues with running a split-site school, and the decaying condition of both buildings led to their replacement from 1994 with new buildings. ^[15] During this period the school somehow lost its nomenclature with Richard Pate, becoming known instead as Cheltenham Grammar School, and Pate's name instead became associated with the girls' school at Pittville.

The school raised funds in order to complete new fitness facilities. The £50,000 fitness suite was opened by Geoff Hurst in April 2010.

The school converted from a voluntary aided school into an academy in November 2010. ^{[16] [17]}

In summer 2012, Pate's Grammar completed the construction of a new refectory, costing £1.75 million. This also involved upgrading the school canteen to a cashless catering system operated by sQuid. It was opened by the Duke of Gloucester on 5 October 2012. The new sixth form block was built and completed in summer 2019. ^[18]

In 2013, a new school block was opened named 'The George and Eve Tatam Block', after alumni who also sponsor higher level study at both Corpus Christi, Oxford and Corpus Christi, Cambridge. ^[19]

In spring 2019, a new sixth form block opened following a grant received in 2017. The three-storey building comprises study spaces and IT facilities on the lower two floors, whilst the upper floor houses the senior library. The building links directly to the George and Eve Tatum Block next to which it is constructed. ^[20]

Notable former pupils

See also: Category:People educated at Pate's Grammar School

Pate's Grammar School

• Ben Chacko, editor since 2014 of the Morning Star
• Stephanie Collie, costume designer ^[21]
• Siân Berry, Green MP since 2024 for Brighton Pavilion and former leader of the Green Party of England and Wales
• Matt Smith, professional footballer ^[22]
• Sue Limb, novelist

Cheltenham Grammar School

Music

• Gustav Holst, composer ^[23]
• Brian Jones, musician and founder of The Rolling Stones ^[23]
• Philip Lane, composer

Sport

• Gilbert Jessop, cricketer ^[23]
• Robert Lanchbury, Gloucestershire cricketer
• Alfred Payne, cricketer

Engineers

• Sir Benjamin Baker, engineer of the Forth Bridge
• Sir Frederick Handley Page, founder of the aircraft company Handley Page
• Gordon Lewis, aeronautical engineer, and designer of the Olympus and Pegasus engines with Bristol Siddeley
• Bob Parkinson, rocket engineer with British Aerospace, worked on HOTOL

Academia

• William Henry Corfield, revolutionised hygiene and household sanitation in Victorian England.
• Sir Rowland Biffen, developed disease resistant wheat strains
• H. J. Round, scientist, played an important part in the discovery of light-emitting diodes
• Martin Hume Johnson, Professor of Reproductive Sciences from 1992 to 2012 at the University of Cambridge (Christ's College)
• Piers Coleman, theoretical physicist, Professor of Physics Rutgers University and brother of Jaz Coleman.
• Anthony Howe, professor of modern history since 2003 at UEA
• Kit Fine, philosopher

Politics

• Adrian Bailey, Labour MP from 2000 to 2019 for West Bromwich West.
• John Roberts, Liberal MP from 1885 to 1906 for South Caernarfonshire, Eifion

Film & TV

• John Ringham, character actor
• Rex Tucker, TV director, Head of BBC TV drama from 1969–81
• Desmond Wilcox, TV reporter, late husband of Dame Esther Rantzen

Authors

• Robert Hawker, poet
• Geoff Dyer, writer

Other

• Colonel John Chard, British Army officer; received the Victoria Cross (VC) for his service in January 1879 at Rorke's Drift
• Peter Lampl, founder of the Sutton Trust
• Sir Edgar Vaughan, ambassador from 1960 to 1963 to Panama
• Ernest Blackie, Bishop of Grimsby from 1935 to 1937
• The Baron Christopher, general secretary from 1976 to 1988 of the Inland Revenue Staff Federation
• John Clink, Flag Officer Sea Training since 2015

