Notre Dame High School (Sheffield)
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| Notre Dame Catholic High School | |
| Motto | Ah! Qu'il est bon est le bon dieu French: "Ah! How good is the Good God" |
| Established | 1855 |
| Religious affiliation | Roman Catholic |
| Headteacher | Mr Jim Conway |
| Founder | Sisters of Notre Dame |
| Specialism | Technology College |
| Location | Fulwood Road Sheffield South Yorkshire S10 3BT England |
| LEA | Sheffield |
| Ofsted number | 107159 |
| Students | 1230 |
| Gender | Coeducational |
| Ages | 11 to 18 |
| Website | http://www.notredame-high.co.uk/ |
| Coordinates: | |
Notre Dame High School in Sheffield, England, was established in the 1850s by the Sisters of Notre Dame, a religious order. The school has a Catholic ethos and caters for children from all over the city and further afield. Oakbrook House, which was owned by famous Sheffield Steel baron Mark Firth and part of the school since 1919, is now the school's Sixth Form block and has been a listed building since 1973.[1]
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[edit] History
The Sisters of Notre Dame set up the school in 1855 in central Sheffield, moving to a site on Cavendish Street in 1862.
in 1919, the Sisters moved their living quarters from Cavendish Street to Oakbrook House, a Victorian mansion in Ranmoor built in 1860 for Mark Firth, a steel manufacturer who became Lord Mayor of Sheffield and Master Cutler.
In 1935, another secondary school was built in the grounds of Oakbrook House; in 1948 the two schools amalgamated to form a girls' grammar school, Notre Dame, on two sites.
The grammar school was converted in 1976 to a mixed comprehensive, still on two sites. The school finally consolidated onto the Oakbrook site in 1988 when the Cavendish site was closed and subsequently demolished.[2]
Oakbrook House is now the VI form centre. The main school building is a 1930s building with many architectural features including a main hall, known as the salle, with a high vaulted ceiling. As the school has expanded other buildings have been built that complement the architecture of the site making use of local sandstone or red pantiles depending where the building fits in. The Hallam City Learning Centre which is hosted on site has distinct modern architectural merit and receives a mention in the Pevsner guide to the architecture of Sheffield.
[edit] Achievements
As a school it is high achieving - OFSTED described the school as "outstanding in every way" in 2005.[3] It has been a Specialist Technology College since 1995 and was awarded a second specialism in 2005 in Humanities. ICT has been a particular strength; the school won a national award at the Specialist Schools and Academies Conference in 2005 and again in 2007 in recognition of this work. A new environmental learning centre web site is now live and an eco-classroom is planned by the adjoining Hallam CLC in the school woodland area which will make use of the latest technology to enhance learning and set an example for sustainable buildings as part of the school approach to the sustainable schools strategy.
[edit] Academic
The GCSE (A*-C) rate in 2005 was well above average for Sheffield with 74% of 5th Year (Y11) students attaining these grades, compared with Sheffield's average of 46.8%.[4] In 2005, there were 274 in sixth from, 132 of whom took A-levels, with an average point score of 84.70, compared with the average of 79.9 in England overall.[5]
[edit] Students
The students, aged 11-18, are all from full ability backgrounds. The majority of the students are Roman Catholic, with only a small proportion (a quota of 30 per yeargroup) being of other faiths. The traditional bottle green jumper, tie and green polo shirts of the Notre Dame uniform will be familiar to many Sheffielders.
The school has four houses: Picardy, Compiegne, St Julie, Cuvilly, all having roots in places associated with St Julie Billart, the founder of the Order of Notre Dame.
Students are encouraged to take a lead in the school and there are annual elections (usually in November) for the captaincy of the four houses, and also to select the student year council. This year the school makes a great leap forward, running these elections electronically on its Intranet network.
[edit] Ethos and traditions
The school continues with its strong Catholic ethos and offers excellent opportunities for students and staff to work together to prepare for various pastoral occasions, for example, the whole school Mass at the end of the year, and for the 5th year leaver's mass during May.
The school is known for its Dramatic performances through Musicals (performed by the students) and also the Staff Pantomime. Drama Musicals are usually organised twice a year, one for an older age group in December and a musical (traditionally a collection of pieces, e.g. the summer 2005 performance "It's a Sin" featured many songs and scripts referring to the seven deadly sins).
The school is known for its charitable work and often collections are organised to raise monies for campaigns such as CAFOD as well as some more light-hearted activities that take place on behalf of charities such as FOND (Friends of Notre Dame) and Children In Need.
[edit] Notre Dame Virtual School
The school collaborates with Notre Dame schools all over the world through the Global Virtual Learning Environment 'Notre Dame Virtual School' (NDVS).
