Ramsey Grammar School South programme - Isle of Man Government

Department of Education
Rheynn Ynsee
Official Opening of
Ramsey Grammar School
South Building
by
Minister for Education
Hon. Mrs Anne Craine MHK
Wednesday 24th October 2007

Foreword
Mr John Cain M.Ed
Director of Education
The new Ramsey Grammar School South Building is a stunning replacement for
the old Medway building, which had far outlived its designed life.
School buildings have to meet
the needs of the present and
future in the way that they
encourage children to learn
and allow teachers to teach in
the ways which they know
work best. The curriculum and
school organisation have
changed enormously over the
years as society continues to
evolve and presents young
people with exciting new
challenges and expectations.
RGS South Building has been specified, designed and constructed with great care
and thought being given as to how it will best meet the school’s requirements.
This is very clear when you look at the rooms and their layout.
The end result is a real tribute to the vision, commitment and investment made
by the Isle of Man Government for the benefit of future generations of young
people. It is also a testament to the excellent teamwork of the professionals
involved in making this building such a success. Their names are listed in this
booklet. They were guided by
Richard Collister, Director of
Estates, David Trace,
Headteacher, and David Millar,
Project Manager at Dalrymple
Associates, who each made
major contributions to ensure
that the Department of Education
now has another superb addition
to its school portfolio delivered on
time, within budget and to the
standards sought.

Message from the Minister
Ramsey Grammar School has had a history of contributing
to the education of the children of Ramsey since the early
1900s.
Teaching had taken place in various sites around the town
before it opened in a purpose-built school on Lezayre Road
that we now know as the East Building.
In 1939, a new secondary building was built but was
immediately requisitioned for the duration of the Second
World War by the War Office. It was 1946 before the
second building opened with the development of a new wave of teaching
methodology – comprehensive education.
I have always proudly declared the Isle of Man as being the first in the British
Isles to adopt comprehensive education. I believe that in a close-knit community
like ours, there is no room for social divisiveness.
From that system, we have developed citizens who have gone on to careers in
every imaginable sphere, both at home and abroad.
Ramsey Grammar School has been the keystone for the education of children in
the north and has encouraged and enthused generations of students to fulfil
their ambitions. The school has always striven to develop its facilities to be able
to deliver the best of teaching to its students.
This latest extension to the building includes state of the art facilities for Art,
Design Technology, Special Needs, the Social Sciences, Land-based Sciences and
a Sixth Form Centre in a setting that is second to none.
This new facility demonstrates an ongoing commitment by the Department of
Education and the Isle of Man Government to continue to steadily improve the
teaching and learning environment of our schools.
Investment in our children is investment in the future and I believe that the
development of school facilities such as this will open the door of opportunity to
futures that we could never have dreamed of.
Ramsey Grammar School has come a long way since it was situated in Waterloo
Road and so have its students. With these facilities, they can touch the stars.
Minister for Education, Hon Mrs Anne Craine MHK

Order of proceedings
The Manx National Anthem, accompanied by the
Ramsey Grammar School Brass Group.
Welcome by the Chairman of Governors, Mrs E H Bradley
Dedication by the Archdeacon of Man, the Venerable B Smith
Introduction of the Minister, the Hon Mrs A V Craine MHK,
by Chairman of the Governors Mrs E H Bradley
Minister unveils the commemorative plaque
Students perform an excerpt from The Crucible
Headteacher, Mr David Trace, conducts the vote of thanks
Guests tour new facilities and partake of refreshments in the Dining Room

Manx National Anthem
Arrane Ashoonagh Dy Vannin
Verse 1
O land of our birth,
O gem of God's earth,
O Island so strong and so fair
Built firm as Barrool,
Thy throne of Home Rule
Makes us free as thy sweet mountain air.
Verse 8
Then let us rejoice
With heart, soul and voice,
And in the Lord's promise confide;
That each single hour
We trust in His power
No evil our souls can betide.

Message from the Headteacher
David Trace M.Ed FRSA
The construction of the South Building was only made possible
by the school moving across Lezayre Road into the redundant
old Auldyn Infant School.
This building, renamed RGS North, housed a significant portion
of the school for the two years of construction.
The intake of 2004, now in year 10, were the most affected by
being based in RGS North for those two years. What a good thing we had our TT
bridge, as up to two hundred students moved between the North and West at
the end of each lesson.
In order to minimise the number of people
using the bridge at any one time, the North
building ran in a different time zone to the
West and East which ensured there was only
ever one-way traffic across the bridge.
The design of the South Building is very much
down to the users. School Council offered
their ideas, staff drew their detailed
requirements to scale on graph paper and the
architects, Savage and Chadwick,
sympathetically transformed our vision into
reality.
We believe we have got better value through
better design. The bright, airy rooms and corridors
provide a stunning learning and teaching
environment that is quite different from traditional
school design.
Our school is at the heart of the northern
community and is an asset which everyone can
use and benefit from.

