Hounsdown School
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Hounsdown School- a Science College is a secondary school in Totton, near Southampton, Hampshire, England. The Headteacher is Miss D Nightingale. The School is housed in recently renovated 1960s buildings, and new specialist blocks built since the millennium. The school has 1,214 pupils, spanning ages 11 to 16. In 2005 the School received "outstanding" recognition from OFSTED. From September 2008, the school will operate a House system.
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[edit] Science College Status
Hounsdown gained Science College status in 2005, and the school changed its official title to 'Hounsdown School- A Science College'. With the new title came a new logo, new uniform and a £500,000 government grant to be spent on science equipment. However, rather than spending all the money on science equipment, it was decided to buy a new sports hall.[citation needed]
[edit] Structure of the school
Pupils begin at the school in year 7, most having attended one of the 3 feeder primary schools - Abbotswood Junior School (majority), Bartley Junior School or Foxhills Junior School. Pupils study the Key Stage 3 syllabus until the SATs, which, at Hounsdown, take place at the end of year 8, instead of at the end of year 9 as happens in most other schools in England and Wales. In Year 9, pupils begin GCSE courses in some subjects, whilst in others, they work on consolidating their learning from primary school and KS3. GCSE courses start for all subjects in year 10, with the examinations held during the summer term of year 11. Pupils can then enter jobs, or continue their education at 6th Form College.
[edit] Key Stage Three
All pupils in Years 7 and 8 study at Key Stage 3 and are examined in English, Maths and Science SATs exams at the end of Year 8.
[edit] Key Stage Four
Unlike most schools, pupils at Hounsdown start studying for their GCSEs in Year 9, rather than Year 10. The pupils choose their GCSE options at the start of Year 9, but they can be changed at the start of Year 10 if the pupil no longer wishes to take a particular course.
[edit] Governors
The Chair of the Governors is currently Mrs C Bega.
[edit] The Resources Centre
The Resources Centre provides a wide range of materials for pupils to use for their coursework in different subjects. The Centre includes a library which is administered with a computer system using technology based on a mathematical template of each child’s fingerprint.
In addition to books, the library houses music CDs, audio tapes, internet linked computers which include word processing facilities, as well as photocopying and document production facilities.
The Resources Centre is involved the Hampshire Book Award and pupils regularly review new books for the School and Schools Library Service.
The "Resource Centre Manager" is Mrs Bancroft, a librarian who teaches Information Literacy lessons to year groups 7, 8 and 9.
[edit] Sports facilities
Hounsdown School has a swimming pool, a sports hall, tennis courts, a rugby pitch, a gym, a dance studio and a cricket pitch, The sports hall and the swimming pool of which are available for pre-booked community purposes outside of school hours and during holidays.
[edit] Hounsdown Eco-School status
Hounsdown has an Eco-School system that consists of 72 Representatives (2 from each tutor group). There is an Eco-School club that runs every Monday at lunchtime which is lead by the science department's Community Links class teacher and is run mainly by the Lead Team that consists of Year 10 and 11 pupils. The school has won the Bronze and silver awards and is now looking to go for the greenleaf award.
