of girls on the roll increased to 15 although the girls were only taught to read and write in addition to needlework classes, while the boys also studied mathematics, the sciences, Greek and Latin. In 1894 Lord Gilbert Heathcote-Drummond-Willoughby, 1st Earl of Ancaster and 25th Baron Willoughby de Eresby established a charitable trust to continue annual funding of the grammar school into the future. Spilsby's second school In 1954 in response to the government's new Tripartite Educational System the local education authority built a second secondary school in the town called Sir John Franklin Secondary Modern School at a greenfield site near the A16 main road. Under the banner of "education for all" the secondary modern was to provide a rich but more practical and vocational education for those children who did not pass the 11+ examination and attend grammar school. Merger of the schools Due to falling roll numbers and in an attempt to reduce running costs, in 1991 Lincolnshire's education authority announced that it was to amalgamate the two Spilsby schools under a single management and teaching structure while retaining both school sites. This in fact took the form of closing both schools and creating a new school. The new school was named Spilsby High School. As the number of pupils continued to fall, the original grammar school site was eventually abandoned. The building stood empty and unused for several years, although it could not be demolished due to its Grade II Listed Building status. In 2007 the grammar school building was reoccupied and now serves as the home of New Life Community Church, providing conference facilities and a youth club for 11- to 15-year-olds. The rear portion of the building has been demolished and will soon be developed for residential housing. In late 1999 Spilsby High School renamed and rebranded as King Edward VI School and the current school badge was adopted. The school converted to academy status in and was renamed King Edward VI Academy. The school is now sponsored by the David Ross Education Trust. The school today Foundation Trust When the grammar school was closed, the long-standing Spilsby Grammar School Foundation charitable trust had considerable assets, including the whole of the grammar school site and buildings, the swimming pool, the ATC site, some other small parcels of land, and various prize funds. All of this formed the 'permanent endowment' of the Trust, and on