Sapientia Education Trust

Wymondham College is a coeducational day and boarding school in Morley, near Wymondham, Norfolk, England. A former grammar school, it is one of 36 state boarding schools in England and the largest of its type in the country, with up to 650 boarding places. It is also an affiliate member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference (HMC).

History

Former military hospital

The school is built on the site of the Second World War USAAF 231st Station Hospital, When the school first opened in 1951 the hospital's forty Nissen huts were used as dormitories. It was established by Lincoln Ralphs, the chief education officer of Norfolk County Council. Brick-built accommodation began to appear in the late 1950s, but Nissen huts remained in use, principally for classrooms and storage, through to end of the 1990s. The only Nissen hut now remaining is the College chapel. A memorial garden has been created on the site of the former USAAF mortuary, which for many years was used as the school's technical drawing classroom.

Grammar school

In 1951 there were two separate schools, Grammar and Technical, each with separate Heads. They merged in the mid-1950s after an uneasy co-existence. The school was a co-educational boarding grammar school. It was intended for academically-gifted children with no grammar schools in their local area that they could attend, as well as those with parents abroad or who regularly moved around the country. It gave priority, where possible, to children from families where the parents had separated, thus possibly under financial hardship. Admissions were by examination and headmasters' reports.

In the mid-1970s, the school had 700 boarders and 750 day pupils (from the former county grammar school). By 1978 this was 1,000 day pupils as well as the 700 boarders. Margaret Thatcher visited the school in the early 1970s.

The school remained exclusively 'boarding' until the early 1970s, when it was merged with the County Grammar School, which had been hosted at Wymondham on a 'temporary' basis for nearly ten years.

The school in the 1970s had been in a state of disrepair with an out-dated water supply and drainage system, and had an unreliable heating system (built by the USAF in 1944) in the winter and lack of insulation. Despite these problems it was still producing outstanding academic results. Grammar school status was lost, and in the early 1990s it became a grant maintained school.

Academy converter

In 2010 the school became an academy as part of the Academies Act 2010. The College won the ‘UK secondary school’ of the year award at the national teaching awards in November 2021. In October 2023 the College was graded as ‘Outstanding’ by Ofsted in both education and boarding inspections, with all 9 inspected areas rated as ‘outstanding’.

Wymondham College Prep School

In 2019, the Sapientia Education Trust announced plans to unveil a new, purpose-built building to house a new preparatory school for children from reception to Year 6, led by Mr Simon Underhill, with a vision to fostering 'development for the whole child'. Despite initial plans to purchase adjacent farmland for the Prep School, the College began construction on the former site of the Cavell Hall lawn, by Morgan Sindall.

Multi-academy trust

Wymondham College is also the founding member of a multi-academy trust, the Sapientia Education Trust.

House system

A House system was first established in 1953, with house names North, South, East and West. As the College expanded and brick-built accommodation came into use in the early 1960s, the system was revised and the Houses were given names of cathedral cities:

* Boys: York, Gloucester, Canterbury, Norwich, Durham, Salisbury
* Girls: Wells, Westminster, Worcester, Winchester (with Wakefield and Washington added later)

When mixed Houses were introduced in the early 1970s, the cathedral House names were scrapped and the Houses adopted the names of the Halls themselves. Lincoln and Peel Halls were converted to Sixth Form boarding houses in 1978, Peel Hall being further converted into a boarding house for Year Sevens in 1995. As of the 2010–2011 academic year, Peel started to retain some year 7 students in order to become a 'main school house'.

There are now six boarding houses, which also include day pupils;
*Years Seven to Eleven: Cavell, Kett, Fry, New or Peel
*Years Twelve to Thirteen: Lincoln Hall
Ofsted inspected the residential accommodation in 2023 and confirmed it remains 'outstanding'.

Archaeology

In January 1958, a hoard of 881 Anglo Saxon (Edward the Elder) coins were found at the school when a drain was being dug.

Notable alumni

* Mark Brayne, BBC foreign correspondent and psychotherapist
* Stephen Byers, Labour MP for North Tyneside from 1992 until 2010, former Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, and Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions in the Cabinet
* Patsy Calton Lib Dem for MP for Cheadle from 2001 to 2005 (1960–1967)
* Nicholas Crane, explorer and writer (1965–1972)
* Anya Culling, runner
* Justin Edrich, cricketer (1972–1977)
* Mike Gascoyne, Technical Director of Lotus F1 Racing (1974–1981)
* Norman Lamb, Liberal Democrat MP from 2001 for North Norfolk, Minister of State for Care and Support (1969–76)
* Colin Self, artist (1952–1959)
* Trudy Stevenson, Zimbabwe Ambassador to Senegal (1955–1962)
* Mark Strong, actor in ''Our Friends in the North'', and narrator of ''Who Do You Think You Are'' (1974-1981)
* Adam Rayner, actor in ''Mistresses'' (1998)
* Peter Rogers CBE, Chief Executive since 2003 of Babcock International Group plc (1959–1966)

Wymondham Grammar School

* Sir Frederick William Wilson, Liberal MP from 1895 to 1906 for Mid Norfolk (1855–62)

References

External links

Official site

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Academies in Norfolk
Boarding schools in Norfolk
Educational institutions established in 1951
South Norfolk
Defunct grammar schools in England
1951 establishments in England
Secondary schools in Norfolk
Wymondham, Norfolk
State funded boarding schools in England