St. Bartholomew's School

:"This article is about the Berkshire school. See Bartholomew School Eynsham for the school in Eynsham, Oxfordshire"Infobox UK school
name = St. Bartholomew's School

---

size = 200px
latitude = 51.392
longitude = -1.332
dms =
motto = "Ad lucem"
("Towards the light")
motto_pl =
established = 1466
approx =
closed =
c_approx =
type = Comprehensive foundation school
religion =
president =
head_label = Headmaster
head = Stuart Robinson
r_head_label =
r_head =
chair_label =
chair =
founder = Henry Wormestall
founder_pl =
specialist = Business and Enterprise College
street = Andover Road
city = Newbury
county = Berkshire
country = ENG
postcode = RG14 6JP
LEA = West Berkshire
ofsted = 110098
staff =
enrollment = 1,600 total
gender = Co-educational
lower_age = 11
upper_age = 18
houses = 4
colours = Green, white and purple
publication =
free_label_1 = GCSE results
free_1 = 466.9 points/student [ [http://education.guardian.co.uk/secondaries/tables/0,,1986469,00.html GCSE results] ]
free_label_2 =
free_2 =
free_label_3 =
free_3 =
website = http://www.stbarts.co.uk/
website_name = www.stbarts.co.uk

St. Bartholomew's School (colloquially St. Bart's) is a co-educational comprehensive school founded in 1466 in Newbury, Berkshire in the United Kingdom. It accepts students aged 11-18 and currently has approximately 1,600 students on roll including a sixth form of around 400. The school is regarded as the 42nd oldest school in the UK, still in existence

It is one of only a few comprehensive schools to participate in the Combined Cadet Force (a programme sponsored by the Ministry of Defence), with around 200 cadets between the ages of 14 and 18 taking part in weekly training sessions and annual residential trips.

The school recently made history by becoming the first ever state school to triumph in the prestigious "Schools and Universities Polo Association Cup". [cite news
title=State pupils gallop to glory by beating public schools at their own game
publisher=The Times (Online)
date=1 August 2007
url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/education/article2176375.ece
accessdate=2007-08-13]

House System

The school operates a house system, whereby students are divided up into four houses, each of which is named after a former pupil who was killed in the First World War:

Patterson House colours

Patterson house uses the colour gold, whilst purple is used occasionally in conjunction with the main colour. The fourth house in the boys' school formerly always used purple, but switched to the gold of the girls' school's fourth house when the schools merged in 1975.

Competitions

Each house enters into annual competitions in sports, music and drama versus the other houses. There is a great sense of competition between houses, with students forming loyalties to their respective house. The winning house in each competition is awarded a certain number of points, which are accrued during the academic year. The house with the most points at the end of the year will win the "House Championship". "Junior/Senior House Colour Awards", in the form of ties for boys and sashes for girls, are awarded at the end of Years 10 and/or 12 to students who excel in a certain field, either academic or extracurricular. The ties are distinct from the normal school tie, in that they are solely the colour of the owner's house. The sash is white, with the house's colour striped through, and is worn by females on the waist.

Other House Events

Each house holds a house evening once a year, where students entertain parents and staff through music, dance, drama and comedic sketches.

Each house also has a house charity, students try to raise as much money as possible for the charity through sponsored events.

Facilities

*St. Bartholomew's is based on two sites. The "Luker" site, at one end of Buckingham Road was formerly "Newbury County Girls' Grammar School". The "Wormestall" site, at the opposite end of Buckingham Road, was formerly "St. Bartholomew's Boys' Grammar School". The two grammar schools merged in 1975 to form a large comprehensive.

* Both sites have large playing fields, tennis courts and sports changing rooms.

* On the "Wormestall" site, there is a 25 m indoor swimming pool, shared between local schools and the "Newbury Swimming Club".

* Across the "Luker" site, there are five dedicated ICT suites, as well as computer terminals in the library and other classrooms. Every student and teacher has a unique username/password combination to access their own area of the network; as of 2007, every permanent teacher has a laptop provided by the school, and all registration throughout the day is controlled through the student information system.

* Each site has a large hall with stage. The Wormestall stage has a trapdoor. The Luker site has a drama studio in which some lessons take place.

* "Wormestall" hall houses an indoor rock climbing wall.

* St. Bart's is one of around 55 [ [http://www.etonfives.co.uk/courts/exist.england.html Eton Fives Association - Courts in England and Wales] ] schools in England with facilities for playing Eton Fives. The facilities were cleaned up in 2006, and the school now has a functional team for the game.

