Landau Forte Academy QEMS

Landau Forte Academy Qems
Motto	High Expectations, High Standards, High Achievements
Established	1588 (1588) (as Queen Elizabeth's Boys' Grammar School)
Type	Academy
Principal	Ms J Evans ^[1]
Location	Ashby Road Tamworth Staffordshire B79 8AJ England Coordinates: 52°38′29″N 1°41′34″W / 52.64132°N 1.69266°W / 52.64132; -1.69266
DfE URN	137146 Tables
Ofsted	Reports
Students	855
Gender	Mixed
Ages	11–16
Houses	Freville Guy Offa Peel
Colours	Blue and Red
Website	Official School Website

Landau Forte Academy QEMS (Formerly "Queen Elizabeth's Mercian School", until 1 September 2011) is an 11-16 secondary school with academy status located to the north of Tamworth, a small market town in Staffordshire in the Midlands near Birmingham. It is often known simply as QEMS (pronounced "quems"). Since 1 September 2011, the school has been owned and operated by the Landau Forte Charitable Trust, after being transferred from the Staffordshire's LA control.

Admissions

As a state school, The school was awarded specialist status as a Music College. It is situated in Perry Crofts, on the eastern side of the A513, at the junction with the B5493 (former A453), around a half-mile north of Tamworth town centre.

Specialist status

QEMS gained status as a Specialist Music College, under the UK Government's Specialist Schools scheme, in 2005. This specialist status also gives funding to other departments, most notably ICT.

History

Grammar school

It was the Queen Elizabeth Grammar School on Ashby Road, a co-educational grammar school.

Comprehensive

It became a comprehensive in 1979, merging with Mercian Boys' School, a secondary modern school which moved from Hospital Street in 1960. The school was renamed Queen Elizabeth's Mercian School, a combination of the two schools' names. The "Mercian" in the school name refers to the fact that Tamworth was the headquarters of the Anglo-Saxon province of Mercia.

In April 2008, two teachers and seven pupils were injured by a bottle of silicon tetrachloride.

Arson

In November 2004, a 16-year boy was convicted of arson and sentenced for four years at Stafford Crown Court. He started a fire at the school on Sunday 13 April 2003, causing £1.73 million in damage. Petrol had been poured through a window of room 353 to start the fire. Chase Terrace Technology College had been burnt down the year before, costing £8 million. Insurance cover for both was provided by Zurich Municipal. The headmaster was Gordon Owers. Six fire engines were in attendance, from Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service and Warwickshire Fire and Rescue Service, with fifty firemen. Six classrooms and an assembly hall were destroyed.

Former teachers

Prof Geoffrey Bullough, Professor of English Language and Literature from 1946-68 at King's College London (taught English from 1924-6)

Campus

QEMS is based in several buildings across the school. Overall, there are six buildings (Main Block, DT, RE, Middle Block, Elizabeth Block, Girls' Gym) and mostly each department is based in one of the buildings.

Building Schools for the Future (BSF)

Along with all of the other secondary schools in Tamworth, QEMS was due to be rebuilt under the Government's BSF scheme. The addition of a Sixth-Form Academy meant that the size of the QEMS site would have been reduced, and centralised. The first stage of building work was due to begin by March 2010, but was scrapped in July 2010. Nonetheless, the school was transferred to the Landau Forte Charitable Trust's control, effective 1 September 2011, as part of a bid to receive investment from the Government to replace the lost BSF money.

Academic results

In recent years, it has been getting GCSE results under the England average. Tamworth borough gets the lowest results, on average, in Staffordshire. In the academic year 2010-11, QEMS received the highest GCSE results in Tamworth, at a rate of 5 9% 5A*-C grades including Maths and English, above the national average.

Alumni

The Queen Elizabeth Grammar School

Phil Bennion, politician
Dr Reginald Brain, dermatologist
Sir John Floyer, physician who introduced the practice of measuring a pulse rate
The Most Reverend Alan Harper, Archbishop of Armagh (Head of the Church of Ireland) since 2007
Sir Robert Telford CBE, Managing Director from 1965–81 and Chairman from 1981-4 of the Marconi Company, and President from 1963-4 of the Electronic Engineering Association
Prof Sir Ernest William Titterton CMG, Professor of Nuclear Physics from 1950-81 at the Australian National University, involved in the Manhattan Project
Patience Wheatcroft, Baroness Wheatcroft, journalist
Col. Brian Lees LVO OBE FRGS OStJ, soldier, diplomat, author. Author of the definitive guide to the Saudi royal family.

References

↑ http://www.lfatq.org.uk/about-us/staff-governors/

External links

EduBase

News items

Schools in Staffordshire (including Stoke-on-Trent)

Primary	St Patrick's Catholic Primary School

Middle	Oldfields Hall Middle School Windsor Park Middle School

Secondary	Abbot Beyne School Alleyne's Academy Biddulph High School Birches Head Academy Blessed Robert Sutton Catholic Sports College Blessed William Howard Catholic School Blythe Bridge High School Cannock Chase High School Cardinal Griffin Catholic High School Chase Terrace Technology College The Cheadle Academy Cheslyn Hay Sport & Community High School Chesterton Community Sports College Clayton Hall Academy Codsall Community High School The Co-operative Academy of Stoke-on-Trent The de Ferrers Academy Discovery Academy Endon High School Erasmus Darwin Academy Excel Academy Fair Oak Academy The Friary School Great Wyrley High School Hagley Park Academy Haywood Academy JCB Academy John Taylor High School King Edward VI School, Lichfield King Edward VI High School, Stafford The King's Church of England School Kingsmead School Kinver High School Landau Forte Academy Amington Landau Forte Academy QEMS Leek High School Moorside High School Nether Stowe School Newcastle Academy Norton Canes High School Ormiston Horizon Academy Ormiston Sir Stanley Matthews Academy Ounsdale High School Paget High School Painsley Catholic College Paulet High School The Rawlett School St John Fisher Catholic College St Margaret Ward Catholic Academy St Peter's Academy St Thomas More Catholic Academy Sandon High School Sir Graham Balfour School Sir Thomas Boughey High School Stafford Manor High School Staffordshire University Academy Tamworth Enterprise College Thistley Hough Academy Thomas Alleyne's High School Trentham High School University Academy Kidsgrove Walton High School Weston Road Academy Westwood College Wilnecote High School Wolgarston High School Wolstanton High School

Grammar	St Joseph's College

Special	Abbey Hill School Blackfriars Academy The Meadows School Shenstone Lodge School

Further education	Burton & South Derbyshire College Buxton & Leek College Landau Forte Academy Tamworth Sixth Form Moorlands Sixth Form College Newcastle-under-Lyme College South Staffordshire College Stafford College Stafford Collegiate

Independent	Abbotsholme School Abbots Bromley School Denstone College Lichfield Cathedral School Newcastle-under-Lyme School Stafford Grammar School St Dominic's High School for Girls St Dominic's Priory School

Independent (preparatory)	St Joseph's Preparatory School Vernon Lodge Preparatory School Yarlet School

Former	Berry Hill High School and Sports College Brewood Grammar School Edial Hall School Longton High School Mitchell High School

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