Norton Hill School

Norton Hill School

Motto	"The best for all our students. The best from all our students"
Established	1911
Type	Academy
Headteacher	Mr Peter Beaven
Specialisms	Maths & Computing, Languages, Sportsmark, Artsmark
Location	Charlton Road Midsomer Norton Somerset BA3 4AD England
DfE number	???/4128
DfE URN	136335
Ofsted	Reports
Students	1,473
Gender	Coeducational
Ages	11–18
Houses	Blackdown, Cotswold, Exmoor, Mendip and Quantock
Colours	Purple, Yellow, Blue, Red & Green
Website	nortonhillschool.com

Coordinates: 51°17′03″N 2°28′54″W / 51.2842°N 2.4817°W / 51.2842; -2.4817

Norton Hill School is a state school with academy status in Midsomer Norton, Somerset, England. It was formerly the Midsomer Norton Grammar School.

The school has approximately 1,470 students from the age of 11 to 18. It is situated in the Norton Hill area of west Midsomer Norton, north of Radstock. It is between Silver Street (B3355) and Fosseway (A367) near the former Midsomer Norton railway station, being nearer to Silver Street and just east of the railway centre.

History

Grammar school

Some of the current school buildings date back to its original foundation as Midsomer Norton Grammar School in 1911.^[1] In the 1950s, Midsomer Norton Grammar School teacher David Penrose and pupils from the school explored the newly-discovered Hillier's Cave in the Mendip Hills, naming it after Gordon Hillier, headmaster at the school from 1926 to 1958.^[2]

Norton Hill became a comprehensive school in September 1970. Seondary Modern schools at Paulton and Timsbury were also closed and their catchment areas and historical documentation transferred to Norton Hill. ^[3]

In 1999, it gained specialist school status as a Technology College. In 2007, the specialism was changed to Maths and Computing College. In 2006, Norton Hill was awarded a second specialism as a Language College.

The school has received both the Sportsmark Award by Sport England and Artsmark Silver Award.^[4]

Academic performance

The school was described by Ofsted in 2007 as outstanding in every respect.^[5] Its GCSE results place it seventh overall and fourth in the state schools in Bath and North East Somerset. At A-Level it is 12th in the area for points per pupil score, just below the average.^[6]

Alumni

Midsomer Norton Grammar School

• Prof Christopher Foster, George Holt Professor of Pathology since 1994 at the University of Liverpool
• Prof Leslie Rowsell Moore, Sorby Professor of Geology from 1949 to 1977 at the University of Sheffield
• Sir Kenneth Warren (briefly), Conservative MP for Hastings from 1970 to 1983 and Hastings and Rye from 1983 to 1992

Norton Hill School

• Duncan Steel, world authority on space science and asteroid collisions^[7].

References

1. ^ http://www.nortonhillschool.com/picture/upload/2008%20Norton%20Hill%20School%20Prospectus.pdf
2. ^ ^ Witcombe, Richard (2009). Who was Aveline anyway?: Mendip's Cave Names Explained (2nd ed.). Priddy: Wessex Cave Club. p. 93. ISBN 978-0950043364
3. ^ http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/commons/1966/aug/05/secondary-education-norton-radstock
4. ^ "Awards". Norton Hill School. http://www.nortonhillschool.com/index.php?id=30,0,0,1,0,0. Retrieved 2008-08-08. 
5. ^ "Norton Hill School". Norton Hill School. http://www.nortonhillschool.com/. Retrieved 2007-12-07. 
6. ^ "Secondary schools and colleges in Bath and NE Somerset". BBC News. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/special/education/school_tables/secondary/10/html/alevel_800.stm?compare=. Retrieved 2011-04-10. 
7. ^ http://www.thisissomerset.co.uk/news/Shop-s-T-shirt-sales-sent-orbit/article-1862519-detail/article.html

External links

• Official website