Herschel Grammar School
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Herschel Grammar School | |
 |
|
| (No longer used) Negotiis Pares (Equal to the task) | |
| Established | - |
|---|---|
| School type | Coeducational grammar school |
| Headteacher | Julian King-Harris |
| Location | Slough, Berkshire, United Kingdom |
| Students | 800-900 |
| Website | http://www.herschel.slough.sch.uk/ |
Herschel Grammar School is a selective co-educational grammar foundation school and Technology College in Slough, Berkshire. Situated on Northampton Avenue, the present headteacher is Mr. Julian King-Harris. The school has around 900 pupils, 250 of whom are in the Sixth Form.
Contents |
[edit] History
The school was established in town centre buildings in William Street. In 1958, the school moved to a purpose built site on Northampton Avenue, occupying land that had (before the Second World War) been used as 'Timbertown', an area of hastily constructed temporary houses.[1] The former town centre site is now occupied by the Slough campus of Thames Valley University. The school has remained at Northampton Avenue, although in 1988/89 it temporarily moved to the site of the former Orchard Secondary Modern School while the permanent buildings were refurbished.[2].
Within its present buildings, the school has had a number of different names and forms, including:
Slough Secondary Technical School
Slough Technical High School (to 1972)
Herschel High School (1972 to 1984)
Sir William Herschel Grammar School (from 1984)
Herschel Grammar School
In 2004, the school completed its new sports centre, which now serves as Herschel Sports to the public when out of school hours. The new sports complex includes a full-size astro-turf football, hockey pitch, four full-size tennis courts, six full-size indoor badminton courts, one full-size indoor basketball court, a dance studio and changing facilities with lockers.
[edit] Sixth Form
The school has a sixth form of about 250 pupils, both from the lower school and pupils who have moved from other schools. The sixth form is a part of the Herschel Consortium. The pupils in the sixh form have a common room used for unsupervised study and general socialising.
[edit] Prefects
The school maintains a prefect system. Twelve prefects including a Head Boy & Head Girl are chosen in the latter part of Year 12. The prefects occupy their posts until the end of Year 13. Recently, this system has undergone a change with names of prospective prefects being forwarded by teachers on the basis of their wider school contribution. This system has not been well received by pupils despite a belief among staff that it is more meritocratic than the previous system of popular elections. The head girl is Kavita Sharma and the head boy is Anthony Wood.
[edit] School links
Herschel Grammar School is the founding member-school of the Herschel Consortium - a co-operation of the sixth forms of Herschel Grammar School, The Westgate School, and Baylis Court School, all of which are within the same district of Slough.
[edit] Baylis Court controversy
The 'Herschel Consortium' has been criticized as having a flaw - Baylis Court is an all girls school, and whilst Herschel and Westgate can accept all Baylis students into their Sixth form, Baylis only accept female students from the other schools. Some have argued that this defeats the purpose of the consortium - and that, for instance, Herschel allowing only their female students to study Art at Baylis, is breaching the Sex Discrimination Act 1975.
Unfortunately, this has led to several pupils (both male, and female with male friends), choosing to study art A level at other establishments, such as Langley Grammar School, and East Berkshire College.
[edit] Alumni of interest
- Dennis James (staff) Deputy Mayor and Leader of Slough Borough Council
- Iain Lee Broadcaster
- Brian McDermott footballer
- Nigel Rushby, Cabinet Member, Slough Borough Council
[edit] Notes and References
- ^ pp 75, 82, The Changing Face of Slough, Slough Museum, Breedon Books, 2003
- ^ pp 82, The Changing Face of Slough, Slough Museum, Breedon Books, Derby 2003
