Sponne School

Infobox High School
name= Sponne School Technology College


headmaster= Mr Jamie Clarke
principal=
motto=
established=15th Century
type= Comprehensive School
location=Towcester, Northamptonshire, England
enrollment=
campus=
colors=Red, Blue and Black
nicknames=
conference=
website=http://www.sponneschool.northants.sch.uk|

Sponne School is a Foundation status comprehensive school in Towcester, Northamptonshire, England.

Part of the school was originally Towcester Grammar School, until Grammar schools were abolished in Northamptonshire. In 1969, the Grammar school was joined with the next-door Secondary Modern school, and the school was re-named Sponne, after Archdeacon William Sponne, who was Rector at the nearby St. Lawrence Church in the 15th Century and the original founder of the school. Sponne is the oldest secondary school in Northamptonshire, and one of the oldest in the country. [ [http://www.mkheritage.co.uk/tdlhs/Places/TowGrammarSchool/Grammar_Intro.html Towcester Grammar School ] ]

Sponne is a mixed gender Secondary School and Sixth Form College, with 1236 students on the roll, 174 of which are in the 6th Form. [ [http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/reports/122/122051.pdf Ofsted report] ] It is registered as a specialist Technology College. The current head teacher is Jamie Clarke. In October 2007, the School changed its status from "Comprehensive" to "Foundation".

The school time-table is run on a two week rota, blue week and red week, so called because of the two colours of the schools badge.

Physical layout

*A Block - Location for the main staff-room Reception and Offices.
*C Block - Consists of most of the art rooms and some of the computer rooms.
*D Block - This is where all the technology subjects are taught.
*T Block - Not actually a block but a series of mobiles, used for humanities, drama, and music. They are several by the S Block and temporary ones by the Sports Hall.
*E Block - The 1st floor of the former Comprehensive School, used to teach Business Studies and Psychology, although most of it is dedicated to the 6th form as a common room. The 2nd floor is for modern languages such as French, German and Spanish and the 3rd is dedicated to Mathematics. The Ground Floor has a classroom used for ICT
*H Block - This is the main hall.
*M Block - Until September 2006, separate from the rest of the School. It contains most of the Music classrooms. It has been extended with more rooms and a Practise room to accommodate more students
*P Block - The Sports Hall and changing rooms, located opposite the E Block.
*S Block - Used for all the Science Subjects. Also used as the primary schools introduction to Sponne area.
*W Block - The old Grammar School building, rebuilt in 1928 after a fire. This area is for Humanities, English, Business Studies and Drama.
*HLRC - Hesketh Learning Resource Centre. This is part of the C Block but is a large room containing computers, books, newspapers and desks for students to work in. It is run by a team of librarians, who are assisted at break and lunchtimes by a group of students who work for credits.

There are two residential houses in the school; they both used to be occupied by the care-takers. Now one of them is used for extracurricular activities. There is also a convert|4|acre|m2|sing=on field at the back of the school. It is repainted in the summer and the winter with two football pitches, a hockey pitch, 2 rugby pitches, a 400 m track and a 100 m track. It also has two long jump sandpits, and 2 discus circles.Adjacent to the field is a set of tennis courts.

Media attention

*Sponne was one of the first schools in Britain to switch its dietary policies following celebrity chef Jamie Oliver's anti–obesity TV campaign. In July 2006, William Guntrip (13) set up a playground sweet shop to counteract what he considered to be 'overpriced health food'. Mr Guntrip was taking more than £50 a day, selling chocolate bars and fizzy drinks to other pupils during break times. He was allegedly threatened with expulsion and the story was picked up by the national media. [ [http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/article.html?in_article_id=16767&in_page_id=2&expand=true School bans boy's snack empire | Metro.co.uk ] ]

Sixth Form

As well as catering for students in years 7 to 11, there are two further, optional years that can be joined, years 12 and 13 (Henceforth to be referred to as 6th Form). The 6th form is the A-Level stage of education, and is much the same as a standard 6th Form college. Uniform is not a factor for 6th Form students, they may wear their own clothes. In the first year (12) students choose up to 5 AS Level subjects to study (The choices are given nearing the end of year 11 - if the students wish to continue education at Sponne), the subjects will differ from GCSE level, with the addition of subjects such as psychology or health & social care. Students can stay on a second year, so long as they have earned a minimal of 60 UCAS points from their AS results, and can continue to work towards gaining points for university entry. Generally, students will drop one subject, the majority of year 13 students taking 3 subjects. The classes are much smaller than standard secondary school lessons, therefore they are more intimate, the teachers being able to have a more personal relationship with students. [ [http://www.sponneschool.northants.sch.uk/sixth-form-home/ Sponne School Sixth Form | Sponne School Website] ]

Head Teachers

*2003-Present Day Jamie Clarke
*1991-2003 Ian Brown
*1969-1991 John Mayes
*1960-1969 Jack Searle
*1955-1960 Mr Beacock
*1920-1955 P.G.F.Clark
*1890-1920 John Wetherell

Uniform

Boys
Black Trousers
White Shirt
Black Blazers
School Tie (black with red and blue stripes)
Black Shoes
Black V-Neck Jumper with school crest (optional)

Girls
Black Trousers or Skirt
White Blouse
Black Jumper
Black Shoes
"as of 2002 girls no longer had to wear ties"

References

External links

* [http://www.sponneschool.northants.sch.uk Sponne School website]