Aylesbury High School
Encyclopedia
Aylesbury High School was founded in 1959, in Aylesbury
, Buckinghamshire
, when the previously co-educational Aylesbury Grammar School
became boys-only. The two schools remain on adjacent sites. The current headteacher is Alan Rosen.
The school is a single sex female grammar school
which takes about 1260 pupils. Its entry requirements are dictated by an exam
taken at the age of 10 or 11. In September 2001 the school was awarded specialist school
status in Languages
. It is also a designated Training school
and has recently been awarded green flag status. In July 2011 the school became an Academy.
The school takes girls from the age of 11, in what is called Year 7, through to the age of 18, in Year 13 (Upper VI). The school has its largest intakes at Year 7 followed by around 190 students into Year 12 (Lower VI). Many pupils who complete their GCSEs in year 11 go on to study A-levels at the school.
The school is often referred to by the students as "the High" or "AHS".
for the entire year and German
, Italian
and Spanish
each for one term. In years 8 and 9 they continue to study French and a second language chosen from those studied in year 7. All pupils are required to take at least one language at GCSE.
There are several house events, such as:
As well as these events there are numerous sporting competitions such as netball, volleyball and rugby.
On Tuesday 21 November 2006 the school broke the world record for the number of Christmas cracker
s pulled simultaneously. In addition to setting a new Guinness World Record of 1,217 Christmas crackers, the school pupils also raised over £2,500 in sponsorship for children's charity
the NSPCC
.
The school was recently involved with Aylesbury Grammar School's amateur production of the West End musical We Will Rock You (musical)
.
Aylesbury High celebrated its 50th Birthday in 2009.
Aylesbury
Aylesbury is the county town of Buckinghamshire in South East England. However the town also falls into a geographical region known as the South Midlands an area that ecompasses the north of the South East, and the southern extremities of the East Midlands...
, Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan home county in South East England. The county town is Aylesbury, the largest town in the ceremonial county is Milton Keynes and largest town in the non-metropolitan county is High Wycombe....
, when the previously co-educational Aylesbury Grammar School
Aylesbury Grammar School
Aylesbury Grammar School is a single-sex male grammar school in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, England, which educates 1,250 pupils.-Admissions:As a selective state school, its entry requirements are dictated by the exam taken at the age of 10-11...
became boys-only. The two schools remain on adjacent sites. The current headteacher is Alan Rosen.
The school is a single sex female grammar school
Grammar school
A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and some other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching classical languages but more recently an academically-oriented secondary school.The original purpose of mediaeval...
which takes about 1260 pupils. Its entry requirements are dictated by an exam
Eleven plus
In the United Kingdom, the 11-plus or Eleven plus is an examination administered to some students in their last year of primary education, governing admission to various types of secondary school. The name derives from the age group for secondary entry: 11–12 years...
taken at the age of 10 or 11. In September 2001 the school was awarded specialist school
Specialist school
The specialist schools programme was a UK government initiative which encouraged secondary schools in England to specialise in certain areas of the curriculum to boost achievement. The Specialist Schools and Academies Trust was responsible for the delivery of the programme...
status in Languages
Language College
Language Colleges were introduced in 1995 as part of the Specialist Schools Programme in the United Kingdom. The system enables secondary schools to specialise in certain fields, in this case, modern foreign languages...
. It is also a designated Training school
Training school
For a juvenile correctional facility, see youth detention center-----A training school is an official designation, awarded by the Department for Children, Schools and Families, to schools in England that provide exceptional facilities for in-service and work experience training of teachers...
and has recently been awarded green flag status. In July 2011 the school became an Academy.
The school takes girls from the age of 11, in what is called Year 7, through to the age of 18, in Year 13 (Upper VI). The school has its largest intakes at Year 7 followed by around 190 students into Year 12 (Lower VI). Many pupils who complete their GCSEs in year 11 go on to study A-levels at the school.
The school is often referred to by the students as "the High" or "AHS".
Curriculum
As a language college, AHS provides the opportunity to learn a number of modern foreign languages. In year 7, pupils study FrenchFrench language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
for the entire year and German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
, Italian
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
and Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
each for one term. In years 8 and 9 they continue to study French and a second language chosen from those studied in year 7. All pupils are required to take at least one language at GCSE.
