| Motto | Faith, Justice, Responsibility, Truth, Compassion |
|---|---|
| Established | 1535 |
| Type | Secondary |
| Religion | Church of England |
| Headteacher | Mrs. Margaret Holman |
| Specialism | Technology, Arts, Sports |
| Location | Headlands Kettering Northamptonshire NN15 6BJ England |
| Local authority | Northamptonshire County Council |
| DfE URN | 122095 |
| Ofsted | Reports |
| Students | 1471 |
| Gender | Both |
| Ages | 11–18 |
| Houses | Canterbury, Durham, Ely, Gloucester, Peterborough, Salisbury, Winchester and York |
| Colours | Royal Blue and Gold |
| Website | www.bishopstopford.com |
Bishop Stopford CofE School is an academy school in Kettering, England. It exists primarily to meet the needs of parents who wish their children to be educated by a system which encourages pupils to continue their understanding of life based on the Christian Faith as taught by the Church of England.[1]
The school is located in the Headlands. The Headteacher is Mrs. Margaret Holman, who replaced Mr. James Colquhoun in 2001. The deputy heads are Rob King, Frances Ward, Gerry Kirke, Arthur Harwood and Jill Silverthorne.
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The school was founded in 1535, when the rector of St Peter and St Paul directed one of his curates to "instruct boys of the parish". The Church of England established four more schools in Kettering over the years, including the parochial school which was opened in 1819 in the Horsemarket.
This old town school survived until 1965 when a purpose-built Secondary Modern institution was opened in Headlands as a much needed replacement. The late Robert Stopford, who was Bishop of Peterborough at the time, agreed to the new School being named after him and thereby endorsed the continuity of Church-inspired education in Kettering and throughout the diocese. Bishop Stopford School quickly established itself, soon introduced a Sixth Form and eventually admitted its first full Comprehensive intake in 1976. It has been oversubscribed almost ever since. The School has also benefited from an extensive programme of new buildings and refurbishment over the years to meet the demands of modern-day students and a changing curriculum.
In recent years various additional building projects have been undertaken, in particular major expansion and refurbishment of the design and technology department, library, science department, the subsequent construction of the sixth form centre, Octagon building and sports hall. Subsequently, Bishop Stopford School has been nominated for Midlands School Of The Year four-years running.
In 2008 Bishop Stopford opened its newly re-developed Library. It is named after the late teacher Ian Smith, who lost his battle with cancer in 2007.
The number-on-roll has more than doubled since 1965 to approximately 1450 students, with a Sixth Form of over 350 (one of the biggest in Northamptonshire). Exam results tend to be well above county and national averages.
The school places an emphasis on a Christian ethos of education of school values, the Christian Union and the school Chaplain, Revd Josh Jones, playing an integral role in school life. Running alongside curricular lessons are Eucharists, some of which are of mandatory attendance for all pupils in the school, with more frequent voluntary services held for those who wish to pursue their faith more rigorously.
Since 1965 the number of pupils attending the school has doubled, with approximately 1450 students on the roll. This includes one of the largest sixth forms in the county, with over 350 pupils.
There are generally eight houses in each year group, each with approximately 37 students; students each wear a tie depicting their house colour and coat of arms. In 2009 clip-on ties were made part of the school uniform. These are named after great Church of England cathedrals: Canterbury (white), Durham (light blue), Ely (orange), Gloucester (emerald green) - collectively known as Band A; and Peterborough (purple), Salisbury (grey), Winchester (red) and York (yellow) - collectively known as Band B. This division is based on the alphabetical placing of the house name. In 1997, due to a large intake, an extra house was created for that year group only, named Lincoln (mint green).
The school has a series of residential trips available during key stage three; students have previously visited various countries including Hawaii, Italy, New Zealand, Brittany, Isles of Scilly, South Africa and Austria. In 2006, the school made news worldwide when students were attacked and held hostage during a sports trip to South Africa.[2]
In addition, many subject-related day and residential trips are available throughout the school, including fieldwork for subjects such as geography and geology.
Bishop Stopford is a DfES Technology College and LEA Faith School. The school is also an Anglican Foundation in the Diocese of Peterborough, as well as being a member of the Woodard Corporation; a collection of Church of England Schools. Bishop Stopford was awarded the School Achievement Award in 2002 and the Artsmark Silver. An Artsmark is awarded to schools who show a commitment to the full range of arts - music, dance, drama and art & design. It is a national award scheme and is managed by Arts Council England. The school also has the Sportsmark Status. A Sportsmark is awarded to schools who show a commitment to the full range of Sport, managed by Sport England. The school also achieved ICT Mark status in 2008.
The school's Community Sports Centre opened in 1999, funded by Sport England, the Foundation for Sport and the Arts and donations from associates of the school. In addition to use for physical education lessons, the facility is intended for use by the wider community. A community Sports Development Officer works in tandem with the school to encourage participation in sport within the community, and promote an ethos of "Sport for All". In particular the effort focuses on eight target sports; badminton, tennis, netball, trampolining, cricket basketball, football and table tennis. The centre is used by local sports clubs, an aerobics group, and hosts holiday sport and art activities. Mr Paul Rice manages the School Sports Centre along with a team of Sixth Formers
Bishop Stopford School has always lead the way in helping raise money for many different charities around the world. Bishop Stopford School has its own charity group led by a group of students from all years. The group organises all the non-uniform days to raise money for the school chosen charities.
Charity Raisers (CR) was the school's charity group from 2008 - 2010 led by Gary L Johnson. The groups main focus was “getting the whole school, working together to raise money for charity in new and fun exciting ways. CR main money raisers were from its live charity shows, starring staff and students. All money raised from these events went strait to the chosen charity at the time including RND, Children in Need, Donna's Dream House Blackpool, Povertee Day and Trusts set up in memory for past students.
Past CR Productions include:
Charity Raisers raised over £8,000 in the two years at Bishop Stopford and they whole team would like to thank everyone who have supported them over the two years.
The school had its first student attain a place on the prestigious Prime Minister's Global Fellowship programme in 2009.[3]
Bishop Stopford has several school councils in which its students represent the views of their peers. There are individual councils for each year group from Year 7 to Year 11 and a school council which has representatives from each year group.
The Sixthform regularly holds mock elections, in the last one in 2010 the Conservative Party, the Labour Party, the Green Party took part as well as the Liberal Democrats who won the poll.
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