St Helena School, Essex

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St Helena Secondary School is a mixed comprehensive school in Colchester, Essex. The headmaster is Kevin Prince. The school is situtated on Sheepen Road opposite Colchester Institute and is of easy reach from both Colchester North and Colchester Town train stations. It is a 10 minute walk from the town centre.

[edit] History of St Helena School

St Helena Secondary School was opened on Friday 28th January 1938 by Kenneth Lindsay, Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Education in Neville Chamberlain's National Government. In those days, education in Colchester was controlled by the Colchester Borough Education Committee, chaired by Alderman Alex Blaxill, the Mayor. Originally, the school comprised two 'schools'; boys with Mr H Hepburn Reid as Headmaster; and girls with Miss M Lucas as Headmistress. There were some shared facilities, but otherwise there was strictly enforced segregation!

The school took its name from Colchester's patron saint. According to the Chronicles of Geoffrey of Monmouth written in the twelfth century, St Helena was the daughter of Coel, a legendary King of Colchester in the third century. She was the mother of Constantine the Great, the first Christian to rule the Roman Empire.

The site of the school, covering 17 acres, is an historic one, and in the 1930s was the subject of extensive excavation by the Colchester Excavation Committee and the London Society of Antiquaries. This research established that part of the field was the site of a Gallo-Roman Temple erected in about 90 AD and remained in use until about 400 AD. The site still attracts interest from archaeologists.

The original segregated arrangement remained until 1961, when, under Mr Hepburn Reid's stewardship, the school became a co-education Secondary Modern. After twenty-five years as Head of the School, Mr Hepburn Reid retired in 1963 to be succeeded by Mr H S Boyle. When the school was reorganised again in 1977 becoming an 11-18 mixed Comprehensive School, Mr J D McIlwain became Headteacher. By this time the school had become part of the Essex Local Education Authority. It was the Essex LEA which implemented secondary reorganisation in Colchester in 1987, converting St Helena School to an 11-16 mixed comprehensive, and opening a Sixth Form College on North Hill in the town centre.

The school celebrated its Golden Jubilee in January 1988, and was honoured by the presence of the Rt. Hon. Kenneth Baker, the Secretary of State for Education and Science. On the Commemoration Day, (28 January 1988), he was accompanied by Kenneth Lindsay, making his first return to the school since he had opened it in 1938.

[edit] School buildings

In terms of buildings, the original '1938' school still stands, a testimony to the skill of the architect and builders. Of course, over the years it has enjoyed added facilities and minor structural maintenance. Two major building programmes have brought added capacity , so that an original capacity of 720 has now increased to over 1000. In 1976 a new block was constructed comprising general classrooms, science laboratories and art rooms. In 1991 a Sports Hall and technology rooms were built. The school which emerged as a Grant Maintained School in September 1993 has a fine blend of old and new, of traditional and modern. It had a glowing reputation in 1938, and despite the ups and downs of the intervening 65 years, its reputation within Colchester and North-East Essex is a very good one. Its ethos and philosophy are true to the patron saint of the town who gave her name to the school.

As a postscript, in those days of high building costs, it is interesting to note that the original cost of the school, (land, buildings and fittings), was £46,799. You got a lot for your money in those days!!

[edit] Sports day

On the 19th of July 2007, St Helena School sports day took place, in which Temple house came first. Abbey House were second.

Previous Winners

2004 Castle House (Abbey second)

2005 Abbey House (Castle second)

2006 Castle House (Abbey second)

2007 Temple House (Abbey second)

[edit] Houses

St Helena runs a House system. Each house consists of 10 tutor groups with 5 students from each Year group in it.

Originally the four houses were:

• Abbey
• Castle
• Gate (now Temple)
• Priory

The original house system was disbanded over 20 years ago, but was reintroduced in January 2004. The houses, apart from one, kept their original names:

• Abbey-Red ties
• Castle-blue ties
• Priory-yellow ties
• Temple-green ties

The houses are named after the Roman areas of Colchester.

[edit] Specialist school status

In 2005, St Helena became a Specialist Media Arts College under the Governments Specialist School programme. The school has built a new media centre which houses a drama studio, media computer suite and a television / radio studio. Large numbers of pupils opt to study Media at Key Stage 4. Other subjects use the centre for media-related activities. Year 9 pupils make a regional radio programme in PSME, Year 8 English pupils make a television documentary and Year 7 pupils do stop-animation and green-screen projects in Art. The centre is also used for a huge range of media-related extra-curricular activities

While undertaking the building of the new Media Arts centre, several Roman artefacts were found.

[edit] Day structure

The current day structure is as follows:

[edit] Notable alumni

• Dominic King - Roadwalker
• Jamie Moule - Golfer

[edit] External links

• St Helena School Website
• OFSTED Report
• Information about Specialist School Status