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. 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. On 21 June 2022, a further inspection was conducted where the school received a rating of "inadequate". The Headteacher Nick Law disputed the new rating in a public letter written to Ofsted, where he claimed their judgement was "illogical and unfair".
Carre's has also created an Outreach programme in which smaller schools can be assisted financially and with sporting staff. For instance, St Andrew's Primary School in Leasingham received £8,400 in 2013. 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.
History
The first school
Carre's Grammar School was founded on 1 September 1604 by way of an indenture between Robert Carre (a member of the Carr or Carre family) and several local gentlemen. Carre granted 100 acres of agricultural land in Gedney to these men, who held the land in trust as feoffees. The lands were estimated to be worth £40 per annum and the indenture stipulated that £20 of this would be paid to the school master, while the remainder would be for the benefit of the town's poor. The indenture stated that the school was to provide for "the better education of the Youth and Children born or inhabiting with their parents within New Sleaford, Old Sleaford, Aswarby, and Holdingham ... and in Quarrington, North Rauceby, South Rauceby, Anwick, Kirkby la Thorpe and Evedon." It is not known whether there was any other school in the town prior to the foundation of Carre's, although the indenture appointed Anthony Brown, already a schoolmaster, as the master; it thus seems likely that Carre already operated a school and his indenture codified pre-existing arrangements.