St James' School, Grimsby

St James' Church, Grimsby

Formerly known as St James' Choir School was founded on the premises of Grimsby's parish church, St James' Church (now known as Grimsby Minster). Canon James Peter Young, curate and later vicar at the church, was influenced by Nathaniel Woodard's education philosophy and established the school in 1880 to educate the church's choirboys. Classes were initially held in the Church's "Aqua Rooms", which became unsuitable. In 1882 the school became St James' College with the intention of educating the boys after they outgrew the choir. The original choir school moved to a new site before uniting again with the college in 1904. A pre-preparatory department was added in 1957 and a sixth form and boarding programme two years later. It became an associated Woodard School in 1968 and was incorporated in 1985.

Girls were first admitted in 1973 and allowed to board two years later. In 1975 "choir" was dropped from the school name as it had now expanded to educate all pupils, not only choristers. Since 2014, the school has no longer educated the Minster's Choristers, who are now drawn from eleven different schools, and open to all.[1]

Boarding pupils at St. James' are housed within Woodard House, a purpose built boarding facility opposite the main school campus.[2] The boarding programme is available to pupils in Year 3 and above.

• Cowie, Leonard & Evelyn (1991). That One Idea: Nathaniel Woodard and His Schools. Ellesmere, Shropshire: Woodard Corporation; pp. 139–42: St James' School, Grimsby

• School website
• Profile on the ISC website