Ilkley Grammar School
The school buildings
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| Motto |
Sapientia et Statura Proficiamus (Growing in Wisdom and Stature) |
|---|---|
| Established | 1607 |
| Type | Voluntary Controlled Academy & Specialist School |
| Headmistress | Helen Williams |
| Founder | George Marshal |
| Location |
Cowpasture Road Ilkley West Yorkshire LS29 8TR England Coordinates: 53°55′19″N 1°48′50″W / 53.922°N 1.814°W |
| Local authority | City of Bradford |
| DfE URN | 107421 Tables |
| Ofsted | Reports |
| Staff | c. 90 |
| Students | 1534 (sixth form of 300) |
| Gender | Coeducational |
| Ages | 11–18 |
| Website | Ilkley Grammar School |
Ilkley Grammar School (IGS) is a co-educational secondary school in Ilkley, West Yorkshire, England, that specialises in humanities and sciences. In 2011 it gained academy status.
The earliest record of a school in Ilkley dates from 1575, with an examination of the religious beliefs of one Constantine Harrison, schoolmaster, by the church. An endowment of £100 was made by George Marshall in 1601 to fund the salary of a schoolmaster - at the time, one William Lobley. Payments to Lobley were fitful, and the executors of Marshall's estate had to go to law to rectify the situation; the date of settlement of the issues - 1607 - is now taken as the date of origination of the school.
On 2 January 1635, a group of townspeople signed an undertaking to erect a dedicated schoolhouse, and records indicate that by April 1637 such a thing had been built. The building, in Church Street, still exists and is now a listed building, converted into a shop.
A further endowment of £200 was made by Reginald Heber in 1697 - £100 to the school and the same to the parish. However, there were complaints over the next 150 years that the proceeds of the endowments were being diverted by successive vicars of Ilkley to other ends, and that the school was underfunded. Its curriculum, according to a report by the Brougham Commission in 1829, was free tuition in reading English, and the teaching of writing and accounts for a small fee. An 1860 report was more scathing; it alleged that few of the children at the school at that time could write or perform elementary sums; the school building and the admission policy were criticised, and the report concluded that the endowments' requirement for free access to all of the town's children "has done much to hinder the establishment of a good school, either for the poor, or the trading middle class, both of whom are greatly in need of one". The school closed down a short time after this report. Proposals by charity commissioners to restart the school as a fee-paying entity were resisted by the town, and came to nothing.
After the passing of the Elementary Education Act 1870, Ilkley elected to avoid the formation of a school board (which would be entitled to levy rates on the population for the provision of schooling facilities) and instead launched a successful voluntary subscription for the erection of new school buildings, opened in July 1872, and known as the All Saints National Schools.
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