Chesham Grammar School is a co-educational academy school on White Hill,

Chesham Chesham ( , ) is a market town and civil parish in Buckinghamshire, England, United Kingdom, south-east of the county town of Aylesbury, about north-west of Charing Cross, central London, and part of the London metropolitan area, London ...

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (, abbreviated ''Bucks'') is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-east, Hertfordshir ...

. There are about 1,300 pupils aged between eleven and eighteen, including over 400 in the

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 ...

. In 2007, the

Department for Education The Department for Education (DfE) is a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It is responsible for child protection, child services, education in England, educati ...

awarded the school

specialist school Specialist schools, also known as specialised schools or specialized schools, are schools which specialise in a certain area or field of curriculum. In some countries, for example New Zealand, the term is used exclusively for schools specialis ...

status as a

Humanities College Humanities Colleges are a type of specialist school introduced in 2004 as part of the Specialist Schools Programme in the United Kingdom. The system enabled secondary and primary schools to specialise in certain fields, in this case, humanitie ...

. In August 2011 the school became 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 ...

History

The school was founded in 1947 as the Chesham Technical School - a result of the

Education Act 1944 The Education Act 1944 ( 7 & 8 Geo. 6. c. 31) made major changes in the provision and governance of secondary schools in England and Wales. It is also known as the Butler Act after the President of the Board of Education, R. A. Butler. Histori ...

which set up the tripartite arrangements of grammar,

technical Technical may refer to: * Technical (vehicle), an improvised fighting vehicle * Technical area, an area which a manager, other coaching personnel, and substitutes are allowed to occupy during a football match * Technical advisor, a person who ...

and

secondary modern A secondary modern school () is a type of secondary school that existed throughout England, Wales and Northern Ireland from 1944 until the 1970s under the Tripartite System. Secondary modern schools accommodated the majority (70–75%) of pupils ...

schools. The all-boys' school was originally housed in only one building, which is now the sixth form block known as "The Curtis Centre". In 1961, the school became known as Chesham Technical High School. In 1970, the school changed its name to Chesham High School as it moved away from its technical roots. The name of the school changed to Chesham Grammar School on 7 May 2010. The rebranded CGS underwent expansion. The school was rated outstanding in all categories by OFSTED in March 2014.

Headteachers

*Sidney Chapman (1947–1966) *Paddy Evans (1966–1967) *Ken Stokes (1967–1992) *Tim Andrew (1992–2007) *Nigel Fox (2005–2006) (acting during Tim Andrew's sabbatical) *Philip Wayne (2007–2015) *Annmarie McNaney (2015–present)

Facilities

Between 1980 and 2010, there was an expansion of the school, including a new maths block, a textiles block, an art block, expansion of the English block, a new library and a new drama/psychology block. In 2015, the sixth form centre, located in the original building, was expanded and reopened as the Curtis Centre.

The Prime Minister's Global Fellowship

Pupils attained places on the Prime Minister's Global Fellowship programme in the inaugural year 2008, and in 2009 had two more successful applicants.

Admissions and school performance

Admission to the school is brokered through

Buckinghamshire County Council Buckinghamshire (, abbreviated ''Bucks'') is a ceremonial county in South East England and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-east, Hertfordshire to the east, Greater London ...

, which operates a selective secondary education system throughout the county. Pupils have to achieve a mark of 121 or above in the

11-plus The eleven-plus (11+) is a standardised examination administered to some students in England and Northern Ireland in their last year of primary education, which governs admission to grammar schools and other secondary schools which use academi ...

to be eligible to attend the school. The school's catchment area broadly covers the whole of

Chiltern District Chiltern District was a local government district of Buckinghamshire in south-central England from 1974 to 2020. It was named after the Chiltern Hills on which the region sits. The two towns in the district were Amersham, where the council was ...

area which includes the towns of

Amersham Amersham ( ) is a market town and civil parish in Buckinghamshire, England, in the Chiltern Hills, northwest of central London, south-east of Aylesbury and north-east of High Wycombe. Amersham is part of the London commuter belt. There ar ...

Chalfont St Giles Chalfont St Giles is a village and civil parish in southeast Buckinghamshire, England. It is in a group of villages called The Chalfonts, which also includes Chalfont St Peter and Little Chalfont. It lies on the edge of the Chiltern Hills, we ...

Chalfont St Peter Chalfont St Peter is a large village and civil parish in southeastern Buckinghamshire, England. It is in a group of villages called The Chalfonts which also includes Chalfont St Giles and Little Chalfont. The villages lie between High Wycombe a ...

and

, and larger villages such as

Great Missenden Great Missenden is a village and civil parish in the Misbourne Valley in the Chiltern Hills in Buckinghamshire, England, situated between the towns of Amersham and Wendover. It adjoins the village of Little Kingshill, and is a mile from Lit ...

and

Little Chalfont Little Chalfont is a village and civil parish in south-east Buckinghamshire, England. It is one of a group of villages known collectively as "The Chalfonts", which also comprises Chalfont St Giles and Chalfont St Peter. Little Chalfont is locate ...

. A significant proportion of the intake also comes from Hertfordshire. As Chesham Station is a terminus on the Metropolitan Line of the London Underground, pupils also travel in from North London. The school's progress profile showed that these pupils performed prior to 2013 at a comparatively similar level at GCSE and A level.

Notable alumni

* Elspeth Fowler, cricketer *

Alex Hales Alexander Daniel Hales (born 3 January 1989) is an English cricketer. He is a right-handed opening batter who represented the England cricket team across all formats and played domestically for Nottinghamshire. He made his One Day International ...

, cricketer *

Eleanor Thom Eleanor Thom (born 1979 in London) is a British writer. She won the 2006 New Writing Ventures competition with "Burns", a chapter from her first novel ''The Tin-Kin''. The book recalls experiences of her mother's family who were Scottish Trav ...

, writer * Judith Gough, diplomat and Ambassador of the United Kingdom in Sweden * Len Worley, footballer * Conor Dunne, cyclist *

Katy Dunne Katy Dunne (born 16 February 1995) is a British tennis player. Dunne has won nine singles and eight doubles titles on the ITF Women's World Tennis Tour, ITF Circuit. On 28 May 2018, she reached her best singles ranking of world No. 212, and in ...

, tennis player *

Nick Keynes Ultra (also recording as Rider) was an English pop band, which was most successful in the late 1990s. The original line-up consisted of James Hearn (born 1976; vocals), Michael Harwood (born 1975; guitar and vocals), Jon O'Mahony (born 1973; ...

, bass player *

Yashvardhan Kumar Sinha Yashvardhan Kumar Sinha (born 4 October 1958) is a retired Indian diplomat who belongs to the Indian Foreign Service. He is the former High Commissioner of India to the United Kingdom. He was sworn in as Central Information Commissioner on 1 ...

, Indian diplomat * Eileen Ramsay, maritime photographer.

References

External links

Department for Education Performance Tables 2011
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chesham Grammar School Chesham Grammar schools in Buckinghamshire Academies in Buckinghamshire Educational institutions established in 1947 1947 establishments in England