Carre's Grammar School

Carre's Grammar School
Address
Northgate Sleaford , Lincolnshire , NG34 7DD England
Coordinates	53°00′10″N 0°24′40″W / 53.00264°N 0.41098°W / 53.00264; -0.41098
Information
Type	Grammar school; Academy
Motto	Por dysserver (To deserve)
Established	1604; 420 years ago (1604)
Founder	Robert Carre
Trust	The Robert Carre Trust
Department for Education URN	137213 Tables
Ofsted	Reports
Chair	R. A. Hutton
Headteacher	N. M. Law
Staff	114 (2022)
Gender	Boys only. Co-educational sixth form
Age	11 to 18
Enrolment	788 (2023)
Sixth form students	227
Houses	Bristol Carre Lafford Welby Year 8 split into 8.1-5
Colour(s)	Red, Black
National ranking	386
Alumni	Old Carrensians
Website	www.carres.uk

Carre's Grammar School is a selective secondary school for boys in Sleaford, a market town in Lincolnshire, England.

Founded on 1 September 1604 by an indenture of Robert Carre, the school was funded by rents from farmland and run by a group of trustees. The indenture restricted the endowment to £20 without accounting for inflation, causing the school to decline during the 18th century and effectively close in 1816. Revived by a decree from the Court of Chancery in 1830 new buildings were constructed at its present site and the school reopened in 1835. Faced with declining rolls and competition from cheaper commercial schools, Carre's eventually added technical and artistic instruction to its Classical curriculum by affiliating with Kesteven County Council in 1895. Following the Education Act 1944, school fees were abolished and Carre's became Voluntary Aided. New buildings were completed in 1966 to house the rising number of pupils. After plans for comprehensive education in Sleaford came to nothing in the 1970s and 1980s, Carre's converted to grant-maintained status in 1990. Foundation status followed and the school became an Academy in 2011. The Robert Carre Trust, a multi-Academy trust with Kesteven and Sleaford High School was formed in 2015.

Admission to Carre's is through the eleven-plus examination and entry is limited to boys in the lower school, although the Sixth form is co-educational. The total number of pupils on roll in 2013 was 817, of whom 240 were in the Sixth Form.^[1] Teaching follows the National Curriculum and pupils generally sit examinations for ten or eleven General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) qualifications in Year Eleven (aged 15–16). They have a choice of three or four A-levels in the sixth form, which is part of the Sleaford Joint Sixth Form consortium between Carre's, Kesteven and Sleaford High School and St George's Academy. Of the 2013 cohort, 100% of pupils achieved at least five GCSEs at grade A*-C and 96% achieved that including English and Maths GCSEs, the eighth highest percentage in Lincolnshire. An Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted) inspection in 2013 graded Carre's "good" overall with "outstanding" features.^[2] On 21 June 2022, a further inspection was conducted where the school received a rating of "inadequate".^[3] The Headteacher Nick Law disputed the new rating in a public letter written to Ofsted,^[4] where he claimed their judgement was "illogical and unfair".^[5] This was returned to a "good" rating in all categories during the December 2023 inspection. Heads of the School Council agreed that the school "bounced back" from the "poorly timed" Ofsted report in 2022.^[6]

Carre's has also created an Outreach programme in which smaller schools can be assisted financially and with sporting staff.^[7] For instance, St Andrew's Primary School in Leasingham received £8,400 in 2013.^[8] This was used to improve their general PE curriculum and play equipment for break times. The Carre's Outreach programme aims at improving: the quality of PE, competition, health/wellbeing and community spirit.