Fearnhill School
Encyclopedia
Fearnhill School is a comprehensive school
located in Letchworth
, Hertfordshire
, England
.
and a Maths and Computing College. It educates over 1,000 students and is one of a minority of high school
s with a sixth form
. The school is part of the Letchworth Sixth Form Consortium with The Highfield School
.
It is situated in the west of Letchworth, just north of the railway line
to Baldock and Cambridge. It is on the Icknield Way
.
results announced in August 2005 were the best since 2001. 59% of the students achieved A*-C grades. In 2009, it received GCSE results slightly under the England average, and A-level results well under average.
Ofsted graded it as failing in 2011
Comprehensive school
A comprehensive school is a state school that does not select its intake on the basis of academic achievement or aptitude. This is in contrast to the selective school system, where admission is restricted on the basis of a selection criteria. The term is commonly used in relation to the United...
located in Letchworth
Letchworth
Letchworth Garden City, commonly known as Letchworth, is a town and civil parish in Hertfordshire, England. The town's name is taken from one of the three villages it surrounded - all of which featured in the Domesday Book. The land used was first purchased by Quakers who had intended to farm the...
, Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England. The county town is Hertford.The county is one of the Home Counties and lies inland, bordered by Greater London , Buckinghamshire , Bedfordshire , Cambridgeshire and...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
.
Admissions
It is a specialist schoolSpecialist school
The specialist schools programme was a UK government initiative which encouraged secondary schools in England to specialise in certain areas of the curriculum to boost achievement. The Specialist Schools and Academies Trust was responsible for the delivery of the programme...
and a Maths and Computing College. It educates over 1,000 students and is one of a minority of high school
High school
High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....
s with a sixth form
Sixth form
In the education systems of England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, and of Commonwealth West Indian countries such as Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago, Belize, Jamaica and Malta, the sixth form is the final two years of secondary education, where students, usually sixteen to eighteen years of age,...
. The school is part of the Letchworth Sixth Form Consortium with The Highfield School
The Highfield School
The Highfield School is a specialist Science College for secondary education in Letchworth, Hertfordshire. The Highfield School teaches students aged 11-18 from Year 7 through to Year 13. The school is part of the Letchworth Sixth Form Consortium with Fearnhill School...
.
It is situated in the west of Letchworth, just north of the railway line
Great Northern Route
The Great Northern Route is the name of the suburban rail services run on the southern end of Britain's East Coast Main Line and associated branches. Services operate to or from and in London...
to Baldock and Cambridge. It is on the Icknield Way
Icknield Way
The Icknield Way is an ancient trackway in southern England. It follows the chalk escarpment that includes the Berkshire Downs and Chiltern Hills.-Background:...
.
History
The school's origins lie in Letchworth Grammar School, which moved to the site in the early 1970s.Academic standards
The school is notable for leading the way in personal finance education. The GCSEGeneral Certificate of Secondary Education
The General Certificate of Secondary Education is an academic qualification awarded in a specified subject, generally taken in a number of subjects by students aged 14–16 in secondary education in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and is equivalent to a Level 2 and Level 1 in Key Skills...
results announced in August 2005 were the best since 2001. 59% of the students achieved A*-C grades. In 2009, it received GCSE results slightly under the England average, and A-level results well under average.
Ofsted graded it as failing in 2011
Sport
Fearnhill has very successful athletics teams. In April 2008, 2009 and 2010 the school won the combined boys' and girls' North Herts schools' athletics finals. This follows on from being the overall winners at the North Herts Schools' District Athletics Championships in June 2005 & 2006.Alumni
- Dave KitsonDave KitsonDavid Barry "Dave" Kitson is an English footballer who plays for Football League Championship side Portsmouth as a striker.-Early life:...
, Premier League footballer - Victoria PendletonVictoria PendletonVictoria Louise Pendleton MBE is a British Olympic and world champion track cyclist. Her father, Max, was also a British national grass-track cycling champion.-Early years:...
, OlympicOlympic GamesThe Olympic Games is a major international event featuring summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition where more than 200 nations participate...
and world champion track cyclist - Simon WestSimon WestSimon West is an English-born film director. West started as a film editor with the BBC, then directed documentaries and commercials including many for Budweiser...
, film director - Claire RushbrookClaire RushbrookClaire Rushbrook is an English film and television actress best known for her lead and support roles in various episodic television series.-Background:...
, TV actress - Nicky HuntNicky Hunt (archer)Nicola Jane Hunt known as Nicky Hunt is a British archer. She competes in compound archery and in 2010 reached 1st position in the FITA world rankings...
, Double Commonwealth Gold medallist for Archery 2010 - Ruth Goodman (historian)Ruth Goodman (historian)Ruth Goodman is a British freelance historian of the Early Modern period specialising in offering advice to museums and heritage attractions. She is a specialist in British social history and is a presenter of the BBC educational documentary series Victorian Farm, Victorian Pharmacy and Edwardian...
, Social historian and TV personality
Letchworth Grammar School
- Prof William BonfieldWilliam BonfieldWilliam Bonfield CBE, FREng, FRS is a British material scientist, and Emeritus Professor of Medical Materials in the University of Cambridge.-Life:He earned a BSc with First Class Honours, and PhD at Imperial College, London....
CBE, Professor of Medical MaterialsDepartment of Materials Science and Metallurgy, University of CambridgeThe Department of Materials Science and Metallurgy is a large research and teaching division of the University of Cambridge. It is located in an Arup building at the New Museums site in the city of Cambridge.-Research Areas:* Biomaterials...
from 2000-5 at the University of CambridgeUniversity of CambridgeThe University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
, who founded the Journal of Materials Science: Materials in MedicineJournal of Materials Science: Materials in MedicineThe Journal of Materials Science: Materials in Medicine is a peer-reviewed scientific journal published by Springer Science+Business Media. It is a companion to the Journal of Materials Science focusing specifically on materials in medicine and dentistry. The journal is an offshoot of the Journal... - Prof Meir M. Lehman, known for Lehman's laws of software evolutionLehman's laws of software evolutionIn Software engineering, the Laws of Software Evolution refer to a series of laws that Lehman and Belady formulated starting in 1974 with respect to Software evolution....
, and Professor of Computing Science from 1972-84 at Imperial College LondonImperial College LondonImperial College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom, specialising in science, engineering, business and medicine... - John Ransford, Chief Executive since 2009 of the Local Government AssociationLocal Government AssociationThe Local Government Association is a voluntary lobbying organisation acting as the voice of the local government sector in England and Wales, which seeks to be an authoritative and effective advocate on its behalf....
, and of North YorkshireNorth YorkshireNorth Yorkshire is a non-metropolitan or shire county located in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England, and a ceremonial county primarily in that region but partly in North East England. Created in 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972 it covers an area of , making it the largest...
County Council from 1994-9 - Richard WiggsRichard WiggsRichard Wiggs , founder of The Anti-Concorde Project, challenged the idea of supersonic passenger transport, and helped bring about a re-evaluation of Concorde's long-term commercial future.-Introduction:...
, founder of the Anti-Concorde Project
Former teachers
- Richard Parry, Director of Education since 1998 for Swansea Council (Head of Maths from 1983-8)
- Ian Roberts, England Athletics Team Coach (Head of Physical Education from 1995 - 2003)
- Chris Husbands, Director, Institute of Education since 2011 (head of Humanities 1988-1990)