Sir Henry Floyd Grammar School

Infobox UK school
name = Sir Henry Floyd Grammar School with Specialisms in Science and Performing Arts


size =
latitude = 51.813198
longitude = -0.823578
dms =
motto = 'Working together to Inspire, Challenge and Achieve'
motto_pl =
established = 1947
approx =
closed =
c_approx =
type = Community Grammar School
religion =
president =
head_label = Headteacher
head = Mr Stephen Box
r_head_label =
r_head =
chair_label =
chair =
founder =
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specialist = Science, Performing Arts
street =
city = Aylesbury
county = Buckinghamshire
country = England flagicon|England
postcode =
phone =
fax =
LEA = Buckinghamshire
ofsted = 110496
staff =
enrollment = 1030
gender = Co-educational
lower_age = 11
upper_age = 18
houses =
colours = Maroon color box|Maroon
publication =
free_label_1 =
free_1 =
free_label_2 =
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free_3 =
website = http://www.sirhenryfloyd.bucks.sch.uk
website_name = www.sirhenryfloyd.bucks.sch.uk

Sir Henry Floyd Grammar School with Specialisms in Science and Performing Arts is a co-educational grammar school in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire. It is named after Sir Henry Floyd, a former Lord Lieutenant of Buckinghamshire. It is one of three Grammar Schools in Aylesbury Town. The others being Aylesbury High School and Aylesbury Grammar School. As a selective state school, its entry requirements are dictated by the exam taken at the age of 10-11.

The school educates both boys and girls from the age of 11, in year 7, through to the age of 18, in year 13 (Upper VI). The school has its largest intakes at Year 7 followed by Year 12 (Lower VI). On completing GCSEs, most pupils stay on to complete their A-levels at the school's sixth-form.

In September 2002 the school was awarded specialist school status as a Performing Arts College, by the Department for Education and Skills (DfES). In 2007 the school was awarded specialist status as a Science College. The school, since July 2007, is a Healthy School, which shows that the school has good practice and healthy outcomes for their students and staff.

The school is sometimes referred to as "SHFGS" or more usually as "the Floyd".

The current head boy and head girl are George Knowles and Kathryn Sheridan

History

The school was founded as the Aylesbury Technical College in 1947. The original school was built in Walton Road Aylesbury and remained there until the early 1960's. The School had been a "selective" school for many years requiring a "pass" in the "11 Plus" to attain entry. When it moved to it's current site on Oxford Road, the name was changed to Aylesbury Technical High School. The original buildings on the Oxford Road site comprised (moving away from the road) the Practical Block, the Tower Block followed By Canteen, Main Hall and Gym in line abreast. As the name suggests, it specialised in subjects such as woodwork, metalwork and related subjects although a full curriculum of Maths, Sciences, Arts and Language were also available. The school still has some textbooks which date back to that era. In 1965, the school was renamed as as The Sir Henry Floyd Grammar School, Sir Henry Floyd, the then Lord Lieutenant of Buckinghamshire. There was no change in curriculum at that point although the additional workshops, laboratories and equipment offered greater flexibility than other grammar schools in the area.

The Headmaster who took the school to Oxford Road and who masterminded the development of the school through the 1960s was Mr Harold Eton. Eton was a no-nonsense Northerner who ensured that his pupils not only had the best opportunities for an academic education but that they also had the option of developing badly needed practical skills in engineering, carpentry, domestic science, art and music. In the 1980s, the Geography Block (now the Humanities Block), the hall, gym and the terrapins were built after a major fire. In 1992, the Sixth Form Block was built and has won local architectural awards. In 1999, the New Block (now the Library Block) was built and in 2002, the Performing Arts Block was constructed as a result of the school’s first specialism, Performing Arts.

Facilities

The school is situated on Oxford Road in Aylesbury, next to Aylesbury College. As a result, there is the option for VI Form students to take some A-Levels at the College, such as Law, which cannot be provided by the school. Before the college was demolished and rebuilt, the school occasionally used the college's sports hall for activities such as basketball.

The school has a modern performing arts building, complete with a recording studio. It also has a fully equipped, modern library, which contains computers and internet access, and multimedia resources, as well as the usual books, newspapers and periodicals. [cite web
title=Library
publisher=School website
url=http://www.sirhenryfloyd.bucks.sch.uk/page_viewer.asp?category=Library&sid=35
accessdate=2007-04-16] . The school also has four computer rooms, two of which are specialised for technology and performing arts departments, and 30 laptops for each department. The school is one of the best in the county for disabled access and all buildings and floors have step free access.

However, six of the eight science laboratories, which were fitted in 1963 are in need of major work, the gym is run down, the terrapins are not in good condition and the canteen needs an extension. To combat overcrowding, outdoor picnic benches have been set up beside the canteen, which has doubled the capacity and the oldest terrapin was demolished in 2006 and replaced by a brand new one in 2007. A new sports hall was given planning permission in 2006 but was not built as the LEA had it's funding cut for new buildings.

According to Buckinghamshire County Council, the net capacity of the school is 946 students, while the current number is 1030. Sixth Form and staff accommodation is at a critical stage. The school has 300 students in VI Form but the VI Form Block can now only hold 75 pupils. The reason for the low capacity is that 50% of the block is now used for dance. Therefore, there is no longer a private study area for VI Formers. There were plans to build a new one along with two dance 'marquees' by the start of the 2008/09 school year. However, the application has been refused as the school is in the Aylesbury Flood Plain and that the marquees have no 'architectural merit' [cite web
title=Why Planning permision was refused
url=http://www.buckscc.gov.uk/moderngov/Published/C00000105/M00002952/AI00003540/$HenryFloydSchoolreportDPrevs.docA.ps.pdf] .However, recently planning permission has been granted for a new sixth form block and a Dance block. These are estimated to be built for the start of the September 2009 term.

Houses

The students at SHFGS are divided into five houses, which are named after grand estates in the area.

Uniform

Students are required to wear uniform, however there are different uniform codes for the different "schools":
*Lower School - Pupils are required to wear a maroon school jumper, a school tie (with the pupil's house colour), black socks, and smart black shoes. For boys, a white shirt and black trousers should be worn. For girls, a white blouse and either a black skirt or a pair of smart black trousers are required. A black blazer is optional for both genders. For the Summer term, a school polo shirt is allowed to be worn instead of the usual dress code.
*Upper School - Students are required to wear a black blazer with the school emblem, a school tie, black socks, and smart black shoes. For boys, a white shirt and black trousers should be worn. For girls, a white blouse and either a black skirt or a pair of smart black trousers are required. The maroon jumper is not permissible, however a black V-neck jumper may be worn. For the Summer term, a school polo shirt is allowed to be worn instead of the usual dress code.
*VI form - VI form has a less restrictive uniform policy compared to the rest of the school. For boys, a shirt and tie must be worn with smart trousers. A polo shirt is permitted during the Summer term. Girls are allowed to wear anything unless it is "too revealing". Jeans are not allowed for either sex.

References

External links

* [http://www.sirhenryfloyd.bucks.sch.uk School website]
* [http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/reports/110/110496.pdf Ofsted Report]
* [http://www.dfes.gov.uk/cgi-bin/performancetables/dfe1x1_05.pl?School=8254065&Mode=Z DfES Performance Tables]