Houses
There are 6 school houses, named after stately homes in the area:| House | Colour |
|---|---|
| Ascott Ascott House Ascott House, sometimes referred to as simply Ascott, is situated in the hamlet of Ascott near Wing in Buckinghamshire, England. It is set in a estate.... |
Blue |
| Claydon Claydon House Claydon House is a country house in the Aylesbury Vale, Buckinghamshire, England, close to the village of Middle Claydon. It was built between 1757 and 1771 and is now owned by the National Trust.... |
Yellow |
| Hughenden Hughenden Manor Hughenden Manor is a red brick Victorian mansion, located in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, England. In the 19th century, it was the country house of the Prime Minister, Benjamin Disraeli... |
Purple |
| Missenden Missenden Abbey Missenden Abbey was an Augustinian monastery founded in 1133 in Great Missenden, Buckinghamshire, United Kingdom. It was ruined in the Dissolution of the Monasteries and the ruins later incorporated into a Georgian mansion.The abbey has been owned by Buckinghamshire New University since the mid... |
Green |
| Stowe Stowe, Buckinghamshire Stowe is a civil parish and former village about northwest of Buckingham in the Aylesbury Vale district of Buckinghamshire, England. The parish includes the hamlets of Boycott, Dadford and Lamport.... |
Red |
| Waddesdon Waddesdon Manor Waddesdon Manor is a country house in the village of Waddesdon, in Buckinghamshire, England. The house was built in the Neo-Renaissance style of a French château between 1874 and 1889 for Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild . Since this was the preferred style of the Rothschilds it became also known as... |
Orange |
The House Cup
Every year, each house battles it out to win the House Cup. During the last week of term is the concluding House Event, House Athletics. Then, on the last day of term, the winning house is announced. Now merit marks, that the pupils earn, count toward the house cup.There are several house events, such as:
| Event | Description |
|---|---|
| House Athletics | Where members of each house participate in track and field events |
| House Dance | Around thirty members of each house from years 7-12 perform a sequence of dances in front of an audience created by House Dance Captains in year 12 (Lower IV) that best represent a given stimulus. External Judges judge each of the 6 houses dances and 3rd, 2nd and 1st place are announced. |
| House Challenge | Several challenges are put to each house (same challenge for each house), and whoever completes the challenge in the least time wins a point- highest number of points wins. An example of a house challenge is to eat several doughnuts, whithout licking lips |
| House Drama | A small selection of actors from each house perform a piece of drama based around a pre-given stimulus in front of an audience, and judges. Awards are given, such as "Best Actress" and "Best Supporting Actress". |
| House Languages | A short film is filmed in a foreign language, and is judged by a panel. Awards are also given. |
| House Football | A set of football games against the different houses, with a different team from each year |
| House Swimming | A swimming event between the six houses |
| House Music | A theme is chosen by the House Music Captains in year 12. They then arrange pieces of music to fit this theme, which are performed and judged. |
As well as these events there are numerous sporting competitions such as netball, volleyball and rugby.
Miscellaneous
The school gives an annual travel scholarship award to honour the memory of Jane Brownlee a Head of Geography who died in service in 1998. http://janebrownleescholarship.blogspot.com/On Tuesday 21 November 2006 the school broke the world record for the number of Christmas cracker
Christmas cracker
Christmas crackers or bon-bons are an integral part of Christmas celebrations in the United Kingdom and Commonwealth countries such as Australia, Canada, New Zealand and South Africa. They are also popular in Ireland. A cracker consists of a cardboard tube wrapped in a brightly decorated twist of...
s pulled simultaneously. In addition to setting a new Guinness World Record of 1,217 Christmas crackers, the school pupils also raised over £2,500 in sponsorship for children's charity
Charitable organization
A charitable organization is a type of non-profit organization . It differs from other types of NPOs in that it centers on philanthropic goals A charitable organization is a type of non-profit organization (NPO). It differs from other types of NPOs in that it centers on philanthropic goals A...
the NSPCC
NSPCC
The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children is a United Kingdom charity campaigning and working in child protection.-History:...
.
The school was recently involved with Aylesbury Grammar School's amateur production of the West End musical We Will Rock You (musical)
We Will Rock You (musical)
We Will Rock You is a jukebox musical, based on the songs of Queen and named after their hit single of the same name. The musical was written by British comedian and author Ben Elton in collaboration with Queen members Brian May and Roger Taylor...
.
Aylesbury High celebrated its 50th Birthday in 2009.
The Prime Minister's Global Fellowship
The school has a good record of students attaining places on the prestigious Prime Minister's Global Fellowship programme. The school achieved its first student in the inaugural year of the programme, 2008, and in 2009 had 2 successful applicants.Notable former pupils
- Lynda BellinghamLynda BellinghamLynda Bellingham is a Canadian-born English actress, broadcaster and author, who is known for her distinctive husky voice.-Early life:...
, actress - Sophie Carlin, artist
- Claire FoyClaire FoyClaire Foy is an English actress, best known for playing the title role in the BBC One production of Little Dorrit and Anna in the 2011 film, Season of the Witch.-Personal life:...
, actress (Little Dorrit (TV serial)Little Dorrit (TV serial)Little Dorrit is a 2008 British television serial directed by Adam Smith, Dearbhla Walsh, and Diarmuid Lawrence. The teleplay by Andrew Davies is based on the serial novel of the same title by Charles Dickens, originally published between 1855 and 1857....
) - Joanna GoslingJoanna GoslingJoanna Marie Mussett Gosling is a television news presenter, broadcast journalist and author. She presents on the United Kingdom rolling news channel BBC News, as well as occasionally on the Saturday evening and late editions of the BBC Weekend News on BBC One...
, news presenter (BBC News 24BBC News 24BBC News is the BBC's 24-hour rolling news television network in the United Kingdom. The channel launched as BBC News 24 on 9 November 1997 at 17:30 as part of the BBC's foray into digital domestic television channels, becoming the first competitor to Sky News, which had been running since 1989...
) - Roberta Iger, actress (The Onedin LineThe Onedin LineThe Onedin Line is a BBC television drama series which ran from 1971 to 1980. The series was created by Cyril Abraham.The series is set in Liverpool from 1860 to 1886 and deals with the rise of a shipping line, the Onedin Line, named after its owner James Onedin...
)