St Bartholomew's School

This article is about the school in Berkshire. For the school in Oxfordshire, see Bartholomew School Eynsham.
St. Bartholomew's School
Motto Ad lucem
(Towards the light)
Established 1466
Type Academy
Headmistress Julia Mortimore
Founder Henry Wormestall
Location Andover Road
Newbury
Berkshire
RG14 6JP
 England
Coordinates: 51°23′31″N 1°19′55″W / 51.392°N 1.332°W / 51.392; -1.332
DfE URN 137465 Tables
Ofsted Reports Pre-academy reports
Students 1,634
Gender Coeducational
Ages 11–18
Houses      Curnock
     Davis
     Evers
     Patterson
Colours

Purple (school colour)

    
Former pupils Old Newburians Association
GCSE results 466.9 points/student[1]
Website www.stbarts.co.uk

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

St. Bartholomew's is one of only a few state 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, activities, and residential trips. It is also one of the few state schools to play the sport of lacrosse. The school has produced many talented players, some of whom have gone on to represent England and Wales.

The school made history in July 2007 by becoming the first state school to triumph in the prestigious Schools and Universities Polo Association Cup.[2]

House system

The school operates a house system whereby the student body is divided into four houses, each named for a former pupil who died 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

Students from each house enter into annual competitions in sport, music and drama versus the other houses, where pupils represent their house. Examples of these are the house netball, house football, house rugby, house lacrosse, house hockey, house tennis, house rounders, house dance, house choir, house instrumental, and many others. There are also house plays which are written by year 12 students (aged 16 and 17) and performed by year 10 students (aged 14 and 15). 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, 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, consisting solely of the colour of the wearer's house. Girls were once given sashes instead of ties but this practice fell out of favour with the students and so they were awarded ties just as their peers were.

Other House Events

Each house holds an annual house evening, where students entertain parents and staff with music, dance, drama, and comic sketches. Each house also has a nominated house charity. Students try to raise as much money as possible for this charity through sponsored events and activities during the school year.

Facilities

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".[3]

Alumni

The alumni of St. Bartholomew's are referred to as Old Newburians.[5]

The Ad Lucem Project

On 23 November 2006, St. Bartholomew's was awarded a government grant 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. Whilst several proposals for St. Bartholomew's 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 20 February 2008.[9] The rebuild was completed in October 2010,[10] and was officially opened on 30 March 2011 by The Countess of Wessex[11]

Ofsted Inspections

The school was last inspected by Ofsted in February 2015 and was rated 'good'.[12]

See also

References

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