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Sir John Deane's College

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Sir John Deane's Sixth Form College
Sir John Deane's Sixth Form College logo
Location
Map
Monarch Drive
Northwich
Cheshire

CW9 8AF
Information
TypeMixed Sixth Form College
Established1557; 467 years ago (1557)
Department for Education URN145748 Tables
OfstedReports
PrincipalChristopher Atherton[1]
Information01606 810020
Websitewww.sjd.ac.uk

Sir John Deane's Sixth Form College is a sixth form college in Northwich, Cheshire, UK. It was formerly Sir John Deane's Grammar School, which was founded in 1557.

History

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For as much as God's glory, his honour, and the wealth public, is advanced and maintained by no means more than by virtuous education and bringing up of Youth under such as be learned and virtuous Schoolmasters, whose good examples may as well instruct them to live well as their doctrine and learning may furnish their minds with knowledge and cunning, [I] have thought it good, not only to erect the said Free Grammar School, and to provide a reasonable and competent Stypend [sic] for the Schoolmaster of the same, and that in respect of the zeal that I have to God's glory, and for the love that I bear to my native country ...

— Sir John Deane, Statutes[2]

Sir John Deane (in the 16th century, the title indicated a presbyter with a university degree, rather than a knight; in today's language, he would be the Rev'd John Deane, MA) was born in Shurlach, between Davenham and the Rudheath district of Northwich, but rose to become Rector of Great St Bartholomew in Smithfield, London,[3] and Prebendary of Lincoln. He worked under both Protestant and Roman Catholic régimes during the English Reformation.

He established a grammar school for poor boys in Witton on Michaelmas 1557, "in the name of Jesus". It was to be maintained by feoffees (a kind of charity), who were given land in Chester and the Wirral,[2] the result of Sir John's astuteness during the dissolution of the monasteries. As well as prescribing rules for the Feofees, Schoolmaster and schoolboys, the foundation statues record his interest in an old Cheshire custom whereby schoolboys "a weeke before Christynmas and Easter, barre and keep forth of the Schoole the schoolmaster, in such sort is other schollers doe in greete schooles."[4] Sir John required his Grammar School to enforce the custom and allow the boys to play with bows and arrows, "to the end that the Schollars [sic] have not any evil opinion of the Schoolmaster."[2] It was generally known as Witton Grammar School, or Witton Free Grammar School, in the early centuries. It had a close relationship with St Helen's Witton, and its early buildings were on the same site.[5] The school had a reputation as hotbed of Puritanism in the early 17th century,[6] and this is still perhaps its greatest contribution to public life.[7] However, it fell into decline and became the smallest of the four ancient grammar schools of Cheshire.[5] During the early 19th century, the feoffees and the headmaster began legal action in a dispute over the headmaster's salary,[8] and eventually wider mismanagement. The case went to the Court of Chancery and took decades to resolve, sapping much of the school's strength.

In the early 20th century, three financial decisions radically changed the character of the school, by then generally referred to as Sir John Deane's Grammar School or Northwich Grammar School. Firstly, it received a generous 350th-anniversary benefaction from Sir John Brunner, allowing the governors to construct new buildings on its current riverside site. Secondly, the feoffees made poor investment decisions, culminating in the sale of property in Chester, that later became a high-value shopping district.[9] Thirdly, they decided that in view of the school's long-term financial weakness, the original mandate was best fulfilled by entering the state system. The school came under the auspices of Cheshire County Council as the boys' grammar school for the Northwich area. For some time it continued to have boarders in Riversdale (an old house), which also functioned at times as the headmaster's house.[5] This phase ended in 1977, when RoSLA and the County Council's policy of comprehensive education saw Northwich move from selective, single-sex 11–18 schools to comprehensive mixed 11–16 schools with Sir John Deane's becoming the town's sixth form college.[citation needed]

Present day

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New College building completed in 2010 as part of a multi-million pound project. Architects: Broadway Malyan

Sir John Deane's College re-established itself as a voluntary controlled sixth form college in September 1978. It is a single site campus, parallel to the River Weaver; the college is around half a mile away from Northwich town centre, in the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester. The college provides various qualifications. The college's main aim is to provide advanced level courses for full-time students aged between 16 and 18. In 1998, the college introduced part-time adult courses.

In the last Ofsted inspection, the inspectors gave the college's quality of provision outstanding in all of the curriculum areas inspected. The inspectors also noted that the college's overall retention and pass rates are very high and are significantly above the national averages for other sixth form colleges.

The college underwent a £28 million demolition and extension programme. The new college was finished in late 2010 and fully opened in early 2011, with each department having its own area in the new building with the original building being used as a new canteen and student services.

The college also has leisure facilities, including an outdoor astroturf pitch, football and rugby pitches, tennis courts, a sports hall and a swimming pool.

Main college building as of 2009, before the extension programme

Old Wittonians and former schoolmasters

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Old boys of the Grammar School are referred to as 'Old Wittonians',[10]

See also

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References and bibliography

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  1. ^ "Home - Sir John Deane's College". www.sjd.ac.uk.
  2. ^ a b c Carlisle, Nicholas (1818). A Concise Description of the Endowed Grammar Schools in England and Wales. Baldwin, Cradock and Joy. pp. 129–136. ISBN 0-85546-186-1. The bold text in the quotation represents small capitals in the original.
  3. ^ In 1893, Old Wittonians placed a brass in Sir John's memory in his former parish church. See A.E.Daniell (1912). "St Bartholomew-the-Great [from: London City Churches]". Rahere's Garden: The History & Personalities of St Bartholomew-the-Great. anon [Charles Scribner's Sons]. Archived from the original on 5 January 2009. Retrieved 15 September 2007.
  4. ^ "Old Cheshire Christmas Customs". Cheshire Magazine. n.d.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: year (link)
  5. ^ a b c Cox, Marjorie; Hopkins, L. A. (1975). A History of Sir John Deane's Grammar School, Northwich, 1557–1908; with a chapter on later developments since 1908. Manchester University Press. ISBN 0-7190-1282-1.
  6. ^ Margaret Crum (1971). "Review". The Review of English Studies. NS 22 (85): 81–83. JSTOR 512036., p.81.
  7. ^ See the section Old Wittonians, above.
  8. ^ An early stage of proceedings is described in George Moody, ed. (1844). "Law Reports: Attorney-General v. Barker". English Journal of Education. II: 81–83.
  9. ^ These properties were noted for their value even in 1818 (see Carlisle, op.cit.).
  10. ^ "Is there an Old Wittonian Society?". Northwich Guardian. 7 May 2003.[permanent dead link]
  11. ^ a b c d e Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, loc.cit.
  12. ^ "Is there an Old Wittonian Society?". Archived from the original on 30 March 2012. Retrieved 18 August 2011.
  13. ^ Pat Devine (13 May 2006). "Phil Leeson: Development economist passionate about communicating ideas". The Guardian.
  14. ^ Fortune, Nigel (21 May 2003). "Percy M Young". The Guardian.
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