Location

The school is located in a residential area and is split between two sites, "Luker" and "Wormestall", that are located 200 m from each other. The former was named after the first headmistress Jane Luker and the latter after its founder Henry Wormestall. There is also an administration site, situated in between the two, called "Digby Croft". Digby Croft is a converted house; the road between the two sites has houses on both sides. Years 7 to 10 are based mainly at "Luker" and the sixth form and Year 11 mainly at "Wormestall". The school also rents the Brown's Meadow playing fields, and Enborne Road playing fields, for fixtures and general sports training for all years in the summer. Both are a ten minute walk from the main school sites.

History

The school was founded in 1466 from the legacy of Henry Wormestall who set aside £12 2s 4d annually for "teching gramar scole of the whiche that toune hath grete nede" [ [http://www.ampneycrucis.f9.co.uk/PARK/newbury.htm The Cotswold Pages - Newbury Grammar School] ] .

Alumni

The alumni of St. Barts are referred to as "Old Newburians". [ [http://www.oldnewburians.co.uk Old Newburians Society] ]

* Charles Neufeld - inventor [ [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/11/21/db2103.xml Telegraph.co.uk obituary] ]
* Robert Newton - actor
* Brian Pike - artist

ixth form

St. Bartholomew's sixth form students are based on the "Wormestall" site, with their own Tutors and House staff. Membership allows students to mentor younger pupils in subject lessons, music and drama activities. Students have their own dedicated study area in the library, computer facilities, careers services, common rooms and canteen.

The Lifelong Learning Centre

The "Lifelong Learning Centre", built in the summer of 2002, is a purpose-built library, conference and training facility that includes two large information technology suites.

The two technology classrooms are situated on the ground level, on opposite sides of the building. There are around 30 computers in each room, as well as an interactive whiteboard in each. Situated in the centre of the ground floor is a conference room that can be split in to two rooms that displays artwork. The "Lifelong Learning Centre" (including the computer rooms) are available to hire for conferences, training and seminars to members of the public and is used for school meetings at other times.

On the first floor is a library, with a range of books as well as 16 computer terminals, some reserved for sixth form. On the south-eastern end of the libraries is a sixth form study area, as well as a small careers room.

The Ad Lucem Project

On 23 November 2006 St. Bartholomew's was awarded a government grant to be used to rebuild its premises. The school was chosen ahead of three other schools in Berkshire: Kennet School, Theale Green Community School and John O'Gaunt Community Technology College. The rebuild project must be completed by September 2009. [ [http://www.newburytoday.co.uk/News/Article.aspx?articleID=3353 Council vote for Newbury school to get government grant to help rebuild premises] , "newburytoday.co.uk", November 23, 2006] It is still in the consultation stages, and building is due to begin in early 2008, under the name "The Ad Lucem Project." Contractors Mace Plus Ltd. have been appointed to run the project. [ [http://www.mace.co.uk/news/default.aspx?year=2007&id=699 Mace Plus wins appointment on St. Bartholomew's School project] , "mace.co.uk", June 28, 2007] Whilst several proposals were considered, the final application involved completely rebuilding the school, with access provided through Fifth Road. This application was approved by a West Berkshire Council Planning Committee on 20th February 2008. [ [http://ww2.westberks.gov.uk/publicaccess/tdc/dcapplication/application_detailview.aspx?KEYVAL=JRURXTRD08D00&module=P3&hidereturn=true West Berkshire Council Planning Committe Decision Details on the Application to rebuild St. Bartholomew's School] ]

OfSTED Inspections

The school was last inspected by the Office of Standards in Education - OfSTED - in May 2007. The inspection was very positive, and praised the school. [ [http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/portal/site/Internet/menuitem.7c7b38b14d870c7bb1890a01637046a0/?event=getReport&urn=110098&inspectionNumber=288590&providerCategoryID=8192&fileName=\\school\\110\\s5_110098_20070522.xml OfSTED 2007 Inspection Paper] , "ofsted.gov.uk", May 5 2007.] The previous inspection in October 2001 was very positive. [ [http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/reports/pdf/?inspectionNumber=189988&providerCategoryID=32&fileName=\\school\\110\\s10_110098_20011212.pdf OfSTED 2001 Inspection Paper] , "ofsted.gov.uk", October 4 2001.]

ee also

*List of schools in the United Kingdom
*List of the oldest schools in the United Kingdom
*Specialist school

External links

* [http://www.stbarts.co.uk Official Homepage]
* [http://stbartspa.net/ Parents' Association]
* [http://www.oldnewburians.co.uk/ Old Newburians' Association]
* [http://www.ampneycrucis.f9.co.uk/PARK/newbury.htm History of the grammar school - written in 1958]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/bsp/hi/education/04/school_tables/secondary_schools/html/869_5402.stm BBC News: Latest league tables]
* [http://www.ampneycrucis.f9.co.uk/PARK/newbury.htm A 1956 Memoir of the school.]
* [http://thepaintedmirror.blogspot.com/ School creative writing group weblog]

References