History of Ramsey Grammar School
When Ramsey Grammar School opened on a non-selective basis in September
1946, it laid claim to being the first comprehensive school in the British Isles.
Previously, four in ten pupils in the north went to the old Grammar School while
the remainder stayed on to complete their education up to the age of 14 in allage
schools such as Albert Road.
A Grammar School has existed in Ramsey since
1681 and the present crest and motto date back to
the headship of the Reverend A. S. Newton, which
spanned 1888 to 1903.
Ballakermeen High School also came on line as a
non-selective school in the same month, September
1946, but wasn’t considered to be as
‘comprehensive’ as Ramsey as girls and boys were
strictly segregated.
Both schools were actually almost complete in 1939
but were pressed into use for the War effort – Ramsey being requisitioned by the
RAF for use as an operations centre, linked with activities at the Andreas and
Jurby airfields.
Since 1933, the school had been housed in the purpose-built building in Lezayre
Road which is now the East Building.
In 1946, the new Ramsey Grammar School boasted some 460 pupils on its
register, its title a misnomer despite the fact that tests carried out at primary
school decided which forms pupils would enter.
Among the subjects on offer then by the 23 teachers were Latin, Needlework and
Domestic Science, but of course then there was no World Development, Dance or
Environmental Science.
The West Building was opened by His Excellency the Lieutenant Governor, Sir
Geoffrey Rhodes Bromet, in 1947. Teachers and pupils alike had to get used to
the ‘split site’, with many staff cycling between the buildings at a time when cars
were scarce.

Interviewed by students in 1996, to mark the 50 th anniversary of the school,
original scholars recalled that discipline was harsh with canings, detentions and
the setting of as many as 500 lines a time being common.
Peter Hayes, who was among the 1946 intake, told of being given ‘six of the
best’ for jotting down the names of TT riders in his exercise book. Edgar Quine –
later a long serving MHK for Ayre – recalled that one of the most serious
misdemeanours was to be seen not wearing the school cap or beret.
However, they also recalled with fondness many of their teachers, including Miss
Eyles, who instilled a love of Shakespeare in many pupils.
Another half a century passed before the opening of the South Building, which
houses a dedicated Sixth Form Centre with lecture theatre, higher education
room and common room; a full suite of bespoke special educational needs
facilities; extensive specialist design and technology rooms, land and
environmental science laboratories, a piggery and a futuristic art studio with
flexible areas for photography, ceramics, lectures and two-dimensional work.
In the half-century since 1946, the school grew by 200 pupils. Over the last ten
years, Ramsey Grammar School has grown from 660 to 1,060 students and 140
teaching and support staff.
RGS boasts more than 200 clubs and societies running every week at lunchtime
and after school, consistently good public examination results, an extensive and
pre-eminent sporting programme, excellence in the Arts, a school farm and
unrivalled success in Junior Achievement Young Enterprise Europe.
The innovative South Building is the result of staff and students thinking about
the school, how it works and what everyone wants from it for the future. The
building transforms the school and will shape the educational direction of RGS for
decades to come.

Consultants and Contractors
The Department of Education wishes to thank the consultants and contractors
who have been involved in the project:
Project Manager
Dalrymple Associates
Court Row Chambers
Ramsey
Structural Engineer
Holmes Grace
Second Avenue
Onchan
Partnering Contractor
Auldyn Construction Ltd
Unit 15E
Tromode Industrial Estate
Tromode
Mechanical Sub-contractor
Quiggin & Cubbon Ltd
Unit 15B
Tromode Industrial Estate
Tromode
Brickwork/blockwork
Brew & Jenner Builders
7 North Shore Road
Ramsey
Rendering and Plastering
Amber Plastering
65 Lheannag Park
Anagh Coar
Douglas
Landscaping
Garden World
28 Westminster Drive
Douglas
Lift
Otis Ltd, 3 rd Floor
St Christopher House
217 Wellington Road South
Stockport
Lighting Protection
Thunderbolt Test & Maintenance Ltd
Unit 85 SOTEC, Bedford Street
Shelton
Stoke-on-Trent
Ironmongery
Island Fixings and Fittings Ltd
Hills Meadow Peel Road
Douglas
Architect
Savage and Chadwick Architects
Merchant’s House
24 North Quay
Douglas
M&E Consultant
Foreman Roberts Ltd
Rosemary House
Mount Havelock
Douglas
Clerk of Works
DCCS Ltd
Court Row Chambers
Ramsey
Electrical Sub-contractor
Gough Electrical Ltd
Unit 7
Shipyard Industrial Estate
Ramsey
Carpentry and Joinery
James Page Joinery Ltd
19 Birchill Crescent
Onchan
Decorations
Ashbourne Decorators
5 Hutchinson Square
Douglas
Tarmacadam
Colas (IoM) Ltd
Balthane Industrial Estate
Ballasalla
Sprinklers
Tyco Fire and Integrated Solutions Ltd
Tyco Park, Grimshaw Lane
Newton Heath
Manchester
Suspended ceilings/Partitions
Apex Ceilings & Partitioning Ltd
The Ballacraine
St John’s
Fire Protection
(Intumescent Paint)
Tony Taylor Ltd
6 Ballaughton Villas
Douglas
Quantity Surveyor
Bell Burton Associates
2 Myrtle Street
Douglas
Planning Supervisor
SafetyNet Ltd
10 Hope Street
Douglas
Piling
Roger Bullivant Construction
Club Street, Bamber Bridge
Preston
Lancashire
Structural Steelwork
Ballykine Structural Engineers
51 Lisburn Road
Ballynahinch
Co. Down
Roofing and Cladding
Clover Asphalte
South Quay
Douglas
Floor Coverings
William Daniel Carpet Specialists
19 St Paul’s Square
Ramsey
Curtain Walling
Manx Glass and Glazing Ltd
Snugborough Trading Estate
Union Mills
Metalwork
Richardson Metalcraft Ltd
Unit 6 Gladstone Park
Ramsey
Fitted Furniture
British Thornton
Prospect Works, South Street
Keighley
West Yorkshire

All photographs by Andrew Barton Photography

Department of Education
St George’s Court, Upper Church Street
Douglas IM1 2SG