South Grove Comprehensive School
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2019}}
{{Use British English|date=February 2023}}
{{Infobox school
| name = South Grove Comprehensive School
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| established = {{Start date|1911|09|df=y}}
| closed = {{Start date|1987|08|31|df=y}}
| type = County school
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| address = Moorgate Road
| city = Rotherham
| county = South Yorkshire
| country = England
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| local_authority = Rotherham
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| gender = Mixed
| lower_age = 11
| upper_age = 16
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| free_label_1 = Former names
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South Grove Comprehensive School was a secondary school in Rotherham, England that existed, in various guises, from 1911 until 1987.
History
The Education Act 1902 transferred responsibility for schools from school boards to councils. At the behest of Spurley Hey, Rotherham's first Director of Education, Rotherham began expanding its senior provision. Therefore, it was decided to open two new single sex schools, serving 11-14 year olds, in a Victorian building on Moorgate Road that was originally a private house, but had been a teacher training college since 1901. The schools opened in 1911.{{cite web |url=http://www.rotherhamunofficial.co.uk/history/20th/education.html |title=Education in 20th Century Rotherham |access-date=2015-01-04 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081016001001/http://www.rotherhamunofficial.co.uk/history/20th/education.html |archive-date=2008-10-16 }}
South Grove Central School for Girls occupied the ground floor, while South Grove Central School for Boys occupied the first floor.{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ww2peopleswar/stories/29/a1096229.shtml|title = BBC - WW2 People's War - Growing up in War time: In Rotherham Part 1}}
After the Education Act 1944, the schools became secondary modern schools. Students in the area who passed the Eleven-Plus exam went to either Rotherham Grammar School or Rotherham Girls' High School, while those showing an aptitude for technology went to Oakwood Technical High School for Boys/Girls. The remaining students attended South Grove Secondary Modern School for Boys/Girls, which now took students up to the age of 16. The two schools merged in 1961.{{Cite web |url=http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/nra/onlinelists/GB%200198%20Schools(vA2633576).pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=1 September 2012 |archive-date=24 June 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120624175829/http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/nra/onlinelists/GB%200198%20Schools(vA2633576).pdf |url-status=dead }} Later, it became the first secondary modern in Rotherham to offer O Levels its students.{{Cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/schools/gervase-phinn-i-got-a-cracking-string-of-olevels-1060709.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220524/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/schools/gervase-phinn-i-got-a-cracking-string-of-olevels-1060709.html |archive-date=24 May 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title = Gervase Phinn: I got a cracking string of O-levels|website = Independent.co.uk|date = 11 December 2008}}
In the mid-1960s, Rotherham moved to a fully comprehensive system. The school was renamed South Grove Comprehensive School around 1967 and now took students of all abilities from the local area.
The school closed in 1987, with the students and many of the staff transferring to the neighbouring Oakwood Comprehensive School.
The buildings remained until 2003, when they demolished and replaced by a modern office building complex, known as Moorgate Crofts.
Notable alumni
- Gervase Phinn, author (1959-1964)
- Norman Bettison, formerly Chief Constable of West Yorkshire Police, and of Merseyside Police, implicated in the Hillsborough Disaster cover-up.{{cite web|title=Merseyside Police Authority, Application Form: Application for the post of Chief Constable in HIP Annex MPA000000030001.pdf|url=http://hillsborough.independent.gov.uk/repository/docs/MPA000000030001.pdf|work=Hillsborough Independent Panel Report|publisher=Hillsborough Independent Panel|accessdate=24 October 2012}}{{cite web|last=Eagle|first=Maria|title=22 Oct 2012 : Column 765|url=https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201213/cmhansrd/cm121022/debtext/121022-0003.htm#12102226000184|work=Hansard|publisher=UK Parliament|accessdate=24 October 2012}}
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Schools in Rotherham}}
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Category:Defunct schools in Rotherham
Category:Educational institutions established in 1911
Category:1911 establishments in England