Steyning Grammar School is a coeducational comprehensive day and boarding, senior school and sixth form, located in Steyning, West Sussex, England. The school has two lower school sites catering for Years 7 and 8. The original site was located in Church Street,

Steyning Steyning ( ) is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Horsham District, Horsham district of West Sussex, England. It is located at the north end of the River Adur gap in the South Downs, north of the coastal town of Shoreha ...

, which moved to The Towers in

Upper Beeding Upper Beeding is a village and civil parish in the Horsham (district), Horsham District of West Sussex, England. It is located at the northern end of the River Adur gap in the South Downs, north of Shoreham-by-Sea and has a land area of . The s ...

in August 2022. A second site opened at Rock Road in

Storrington Storrington is a town and former civil parish, now in the parish of Storrington and Sullington, in the Horsham district of West Sussex, England. Storrington lies at the foot of the north side of the South Downs. it had a population of around 6 ...

in September 2017, on the former site of Rydon Community College. A larger upper school site at Shooting Field, Steyning caters for students in Years 9 to 11 who study the

Key Stage 4 Key Stage 4 (KS4) is the legal term for the two years of school education which incorporate GCSEs, and other examinations, in maintained schools in England normally known as Year 10 and Year 11, when pupils are aged between 14 and 16 by August 31 ...

curriculum over three years. The school's

Sixth Form In the education systems of Barbados, England, Jamaica, Northern Ireland, Trinidad and Tobago, Wales, and some other Commonwealth countries, sixth form represents the final two years of secondary education, ages 16 to 18. Pupils typically prepa ...

College for students in Years 12 and 13 is also based at the Shooting Field site. The Shooting Field site is served by Brighton & Hove bus route 2 once a day each weekday morning.

History

Steyning Grammar School was founded and endowed as a

grammar school A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a Latin school, school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented Se ...

in 1614 by William Holland, an

Alderman An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law with similar officials existing in the Netherlands (wethouder) and Belgium (schepen). The term may be titular, denotin ...

Chichester Chichester ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in the Chichester District, Chichester district of West Sussex, England.OS Explorer map 120: Chichester, South Harting and Selsey Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher ...

. In 1968, it merged with Steyning Secondary Modern School to form the current comprehensive school. The combined school shares two sites in Steyning. The original half-timbered Church Street site housed years 7 and 8 until the end of the 2021-22 academic year after which this age group ('Lower School') transferred to the Towers site in nearby Upper Beeding. The main Shooting Field site houses years 9-11 and the sixth form college. A third lower school site opened in Storrington in September 2017 following the closure of Rydon Community College. Indoor

physical education Physical education is an academic subject taught in schools worldwide, encompassing Primary education, primary, Secondary education, secondary, and sometimes tertiary education. It is often referred to as Phys. Ed. or PE, and in the United Stat ...

lessons are taught at Steyning Leisure Centre, which a joint project between the school and local councils. On 11 March 2020, after only two one-hour meetings open to the community, school governors voted to convert the 400-year-old school to an

academy An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

as part of the Bohunt Education Trust (BET). A teaching union warned that the school has "nothing to gain and everything to lose" and there was talk of

strike action Strike action, also called labor strike, labour strike in British English, or simply strike, is a work stoppage caused by the mass refusal of employees to Working class, work. A strike usually takes place in response to employee grievances. Str ...

after the plans were announced. Converting Steyning Grammar School into an academy "would give Bohunt complete control over its curriculum and the hiring of teachers". Bohunt Education Trust (BET) runs nine schools in total, including secondary schools in

Worthing Worthing ( ) is a seaside town and borough in West Sussex, England, at the foot of the South Downs, west of Brighton, and east of Chichester. With a population of 113,094 and an area of , the borough is the second largest component of the Br ...

and

Horsham Horsham () is a market town on the upper reaches of the River Arun on the fringe of the Weald in West Sussex, England. The town is south south-west of London, north-west of Brighton and north-east of the county town of Chichester. Nearby to ...

. In December 2021 a viral report of a "bleak" Christmas dinner composed of "a mince pie, dry bread roll, slice of turkey, single pig in blanket, and a tiny square of stuffing" went viral, reports indicating the school apologised and the £3.50 cost of the meal was refunded. In July 2022 Steyning Grammar School was chosen to be part of the Government School Rebuilding Programme and will amalgamate the three school sites into one site at the current Shooting Field site. The project is not expected to be completed until at least 2028 or later.

