De Aston School Explained

De Aston School
Coordinates:	53.3836°N -0.3255°W
Established:	1863
Type:	Academy
Religious Affiliation:	Christian
Head:	Simon Porter
Address:	Willingham Road
City:	Market Rasen
County:	Lincolnshire
Country:	England
Postcode:	LN8 3RF
Ofsted:	yes
Urn:	136491
Dfeno:	925/4514
Enrolment:	976
Gender:	Mixed
Lower Age:	11
Upper Age:	18
Publication:	De Aston Voice

De Aston School is a mixed secondary school with academy status in Market Rasen, Lincolnshire, England. It also has a sixth form but no longer has a boarding house as of 2020, following the country's decision to leave the European Union, due to its declining popularity and dwindling funds.^[1] The school has a broad Christian ethos but accommodates those of other faiths.

Admissions

The school has 1,002 pupils.^[2] The school used to provide boarding accommodation for around 80 pupils, many of whom came from abroad. De Aston was a specialist school in mathematics and computing.

History

Grammar school

De Aston School was founded in 1863 as a small grammar school, as part of a legal settlement following a court case involving funds from the medieval charity of Thomas De Aston, a 14th-century monk. Until 1995,^[3] the school's Foundation Governors also owned the chapel at the site of the charity's Almshouses at Spital-in-the-Street, 10 miles to the west.

The school's headmaster originally had his own house on the school site. The Victorian Gothic red brick house was built in 1863 and was designated as a Grade II listed building by English Heritage in 1984. The original buildings was designed by the Louth Architect James Fowler and further additions were added in 1904-6 by the Lincoln architect Herbert Dunn. As a grammar school it was administered by the Lindsey Education Committee, based in Lincoln, and became co-educational in 1971.

Comprehensive

It became a comprehensive in 1974 (when Lincoln became comprehensive), amalgamating with Market Rasen Secondary Modern School on Kilnwell Road. At the same time, new buildings were opened.^[4]

Academy

The school converted to academy status in March 2011.^[5]

Headteachers

Simon Porter

Media

In March 2001, at the Secondary Heads Association's conference in Newport, Ellenor Beighton, head teacher, spoke out against the current funding system for schools.^[6] Then in July 2001 Former Headmaster Anthony Neal disagreed with School Standards Minister Stephen Timms over the benefits of specialist schools saying that they create a two-tier system.^[7] Homework was being publicly discussed in December 2001 in the wake of Cherie Blair's request to the Ministry of Defence for information to help with her son's homework. Neal commented that homework was essential and central to the fact that standards were rising.^[8]

Police apologised to the school, in November 2006, after a computer error wrongly put it at the top of a national table for the number of police call-outs.^[9]

Notable former pupils

• Professor Anthony Davenport, Professor of Cardiovascular Pharmacology & Fellow of St Catherine's College, University of Cambridge. Director of the Human Receptor Research group.
• Phil Boulton, Professional Rugby Union player with Leicester Tigers, Rotherham Titans and Bedford Blues.
• Bruce Barrymore Halpenny, military historian and author
• Sir Walter Liddall CBE, Conservative MP from 1931 to 1945 for Lincoln
• Philippa Lowthorpe, television director whose credits include the controversial Jamaica Inn, and Call the Midwife^[10]
• Michael Oglesby, High Sheriff of Greater Manchester from 2007 to 2008
• Rod Temperton, songwriter of the Michael Jackson song Thriller
• Sir Richard Wakerley, barrister
• John Graham Wallace, illustrator
• Prof Charles Wilson CBE, Professor of Modern History from 1965 to 1979 at the University of Cambridge
• Gordon White, Baron White of Hull, co-founder of Hanson plc
• Dr Garry Campion FRHistS, historian.^{[11] [12] [13]}
• Professor Tim Veal, Professor of Physics, University of Liverpool, author of Indium Nitride and Related Alloys
• Warwick Grosvenor, Mike Gray, Iain Heron-Stamp, former BAFANL American football players, later coaches and founding members of Scunthorpe Alphas.

Market Rasen Secondary Modern School

• Bernie Taupin, lyricist for Elton John

Former teachers

• Bruce McGowan, headteacher from 1957-64, later headteacher from 1973 of Haberdashers' Boys' School, and in 1985 the chairman of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference (HMC)^[14]

Further reading

• Joan Harrop. A history of the development of De Aston School, Market Rasen. Middle Rasen: J Harrop, 1991.

External links

• • De Aston school history - contains details of former pupils circa 1900.
• De Aston School war memorial - contains details of former pupils who fell in the first world war.

Notes and References

1. Web site: Franklin. Ashley. 2020-05-02. Lincolnshire school announces shock end to 157 year tradition. 2021-12-29. LincolnshireLive. en.
2. Web site: De Aston School. De Aston School. Ofsted. 13 September 2017.
3. Web site: Spital in the Street St Edmund. 2021-12-29. Explore Churches. en.
4. Web site: 8 January 2018. De Aston Grammar School, Market Rasen. live. Lincs to the Past. https://web.archive.org/web/20211229180301/https://www.lincstothepast.com/DE-ASTON-GRAMMAR-SCHOOL--MARKET-RASEN/819642.record?pt=S . 29 December 2021 .
5. https://files.api.beta.ofsted.gov.uk/v1/file/2184621 De Aston School
6. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/1241205.stm "Heads attack funding 'cut'"
7. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/1444120.stm "Specialist schools 'boost confidence'"
8. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/main.jhtml?xml=/education/2001/12/08/tencon08.xml "Are parents trying too hard?"
9. http://alacarte.lexisnexis.com/partners/int/lexisnews/results.asp?id=22179534&mtid=1&ws=9j0hDk1UboE=&ws_pub=Lincolnshire%20Echo&ws_date=September%2011,%202006&ws_len=392&ws_lni=4KW3-KWC0-TX58-B32V-00000-00&ws_lastupdate=20060912&ws_title=Police%20mistake%20brands%20school%20pupils&ws_refer=https://news.google.co.uk/archivesearch?hl=en&resnum=0&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&um=1&tab=wn&q=%22De+Aston+School%22 "Police mistake brands school pupils violent"
10. News: Philippa's direction to television success. Market Rasen Mail. 20 April 2012. 26 April 2014.
11. Book: Campion, G.. The Good Fight: Battle of Britain Propaganda and The Few. 2009. Palgrave Macmillan UK. 978-1-4039-8998-7. en.
12. Book: Campion, Garry. The Battle of Britain in the Modern Age, 1965–2020: The State's Retreat and Popular Enchantment. 2019. Palgrave Macmillan. 978-3-030-26109-2. en.
13. Book: Campion, Garry. The Battle of Britain, 1945-1965: The Air Ministry and the Few. 2015. Palgrave Macmillan UK. 978-0-230-28454-8. en.
14. Lincolnshire Echo Thursday 17 January 1985