Pate's Grammar School for Girls

• Mary Honeyball, Labour MEP 2000 - 2019 for London
• Dame Felicity Lott, soprano
• Dame Lesley Rees, endocrinologist, professor of chemical endocrinology since 1978 at Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry
• Fiona Sampson, poet, professor of poetry since 2013 at the University of Roehampton
• Anne Warner, professor of developmental biology at UCL, and director from 1999 to 2006 of UCL's Centre for Mathematics and Physics in the Life Sciences and Experimental Biology ^[24]

See also

• Old Patesians RFC

References

1. "Pate's is the Sunday Times' Secondary School of the Year". Archived from the original on 24 December 2012. Retrieved 18 November 2012.
2. Thomas, Zoe. "State Secondary School of the Year: Pate's Grammar School, Cheltenham". The Times . ISSN   0140-0460. Archived from the original on 22 August 2020. Retrieved 5 May 2020.
3. Top GCSE results 2005 Archived 2005-09-13 at the Wayback Machine , BBC News Online , 13 January 2005
4. Top A-Level results 2005 Archived 2005-09-13 at the Wayback Machine , BBC News Online , 13 January 2005
5. School profile Archived 22 August 2020 at the Wayback Machine , BBC News Online , 19 January 2006
6. "Pate's Grammar School Cheltenham". www.Pates.Gloucs.sch.uk. Archived from the original on 2 January 2018. Retrieved 2 January 2018.
7. Excellence of physics department recognised Archived 22 August 2020 at the Wayback Machine , The Observer , 21 May 2006
8. "The Times & The Sunday Times". TheTimes.co.uk. Archived from the original on 29 May 2010. Retrieved 2 January 2018.
9. "Ofsted, Exam Results and Performance Data". Pate's Grammar School Website. 14 February 2018. Archived from the original on 8 February 2019. Retrieved 5 May 2020.
10. "Kingston, Peter". Gloucester Rugby Heritage. Archived from the original on 29 October 2019. Retrieved 22 August 2020.
11. "Pate's Grammar School Rugby Union 1st XV 2006/07". Schools Rugby. Archived from the original on 22 August 2020. Retrieved 22 August 2020.
12. 2009 student producers announced Archived 2009-04-14 at the Wayback Machine , BBC, 2 April 2009
13. "AISC HKCEC December 2020". Asia-Pacific International Schools Conference. Archived from the original on 22 August 2020. Retrieved 22 August 2020.
14. "Our Town Newsletter of Cheltenham Civic Society" (PDF). Cheltenham Civic Society. Retrieved 18 May 2023.
15. "The History of Hesters Way Part 1 Schools". Chris Green. Retrieved 18 May 2023.
16. "Pate's Grammar School - GOV.UK". gov.uk. 14 November 2018. Retrieved 1 January 2024.
17. "Pate's Grammar School - GOV.UK". gov.uk. 9 December 2023. Retrieved 1 January 2024.
18. "Professor Robert Winston Opens New Sixth Form Block at Pate's Grammar School". Carter & Co. Archived from the original on 22 August 2020. Retrieved 22 August 2020.
19. "Naming and 'In Memorandum'". Pate's Grammar School. Archived from the original on 8 February 2019. Retrieved 22 August 2020.
20. "New 6th Form Block". Pate's Grammar School. Archived from the original on 8 February 2019. Retrieved 22 August 2020.
21. "Obituary: Costume Designer Stephanie Collie". Televisual. 31 October 2024. Retrieved 3 November 2024.
22. "Scrutiny part of the job for Leeds striker Matt Smith". Archived from the original on 14 April 2014. Retrieved 13 April 2014.'}
23. Robson, David (25 September 2008). "Town vs Gown: Cheltenham, Gloucestershire". London: The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 9 July 2011. Retrieved 24 November 2012.
24. Ashmore, Jonathan (10 June 2012). "Anne Warner obituary". Guardian. Archived from the original on 23 October 2017. Retrieved 22 August 2020.

External links

• Pate's Grammar School, official site
• Pate's Grammar School OED (Outdoor Education Department), official OED site
• Pate's Grammar School CCF (Combined Cadet Force), official CCF site