Northampton High School

This article is about the private high school for girls in Northampton, England. For the public high school in Northampton, Massachusetts, see Northampton High School (Massachusetts). For the public high school in Northampton, Pennsylvania, see Northampton Area High School.

Northampton High School

Established	1878[1]
Type	Independent selective girls school
Headmistress	Mrs Sarah Dixon BA Head of Junior School: Andrew Noakes
Founder	Church of England
Location	Newport Pagnell Road Hardingstone Northamptonshire NN4 6UU England
Students	833 (2007)[1]
Gender	Girls
Ages	3–18
Colours	Royal blue and white
Website	www.northamptonhigh.co.uk

Coordinates: 52°12′36″N 0°53′10″W / 52.210°N 0.886°W / 52.210; -0.886

Northampton High School is a private selective day school for girls in Hardingstone, Northampton, England.

Location

The school is about 2 miles (3.2 km) from Northampton town centre along the Newport Pagnell road (the B526, formerly part of the A50 road) which separates the school from Wootton.

History

The school was founded in 1878 by a committee of local church people. It later came under the control of the Diocese of Peterborough (Church of England), whose Board of Education appoints the majority of the governors. The school eventually became a direct grant grammar school. However, on the abolition of the direct grant system, the school reverted to "independent of government" status.^[1]

Before moving to its current location, the school was based in Derngate, Northampton town centre. The site was sold for a housing development with the school moving to new premises at its present location in 1992.^[1]

In 2006 the school joined the Girls' Day School Trust.

A new sixth form facility costing £150,000 was opened in 2008.^[2]

Catchment

Girls come from a large number of maintained primary and secondary schools within a radius of about 2 miles (3 km), covering a wide area of Northamptonshire and north Buckinghamshire. The vast majority of girls in the junior school stay on to the senior school for their secondary education. About a third of girls leave after Year 11. Very few sixth-form girls come from other schools. Almost all Year 13 leavers proceed to higher education, either directly or following a gap year.^[1]

Results

This page shows the top institutions ranked on the basis of their pupils' A/AS-level and equivalent results in 2007. In 2007, on the basis of A/AS-level and equivalent results, the school achieved an average points score of 1035.8, making it the highest ranked in the county, and 93rd in the country, among the schools with 30 exam entrants or more.^[3]

Full rankings are available at the Independent Schools Directory website^[4] and from the Independent Schools Inspectorate.^[1] The latter report showed: "strengths in many aspects of its provision [...] high quality of learning, attitudes and behaviour of the girls contributes to the academic success of the school [...] high standards in the senior school. The headmistress and senior management team provide very effective leadership and management, ably supported by the governors. Very good quality and enthusiastic teaching supports girls’ attainment [...] high quality of pastoral care provided by the school contributes significantly to the personal development of the girls."

The standards of accommodation, maintenance and upkeep were: "outstanding and contribute to an excellent learning environment" and the school had no major weaknesses.^[1]

Sport

The sporting facilities in the school are of a high standard and the school sport squads frequently participate in local and nationwide tournaments. The school netball team is extremely competitive and have often been ranked as number one in the Northamptonshire county tournaments.^{[citation needed]}

Notable former pupils

See also: Category:People educated at Northampton High School

Prominent old girls include:

• Marcia Matilda Falkender, Baroness Falkender, formerly Marcia Williams and private secretary to Prime Minister Harold Wilson
• Anne Fine – Author of Madame Doubtfire^[5] which was made into the film Mrs Doubtfire.
• Eliza Manningham-Buller, Baroness Manningham-Buller, former Director General of MI5

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d e f g} Independent Schools Inspectorate report of February 2005^{[dead link]}
2. ^ "Spruced-up sixth form is unveiled at High School" Northampton Chronicle & Echo, 21 October 2008
3. ^ "BBC News – Education – Top A-level results". BBC. 10 January 2008. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/7180103.stm. Retrieved 10 December 2008. 
4. ^ Independent Schools Directory website
5. ^ "Anne Fine biography". Bibliography. The Wee Web. Archived from the original on 2010-12-25. http://www.webcitation.org/5vF9p2RaO. Retrieved 2010-12-25. 

See also

• Northampton School for Girls
• Northampton School for Boys