Sir John Deane's College
Sir John Deane's Sixth Form College | |
---|---|
Sixth Form College | |
Established | 1557 |
Department for Education URN | 145748 Tables |
Ofsted | Reports |
Principal | Christopher Atherton[1] |
Information | 01606 810020 |
Website | www |
Sir John Deane's Sixth Form College is a sixth form college in Northwich, Cheshire, UK. It was formerly Sir John Deane's Grammar School, which was founded in 1557.
History
For as much as God's glory, his honour, and the wealth public, is advanced and maintained by no means more than by virtuous education and bringing up of Youth under such as be learned and virtuous Schoolmasters, whose good examples may as well instruct them to live well as their doctrine and learning may furnish their minds with knowledge and cunning, [I] have thought it good, not only to erect the said Free Grammar School, and to provide a reasonable and competent Stypend [sic] for the Schoolmaster of the same, and that in respect of the zeal that I have to God's glory, and for the love that I bear to my native country ...
— Sir John Deane, Statutes[2]
Sir John Deane (in the 16th century, the title indicated a
He established a grammar school for poor boys in
In the early 20th century, three financial decisions radically changed the character of the school, by then generally referred to as Sir John Deane's Grammar School or Northwich Grammar School. Firstly, it received a generous 350th-anniversary benefaction from
Present day

Sir John Deane's College re-established itself as a voluntary controlled sixth form college in September 1978. It is a single site campus, parallel to the River Weaver; the college is around half a mile away from Northwich town centre, in the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester. The college provides various qualifications. The college's main aim is to provide advanced level courses for full-time students aged between 16 and 18. In 1998, the college introduced part-time adult courses.
In the last Ofsted inspection, the inspectors gave the college's quality of provision outstanding in all of the curriculum areas inspected. The inspectors also noted that the college's overall retention and pass rates are very high and are significantly above the national averages for other sixth form colleges.
The college underwent a £28 million demolition and extension programme. The new college was finished in late 2010 and fully opened in early 2011, with each department having its own area in the new building with the original building being used as a new canteen and student services.
The college also has leisure facilities, including an outdoor astroturf pitch, football and rugby pitches, tennis courts, a sports hall and a swimming pool.

Old Wittonians and former schoolmasters
Old boys of the Grammar School are referred to as 'Old Wittonians',[10]
![]() | This article's list of alumni may not follow Wikipedia's verifiability policy. (March 2024) |
- Sir John Berkenhead, Cavalier journalist, poet and politician
- Sir George Cory, 19th/20th-century chemist and historian, taught at the school some time between 1884 and 1886.[11]
- Martin Edwards, crime novelist
- Peter Gammond, music critic, writer, poet, and artist
- John Greenway MP, 20th/21st-century Conservative politician for Ryedale
- Edwin Haslam, author
- Eaton Hodgkinson, a 19th-century engineer, had a brief and unhappy time at the school[11]
- Philip Holland, 20th-century Conservative politician
- Charles James Hughes JP, pioneer of Association Football, co-founder of Northwich Victoria F.C., FA Cup Finals referee.[12]
- Diana Johnson, Labour MP for Hull North
- Phil Leeson, 20th century development economist and Communist activist[13]
- Dr Terence Melia CBE, Senior Chief Inspector, HMI 1991–92; Chief Inspector Further Education Funding Council 1992–96; Chairman Further Education Development Agency 1997–2000; Chairman of the Further Education National Training Organisation 2000–03; Chairman of the Learning and Skills Development Agency from 2000–03.
- Nathan Paget, 17th-century physician and Puritan activist[11]
- Thomas Pierson, 17th-century conformist Puritan presbyter[11]
- Sir Brian Smith CBE, Freeman of the City of London
- Presbyterian minister and Puritan writer, buried at Great St Bartholomew's)[11]
- Weaver Hall Museum, a few minutes' walk from the College.
- Percy Young, 20th-century writer and musicologist[14]
See also
References and bibliography
- ^ "Home - Sir John Deane's College". www.sjd.ac.uk.
- ^ ) The bold text in the quotation represents small capitals in the original.
- ^ In 1893, Old Wittonians placed a brass in Sir John's memory in his former parish church. See A.E.Daniell (1912). "St Bartholomew-the-Great [from: London City Churches]". Rahere's Garden: The History & Personalities of St Bartholomew-the-Great. anon [Charles Scribner's Sons]. Archived from the original on 5 January 2009. Retrieved 15 September 2007.
- ^ "Old Cheshire Christmas Customs". Cheshire Magazine. n.d.
{{cite journal}}
: CS1 maint: year (link) - ^ ISBN 0-7190-1282-1.
- JSTOR 512036., p.81.
- ^ See the section Old Wittonians, above.
- ^ An early stage of proceedings is described in George Moody, ed. (1844). "Law Reports: Attorney-General v. Barker". English Journal of Education. II: 81–83.
- ^ These properties were noted for their value even in 1818 (see Carlisle, op.cit.).
- ^ "Is there an Old Wittonian Society?". Northwich Guardian. 7 May 2003.[permanent dead link ]
- ^ Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, loc.cit.
- ^ "Is there an Old Wittonian Society?". Archived from the original on 30 March 2012. Retrieved 18 August 2011.
- ^ Pat Devine (13 May 2006). "Phil Leeson: Development economist passionate about communicating ideas". The Guardian.
- ^ Fortune, Nigel (21 May 2003). "Percy M Young". The Guardian.
- Read, John William (1864). Witton: Tales of a Grammar School. London: Stevenson.
- Webb, Edward Alfred (1921). The Records of St. Bartholomew's Priory and of the Church and Parish of St Bartholomew the Great. Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 300–303.
- Weston, John, ed. (1899). Witton Grammar School, The original statutes of the founder, A.D. 1558, and the schemes and rules of the Endowed Schools Commission for its future management, 1874 and 1895 (2nd ed.). Northwich: Governors of Witton Grammar School.
External links
Media related to Sir John Deane's College at Wikimedia Commons