Educational Establishments


Giggleswick School


Creating a level playing field...


Medieval ridge and furrow farmland can prove a challenge in delivering sporting excellence. Greg Rhodes speaks to Head of Grounds, Craig Eccleston, a man on a mission to create a level playing field across the winter and summer provision


G


iggleswick School is no stranger to television celebrities. Richard Whiteley, the long-standing host of afternoon TV game show Countdown, won a scholarship


here, later becoming a governor. Teaching Whiteley English was Russell Harty, the television presenter of arts programmes and chat shows, who also taught drama at the school after leaving university, before later moving into the media. A co-educational junior, senior and day


boarding school, Giggleswick commands a stunning location in the Yorkshire dales, within walking distance of the popular market town of Settle. The independent Schools Inspectorate has awarded it ‘Excellent’ in no fewer than six areas of provision. The last decade has seen Giggleswick


invest £13m in classroom and sports facilities, including a new £1.5m sports hall and the Richard Whiteley Theatre. With its deliberately broad curriculum and an emphasis on each individual reaching their potential at every stage: “The best thing about Giggleswick is the sense of community,” states Camilla, one of its pupils. Craig Eccleston joined the grounds team as


an apprentice nearly twenty years ago under then head groundsman Martin South, along with friend and fellow apprentice David Worthington. After Martin left for Sedbergh School in 2000, Kevin Byrne filled the post until 2008/2009. A team of three ran the department for a year or so until the school unified the garden and grounds team in 2010 to rationalise the regime and create new requirements, Craig explains. “When I became head of grounds, I


assumed responsibility for the school’s sports and horticultural provision. The gardening side alone demands a good deal of attention to the extensive lawns and borders around many of the school buildings.” Managing a team with a varying skills set


keeps Craig busy, not only keeping the right mix of capabilities but also bringing on the apprentices who work under him - a tradition that’s building at Giggleswick. Now thirty-eight, Craig himself had


attended Shipley College as an apprentice, before gaining Level 3 through Myerscough College. Long-standing friend and colleague David Worthington is the same age and has travelled a similar career path to Craig. “We both grew up in Settle, attending the


PC APRIL/MAY 2017 I 39


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