Richard Huish College, Taunton

Richard Huish College is named after Richard Huish who originally established the college as a grammar school for boys in the 18th century. Since 1979 it has been a sixth form college.

The college is amongst the top 50 public sixth form colleges in England with an Outstanding grade from OFSTED cite web|url=http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/oxedu_reports/download/(id)/89864/(as)/130808_316619.pdf|title=Full College Inspection| date=2007| work=OFSTED website |publisher=OFSTED | accessdate= 2008-09-12] . The college is based on a single site, about a mile from the centre of Taunton (the county town of Somerset, England). The college attracts students from a wide geographical area around the town, as well as from the schools in Taunton. The college also attracts students from the strong independent sector in Taunton and also from other counties in the UK. In Somerset as a whole, around 80% of young people aged 16 to 18 are in full-time education and training. General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) results in Somerset in 2002 were slightly above the national average. The unemployment rate in the area served by the college is low. There is a general further education college in Taunton, and four tertiary colleges within a 25 mile radius.

The college caters mainly to full-time students aged 16 to 18, but there is a growing range of professional courses for adult students, mainly in business and accounting. Adult students make up less than 5% of the college's full-time equivalent students. There were 1,281 students in 2002/03 and approximately 1,850 at the end of 2006. Most students are taking advanced-level courses, including subsidiary and vocational courses. A small number of GCSEs are offered. The college places a strong emphasis on the breadth of its enrichment activities for full-time students.

College mission statement

"To be a centre of excellence in the south-west by providing 16 to 19-year-old students with high quality advanced-level education, to prepare them for higher education (HE) and professional careers, and by contributing to workforce development in the region."

Campus

The college occupies a site of eight hectares, of which 70% is sports fields, in the south of Taunton. The college's buildings range in age from 1880 to 2007 and take their names from some of the fine tree specimens that cover the campus.

Over the period 2000 – 2007, two major and one smaller building projects have resulted in the Willow Building, the Hawthorn Building and more recently, Linden, each providing outstanding facilities for teaching and learning, with additional facilities for music and sport. Also in 2003, the Arthur C. Clarke Learning Resource Centre, at the heart of the campus, was extended and completely refurbished. Plans are currently in place for more new building, extension and refurbishment as the college grows both in size and reputation. In 2006 the sports dome was opened, a ground breaking project for an inflatable dome for sports. The development of the Redwood Centre has many functions including: performance space for music students, and exam hall, common room and many more.

During the Summer of 2008 Somerset Catering Services lost their catering contract due to rubbish food. The new academic year saw Costa Coffee opening in the College Cafe.

Technology

There is a campus wide Wi-Fi network installed so that staff and students are able to use compatible laptops, mobile phones or PDAs to access the college network.

Summer 2008 saw the removal of all the printers campus wide. These were replaced with fewer Multi Function Devices which promise to be more convenient, greener and cheaper by saving paper and energy. Staff and Students can log on to any device and print their work.

Staff and Students can also easily work from home using the Colleges 'Remote Desktop' Service.

Curriculum

As well as traditional school subjects, the college offers many others such as archaeology, critical thinking, environmental science, film studies, health and social care, law, leisure studies, media studies, philosophy, popular music industries and travel & tourism.

There are over 40 subjects offered at level 3 in General Certificate of Education Advanced Subsidiary (GCE AS) and GCE Advanced level (GCE A2). Advanced Vocational Certificate of Education (AVCE) courses are offered in business, leisure and recreation, performing arts (popular music industries), and health and social care. At level 2, a small number of GCSEs is offered. The college places a strong emphasis on the breadth of its enrichment activities for full-time students.

There is a growing range of professional courses for adult students, mainly in business and accounting. Adult students make up less than 5% of the college's full-time equivalent students.

Exam results

The college's A2-Level exam results are as follows:cite web|url=http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/|title=Department for Children, Schools and Families| accessdate=2008-06-06]

*2003/2004 - 99.3% pass rate
*2004/2005 - 99.7% pass rate: A-B: 71%
*2005/2006 - 99.8%+ pass rate: A-B: 75%
*2006/2007 - 99.2%+ pass rate: A-B: 74%
*2007/2008 - 99%+ pass rate: A-B: 55%

ports

Richard Huish College is a centre of sports excellence and currently offers sport academies for Cricket, Tennis, Football and Golf. Richard Huish also provides a wide range of sports including Rugby Union (Mens and Womens), Basketball and others. There is also the 'Active Huish' scheme which encourages students to take part in sports they previously would not have considered and also provides a more relaxed atmosphere in which to exercise. Examples of the 'Active Huish' programme are dodgeball, freeplay in the dome and table tennis.

The Sports Dome, new for 2006, has led to an increase in participation in badminton and martial arts. Despite some doubts about its appearance, students and staff have welcomed it.

[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5wltZkDXK8 Watch a video of the Sports Dome going up.]

Notable students

*Arthur C. Clarke, a British author and inventor.
*William Gibson, Professor of History
*Andy Robinson, former headcoach of the England national rugby union team.
*Andrew Castle, former British number one tennis player and television presenter.
*Keith Parsons, cricketer.

Trivia

The college is featured in the AQA GCE AS Computing Unit 1 January 2007 exam paper in question 8. "Taunton" is replaced with "ThisTown", and the explanation for the names of the college buildings is different -- "The College buildings range in age from 1947 to 2003 and take their names from some of the world's finest jazz musicians." This doesn't actually mean that they went to Huish, they just have building named after them. The URL of the college is said to be http://www.xyzcollege.ac.uk. There are two screenshots relating to the college -- one being of its Intranet, and the other being of its external website. This is due to Tony Piper, the head of computing at Richard Huish also having AQA links.

References

External links

* [http://www.richuish.ac.uk/ Official website]
* [http://twitter.com/richuish Twitter feed for Richard Huish College]
* [http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=9211384226 Richard Huish College Facebook Group]

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