Henrietta Barnett School
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Henrietta Barnett School | |
Established | 1911 |
Type | Voluntary aided Grammar school |
Head Teacher | Oliver Blond |
Chair of Governors | Stuart Lester |
Founder | Dame Henrietta Barnett |
Specialisms | Music and English |
Location | Central Square Hampstead Garden Suburb London NW11 7BN England |
LEA | Barnet |
Ofsted number | 101354 |
Students | c. 680 |
Gender | Girls |
Ages | 11 to 18 |
Publication | Acorn BCorn |
Website | www.hbschool.org.uk |
Coordinates: |
The Henrietta Barnett School is a voluntary-aided grammar school for girls in Hampstead Garden Suburb in London, in fact one of the few grammar schools allowed to remain.
Contents |
[edit] History
It was founded in 1911[1] by Dame Henrietta Barnett for the education of girls. The school was judged by The Times newspaper to rank 1st and 2nd best achieving state school according to GCSE[2] and A Level[3] results, respectively.
The school's origins lie in the desire of Henrietta Barnett to improve girls' education, in her time at a low level. She believed in a society where poor girls had access to the same levels of education as those girls in more privileged sections of society.
[edit] Present Day
The school's headteacher is currently Mr Blond and their deputy head is Ms Watts.
It has two school newspapers, both run by dedicated students: the Acorn and the alternative Sixth-Form-run magazine, the BCorn. The BCorn sells at 35p to both students and staff, all proceeds go to charity, and its circulation last year reached 170 copies. The new B-corn editors are Roxy Cook, Harry Potter, Chelsea Milsom and Nushy Rose. They are on issue number two.
On 3rd July 2007, the school was awarded Music College Status with English as a second subject, by the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust.
In September 2007, the school opened with a new multi-gym containing a variety of different exercise machines as well as a dance studio. In addition, the Southway hut was converted into the Acorn Cafe and a new PSHE hut was placed.
However, still under construction is the school pond (read: swamp).
[edit] Structure
From Years Seven to Eleven, there are ninety-three girls in each year. The school has two buildings: Bigwood House and the Main Building. Bigwood is the home of Key Stage Three and the Main Building is the base for the rest of the school (Key Stages Four and Five). There is also a secret invisible building situated inbetween the two which can only be accessed if one has the password. Much like the system operated at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
[edit] Speakers
The school often invites famous speakers to talk to the students about a range of issues from current affairs to Middle Eastern zoology. Recent speakers include:
- John Major
- Suzie Quattro
- Jane Austen - now, that was a surprise!
- Fidel Castro
- Lucian Freud
- Barry White (1999)
- Jeffrey Archer
- Dumbledore
The national curriculum dictates that the PSHE syllabus must include a weeks study of eating disorders. For this the school was very lucky to have *John Prescott come in.
[edit] Notable Alumnae
- Michelle Brunner - bridge player[4]
- Helena Cronin - philosopher[5]
- Vanessa Feltz - TV personality
- Dawn French
- Patricia Finney - author[6]
- Anya Lahiri - actress, model and singer
- Katie Melua - singer
- Alice Sinclair - model
- Jo Ankier - professional athlete
- Robin Driscoll - James fan
- Cornelius Fudge- Minister of Magic
- Arthur Weasley- completely useless