Haydon School
Encyclopedia
Haydon School is a comprehensive
foundation school
located in Hillingdon
, west London
, England. The school serves approximately 2000 students aged 11–18. In November 2011, the school was a victim of arson by a Year 9 student.
and St Mary's Grammar School For Girls and was named after a local family. It is a designated language college teaching students and the local community a range of modern foreign languages. Students entering the school in year seven select two languages, either French & Italian or Spanish & German. The school also offers Latin, Mandarin Chinese, and Japanese to gifted students. Students can also attend Russian, Arabic, Portuguese and Greek classes after school or at lunchtime.
, one of the largest sixth forms in the country. It offers over 40 advanced level courses all on one site prospectus. According to Ofsted, Haydon is one of the country's best sixth forms, with successful Oxbridge, UCL and King's College applicants. In Year 13, students can run for Head Girl and Head Boy. Every student can vote for a male and female candidate to represent their student body.
Each house is named after space craft, including three space shuttles; there was an unfortunate introduction to the house system, since the Space Shuttle Challenger
disintegrated, and one of the crew members was a teacher; despite the unintended connotations, the name stood.
There are three forms in each house per year. A form is identified by the year, the house and a number. This last number is either 1, 2, 3 or 4. (Though one year will never have all four forms, most have 2, and some have 3). Odd numbers represent forms that study French and Italian, whilst even numbers represent forms studying German and Spanish. For example would be a year nine form, in Pioneer with students studying French and Italian.
The houses all have different colours. Challenger are red, Discovery are yellow, Pioneer are purple, Voyager are green and Endeavour are blue. Since 2004 students have worn ties in their house colours indicating which house they are in, and since 2009 students have their conduct cards coloured according to their house. Each year when the school's Sports Day takes place, students are not required to wear uniform, but are encouraged to wear clothes matching their house colour. For five years in a row Challenger house have been winning sports day.
The headteacher of the school, Mr Robson said in a letter to parents on the Haydon Website: "Can I emphasise that Academy or not, the funding situation for the foreseeable future means there are tough times ahead and one example of this came to my attention last week. Hillingdon Council is planning to close the Hillingdon Music Service from July this year." He went on to say: "The Hillingdon Music Service provide subsidised instrumental lessons for over 100 students at Haydon School, loan instruments to a large proportion of the students and run a wide selection of ensembles to further develop music education and performance amongst the young people of Hillingdon. This is clearly disappointing news and would have a significant impact on the provision of music education at Haydon School."
Haydon School became an Academy on April 1, 2011.
The art studios on the top floors are full of natural bees' nests with views of the surrounding wildlife and offer the space that the Art Department need to expand their curriculum and the experiences they offer pupils. Haydon offers amazing opportunities for adults. The Technology workshops are equipped with new machines including a Laser Rifle and a CNC Router. The new machines and rooms provide the department with the facilities it needs to deliver exciting and inspiring projects that reflect recent advances in technology and design in recent years. This work cost over £5,000,000 and is now finished. Some of the older technology classrooms have also been revamped and made to look like the new ones. The building is named after the old headmaster of Haydon School, Mr Woods. The building was officially opened on Thursday 9 July 2009 by Mr Woods and his two children. Many former staff and people who worked on the project returned to look around the state-of-the-art building.
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...
foundation school
Foundation school
In England and Wales, a foundation school is a state-funded school in which the governing body has greater freedom in the running of the school than in community schools....
located in Hillingdon
Hillingdon
Hillingdon is a suburban area within the London Borough of Hillingdon, situated 14.2 miles west of Charing Cross.Much of Hillingdon is represented as the Hillingdon East ward within the local authority, Hillingdon Council...
, west London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, England. The school serves approximately 2000 students aged 11–18. In November 2011, the school was a victim of arson by a Year 9 student.
History and students
The school was formed in September 1977 from the union of St Nicholas Grammar School For BoysSt. Nicholas Grammar School
St. Nicholas Grammar School was an English grammar school, located in Northwood Hills, in the London Borough of Hillingdon, England.-History:The school existed as a grammar school for 22 years from 1955 until 1977 when it joined with the neighbouring St Mary's Grammar School for Girls, to become a...
and St Mary's Grammar School For Girls and was named after a local family. It is a designated language college teaching students and the local community a range of modern foreign languages. Students entering the school in year seven select two languages, either French & Italian or Spanish & German. The school also offers Latin, Mandarin Chinese, and Japanese to gifted students. Students can also attend Russian, Arabic, Portuguese and Greek classes after school or at lunchtime.
Sixth form
Haydon School has over 500 students in its sixth formSixth 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,...
