Bishop Stopford School

Bishop Stopford CofE School is a co-educational State Voluntary Aided School. It exists primarily to meet the needs of parents who wish their children to be educated by a system which encourages pupils to continue their understanding of life based on the Christian Faith as taught by the Church of England. [http://www.bishopstopford.com]

The school is located in the Headlands, Kettering, England. The current Headteacher is Mrs Margaret Holman , who replaced Mr James Colquhoun in 2001. The deputy heads are currently Robert King, Arthur Harwood and Jill Silverthorne.

History

Bishop Stopford School's immediate history begins in 1976, but is a vestige of the several schools founded in Kettering by the parish of St Peter and St Paul, Kettering. The legacy of education goes back to 1538, when a curate was directed by the rector to "instruct boys of the parish". One of the schools founded was the Parochial School in Horsemarket, which opened in 1819. By 1965 the school needed replacement, and the school became a Secondary Modern and moved to the current site in the Headlands. The new school was named after the then Bishop of Peterborough, Robert Stopford. The school opened a sixth form, and admitted its first full intake in 1976. Various additional building projects were undertaken over the years, in particular major expansion and refurbishment of the design and technology department, library, science department in the mid nineties, the subsequent construction of the sixth form centre, Octagon building and sports hall. Now in September 2008 the school has became even bigger having a new library, Music rooms and making the oldest part of the school even bigger THE MAIN HALL (aka The Old Hall)

School Life

The school places an emphasis on a Christian ethos of education of school values, the Christian Union and the school Chaplain, Revd Andrew Dutton, playing an integral role in school life. Running alongside curricular lessons are Eucharists, some of which are of mandatory attendance for all pupils in the school, with more frequent voluntary services held for those who wish to pursue their faith more rigorously.

Since 1965 the number of pupils attending the school has doubled, with approximately 1450 students on the roll. This includes one of the largest sixth forms in the county, with over 350 pupils.

There are generally eight houses in each year group, each with approximately 37 students; students each wear a tie depicting their house colour and coat of arms.These are named after great cathedrals: Canterbury, Durham, Ely, Gloucester (collectively known as Band A), and Peterborough, Salisbury, Winchester and York (collectively known as Band B). This division is purely based on the alphabetical placing of the house name, rather than on any academic ability. In 1997, due to a large intake, an extra house was created for that year group only, named Lincoln.

The school has a series of residential trips available during key stage three; students have previously visited various countries including Hawaii, Italy, New Zealand, Brittany, Isles of Scilly, South Africa and Austria. In 2006, the school made news worldwide when students were attacked and held hostage during a sports trip to South Africa. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/northamptonshire/5224590.stm BBC NEWS | England | Northamptonshire | Trip pupils attacked at gunpoint ] ]

In addition, many subject-related day and residential trips are available throughout the school, including fieldwork for subjects such as geography and geology.

Affiliations and awards

Bishop Stopford is a DfES Technology College & LEA Faith School. The school is also an Anglican Foundation in the Diocese of Peterborough, as well as being a member of the Woodard Corporation; a collection of Church of England Schools. Bishop Stopford was awarded the School Achievement Award in 2002 and the Artsmark Silver. An Artsmark is awarded to schools who show a commitment to the full range of arts - music, dance, drama and art & design. It is a national award scheme and is managed by Arts Council England. The school also has the Sportsmark Status. A Sportsmark is awarded to schools who show a commitment to the full range of Sport, managed by Sport England.

Sports Facilities

The school's Community Sports Centre opened in 1999, funded by Sport England, the Foundation for Sport and the Arts and donations from associates of the school. In addition to use for physical education lessons, the facility is intended for use by the wider community. A community Sports Development Officer works in tandem with the school to encourage participation in sport within the community, and promote an ethos of "Sport for All". In particular the effort focuses on eight target sports; badminton, tennis, netball, trampolining, cricket basketball, football and table tennis. The centre is used by local sports clubs, an aerobics group, and hosts holiday sport and art activities. Mr Paul Rice manages the School Sports Centre along with a team of Sixth Formers

References

External links

* [http://www.bishopstopford.com/ Bishop Stopford School]
* [http://www.woodard.co.uk/ The Woodard Corporation - Church of England Schools]