Grindon Hall Christian School

Grindon Hall Christian School (sometimes shortened to Grindon Hall and occasionally abbreviated as GHCS) is a private, independent school in Sunderland, In the North East of England. It is non-selective and includes a Nursery, Primary Department and a Secondary department. This arrangement allows the incorporation of students from 2 years old to Sixth Form (16-18 years of age). It is a family run school and is based firmly on Christianity, although it welcomes many children from other faiths. All in all there are approximately 300 children in the school (200 in the secondary department, 100 in the Primary department).

History

Grindon Hall (the estate) has not always been a school, in fact it was originally a manor house, then a mental hospital and finally, Fulwell Grange Christian School moved in and became Grindon Hall Christian School (GHCS) in the year 2000 as the premises were larger. Grindon Hall Christian school was created by Elizabeth Gray, her son Christopher Gray has now taken over as head teacher due to Mrs Gray retiring, she has since become a school governor.

Buildings and Land

The School compromises a number of different buildings. One of them is the original Grindon Hall building, and this is used for the Secondary department, along with another extension of 2001-2002 called the T-Block. The Stables have been converted to a high standard and are used as the Primary department, along with 2 modular buildings. The Nursery Department is one modular building.
There is a front field that incorporates a rugby pitch and a seating area provided by stones. There is also a mound where a woman, many years ago, is said to have hanged herself. In addition to this, there is a back yard, for use in wet weather and before school. The size of the estate is approximately 9 acres.

Staffing Rules and Class Sizes

GHCS employ mainly Christian Staff, this is to further the teaching of the Christian Faith at the school.
Grindon Hall also has small class sizes, typically 18 and often much smaller. A Level classes can be as small as 2 or 3.

Current Staff

Principal Mr C J Gray BA (Hons)
Vice Principal Mr A M Johnson BSc (Hons), PGCE Physics and Head of Upper School
Head of Sixth Form Mrs S A Sharman BSc (Hons), PGCE Head of Mathematics
Head of Lower School Miss R D Crockatt BA (Hons), PGCE Head of History
Pupil Performance Manager Mrs N Lisgo BA (Hons), PGCE Head of English
Project Manager Mr G R Hill BA (Hons), PGCE

Senior School Academic Staff

English Mrs N Lisgo BA (Hons), PGCE Head of English Mathematics Mrs A Braviner BSc (Hons), PGCE Mathematics and IT Coordinator
Mr G Storr BA (Hons), Cert Ed Mathematics

Science Mrs S Stayman BSc (Hons), PGCE Chemistry/Biology
Miss C Cameron BSc (Hons), PGCE Biology
Mr D Forsyth BSc, PGCE Chemistry

Art Mrs H P Bowditch B.Ed (Hons) Head of Art

Divinity Mr G Murray BA (Hons), MA Head of Divinity
Mrs C Rodgers MA Divinity, English and Latin

Drama Mr D Garrett (Cert Ed)
Miss C Frayne BA (Hons), PGCE

Geography Mr A Magee, BA (Hons), PGCE Geography

History Miss R D Crockatt BA (Hons), PGCE Head of History
Dr P A Shambrook BA (Hons), PhD, PGCE History

Modern Foreign Languages Mrs L A C Stanton BA (Hons), PGCE Head of Languages
Miss C Frayne BA (Hons), PGCE Spanish
Monsieur M Jambon BA (Hons), PGCE French and German

PE Mr M Maughan BA (Hons), PGCE Head of Sport and Physical Education
Miss H Dunbar BSc, PGCE Physical Education

Mrs C Johnson BA (Hons) Music/Art
Curriculum Support Mrs C A Suchak B.Phil, Cert Ed Head of Curriculum Support
Mrs S Dobinson Curriculum Support
Mrs S Sharma Curriculum Support

Primary School Academic Staff

Head of Primary School Mr P J Lawson B.Ed
Teaching Staff Mrs G A Anderson Dip.Ed Mrs J Henderson BA
Mrs L I Beechey Cert.Ed Mrs A Heppel BA (Hons), PGCE
Mrs M Buckley BSc, PGCE Miss K Sidney BA (Hons)
Mr B J Dowling B.Eng, PGCE Miss A K Whan BA (Hons)

Trivia

*Many of the pupils come from the nearby area and previously went to schools such as Monkwearmouth, Thornhill, Argyle House, St Aidens and St Anthonys. Some travel from as far afield as Newcastle and Teesside.

*A brand new sports hall complete with viewing Gallery was supposed to be complete for use starting in September 2007, but planning issues have prevented this from yet starting.

*Sports Day is held every year at Gateshead international sports stadium, and the annual speech night is held at the Sage in Gateshead.

*Sixth Formers have made charitable visits to both Uganda and Malawi, to build a school and install a bee keeping project respectively

* There are around 20 Rock Bands within the school, as well as a full school orchestra and a well-known Harmony Group which recently performed as part of the Edinburgh Fringe.

* The school has recently acquired a new plot of land to improve parking facilities (the school has tripled in size over the last eight years).

* Grindon Hall claims one of the lowest fee structures in the country and that it is one of the best-performing non-selective independent schools in the region.

External Links

[http://www.grindonhall.com] The School Website, all details and references for this article will be found there