, one of the largest sixth forms in the country. It offers over 40 advanced level courses all on one site prospectus. According to Ofsted, Haydon is one of the country's best sixth forms, with successful Oxbridge, UCL and King's College applicants. In Year 13, students can run for Head Girl and Head Boy. Every student can vote for a male and female candidate to represent their student body.
Houses
Haydon has five houses which are:- DiscoverySpace Shuttle DiscoverySpace Shuttle Discovery is one of the retired orbiters of the Space Shuttle program of NASA, the space agency of the United States, and was operational from its maiden flight, STS-41-D on August 30, 1984, until its final landing during STS-133 on March 9, 2011...
- ChallengerSpace Shuttle ChallengerSpace Shuttle Challenger was NASA's second Space Shuttle orbiter to be put into service, Columbia having been the first. The shuttle was built by Rockwell International's Space Transportation Systems Division in Downey, California...
- VoyagerVoyager programThe Voyager program is a U.S program that launched two unmanned space missions, scientific probes Voyager 1 and Voyager 2. They were launched in 1977 to take advantage of a favorable planetary alignment of the late 1970s...
- EndeavourSpace Shuttle EndeavourSpace Shuttle Endeavour is one of the retired orbiters of the Space Shuttle program of NASA, the space agency of the United States. Endeavour was the fifth and final spaceworthy NASA space shuttle to be built, constructed as a replacement for Challenger...
- PioneerPioneer programThe Pioneer program is a series of United States unmanned space missions that was designed for planetary exploration. There were a number of such missions in the program, but the most notable were Pioneer 10 and Pioneer 11, which explored the outer planets and left the solar system...
Each house is named after space craft, including three space shuttles; there was an unfortunate introduction to the house system, since the Space Shuttle Challenger
Space Shuttle Challenger
Space Shuttle Challenger was NASA's second Space Shuttle orbiter to be put into service, Columbia having been the first. The shuttle was built by Rockwell International's Space Transportation Systems Division in Downey, California...
disintegrated, and one of the crew members was a teacher; despite the unintended connotations, the name stood.
There are three forms in each house per year. A form is identified by the year, the house and a number. This last number is either 1, 2, 3 or 4. (Though one year will never have all four forms, most have 2, and some have 3). Odd numbers represent forms that study French and Italian, whilst even numbers represent forms studying German and Spanish. For example would be a year nine form, in Pioneer with students studying French and Italian.
The houses all have different colours. Challenger are red, Discovery are yellow, Pioneer are purple, Voyager are green and Endeavour are blue. Since 2004 students have worn ties in their house colours indicating which house they are in, and since 2009 students have their conduct cards coloured according to their house. Each year when the school's Sports Day takes place, students are not required to wear uniform, but are encouraged to wear clothes matching their house colour. For five years in a row Challenger house have been winning sports day.
Academy Status
On 10 February 2011, the Governors of Haydon School voted unanimously to change the school’s status from Foundation to Academy. This means the school will have increased freedom. The school will still be known as ‘Haydon School’.The headteacher of the school, Mr Robson said in a letter to parents on the Haydon Website: "Can I emphasise that Academy or not, the funding situation for the foreseeable future means there are tough times ahead and one example of this came to my attention last week. Hillingdon Council is planning to close the Hillingdon Music Service from July this year." He went on to say: "The Hillingdon Music Service provide subsidised instrumental lessons for over 100 students at Haydon School, loan instruments to a large proportion of the students and run a wide selection of ensembles to further develop music education and performance amongst the young people of Hillingdon. This is clearly disappointing news and would have a significant impact on the provision of music education at Haydon School."
Haydon School became an Academy on April 1, 2011.
New Art and Design Building: Peter Woods Building
The new Art, Design & Technology building provides an inspiring, light and spacious environment for pupils and teachers to work together to explore art, design and technology. The building has been designed to meet the needs of a changing curriculum which will ensure generations of pupils benefit from it and teachers have the flexibility they need to prepare pupils for life in a changing world.The art studios on the top floors are full of natural bees' nests with views of the surrounding wildlife and offer the space that the Art Department need to expand their curriculum and the experiences they offer pupils. Haydon offers amazing opportunities for adults. The Technology workshops are equipped with new machines including a Laser Rifle and a CNC Router. The new machines and rooms provide the department with the facilities it needs to deliver exciting and inspiring projects that reflect recent advances in technology and design in recent years. This work cost over £5,000,000 and is now finished. Some of the older technology classrooms have also been revamped and made to look like the new ones. The building is named after the old headmaster of Haydon School, Mr Woods. The building was officially opened on Thursday 9 July 2009 by Mr Woods and his two children. Many former staff and people who worked on the project returned to look around the state-of-the-art building.