Queen Elizabeth's High School

Although the details are unclear, Gainsborough appears to have had a small grammar school from the 15th century provided by the local clergy, where possibly several of the Pilgrim Fathers received their early education; among its alumni was John Robinson. Lessons were first held in a room above the porch of the original All Saints church. Many of the school's early records were lost during the reign of Charles I, owing to the prominent Puritan sympathies of many associated with the school who sought to avoid detection, and so had the incriminating records destroyed.

In 1589 Queen Elizabeth I granted a charter to Sir Robert Somerscale to establish Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School for boys, with the express purpose of providing an education in the classics and divinity for the sons of the emerging middle class in the town. In 1828, the Chartist poet Thomas Cooper sought to set up a rival grammar school, but failed, and saw his school absorbed by Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School.

From 1795 until 1940 Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School was located on Cox's Hill, at what is now the Hickman Hill Hotel. An equivalent grammar school for girls, Gainsborough High School, was founded in 1920. In 1940 both schools moved to the present Morton Terrace site, on which the local technical college was also based. Under the Tripartite System they became fully state grammar schools, having been fee-paying before then. The schools merged to form Queen Elizabeth's High School in 1982.[1] Before amalgamation Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School had 4 houses: Cox (red), Elliott (white), Hickman (Blue) and Marshall (green).

On 7 December 2012, the school was host to the BBC Radio 4 show 'Any Questions?', which was held in the Upper School Hall.[2]

In 2013, following a lack of funding which affected most Grammar Schools, a £2 million grant from the Local Authority and a £500,000 grant from central government was given in order to expand and renovate the school. This enabled the construction of a new sports hall, a two-storey teaching block and the refurbishment of College House.[3][4]

On 7 March 2014 the Sixth Form Centre was relocated to the 1872-built College House building, as the previous centre had become crowded[5] College House has currently fallen into disrepair following the amalgamation with Gainsborough High School of which it had been part, and is yet to be fully restored to a state in which it is adequate for the functions of which the school would like to use it for.[6][7]

Each year is divided into six forms.

The sixth-form generally contains approximately 125 pupils and is divided into six smaller forms. There are six houses named after notable Britons: Austen, Brunel, Churchill, Darwin, Elgar and Scott. The houses compete in sporting events as well as art and music competitions.

Before 2008 the houses were Frobisher, Drake, Raleigh and Grenville. After 2008 form rooms were moved into house blocks instead of year blocks to promote the new house system, and aimed to mix the year groups together to strengthen house community.

The school annually admits 180 students into Year 7 and 125 into Year 12; around 1000 students make up the lower school (of those aged 11–16) and another 250 make up the sixth-form (16–18). Approximately 700 of those attending are girls and 500 are boys. A number of external pupils are also admitted to the sixth-form each year.

Pupils at Queen Elizabeth's High School usually take ten or eleven GCSE examinations in Year Eleven, and dependent on satisfactory grades can enter the sixth-form to take four A-Level qualifications.

Members of Queen Elizabeth's High School and Gainsborough Choral Society perform in an annual Christmas carol concert, "Carols for All." Phillip Ainsworth (previous Head of Music) conducts.

Music is historically important to QEHS, with the Anglican choral composer W. Stanley Vann being head of Music during the 1930s. Recent drama productions have included Return to the Forbidden Planet, Godspell and Disco Inferno.

Cricket, rugby, football, and athletics are the main boys sports, and hockey, netball, tennis and athletics the main girls sports.

Inter-school matches are played against other grammar schools in Lincolnshire, and a few public schools and secondary modern schools. Several cricket sides have won the county schools' competition, and several Ganians representing Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire, and Yorkshire at county level.

Pupils are encouraged to serve the community, some carrying out volunteer work in the local area. A number of sixth-formers have taken part in Young Enterprise.

Debating teams have won local competitions, including the Youth Speaks Competition, and have competed in a national competition.[8]

An Ofsted inspection in 2008 described the school as "outstanding".[9] League tables for Lincolnshire released by the BBC rate Queen Elizabeth's High School overall 10th: ratings based on English Baccalaureate results place the school joint ninth, for A/AS-level points per pupil third, and adjusted for Value Added nineteenth.[10] The BBC A-Level league tables rank the school second best in Lincolnshire. The majority of sixth-form pupils at the school go on to higher education with many gaining medicine places and a number each year getting offers from Oxbridge.

Former pupils are known as Old Ganians (O.G.s).

• Eleven-plus
• Gainsborough, Lincolnshire
• Grammar School (general)

• Queen Elizabeth's High School – Official Website
• QEHS on google maps
• QEHS on Microsoft Virtual Earth (higher resolution than Google Maps)