Godalming Grammar School was a state-funded selective

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 ...

taking both boys and girls, situated in Tuesley Lane,

Godalming Godalming ( ) is a market town and civil parish in southwest Surrey, England, around southwest of central London. It is in the Borough of Waverley, at the confluence of the Rivers Wey and Ock. The civil parish covers and includes the settl ...

, England.

Organisation

Post-war, students were selected via the

eleven-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 ...

examination. From the early 1960s, there were three classes in each of the first five-year groups. Each class held about thirty students and was referenced using the year group number and

house system The house system is a traditional feature of schools in the United Kingdom. The practice has since spread to Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth countries. The school is divided into units called "houses" and each student is allocated to on ...

letter: J (for

Jekyll Jekyll may refer to: Entertainment Film * ''The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll'', a 1960 horror film * '' Dr. Jekyll y el Hombre Lobo'', a 1972 Spanish horror film * ''Jekyll'' (2007 film), a 2007 horror film Television * ''Jekyll'' (TV series), a 20 ...

), F (for Fearon) or P (for Page) - Jekyll, Fearon and Page being famous people with some connection to the Godalming area; for example class '1J'. Students were usually allocated to a class based on age, with students in 'J' being the older students. (Prior to the early 1960s, there had been four houses: Freyberg, Mallory, Phillips and McKenna.) After year five, students were able to join the sixth form for two further years, the lower sixth and the upper sixth.

Sports

The school held an annual sports day with numerous track and field events. Students competed to earn points for their respective houses. At the end of the day the points were totalled and the winning house declared.

History

The school was founded in 1930. It was formally known as Godalming County Grammar School. In 1978, it closed as a grammar school and became

Godalming College Godalming College is a sixth form college, in Godalming, south-west of London and five miles from Guildford, Surrey. The college had been consistently oversubscribed in years prior to 2010 and has been considered to be one of the best state coll ...

, a

sixth form college A sixth form college (pre-university college in Malaysia) is an educational institution, where students aged 16 to 19 study typically for advanced post-school level qualifications such as GCE Advanced Level, A Levels, Business and Technology Edu ...

Notable alumni

* Louis George Alexander, lexicographer *

Ben Elton Benjamin Charles Elton is a British comedian, actor, author, playwright, lyricist and director. One of the major figures in the alternative comedy movement of the 1980s, his early stand-up style was Left-wing politics, left-wing political satire ...

, writer *

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, actress who appeared in ''

Brookside Brookside may refer to: Geography Canada * Brookside, Edmonton * Brookside, Newfoundland and Labrador * Brookside, Nova Scotia United Kingdom * Brookside, Berkshire, England * Brookside, Telford, an area of Telford, England United States * Bro ...

'' *

Paul McCue Paul McCue (born 1958) is a British military historian, researcher and author. Life Born in Wombwell, near Barnsley in the then West Riding of Yorkshire, and educated at Wath Grammar School, Yorkshire; The County Grammar School, Godalming, Surrey ...

, military historian * Bob Mitchell, Labour MP from 1966 to 1970 for

Southampton Test Southampton Test is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament by Satvir Kaur, a member of the Labour Party since 2024. History The constituency was created for the 1950 general election, when the previous two-me ...

and from 1971 to 1983 for

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John Noble (baritone) John Noble (2 January 1931 – 21 March 2008) was an English baritone. He was Ralph Vaughan Williams's favourite in the title role of the composer's opera ''The Pilgrim's Progress''. Early life Born in Southampton, the son of a gardener, Noble' ...

* Sir

Hugh Orde Sir Hugh Stephen Roden Orde, (born 27 August 1958) is a retired British police officer who was the president of the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO), representing the 44 police forces of England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Between ...

, Chief Constable from 2002 to 2009 of the

Police Service of Northern Ireland The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI; ; Ulster-Scots: '), is the police service responsible for law enforcement and the prevention of crime within Northern Ireland. It is the successor to the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) after it ...

* Dr

Chris Tame Christopher Ronald Tame (20 December 1949 – 20 March 2006) was an English libertarian political activist. He is best known as the founder and Director of the Libertarian Alliance, a free market and civil liberties think tank.

, who founded the

Libertarian Alliance The Libertarian Alliance (LA) refers to two libertarian think tanks in the UK. Originally one organisation, it split in 1982. One Libertarian Alliance was renamed "Mises UK" in 2017; the remaining Libertarian Alliance holds regular meetings in ...

References

External links

History of Godalming Grammar School and Godalming College

Old Godhelmians Association
{{Schools in Surrey Defunct schools in Surrey Educational institutions established in 1930 Defunct grammar schools in England Godalming Formerly selective schools in the United Kingdom People educated at Godalming Grammar School Educational institutions disestablished in 1978 1930 establishments in England 1978 disestablishments in England