Lincoln Minster teaches 600 children aged 11 through to 18, while St Mary’s teaches 247 primary school children.
St Mary’s will be known as St Mary’s Preparatory School, the Preparatory School of Lincoln Minster School under the United Church Schools Trust (UCST).
The merged prep school looks to offer a bigger curriculum, more extra-curricular activities and better facilities.
Following the merger announcement, originally decided on February 28, St Mary’s will also be looking for a new head teacher.
Lincoln Minster’s principal Clive Rickart said: “We share with each other a desire and determination to ensure that we continue to provide the very best standards for our pupils and to keep pace with the demands of the global environment.
“In combining the resources of our two schools, we will be equipped to build on and enhance the best of each of them.
“Our objective is to become a leading preparatory school with a national reputation while also keeping stable the cost of education for parents.
“We feel sure that parents will take an interest in the merger and will have detailed questions they want to ask.
“This is a very exciting development for the future of independent education in Lincoln and we look forward to sharing our plans with you over the coming weeks and months.”
The school will produce regular newsletters between now and September to keep parents up-to-date with the plans as they are taken forward.
For parents with children attending the schools wanting to discuss the merge with the principal, he will be taking appointments from March 1, no booking required.
*Hazel Belcher is the Chair of Governors at St Mary’s Preparatory School:
“Both preparatory schools have excellent reputations and track records, and by becoming one we will be able to build upon the best of both, offering a broad curriculum, more extra-curricular activities and better facilities.”
Charlotte Rendle Short, who is the Deputy Chief Executive of the United Church Schools Trust, has high hopes for the merger:
“In merging with each other, our objective is for the new St Mary’s to become a leading preparatory school with a national reputation while also keeping stable the cost of education for parents.”
Andrew Salmond Smith announced last term that he will be leaving Lincoln in September after five years as Headmaster of St Marys Preparatory School for the Headship of St George’s School, Windsor.
Lincoln Minster Preparatory School also lost its Head, Karen Maltby, tragically to an illness last term. The process for recruiting a new Head will begin immediately.
For more details on the merger, read the schools’ information booklet [PDF].
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We want to speak to three individuals in relation to a burglary which took place at Tattershall Farm Park at around 1.45am in the early hours of Monday, 8 August.
A fence was broken to gain access to the grounds, and a rear door to the workshop was forced open. Numerous power tools and equipment were stolen, including a red quad bike, to the value of around £25,000.
The escape was made via the same route across a field to the rear and along Marsh Lane, Tattershall using two-barrel carts from the site to transport the stolen goods down the lane.
If you know these individuals, or you have any further information that will help with our investigation please get in touch.
Please email [email protected] quoting ‘Incident 86 of 8 August’ in the subject line.
Or call 101 quoting Incident 86 of 8 August.
If you wish to remain anonymous you can report any information via CrimeStoppers by calling 0800 555 111.
Doddington Hall Farm Shop near Lincoln will feature in a new Channel 5 series which celebrates the British love of a good farm shop.
Episode one of ‘Britain’s Poshest Farm Shop’ is due to air on Channel 5 at 8pm on Friday, August 12. Doddington Hall features throughout episode 1 alongside farm shops in North Wales and Devon.
The two-part series is narrated by Patricia Hodge and described as “a warm and touching look at why we all love a farm shop, the characters that inhabit them and the people behind the scenes that work so hard to create outstanding produce.”
Owner Claire Birch in the Kitchen Garden, a stone’s throw from the Farm Shop.
Doddington Farm Shop Kitchen Garden display.
Doddington Hall said its award-winning farm shop wasn’t built on being ‘posh, but was “born out of a passion to provide our customers with good quality, seasonal, local food.”
Doddington Hall said Production company Out of the Blue TV filmed “on a momentous day when the cows were being put out to pasture for the first time after the winter so they were gambolling in the sunshine.”
Doddington Farm Shop Kitchen Garden display.
Owners Claire Birch & James Birch and stockman Hari Limbu.
Since 2006, the Elizabethan Doddington Hall has been the much-loved family home of Claire and James Birch. Claire’s family have lived in the Hall for over 190 years, devoting themselves to the upkeep, repair and progression of the Doddington Estate.
After a 50 year absence, the formerly neglected two-acre walled Kitchen Garden was restored to its former glory in 2007, inspiring the opening of the Farm Shop followed by the Cafe. Just a stone’s throw from the Hall, it provides an abundance of fruit, vegetables, salads and herbs which take centre stage in the Farm Shop and on Doddington Hall’s menus.
Owner Claire Birch in her kitchen in Doddington Hall, giving a sneaky peek into the ancient recipe archive.
Owner Claire Birch with a Kitchen Garden tromboncino squash.
Over the last 16 years, Claire and James have developed the Farm Shop, Bike Shop, Café, Coffee Shop, Restaurant, Home Store, Country Clothing Store, Holiday Cottages, Bauble Barn, Christmas Tree sales, Weddings and Events businesses; increased public access and organised popular concerts and exhibitions with all proceeds going towards the upkeep and conservation of the historic Hall and Gardens.
This year, the Doddington Hall Conservation Charity secured National Lottery Heritage Funding to develop ‘Wilder Connections’, a project to connect people with nature at Wilder Doddington.