# Lewes Old Grammar School

Lewes Old Grammar School (LOGS) in Lewes, East Sussex, is an independent co-educational day school for ages three to eighteen years.

## History

The School was originally started during the reign of Henry VIII in 1512 as an All boys school. At the time there were only two forms at the time each with 14 boys. The pupils (all boys at that time) had a typically rigorous, Latin-based education fitting them for further study at the University of Oxford or at the University of Cambridge. The school remained in Southover for about 200 years, when the generosity of another local Benefactress, Mary Jenkins, allowed the school to relocate up the hill to the present site in St Anne’s. That building served the Grammar School for well over a hundred years before the people of Lewes raised funds to replace it, in 1851, with what we now know as Mead House. Under the guidance of Roy Mead, who took over the school in the 1960s: The school expanded into the neighbouring St Clair House in 1968 and Tyne House in 1994, with the Junior School on King Henry’s Road. Another change was the merging of LOGS with Lewes High School for Girls (formerly Leicester House School) in King Henry’s Road. He bought the school in January 1977 and took over the running of it. The older girls studying for O-levels attended some of the same classes as the boys. It remained the Girls school until 1979 when the junior school and the girls’ school changed sites during the summer of that year. The junior school has flourished since then and developed its own identity; now known as Morley House.
In November 2017, the school was the subject of an emergency no-notice inspection by the Independent Schools Inspectorate in relation to regulatory failings or concerns raised as to the safeguarding of children.
The school has been at the current school's site at the top of the Lewes High Street since the 19th century. Morley House, the junior school, which includes the Early Years and Foundation Stage (EYFS), is situated in a residential suburb, in a house which has been updated and extended. The senior school occupies three listed houses in the High Street of Lewes which have been refurbished and extended.

## Curriculum

The Junior School, for ages 4–11, is housed in its own building, Morley House in King Henry's Road. The Senior School is situated in the centre of Lewes, occupying three former townhouses, Mead House, Tyne House and St. Clair House, all of which are grade II listed buildings. The curriculum followed includes three foreign languages (French, Spanish and German), and sciences are studied as individual subjects at senior level. Expansions to the sixth form college have allowed for the study of psychology, theatre and graphic design. They also allow the study of business, politics and Latin.

## Extra-curricular activities

The sixth form produces theatrical events featuring the orchestra, choir and actors from the school. The most notable of these is the annual VIth form pantomime, performed on the last day of the autumn term. The last assembly of each academic year is primarily held and organised by the leaving upper VIth form.
Every year the senior school carries out a sponsored charity walk, usually from the senior school in Lewes across some of the South Downs to Stanmer Park and back. One of the most popular charities is Fish Aid—a charity set up in memory of a former student of LOGS who died of cancer.

## Notable alumni

John Evelyn - intellectual, writer, and gardener