Queens' School

Infobox UK school
name = Queens' School


size =
latitude = 51.6583
longitude = -0.3686
dms =
motto =
motto_pl =
established = 1969
approx =
type = foundation comprehensive
religion =
president =
head_label =
head = Terence James
r_head_label =
r_head =
chair_label =
chair =
founder =
founder_pl =
specialist = Sport and Science
specialist_pl = yes
street = Aldenham Road
city = Bushey
county = Hertfordshire
country = England flagicon|England
postcode = WD23 2TY
phone = 01923 224465
fax = 01923 223975
LEA = Hertfordshire County Council
ofsted = 117582
staff =
enrollment = 1650
gender = Mixed
lower_age = 11
upper_age = 18
houses = Drake color box|green, Newton color box|red, Auden color box|yellow and Sutherland color box|blue
colours =
publication = Focus Magazine
free_label_1 =
free_1 =
free_label_2 =
free_2 =
free_label_3 =
free_3 =
website = http://www.queens.herts.sch.uk/
website_name = www.queens.herts.sch.uk

Queens' School, near Watford, is a state funded secondary school currently designated a Specialist Sports and Science College taking students aged 11 Year 7 through to 18 Year 13.

History

The story of Queens' begins with two schools in Watford in the early 20th century.

Watford Central School was founded in 1912 in buildings in Derby Road vacated by Watford Grammar School for Boys when it moved to its present site in West Watford.In 1950, the central school became a new grammar school on the northwest side of Aldenham Road, Bushey, called Bushey Grammar School.The buildings vacated in Derby road were then occupied by the Central Primary School. [ [http://www.imagesofengland.org.uk/Details/Default.aspx?id=158158 Main block at Watford Central Primary School] , "Images of England", English Heritage National Monuments Record.] [ [http://www.btinternet.com/~reed.jmr/index.htm Watford Central School and Bushey Grammar School] nostalgia site.] "Queens' School: The first Ten Years", Queens' School, 1976.]

Alexandra School was founded in 1901 in Judge Street, North Watford.(These buildings later became an annexe to the Watford School of Art.)In January 1966 the school moved to the southeast side of Aldenham road, opposite Bushey Grammar School.The pedestrian underpass under Aldenham Road was built at this time, but the two schools had little interaction.Alexandra School had only three headmasters in its 68-year history.

In September 1969, the two schools were amalgamated to form Queens' School, a comprehensive school spanning a 52 acre site on both sides of Aldenham Road.At the time of the merger, Bushey Grammar had 800 pupils, while Alexandra School had 500.A crucial early decision was to extend the pastoral system of Bushey Grammar to the new school, with four houses spanning all year groups, two based on each side of Aldenham Road.This structure has served the school well, and persists to this day.

In September 1985, Grange Park School became part of Queens'. The former Grange Park campus is now home to Bushey Hall School.

Queens' was awarded grant-maintained status on 1st April 1993 and became a foundation school in September 1999. In September 2003, the school was designated a Specialist Sports College, and in April 2008 also became a Science College. Students hope to look forward to markedly better science teaching as a result, notably in the A-level physics department.

Location

The school occupies a relatively isolated suburban campus on both sides of Aldenham Road, in Bushey on the outskirts of Watford in south Hertfordshire. As it is a formation of 2 schools, it has 2 sites, named North and South. The north side borders the Bushey Grove Leisure Centre and the Purcell School of Music (formerly the Royal Caledonian School), whereas the south side borders the Metropolitan Police sports grounds.

Uniform

The school uniform consists of black blazer, white shirt, black skirt or trousers, house tie and optional black jumper. All students are required to wear black shoes. Outdoor coats must be in dark colours i.e. black, dark blue, grey. In the summer, blazers can be taken off but must be worn in all other seasons. Years 12 and 13 are not required to wear uniform, but have a dress code.

Entry

Where applications for admission exceed the number of places available, the following criteria will be applied, in the order set out below, to decide which children to admit:

*children with a statement of special educational needs where the school is named in the statement and where the LEA and the school agree that the school can meet the special educational needs of the child
*children who are in the care of the Local Authority
*children with a brother or sister currently attending the school
*children with a parent who, at the date of application, holds a permanent *contract of employment with the school, due to the difficulties the school experiences in recruiting and retaining staff
*children whose permanent residence is located within postcodes WD3-7, WD17-19, WD23-25, AL2 (south of M25), HA6, HA5 3**, HA5 4**, HA3 6**, HA7 3**, HA7 4**

Houses

The school is split into four houses, Drake and Newton based on the north side and Auden and Sutherland based in the south. Students are allocated a house on entry. Typically, each house is further subdivided into two or three forms for each year group. Each house has associated colours, which are worn on ties which form part of the school uniform.

Discipline

Queens' school like many other schools around the country use standard detention for disciplinary procedures. These range from the more common lunch and break detentions for minor misdemeanors through to expulsion. the following is a list of procedures:
*Break Detention: a 15 minute "det" that lasts through break time.
*Lunch Detention: This detention can be set for any length of time within the luch break period.
*After School Detention (1/2 hour): This is presented to the student on a formal document for lack of work or silly behaviour in class.
*After School House Detention (1 hour): This detention is for repeated lack of work and or behavior, it is usually presented to the student on a formal document, the paper colour corresponding to the house they are associated with.
*Friday Detention: This detention last for an hour and a half on friday after school, can be identified by the brown colour of the paper.
*Saturday Detention*: A 2 hour detention that is held on saturday afternoons, this is the most serious type of detention.
*Internal exclusion*: The student has to sit in a room on their own for the entire school day, no contact can be made with other people.
*Suspension*: The student is told that they are not welcome on the school grounds, for the number of days specified by a senior member of staff.
*Expulsion*: The school asks the student to leave, this is formally backed up wth letters to parents.
"*Marked items signify letter to parents"

Criticisms

Moreover, the issue of whether the house, Drake, should be changed was debated by students during a Friday Debate at the beginning of the school year. The issue was that Sir Francis Drake, whom the house is named after, had been involved in the Slave Trade and was deemed morally wrong to have a house named after him and considered a role model. The result was the majority of the room voting against the motion of having the House renamed.

The school also faced criticism from students for the presence of a Chinese flag in the South Side Lobby, due to the sporting links the school has with Chinese schools. Students felt this did not represent the outrage felt by many at China's human rights record. The matter was debated between students and the headmaster in both the Friday Debates and the Christmas 2007 edition of the school's Focus Magazine.

Positives

As a Sports College the school has seen an added impetus to the physical well being of students with GCSE PE now a compulsory subject, and has also had a significant financial input due to this designation. The school has performed well at GCSE and A level exams within the last few years. It also runs the Btec National courses in all its guises with an excellent pass rate within the last two years.

Famous alumni

Mark Oaten, politician

References

External links

* [http://www.queens.herts.sch.uk Queens' School website]