Beauchamp College

The Beauchamp College (/ˈbiːtʃəm/ BEE-chəm) is an upper school and further education community college, in Oadby, a town on the outskirts of Leicester, England. It is situated on the southern edge of the built-up area of Oadby on the same campus as Gartree High School and Brocks Hill Primary School.

The Beauchamp College
Address
Ridge Way

Oadby
,
Leicestershire
,
LE2 5TP

England
Coordinates52°35′17″N 1°04′21″W
Information
TypeAcademy
Established15th century
(1964 current site)
TrustLionheart Academies Trust
Department for Education URN139624 Tables
OfstedReports
Chair of GovernorsMrs Chris Swan
Executive HeadteacherKath Kelly
Associate PrincipalSally Wicken
Staff400 (approx.)
GenderCoeducational
Age11 to 18
Enrolment1734
Websitehttp://www.beauchamp.org.uk

It is the only Oadby school to offer a pathway of 11-19, with students joining in Year 7 and progressing through to GCSE and then Level 3 courses at KS5. It was rated top state secondary in the Leicester Mercury Real Schools Guide in 2017.

History

Grammar school

The school dates back to the mid-15th century when it was Kibworth Grammar School. It was founded by Francis Edwards who owned the manor of Welham and whose daughter was the richest woman in England.[1] [2] The history of that school has recorded by Bernard Elliott.[3] In 1964 it became the Beauchamp Grammar School when it moved from School Lane, Kibworth, into new buildings in Oadby, a rapidly growing residential suburban area to the South of Leicester, about 5 miles (8.0 km) from the City of Leicester.

Comprehensive

It thus became a comprehensive Upper School for pupils aged 14 to 18, although the last pupils to have gained entry at Kibworth via the 11-plus examination did not leave until 1968. It then became fully comprehensive, serving Oadby as its main catchment area, as well as drawing from villages up to 8 mi (13 km) away.

Academy

The school converted to academy status on 1 May 2013.

Beauchamp College is the largest school in the Lionheart Academies Trust. The school was named in July 2019 as a computing hub for the National Centre for Computing Education.

Community college

Beauchamp is also a Community College, with over 2,500 part-time students taking part in a variety of recreational, cultural and academic evening classes. Many extra curricular activities are also held on a weekly basis such as Young Enterprise, Drama and sports clubs, (primarily Tennis and Football).

Funding

On 1 April 1996, Beauchamp gained the status of Technology College. It received sponsorship of over £122,000 from The Garfield Weston Foundation, Lloyds Bank, Alliance & Leicester, Midland Bank, Psion, and Sainsbury's. The college also receives a maintenance grant of around £220,000 from the DCSF. This additional funding has allowed for a number of refurbishments and new buildings at the College including a design facility, that includes an exhibition centre. Other recently completed projects include an Adult Learning Centre which provides rooms and conference rooms for hire; and an Applied Learning Centre which includes a beauty salon, performing arts studio and dance studio (all for vocational courses), as well as space for quiet study.

Sports centre

The sports centre was completed in 2006.

Publications
  • A History of Kibworth Beauchamp Grammar School by Bernard Elliott

Notable former pupils

Kibworth Beauchamp Grammar School
  • Frank Dunlop - theatre director (1928–35)
  • John MacGregor CVO, Ambassador to Austria from 2003-7 and to Poland from 2000-2, and husband of Judith MacGregor, the current Ambassador to Mexico (1958–65)
  • Bill Maynard (1940–45) - British comedian and actor, and former presenter on Radio Leicester
  • Peter Wilby - former editor of the New Statesman (1998–2005) and (1995-6) of The Independent on Sunday (attended 1956–63)

See also

References
  1. "Welham | British History Online". www.british-history.ac.uk. Retrieved 22 March 2020.
  2. Hill, Rev JH (1876). "The Halfords of Welham" (PDF). Transactions of the Leicestershire Archaeological Society. 4 part 2: 83–90 – via Leicester University.
  3. "A History of Kibworth Beauchamp Grammar School" (pub. priv., 1957) http://www-users.york.ac.uk/~pml1/kbgs/history/
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