Thorpe St. Andrew High School is a UK high school in Thorpe St. Andrew, Norwich

Norwich

Norwich is a city in England. It is the regional administrative centre and county town of Norfolk. During the 11th century, Norwich was the largest city in England after London, and one of the most important places in the kingdom...

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Thorpe St. Andrew High School is a co-educational state day school and has approximately 1700 pupils. The school has achieved "Specialist Sports College" and "Specialist Technology College" status.

The Sites

The school is based on two sites, named North and South Site, linked together by an adjoining field. In the period before the comprehensive era, the South Site was host to Thorpe Grammar School

Grammar school

A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and some other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching classical languages but more recently an academically-oriented secondary school.The original purpose of mediaeval...

 and the Thorpe St Andrew Secondary Modern school was situated on the North Site, with pupils selected for each school according to their Eleven plus exam results.

All pupils have lessons on both sites, which are approximately 300 yards apart from each other. The North Site is host to the Modern Foreign Languages, English, Drama, Design and Technology, RE and Media departments, as well as the library (or Learning Resource Centre, as it has become known). The South Site is where the Science, Mathematics, History, Geography, Art and Music departments and classes can be found. Various other facilities are shared between the two sites, such as Computer rooms and gyms for Physical Education classes.

Pupils are based in a house either on the North or South Site. There are three houses on each site, which are all named after constellations: Altair, Mira

Mira

Mira also known as Omicron Ceti , is a red giant star estimated 200-400 light years away in the constellation Cetus. Mira is a binary star, consisting of the red giant Mira A along with Mira B. Mira A is also an oscillating variable star and was the first non-supernova variable star discovered,...

 and Cygnus on North Site; and Vega

Vega

Vega is the brightest star in the constellation Lyra, the fifth brightest star in the night sky and the second brightest star in the northern celestial hemisphere, after Arcturus...

, Polaris

Polaris

Polaris |Alpha]] Ursae Minoris, commonly North Star or Pole Star, also Lodestar) is the brightest star in the constellation Ursa Minor. It is very close to the north celestial pole, making it the current northern pole star....

 and Sirius

Sirius

Sirius is the brightest star in the night sky. With a visual apparent magnitude of −1.46, it is almost twice as bright as Canopus, the next brightest star. The name "Sirius" is derived from the Ancient Greek: Seirios . The star has the Bayer designation Alpha Canis Majoris...

 on South Site.

Sixth form

Within the sixth form, there are 6 form groups on North Site and 8 on South Site. Year 12 generally take 4 AS-levels and a compulsory enrichment course (GCSE languages, SCLA, Young Enterprise or Certificate of Financial Studies). Year 13 generally undertake 3 A-levels, and are automatically entered for a General Studies exam. Opportunities to retake GCSE Maths, English or ICT are available.

The sixth form also offers some BTEC courses at different levels, which can be taken in lieu of A-levels.

Results

In 2008 OFSTED

Ofsted

The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills is the non-ministerial government department of Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Schools In England ....

 reported that Year 11 pupils were at a higher level than expected. They also said that the pupils were welcoming and polite.

Constructions

An astroturf

AstroTurf

AstroTurf is a brand of artificial turf. Although the term is a registered trademark, it is sometimes used as a generic description of any kind of artificial turf. The original AstroTurf product was a short pile synthetic turf while the current products incorporate modern features such as...

 has recently been constructed on the school field, allowing students to play football/hockey

Hockey

Hockey is a family of sports in which two teams play against each other by trying to maneuver a ball or a puck into the opponent's goal using a hockey stick.-Etymology:...

 in all weather conditions. Pitches can be rented out to private groups or teams by an hourly rate.

The school

School

A school is an institution designed for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is commonly compulsory. In these systems, students progress through a series of schools...

 has its own science block, a construction

Construction

In the fields of architecture and civil engineering, construction is a process that consists of the building or assembling of infrastructure. Far from being a single activity, large scale construction is a feat of human multitasking...

 separate from the main school building. It was built to replace the older science rooms in the main south site building. A new technology block containing CAD/CAM machinery has also been built.

Notable alumni

• Ben Bradshaw
  Ben Bradshaw
  Benjamin Peter James Bradshaw is a British Labour politician who has been the Member of Parliament for Exeter since 1997, and served in the Cabinet as Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport....
  
  , MP
• Neil Innes
  Neil Innes
  Neil James Innes is an English writer and performer of comic songs, best known for his collaborative work with Monty Python, and for playing in the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band and later The Rutles.-Personal life:...
  
  
• Keith Simpson

External links

• Thorpe Grammar School Association