| Motto | Nisi Dominus Aedificaverit[1] |
|---|---|
| Established | 1954 |
| Type | Comprehensive, foundation school |
| Headmaster | Dr Stephen Burton |
| Chair of Governors | Dr Edgar Anderson |
| Specialisms | Performing Arts, Science |
| Location | Scots Hill Croxley Green, Rickmansworth Hertfordshire WD3 3AQ England |
| Local authority | Hertfordshire County Council |
| DfE URN | 117572 |
| Ofsted | Reports |
| Staff | 80 approx. |
| Students | 1277 |
| Gender | Mixed |
| Ages | 11–18 |
| Colours | green |
| Former name | Rickmansworth Grammar School |
| Website | Official site |
Rickmansworth School (colloquially Ricky School), formerly Rickmansworth Grammar School, is a coeducational secondary school of around 1,200 pupils, situated in Croxley Green (Hertfordshire), near Rickmansworth.
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Rickmansworth is a day secondary school, providing education to boys and girls aged 11 to 18 of all academic abilities, although 25% of the 11+ intake are selected using tests in mathematics and verbal reasoning, with a further 10% selected for aptitude in music. Most children are admitted at 11 and there is an additional intake at 16 into the Sixth Form.[2]
As a foundation school, Rickmansworth is self-governing and the governing body is responsible for the employment of staff, the admission of pupils, and all aspects of the organisation and running of the School.
The school stands in twenty-six acres of Metropolitan Green Belt woodland situated in a residential area well served by road and rail, on the south side of the A412 near the Royal Masonic School. The M25 motorway is five minutes distant by car, and Croxley and Rickmansworth Metropolitan line stations are ten and fifteen minute walks respectively. Watford Junction station (National Rail to London Euston) is fifteen to twenty minutes by car.
Rickmansworth School, the fifth grammar school to be built after the war, was formally opened on 20 June 1956 by Countess Mountbatten of Burma, the first students having arrived in September 1954. In the mid-1960s it had around 950 boys and girls, and was situated in eighteen acres of land.
It was not until September 1969, that the student body came to be socially representative of the local communities. The School was maintained as a county school by Hertfordshire local education authority until September 1990 when it was amongst the first schools in the country to take advantage of the opportunity offered by grant-maintained status to become a self governing school.[3]
In 2003 the school was designated as a specialist Arts College, with a major focus on performing arts, and in April 2008 was awarded a second specialism as in Science.[4]
From 2007, the school house system was reorganised. Formerly students were placed randomly in houses named after ex-teachers and later in houses named after local rivers: the Chess, Colne and Gade. Previous conventions had seen the houses named Anson, Carey, Caius, and Penn and a system with houses named after ancient civilisations : Romans, Spartans, Athenians and Trojans.
Now each of the seven forms in each year group belongs to a different house, each with a different colour which students are encouraged to wear on Sports Day. Houses are named after famous performers and artists in line with the school's performing arts status. The houses are Hockney, Ashton, McCartney, Elgar, Blake, Turner and Olivier.
On 22 May 2007, the school's 7th, 8th and 9th years participated in a Flora advertising campaign whereby a photo of the three year groups was taken to be displayed on approximately 600 billboards around the UK, with text beneath likely saying "Two thirds of them will end up with raised cholesterol."
The school appeared in an episode of the BBC comedy That Mitchell and Webb Look in the sketch "The Surprising Adventures of Sir Digby Chicken-Caesar", in which the heroic duo break into the house of an elderly woman, tie her up and pretend that they are visiting "Dear Auntie Marigold". They steal her television and are pursued. Ginger is beaten up. They break into Rickmansworth School and steal scientific equipment in order to make crystal meth.
Its standing in comparison with the national average is very favourable at GCSE level and A Level.[5] Its results at GCSE and A level are similar to a grammar school.