Penistone Grammar School


Penistone Grammar School is a large co-educational secondary school with a sixth form located in Penistone, South Yorkshire, England.
Founded in 1392, it is amongst the oldest extant schools in England, with alumni including Nicholas Saunderson, the probable inventor of Bayes' theorem, in the 18th century. At various times in its history it has been single-sex and mixed, free and fee-paying, selective and comprehensive, boarding and day. It has undergone several moves and extensions, and today houses around 1,700 pupils from age 11 to 18. PGS' Ofsted overall rating is grade 2, following an inspection in February 2023.
WWW penistone-gs.uk

History

The school was founded as the Free Grammar School of Penistone in 1392, when it is recorded that a gift of land was made by Thomas Clarel, Lord of the Manor at Penistone, to John Del Rodes "and others". The land, Kirk Flatt, was situated in the town centre on a site opposite St. John the Baptist Church.
Penistone Grammar School's foundation deed:
Thomas Clarel, Dominus de Peniston in 1392, granted to John del Rodes and others a piece of land in the Kirk-flatt, sicut se extendit et jacet inter quinque lapides per manus predicti Thomas Clarel pro metis positos, with license to grave turf on the Moors of Penistone.
Thomas Clarel was born 28 Edward III 1355, and died by drowning in the River Don, on 1 May 1442. His will was dated 20 November 1441, and he was buried in the friary church, Tickhill, near the family's hall. The school was originally an all-boys grammar school, accepting both boarders and day pupils.
In 1443 the Free Grammar School of Penistone received further bequests and in 1547, after the dissolution of the chantries, the school continued as the free school for the children of Penistone. Following further endowments, the school was rebuilt in 1714.
PGS played a role in creating association football. In 1836, headmaster Samuel Sunderland brought a football game to PGS from the University of Cambridge. At that time, most schools has their own ball games but when students at Cambridge wanted to play together they had to agree on one style, which later was published as the Cambridge rules. His PGS student John Charles Shaw took this game to the first two FA clubs, Sheffield F.C. in 1857 and Hallam F.C. in 1860, which first wrote their own Sheffield rules then merged them with Cambridge's to create the modern laws of the game in 1863. Another student, John Marsh, founded Sheffield Wednesday F.C. in 1867.
In 1886, the Charities Commission restructured the school, replacing the majority of its trustees with local government representation.
In 1893, the school withdrew from its town centre site to a position about half a mile north-west of the town centre, at Weirfield House. The school remains on this site.
Girls were admitted for the first time in 1907. Fulford was the last headmaster to see boarders, with PGS becoming a day school in 1921.
On 28 October 1911, under the tenure of Mr Fulford, the Fulford building opened, at a cost of £8,000. Several other buildings were erected, and in 1974, PGS purchased the former Penistone Union Workhouse, later named 'Netherfields', which became the school's sixth form.
It became fully comprehensive in 1969, with partial selection from 1957. The school has retained its grammar school name and traditions such as the house system and speech night.
In 2011 the school entirely demolished all buildings and replaced them with a new modern building.
The school uses a badge based on the coat of arms of the founding family, the Clarels, which shows six martlets, from which the school colors red and black are derived. The school's traditional motto is "Disce Aut Discede" but since 2010 it has used "Never Stop Flying", a reference to martlets having no feet so always being in flight.

Present day

A £35-million school building opened on 2 May 2011, with a complete demolition of the old buildings, except for Fulford, the Stables, and Weirfield. Fulford, erected in 1909, was demolished in 2014 after protest from past students and locals.
In 2017, Penistone Grammar School introduced a controversial, zero tolerance style behaviour management scheme, under which pupils are reprimanded for even minor issues such as forgetting a pen or leaving a shirt untucked.
After internal remodelling in 2018, work started on a £4.3 million two-storey extension in 2019, providing an additional 250 places at the school. The building was opened to students in September 2020, and is linked to the main school by a walkway through the science department. The block is home to the modern foreign languages department and several science classrooms.
As of 2022, Penistone Grammar School is the only secondary school in the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley not to have academy status, remaining under the control of the Local Authority.
The sixth form at Penistone currently has 300 students in attendance. Penistone Grammar School is the only school in the Local Education Authority of Barnsley to have a sixth form alongside its secondary provision.
The school maintains a 30-acre site in the west of Penistone, including extensive playing fields, used mostly for association football, rugby, cricket, and athletics. Facilities include a gym, dance studio, 3G football pitches and tennis courts. It has a theatre and music studios. It has a Combined Cadet Force.

Secondary results

Penistone Grammar School's secondary results are the best of any school in the Barnsley local authority, achieving an above average Progress 8 score of 0.46. In 2023, 83% of pupils passed English and maths, with 66% of pupils achieved a grade 5 or higher.

Sixth Form results

The sixth form has been within the top 10% of providers nationally for over five consecutive years. The majority of grades secured are A* or A, and in 2022, the average result was an A-.

Penistone Grammar School Foundation

The Penistone Grammar School Foundation is a charity established in January 1957, but registered in 1965. It owns much of the school's old Kirk Flatt site and its current estate, which generates income for the school.

Houses

The school maintains a house system, with each being named after locally significant people and its former buildings. Prefects remain members of their original house but join an additional group known as "Clarels" and wear red.
HouseColourNamed after
ArmitageYellowHeather Armitage – British Olympic sprinter
BowmanPurpleEric Fisher Bowman – Headmaster 1928–1958
ColwellGreenEileen Colwell – Children's library pioneer
FulfordOrangeJoseph Woodward Fulford – Headmaster 1893–1921
SaundersonLight blueNicholas Saunderson – Mathematician and former student
WeirfieldCyanWeirfield House – Former schoolhouse and staff area from 1893 until

HouseColourNamed after
ArmitageYellowArmitage family – Local gentry
BosvilleBlueBosville family of Gunthwaite – Local land owners
ClarelRedThomas Clarel – Founder
DransfieldGreenJohn Ness Dransfield – Local historian and author of A History of the Parish of Penistone
NetherfieldGreenNetherfield Union Workhouse – Former home to the sixth form college

Notable Old Penistonians