Prince Henry’s Grammar School

Story

Prince Henry's Grammar School, also known as Prince Henry's, is a secondary school and sixth form established in 1607 in the market town of Otley, West Yorkshire, England. The school teaches boys and girls between the ages of 11 and 18 and has around 1,400 pupils and 84 teachers. It retains a high position within regional league tables. Leading departments include Art, English, History and Science. Despite the name, Prince Henry's is now a state-funded academy school.HistoryPrince Henry's was founded under Royal Charter from King James I in 1607 and is named after his son Henry Frederick Stuart, Prince of Wales. As the Charter stipulates the name of the school to be Prince Henry's Grammar School, this name was perforce retained despite it becoming an anachronism when the school became a comprehensive. The school celebrated its 400th birthday in 2007. Also in 2007 the school completed the integration of a sixth form rugby academy.Specialist statusesIn October 2005 Prince Henry's Grammar School became the first school in the City of Leeds to be presented with the prestigious International School Award from the British Council, as a result of staff and student-led initiatives. Prince Henry's is actively engaged in the EU's Comenius programme and has links to partner schools around the world (including China and South Africa). This is in addition to its specialism in modern foreign languages (acquired in 1999). This status brings significant additional funding into the school to enable it to broaden the language-learning opportunities of its students and the local community. Students study at least one language (French or Spanish) with German available as a second language at GCSE level and Chinese, Italian and Polish are available as options for AS and A Level study. GCSE students also have Mandarin language tasters and several participate in exchange programs with China.