Bishop Vesey's Grammar School

Bishop Vesey's Grammar School (BVGS) is a grammar school and Language College in the Sutton Coldfield area of Birmingham, England, one of the oldest schools in United Kingdom which celebrated its 450th anniversary in 1990. The school is also a Sixth form college.

It was founded by the Bishop of Exeter John Vesey (formerly John Harman) in 1527 and currently has approximately 800 pupils. The current headteacher is David Iddon. The school is noted for having a well respected school rugby union team and Hockey team in Birmingham and, in 2004, became a recognised Language College. The school's Latin motto, Dextra Dei Exaltavit Me means "The right hand of God hath lifted me up;" The former school motto was "Dominus Mihi Adjutor" meaning "Lord, give me council." The school was a day and boarding school until the 1880s, and retained a small number of boarders in the mid-20th century.

History

The first foundation deed set up by Bishop John Vesey in 1527 provided an endowment from property income of £7 a year and twenty-one people were appointed Trustees to manage the school and pay a fit and proper person to teach Grammar and Rhetoric. There was no known images of John Vesey and an image hung in the "Big School" hall assumed to be John Vesey is in fact John Wilmot and can be seen here

It was not until 1540, however, that a second deed was set up providing for the endowed properties to be held by the Warden and Society of Sutton Coldfield and layman John Savage was appointed as the first master.

Until 1544, St Marys Hall was used as a schoolroom and then a school was built close to the church on Blind Lane. Behind the Masonic Buildings (The former Town Hall) and on the site of the former Work House, behind the former Alms Houses, close to the Sons of Rest building off Mill Street.

Complaints relating to the diligence of the Trustees and the Corporation came before the Chancery Court which ordered in 1636 that control be transferred to a new board of fourteen Trustees.

In 1728, the Corporation provided land for a new school building in the present location, one of the conditions being that the headmaster Paul Lowe should agree to teach English, writing and arithmetic to twelve parish boys. At that time there was no stipulated age of entry to the school, the qualification required being the ability to read and usually to pay.

William Webb was appointed headmaster in 1764 and under him a sound basic education was provided and the school prospered. He was headmaster for 53 years until his death in 1817. His successor Charles Barker had an entirely different view of the role of the school. His interest was in the teaching of Classics. He often had only a handful of students and in 1840, only one pupil was enrolled at the school. He was a strong supporter of the proposal for the setting up of National Schools for the provision of general education.

On his death in 1842, James Eccleston was appointed Headmaster, but was so embroiled in debt that in order to avoid prison he departed in 1849 for Tasmania.

In 1840, the Grammar Schools Act tightened up controls on schools and with better controls and a return to a basic curriculum, the school again began to prosper. Under Joseph Wright, appointed in 1859, a full general education was offered. The buildings were extended in 1861 and in 1863 there were 26 boys enrolled. This increased to 51 boys in 1866, 69 boys in 1869 and 105 boys in 1875.

The 1881 census shows the headmaster Rev. Albert Smith resident with his family, a second master Major Dunn, six staff including domestic servants and ten boarding boys. At this time there were also about eighty day boys who were expected to pay either 10s a quarter if from the parish or £2.10s a quarter if from elsewhere.

Towards the end of the 20th century, a selection of the schools playing fields at the end of Boswell Road were sold off to a property development company, to fund various projects such as the "Randon Design Centre". The Randon Design Centre was constructed in 1990 at a cost of £1.5 million. The block houses the art and design and technology departments and was designed by Birmingham-based Associated Architects. The library, which was located on the site of the Randon Design Centre, was moved into an extension constructed on the main school building. Funds from the sale are still available to the school, but the school are not allowed to sell any more of these fields.

Sports

In the 2005/2006 season, the school had one of the best rugby team in the Birmingham area after defeating all of its local rivals, reaching the fifth round of the National Daily Mail Cup and competing in the 'super 16s' tournament at the University of Warwick amongst the top rugby schools and colleges in the country. In April 2008, Isaac Feau'nati of Bath Rugby and the Samoa national rugby union team announced he was to retire and take up the head of rugby position at Bishop Vesey's Grammar School on June 2, 2008.

The school also focus upon other sports and have an annual sports day, which comprises mainly of track and field events. Netball is available for the girls who join the school at Sixth Form. Also in hockey the under 13 and under 15 hockey teams won the Birmingham finals.

Facilities

Construction of the new music centre (The Clive Richards Centre) on the site of the old gymnasium began in January 2006 and has now been completed, leaving room for further development in the former music department in the North Tower. The Clive Richards music centre features several specially designed rooms with sound proofing. This was scheduled for completion in September 2006, but was not completed until October 2006. The Music Centre is now in full use in the school syllabus.

The North Tower has recently undergone refurbishment in between the construction of the music centre and the middle field project. The building is used as an extension to the current sixth form facilities, which already include a common room with cafe, an office and a study room. The Raybould Room that used to be for sixth form use is now for Key Stage 4 pupils since the development of the study room's at the top of the North Tower.

The latest update to the school's facilities was the construction of an All-Weather Astroturf Pitch built on the "Middle Field". This playing field, that runs adjacent to the Birmingham Cross City railway line, is now an an all-weather hockey and football pitch which is fully flood lit. The project was funded through grants and an 18 month fundraising campaign.

The facilities at BVGS are to be used in conjunction with the filming of a new venture by Forward Films and Slingshot Studios, The Tormented. The film is scheduled to be shot on site at the school from 11th of August onwards and is due to hit cinemas by June 2009. It is the first major motion picture to be filmed in the town of Sutton Coldfield. The cast includes Calvin Dean, April Pearson, Alex Pettyfer and Tom Hopper. More information about the film can be found here:

Notable alumni

• Cat Deeley, model, was a pupil in the Sixth Form
• Chris Johnson, a former England U21 and former Bedford Blues rugby union player, teaches English and coached the school's 1st rugby team between 2006-2008.
• Alan Hodgetts, radio presenter for BBC Northampton, attended the school from ages 11-19.

References

• The History of Bishop Vesey's Grammar School, Kerry Osbourne

External links

• Official website
• www.bishopvesey.co.uk