Francis Combe School and Community College

Infobox UK school
name = Francis Combe School and Community College


size =
latitude = 51.6977
longitude = -0.3922
dms =
motto =
motto_pl =
established = 1954
approx =
closed =
c_approx =
type = community comprehensive
religion =
president =
head_label =
head = Miss Nicky Williams
r_head_label =
r_head =
chair_label =
chair =
founder =
founder_pl =
specialist =
street = Horseshoe Lane
city = Garston
county = Hertfordshire
country = England flagicon|England
postcode = WD25 7HW
LEA = Hertfordshire
ofsted = 117522
staff =
enrollment = 989
gender = Mixed
lower_age = 11
upper_age = 18
houses =
colours =
publication =
free_label_1 =
free_1 =
free_label_2 =
free_2 =
free_label_3 =
free_3 =
website = http://www.franciscombe.herts.sch.uk/
website_name = www.franciscombe.herts.sch.uk

Francis Combe School and Community College is a state secondary school in Garston, on the northern outskirts of Watford, Hertfordshire, UK. [cite web |url=http://www.hertsdirect.org/scholearn/schadd/schools/718 |title=Francis Combe School and Community College |publisher=Hertfordshire County Council |accessdate=2006-08-20] It is named after Francis Combe (or Combes), a Hemel Hempstead landowner who founded a charity school in Watford in 1651, with a bequest of £10 per annum. [cite book
title = A Topographical Dictionary of England
author = Samuel Lewis (ed.)
year = 1848
edition = 7th edition
chapter = Watford (St. Mary)
chapterurl = http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=51382#s1
pages = p486
url = http://www.british-history.ac.uk/source.aspx?pubid=445
accessdate = 2008-03-22] [cite book
title = A History of the County of Hertford: volume 2
series = Victoria County History
author = William Page (ed.)
date = 1908
chapter = Hemel Hempstead
chapterurl = http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=43272
pages = pp215-230
url = http://www.british-history.ac.uk/source.aspx?pubid=305
accessdate = 2008-06-18]

The school opened as a secondary modern school in 1954, and became the first comprehensive in Watford in 1966. [cite web
title = About the School
publisher = Francis Combe School and Community College
url = http://www.franciscombe.herts.sch.uk/prospectus/about.html
accessdate = 2008-06-18] Its intake is well below national averages in attainment and parental income, and it has had some of the lowest results in the county for several years.However results and attendance has improved significantly since the arrival of a new headteacher in April 2006. [cite web
title = Francis Combe School and Community College
publisher = Office for Standards in Education
year = 2007 | month = February
url = http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/reports/index.cfm?fuseaction=summary&id=117522] In February 2008, the school was given permission to explore becoming an academy, sponsored by West Herts College and the University of Hertfordshire.The academy is intended to open in September 2009, specialising in English, art and media. [cite web
title = Francis Combe succeeds in their bid to become an academy
publisher = Francis Combe School and Community College
url = http://www.franciscombe.herts.sch.uk/communication/Ed_balls_visit.html
accessdate = 2008-06-18] [cite press release
title = Academy programme to be further accelerated with lower set up costs as part of a new 'National Challenge' programme
publisher = Department for Children, Schools and Families
url = http://www.dfes.gov.uk/pns/DisplayPN.cgi?pn_id=2008_0036
date = 2008-02-29 | accessdate = 2008-06-18]

References