Notable alumni

Greg Barker Greg Barker is an American filmmaker and producer. In 2011, ''The New York Times'' described Barker as “a filmmaker of artistic and political consequence.” Previous films include '' Sergio'' (short-listed in 2010 for the Academy Award for B ...

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

MP for Bexhill and Battle *

Tom Blundell Sir Thomas Leon Blundell, (born 7 July 1942) is a British biochemist, structural biologist, and science administrator. He was a member of the team of Dorothy Hodgkin that solved in 1969 the first structure of a protein hormone, insulin. Blun ...

, head of

biochemistry Biochemistry, or biological chemistry, is the study of chemical processes within and relating to living organisms. A sub-discipline of both chemistry and biology, biochemistry may be divided into three fields: structural biology, enzymology, a ...

at the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

Ernest Marshall Cowell Major General Sir Ernest Marshall Cowell KBE CB KHS TD DSO DL FRCS (24 February 1886 – 26 February 1971) was a British military officer and surgeon. He served in the Royal Army Medical Corps during World War I and World War II and served ...

, surgeon and military officer *

Bernard Holden Bernard John Holden MBE (15 March 1908 – 4 October 2012) was an English railway engineer and manager with Southern and British Railways and a founding father of standard gauge railway preservation in the United Kingdom. He was President of t ...

, President of the

Bluebell Railway The Bluebell Railway is an heritage line in West Sussex in England. It is managed by the Bluebell Railway Preservation Society. It uses steam trains which operate between and , with intermediate stations at and . It is the first preserv ...

and pioneer in railway preservation *

Adam Stephen Kelly Adam Stephen Kelly (born 16 July 1990) is a British director, screenwriter, producer and journalist. Biography Adam was first published at age 16 while attending Steyning Grammar School, West Sussex, contributing articles to his local newspap ...

, award-winning film

writer A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles, genres and techniques to communicate ideas, to inspire feelings and emotions, or to entertain. Writers may develop different forms of writing such as novels, short sto ...

director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...

and producer * Ralph Lainson, parasitologist * Peter Marshall, author and anarchist * Geoffrey Munn. Historian; retired managing director of London jewellers, Wartski, BBC

Antiques Roadshow ''Antiques Roadshow'' is a British television programme broadcast by the BBC in which antiques appraisers travel to various regions of the United Kingdom (and occasionally in other countries) to appraise antiques brought in by local people ( ...

jewellery expert * Elizabeth Norton, historian * John Pell, 1611–85, originator of

Pell's equation Pell's equation, also called the Pell–Fermat equation, is any Diophantine equation of the form x^2 - ny^2 = 1, where ''n'' is a given positive Square number, nonsquare integer, and integer solutions are sought for ''x'' and ''y''. In Cartesian ...

* Jessica Rosemary Shepherd, botanical artist and botanist *

Connor Swindells Connor Ryan Swindells (born 19 September 1996) is an English actor and model. He gained prominence through his role as Adam Groff in the Netflix comedy-drama ''Sex Education'' (2019–2023). He has since starred in the BBC One war drama '' SAS: ...

, actor *

Maisie Peters Maisie Hannah Peters (born 28 May 2000) is an English singer-songwriter. She began her professional career independently, releasing two singles, "Place We Were Made" and "Birthday". In 2018, she signed with Atlantic Records, releasing two EPs a ...

, singer * John Trevett (1942–2019), cricketer * Ted Walker, 1934–2004, poet, author and dramatist * Lancelot Ware OBE, 1915–2000, co-founder of Mensa

Boarding

Steyning Grammar School has a boarding site located at Church Street. It is around half a mile away from the Upper School site in Shooting Field. Steyning is one of a small number of state schools with boarding facilities. Boarders can join at the beginning of Year 9 and Year 12 to follow GCSE and A-level courses respectively.

References

External links

Official Steyning Grammar School website
* {{authority control Steyning Boarding schools in West Sussex Educational institutions established in the 1610s 1614 establishments in England Secondary schools in West Sussex Church of England secondary schools in the Diocese of Chichester Academies in West Sussex

History

Notable alumni

Boarding

References

Further reading

External links