Icknield High School

Icknield High School is a state funded, non-denominational secondary academy school catering for pupils aged between 11 and 16 in Luton, Bedfordshire. Located near the A6 on Riddy Lane, the school is considered to be one of the best in Luton, with top results in KS3 and GCSE.^[1] The current headteacher is Mr Chris Dean.

Courses

The school has a specialism in Art . There are 19 courses to offer at GCSE level and the school has an extensive array of courses which offer 6 different art qualifications. These include:

• 3D
• Digital Imaging [Photography]
• Textiles
• General Art & Design
• Graphic Design [Graphic Communication]
• Applied Art
• Film [Fine art]

School Days

During 1998, Icknield High School was the subject of an ITV documentary titled School Days. The six-part series took in day-to-day activities around the school, in addition to focusing on a handful of pupils threatened with expulsion from the school.

Academy Status

It was announced in late March 2011 that the governing body at the school have taken the contentious decision to fully investigate and explore the possibility of Icknield High School converting to an academy, after much objection from parents and external bodies who felt that the school would operate better under its then current structure. The school formally gained academy status on 1 December 2011.

Uniform

The five years are each represented in the school's uniform by coloured bands on the ties; as of September 2013, these are Red(Year 7),Green(Year 8), Silver(Year 9), Yellow(Year 10), and Blue(Year 11), for years 7 through 11 respectively. The uniform also includes a blazer with an additional jumper, which is not compulsory. Prefects are given ties which include all five of these colours. The senior prefects are in turn given a band of a certain year, to whom they have to help; the bands are then sewed on to the cuffs of the blazer. The Head of Student Voice (who leads the school council) receives stitchings to the cuffs of the blazer, showing each year colour that belongs to the school.Current headteacher is Mr Dean

Hijab controversy

In 2004, the school's policy on uniforms, which banned hijabs, came up for review by the school governors after Luton Borough Council pointed out that the ban might breach the Race Relations Act. The issue was quickly resolved and a black Hijab is now an optional item of school uniform.^[2]

Prom

Every year the school holds an annual prom in which students wear suits and dresses and come in super cars and limos to celebrate the end at their time of Icknield this is however only for year 11's as it's their last year. They usually end the day with an after party usually in London and organized by students themselves.

Notable former pupils

• Leon Barnett, a footballer currently playing for West Bromwich Albion F.C., attended the school from 1997 to 2002, and was a prefect
• Gavin Shuker Member of Parliament for Luton South, elected in May 2010.
• Jason Wood, comedian
• Steve Dillon 1973-78, comic book artist
• ricky hatton 1994- 1995-he got kicked out

References

• "Space for Art Case Study: Icknield High School" (Microsoft Word). Artworks Creative Spaces (The Clore Duffield Foundation). 2000-05-16.  — An account of the £240,000 project in 1999 to build a new art block at the school.
• "Icknield High School". Sustainable food procurement initiative : Case Studies (DEFRA). 2004-05-21.  — A case study of the changes to the school's lunch menu instituted by David Lucas, the school's chef, who was previously a chef at the Savoy Hotel, London. It is not unusual to see chips, mussels, or pheasant on the menu.
• "Broadband enabled video conferencing". ICT in Schools (TeacherNet, Department for Education and Skills). 2000-05-16.  — A case study of the introduction of broadband technology to the school.
• Richard Hancock (2003-11-07). "Icknield High School" (PDF). Ofsted.  OFSTED Report.

External links

• Official school web site