Weymouth College is a further education college located in Weymouth, England. The college has over 4,000 students,[1] studying on a wide range of practical and academic courses in many subjects. The college is part of The University of Plymouth Colleges network.
| Weymouth College | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Address | |
 | |
Cranford Avenue Weymouth , Dorset , DT4 7LQ England | |
| Coordinates | 50°37′23″N 2°27′07″W / 50.623°N 2.452°W |
| Information | |
| Type | FE College |
| Established | 1985 |
| Local authority | Dorset |
| Department for Education URN | 130653 Tables |
| Ofsted | Reports |
| Principal and CEO | Jasper Allen-Denton |
| Gender | Mixed |
| Age | 16+ |
| Former name | Weymouth Grammar School |
| Website | Official website |
The college previously had a second site on Newstead Road, but consolidated to a single main campus at Cranford Avenue in 2000.
There was a private school (Eng: "public school") of the same name from 1862 to 1940 in Weymouth.[2]
History
editGrammar school
editThis site was opened in 1914 as Weymouth Secondary School, which in 1927 became known as Weymouth Grammar School. In 1939, the school began sharing this site with South Dorset Technical College. In the 1960s, the school moved to new premises in Chickerell Road, leaving the technical college with sole use of the site. The grammar school was co-educational with around 1,050 boys and girls administered by the South Dorset Divisional Executive of Dorset Education Committee.
Merger and formation
edit1985 saw the creation of the modern Weymouth College, a tertiary college,[3] with the merging of the technical college with Weymouth College (the former Weymouth College site became known as the Cranford Avenue campus).
New site
editIn 2001, the Newstead Road site was sold for housing development, and all students based there were transferred to new facilities at the Cranford Avenue campus, creating the college as it exists today.
Recently,[when?] Weymouth College has expanded provision beyond its traditional curriculum offering. A sports centre and gym facility for public use was opened at the Cranford Avenue site, with the college additionally taking over the operation of the former Weymouth Sports Club site on Dorchester Road, now renamed as Redlands Community Sports Hub.
Alumni
edit- Mark Hix (born 1962), chef
- Karen Arnold (born 1964), businesswomen
- Cecil Herbert Sharpley (1908–1985), trade unionist and communist apostate
Weymouth Grammar School
edit- Charles Bawden, professor of Mongolian from 1970-84 at the School of Oriental and African Studies
- Brian Carter, former professional footballer.[4]
- Flight Sergeant Dudley Heal (5 August 1916 - 7 February 1999), who flew with the Dambusters Raid as a navigator in Lancaster AJ-F with the third wave taking off at 12 minutes after midnight; the aircraft was the second to hit the Sorpe Dam, and returned safely[5]
- Michael Robert House (1930-2002) geologist and palaeontologist
- Prof Graham Hutchings, chemist, Regius Professor of Chemistry since 2016 at Cardiff University
- Prof Nick Jennings,Vice-Chancellor and President Loughborough University
- Michael Middleton (priest)
- Gilbert Jessop, cricketer
- Air Vice-Marshal Victor Otter, chief engineering officer 1956-59 of RAF Bomber Command and project director 1963-66 of the Hawker Siddeley P.1127/P.1154 (Harrier)
- Maj-Gen Alec Walkling, Colonel Commandant from 1973 to 1986 of the Royal Artillery
References
edit- ^ "About Weymouth College". Retrieved 22 October 2014.
- ^ Web page Old Weymouthians' Club
- ^ "REPORT FROM THE INSPECTORATE" (PDF). Retrieved 28 October 2023.
- ^ Byrne, Stephen; Jay, Mike (2018). Bristol Rovers Players Who's Who 1946–2018. p. 47. ISBN 978-1-5272-2371-4.
- ^ Grantham Journal Friday 14 May 1993, page 95