| Motto | Fidelis |
|---|---|
| Established | 1907 |
| Type | Foundation school |
| Headteacher | Mr K Rowe |
| Specialism | Arts |
| Location | Royal Lane Hillingdon Greater London UB8 3RF England |
| Local authority | Hillingdon |
| DfE URN | 102440 |
| Ofsted | Reports |
| Students | 1262 |
| Gender | Coeducation |
| Website | Bishopshalt School |
Bishopshalt School is a comprehensive secondary school based in the London Borough of Hillingdon. It has been awarded Arts College status.
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The current building within which the school moved to was built in 1858.[1] The school dates back to 1907, when it was first established as Uxbridge County School in the Greenway.[2] It was designed by the architect H. G. Crothall for the Middlesex Education Committee.[3] The Middlesex Education Committe purchased the present site for £6900 in 1925 and in 1928 the school moved there.[2] The original buildings in the Greenway became part of Uxbridge High School.[4] On 6 October the school was officially opened by Sir John Reith, the Director-General of the BBC.[5]
Walter Wilks Sawtell was headmaster of the school from its founding in 1907 until 1929. He remained in the position to oversee the move of the school, before resigning to become rector of Madehurst in Sussex.[6] The school name was changed to Bishophalt School in 1930 to acknowledge it was no longer in Uxbridge.[7] It is derived from the history of the site as for 500 years, the Bishops of Worcester rested at the grounds of the school on their journeys to and from London.
A Cierva C.19 Mk.3 Autogiro landed on the school field in July 1931, piloted by Cierva Autogiro Company, Ltd., Flying Manager Reginald A.C. Brie, a former pupil of the school.[8] During the Second World War, the school was used for rallies and inspections of the local Girls' Training Corps.[9] Randall's of Uxbridge, a local family-owned department store, donated three oak chairs to the school in October 1949.[10] In 1969, the school's air raid shelters were removed and replaced by a car park. The shelters had been built in 1939 but remained due to the threat of the Cold War.[11]
The London Borough of Hillingdon held council meetings in the school hall while the Civic Centre in Uxbridge was under construction.[12] In 1977 the school changed from a grammar school to a comprehensive.[13]
An episode of Jeeves and Wooster starring Hugh Laurie and Stephen Fry was filmed in the school grounds.[14] The school has also been used as a filming location for the film adaptation of Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging, directed by Gurinder Chadha.
The current Headmaster is Mr K Rowe, who started in September 2011. The former headmaster, David Bocock, started in 2004;,[15] he was a previous deputy head. He succeeded Vince Hodkinson as Headmaster, who became Headmaster in 1996. The Headmaster prior to Vince Hodkinson was Dr Leslie Bather, from 1970-1996.[15]
Bishopshalt School is a very capable school and specialises in performing arts. It has its own large playing fields and an ornamental garden specifically for the 6th form students. It always achieves high scoring GCSEs, SATs and A-levels making it a very in demand school.
Bishopshalt has six 'houses', named after bishops that rested at the old mansion: Cranmer, De Salis, Evesham, Manor, Stanley and Worcester. The school motto is Fidelis, meaning Faithful.
Bishopshalt School runs a dramatic society named Bishopshalt Operatic and Dramatic Society, known as BODS. The company is open to students at the school from the tenth to the thirteenth academic year. They perform annually during December.
It gets the third highest A level results in Hillingdon and above average results at GCSE.