Penistone Grammar School

Penistone Grammar School (PGS ) 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 ('Good'), following an inspection in February 2023.

History
The school was founded as the Free Grammar School of Penistone (then often spelt 'Peniston') 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 (a site later rebuilt as the Sheffield Union Bank, which later became an HSBC branch, and is today the Vault restaurant). Penistone Grammar School's foundation deed: Thomas Clarel, Dominus (that is Lord) 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, 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 (though mixed-sex classes were not until 1911). 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 (though not called that at the time), at a cost of £8,000 (plus £780 for furnishings and equipment). 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 (for more distant pupils) from 1957. The comprehensive school initially retained its grammar school name and traditions such as the house system and speech night. These traditions were gradually scaled back. In 2011, the school restored its traditional house system and uniform, and entirely demolished all buildings but Weirfield and the adjacent Stables, which was converted into flats. A new building opened that same year.

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. (From 2010–2024 it briefly used a revisionist logo with part-circles in house colors and a single stylised martlet.) The school's traditional motto is "Disce Aut Discede" ("Learn or leave"). In 2003, the school briefly changed motto to "Learning and Achieving Together", before revising this in again 2010 to "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 'Values Driven Expectations' behaviour management scheme, under which a pupil could be reprimanded for forgetting a pen or leaving their 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 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 (strong pass) or higher.

Sixth Form results
The sixth form has been within the top 10% of providers nationally for over five consecutive years. The majority (55%) 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 (number 529458) 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.

Notable Old Penistonians

 * Prof Nicholas Saunderson (1682–1739) – Mathematician and Lucasian Professor at Cambridge University 1711–1739
 * Ebenezer Elliott (1781–1849) – Poet
 * John Charles Shaw (1830–1918) – Captain of the first football club
 * John Marsh (1843–1880) – Founder of Sheffield Wednesday F.C
 * Alec Glassey (1887–1970) – Liberal MP for East Dorset 1929–1931
 * Eileen Colwell (1904–2002) – Pioneer children's librarian
 * Sir Leonard Crossland (1914–1999) – Ford UK chairman
 * Max Walters (1920–2005) – Botanist
 * Geoffrey Allan Crossley, CMG (1920–2009) – Diplomat and British Ambassador to Colombia and the Holy Sea
 * Noel Moore (1928–2008) – Civil Servant who oversaw the decimalisation project
 * Neil Robinson (1929–2009) – Archdeacon of Suffolk 1987–1994
 * Prof Alan Mercer (1931–2014) – Professor of Operational Research
 * Heather Armitage (1933–) – British gold medal sprinter
 * Roland Boyes (1937–2006) – Labour MP for Houghton and Washington (1992–1997); MEP for Durham 1979–1984; Photographer
 * Prof David Hey (1938–2016) – Historian
 * Anne Campbell (1940–) – Labour MP for Cambridge, 1992–2005
 * Prof Jean Bacon (1942–) – Professor of Computer Science at the University of Cambridge
 * Paul Copley (1944–) – Actor
 * Marie Tidball (1984–) – Labour MP for Penistone and Stocksbridge 2024
 * Katherine Brunt (1985–) – England Women's Cricketer
 * Marc Roberts (1990–) – Professional Footballer
 * John Stones (1994–) – England Footballer