Northampton School For Boys
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| Northampton School for Boys | |
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| Motto | "To create a passion for learning" |
|---|---|
| Established | 1541 |
| Type | Grant-maintained secondary |
| Head Teacher | Michael Griffiths |
| Location | Billing Road Northampton, Northamptonshire England |
| Enrollment | 1613[1] (2004-2005) students |
| Ages | Years seven to thirteen |
| Website | www.nsb.northants.sch.uk |
Northampton School for Boys (NSB) is a secondary school in Northampton, England.
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[edit] History
The school was originally founded in 1541 by mayor Thomas Chipsey, as the town's free boys grammar school.[2] In 1557, the school moved to St. Gregory's church, which was adapted for its use. The School remained on this site until 1864, when it moved to the Corn Exchange in the Market Square. In 1870, additional premises were opened in Abington Square to educate a further 200 pupils. Due to popularity, the school moved again in 1911, to new buildings constructed on the present site at Billing Road.[3]
The school continuted to flourish as Northampton Town and County Grammar School, until 1974 when it became a comprehensive school.[citation needed]
The school was demonised in the local press in 1980/81 when the Northants Post dubbed it the "School for Scoundrels" a reference to the perception that sections of the school population was causing mayhem across the Abington area of the town.[citation needed]
In 1992, NSB became Grant Maintained[3] (later becoming a Foundation school) and with the administration of headteachers Sir Bruce Liddington and Michael Griffiths, it has become a prominent and over-subscribed school. From 1994, the school's GCSE results improved year upon year, and NSB has since become the only school to have achieved an 11 year period of continual improvement.[4]
During the 1990s, the school allowed the admission of girls into the Sixth Form. Currently up to a quarter of the Sixth Form are girls. [3]
In the summer of 1999 the school completed a new complex, the Cripps Hall, named in honour of Sir Humphrey Cripps, a former pupil of the school. It includes a theatre used for school productions and concerts as well as public performances. The building is home to the School's Expressive Arts and Modern Foreign Languages departments, as well as a conference room and a sports bar.
[edit] Admission of year sevens and eights
During 2004, Northampton switched back to a two-tier school system [5] making NSB a secondary school. This meant the school had to admit pupils from the age of eleven upwards. Due to the increased numbers, NSB occupied a second campus at the former Cliftonville Middle School, within a mile of the main school, for the new year sevens and eights. This was known as NSB West, but has since been closed with the completion of Project 465.
Also in 2004, the school decided to revert back to a house system. The houses, named after original benefactors in 1541, are Chipsey, Manley, Brightwell and Washington. There are two wings, East and West, with four tutor groups in each. One tutor group from the West Wing and from the East Wing are in the same house. This system is the same for all years in the school, so for example, the two linked tutor groups in year ten are the same as the two in year eleven[6].
[edit] Achievements
The school has achieved recognition for its success, particularly in the areas of sport[1] and music. Six music groups from the school achieved places in the finals of the National Festival of Music for Youth. Out of these, the Jazz Big Band won the tournament, and two other groups finished as runners-up in their categories.[4] In December 2005 NSB was named Daily Telegraph 'State School of the Year' for its achievements in sport.[7]
The school was selected to be an ambassador school for the NAGTY due to its excellent gifted and talented programme, which was hailed as a model system by DfES.[8]
[edit] Project 465
Beginning in 2005, the school has had a refurbishment and building programme, called Project 465 (as the school will be 465 years old when finished), which was due for completion in late 2006. The programme is designed to help accommodate for the newly added years seven and eight with the associated building scheduled to be opened on the 29th January 2007, with all students (years 7-13) moving into the main site and the new building open to the whole school in February - delayed from the original projected date of 1st September (making the school 466 years old upon the project's completion). The building features new English and Maths classrooms, alongside two new ICT suites, a Sixth Form lounge, and a restuarant amongst other facilities.
[edit] Cashless catering
From February 2007, the school plans to be completely cashless, with all students having an account to be controlled in the canteen with biometric scanners. Student's accounts can be topped up on revaluation machines within the school, or on the internet via the school's website, for students to spend as necessary. The system carries a £5 GBP limit per student per day for the amount of food purchased. The aim is to help parents know that money is being spent on food in the school and not in other shops on the way to or from the school. The school hopes to extend the cashless system in future to pay for school trips, music lessons, the school shop and the library. However, experience has shown the cashless catering system to sometimes fail to recognise people's fingerprints, which in turn causes queues to form at the tills.
[edit] Teaching
According to RateMyTeachers, a student ranking site, mathematics teacher Mr. Mirnateghi stands with the highest ranking; according to the aforementioned website, and various - Ofsted reports the school ranks very well in terms of teaching.
[edit] Notable alumni
- Sir Humphrey Cripps, philanthropist.[citation needed]
- Francis Crick, co-discoverer of the structure of DNA.[9]
- Arthur Marshman, architect and founder of Marshman Warren Taylor.[citation needed]
- Steve Thompson, rugby player for England. Several other pupils also went on to become part of the Northampton Saints' first team. [10]
- Thomas Cartwright, a 17th century bishop. [2]
- James Hervey, an 18th century theologian. [2]
[edit] Curriculum
In response to a recent Ofsted report, criticising the school's absence of Religious Education, the school has introduced the subject to years seven and eight, and planned the introduction into years nine to thirteen[1]. German was offered until 2004 as part of the Foreign Languages curriculum, but has since been phased out.
[edit] GCSE
Ten subjects are usually studied in years ten and eleven to GCSE level. The additional subjects of Physical Education and Citizenship and Guidance are also studied, but such formal exams are not taken in these. The cumpolsory subjects at GCSE are:
- English Language
- English Literature
- Mathematics
- Science
- Design Technology
- Foreign Languages: one of French or Spanish
- Humanities: one of History or Geography
- Expressive Arts: one of Photography, Drama, Ceramics, Dance, Music or Art
- An enhancement subject: one of the remaining foreign language; the remaining humanity; extension science (with this option Biology, Chemistry and Physics are studied separately); Business Studies; or ICT
[edit] A-Level
All of the subjects offered at GCSE can also be taken for A-Level. Ceramics, however, is studied within Art, and Dance within Drama. Science is broken up into Biology, Chemistry, Physics and Science for Public Understanding. The additional subjects of Social Sciences (which include Economics, Psychology, Government and Politics, and Sociology) and Music Technology are offered.
[edit] See also
- Northampton School For Girls, which was set up to provide the same standard of education for the town's girls.
[edit] References
- ^ a b c School Profile 2004/2005. Directgov. Retrieved on September 5, 2006.
- ^ a b c Marius Wilson, John. "Northampton", Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870-72). Vision of Britain. Retrieved on September 5, 2006.
- ^ a b c A Brief History. Northampton School for Boys. Retrieved on September 5, 2006.
- ^ a b Prospective Parents' Evening Speech. Northampton School for Boys. Retrieved on September 5, 2006.
- ^ Brief History. Northampton County Council. Retrieved on September 5, 2006.
- ^ Settling In. Northampton School for Boys. Retrieved on September 5, 2006.
- ^ Gareth A Davies. Winners of the inaugural Awards. The Telegraph. Retrieved on September 5, 2006.
- ^ Northampton School for Boys. National Academy for Gifted and Talented Youth. Retrieved on September 5, 2006.
- ^ Northamptonshire people - Francis Crick. BBC (July 2004). Retrieved on December 24, 2006.
- ^ Lee banks on the team ethic pulling Northampton through. Daily Mail (2006-11-09). Retrieved on December 24, 2006.
[edit] External links
- Northampton School For Boys - official site
- Cripps Hall listing in The Stage
