The Brooksbank School

The school was founded in Elland, Calderdale, in the county of West Yorkshire, England almost 300 years ago by Joseph Brooksbank. Brooksbank grew up in Elland, but left the town at the age of sixteen to become a haberdasher’s apprentice in London. He was described as a promising and prosperous young man, whose enterprising spirit was rewarded with the title of Citizen of the City of London in 1681. His social standing was reflected by his marriage in 1679 to 'Mary, daughter of Richard Stamp, merchant, of The City and of Reading, and niece of the Thomas Stamp who became Lord Mayor in 1691'. A final accolade was bestowed upon him when he was appointed a Master of the Haberdashers Company in 1718. However, Joseph never forgot his local roots and, in 1712, he founded a new school in his hometown.

The original Brooksbank School was opened to help forty impoverished children of Elland to learn to read without fees and to write for a charge of one penny a week. Joseph’s son, Stamp, who was born in 1694, became a director of the Bank of England by the age of thirty-six and was appointed the governor of the bank from 1741-1743. Stamp, who was also a Member of Parliament, had reached millionaire status at the time of his death in 1756. In the same year, Stamp’s son, also called Joseph, increased the Brooksbank connection with Elland by generously providing the school with a second endowment.

Little is known about what happened over the following hundred years as records are scarce. The school moved its premises to Westgate. Charity Commissioners, who inspected the school in 1829, reported that forty children were attending and that the schoolmaster was being paid a salary of £70 a year.

As the years passed, there was a requirement for improved educational opportunities and it was decided that Elland needed a brand new building infrastructure in a better location. The elevated green fields along Victoria Road were chosen and building work began. An impressive new school, whose classical facade remains intact today, opened to approximately one hundred pupils on 12 September 1911; it was named Elland and District Secondary School. In 1933, the school’s reputation for academic achievement was growing and it was renamed Elland Grammar School to reflect this. As a result, the learning flourished and the number of pupils on roll began to rise.

Twenty-five years later, as the nation embraced the idea of comprehensive education, the school shed its grammar school identity and embraced the ethos of equal educational opportunities for all students regardless of ability. A new name was needed to reflect the new ethos and the school looked to its founding forefathers and chose to revive the name Brooksbank.

A series of major extensions have been added since then, and The Brooksbank School is now home to a learning community of around 1,700 young people.[1]

Classroom extensions and gym

The school is located on the west side of Elland, and is a five-minute walk from the town centre, and 0.5 miles (0.8 km) south of the accessible M62 motorway. It has bus links to locations including Halifax, Huddersfield, Brighouse and Wakefield.

Facilities include a sports hall, four tennis courts, three drama studios, a playing field and a gymnasium. Brooksbank School sponsored sports include badminton, table tennis, and rugby.

Extracurricular activities include both football and rugby. The school plays rugby league and competes in national school competitions. Each year, the school performs a drama production. The school also has a science club.

• The Brooksbank School