Goffs School
Encyclopedia
Goffs School is a language secondary school
and sixth form college
located in Cheshunt
, Hertfordshire
, England with around 1,200 students. The school was awarded 'Language College' status in the late 1990s.
The school motto was "Sola Virtus Invicta", (roughly translates from Latin
to "strength of character alone remains invincible"), however, it was recently changed to "Respect Confidence Achievement".
The school has had five head teacher
s to date: Dr. Colin Hadley, Dr. John Versey, Mrs. Jan Cutler, Mrs. Paula Kenning and Mrs. Alison Garner, who took over in September 2010.
In the most recent Ofsted
report the school was deemed "satisfactory."
, Churchill
, Columbus
, Curie
, Mandela
and Monet
. These houses would compete in inter-house sports and enterprise competitions, and tutorial form and registration sessions would be organised in mixed year groups under each house. However, changes introduced in 2009 have taken emphasis off of the house structure - form lessons now occur in year groups, and many inter-house championships have not been reformed to fit the new system. The six-house structure was introduced in 2002; the original house structure consisted of four houses: Davies, Booker, Morgan and Trayhern. House events often took place including charitable activities towards each house's chosen charity. Since 2011 the house system been re-launched in a four-house structure while keeping the current form system, with the four houses being named after 'modern British heroes': Holmes
, Pratchett
, Branson
and Westwood
. Inter-house championships and competitions are being re-introduced within this system to reinvigorate community spirit in the school.
At the end of each year, awards are given to the house with the best achievement, best performance in the weekly quiz, and best attendance level. There is also an overall "best house" award.
and a swimming gala
in which students and teachers can take part.
The school hosts a sports day
annually, held in the summer, which consists of track and field events.
Sporting Facilities at the school include Astro-turf, Sports Hall and a Large Field.
Language school
A language school is a school where one studies a foreign language. Classes at a language school are usually geared towards, but not limited to, communicative competence in a foreign language...
and sixth form college
Sixth form college
A sixth form college is an educational institution in England, Wales, Northern Ireland, Belize, Hong Kong or Malta where students aged 16 to 18 typically study for advanced school-level qualifications, such as A-levels, or school-level qualifications such as GCSEs. In Singapore and India, this is...
located in Cheshunt
Cheshunt
Cheshunt is a town in Hertfordshire, England with a population of around 52,000 according to the United Kingdom's 2001 Census. It is a dormitory town and part of the Greater London Urban Area and London commuter belt served by Cheshunt railway station...
, Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England. The county town is Hertford.The county is one of the Home Counties and lies inland, bordered by Greater London , Buckinghamshire , Bedfordshire , Cambridgeshire and...
, England with around 1,200 students. The school was awarded 'Language College' status in the late 1990s.
The school motto was "Sola Virtus Invicta", (roughly translates from Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
to "strength of character alone remains invincible"), however, it was recently changed to "Respect Confidence Achievement".
The school has had five head teacher
Head teacher
A head teacher or school principal is the most senior teacher, leader and manager of a school....
s to date: Dr. Colin Hadley, Dr. John Versey, Mrs. Jan Cutler, Mrs. Paula Kenning and Mrs. Alison Garner, who took over in September 2010.
In the most recent Ofsted
Ofsted
The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills is the non-ministerial government department of Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Schools In England ....
report the school was deemed "satisfactory."
Houses
Goffs School consists of six houses, each named after an influential person from history: BrontëCharlotte Brontë
Charlotte Brontë was an English novelist and poet, the eldest of the three Brontë sisters who survived into adulthood, whose novels are English literature standards...
, Churchill
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...
, Columbus
Christopher Columbus
Christopher Columbus was an explorer, colonizer, and navigator, born in the Republic of Genoa, in northwestern Italy. Under the auspices of the Catholic Monarchs of Spain, he completed four voyages across the Atlantic Ocean that led to general European awareness of the American continents in the...
, Curie
Marie Curie
Marie Skłodowska-Curie was a physicist and chemist famous for her pioneering research on radioactivity. She was the first person honored with two Nobel Prizes—in physics and chemistry...
, Mandela
Nelson Mandela
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela served as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999, and was the first South African president to be elected in a fully representative democratic election. Before his presidency, Mandela was an anti-apartheid activist, and the leader of Umkhonto we Sizwe, the armed wing...
and Monet
Claude Monet
Claude Monet was a founder of French impressionist painting, and the most consistent and prolific practitioner of the movement's philosophy of expressing one's perceptions before nature, especially as applied to plein-air landscape painting. . Retrieved 6 January 2007...
. These houses would compete in inter-house sports and enterprise competitions, and tutorial form and registration sessions would be organised in mixed year groups under each house. However, changes introduced in 2009 have taken emphasis off of the house structure - form lessons now occur in year groups, and many inter-house championships have not been reformed to fit the new system. The six-house structure was introduced in 2002; the original house structure consisted of four houses: Davies, Booker, Morgan and Trayhern. House events often took place including charitable activities towards each house's chosen charity. Since 2011 the house system been re-launched in a four-house structure while keeping the current form system, with the four houses being named after 'modern British heroes': Holmes
Kelly Holmes
Dame Kelly Holmes, DBE, MBE is a retired British middle distance athlete. She specialised in the 800 metres and 1500 metres events and won a gold medal for both distances at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens...
, Pratchett
Terry Pratchett
Sir Terence David John "Terry" Pratchett, OBE is an English novelist, known for his frequently comical work in the fantasy genre. He is best known for his popular and long-running Discworld series of comic fantasy novels...
, Branson
Richard Branson
Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson is an English business magnate, best known for his Virgin Group of more than 400 companies....
and Westwood
Vivienne Westwood
Dame Vivienne Westwood, DBE, RDI is a British fashion designer and businesswoman, largely responsible for bringing modern punk and new wave fashions into the mainstream.-Early life:...
. Inter-house championships and competitions are being re-introduced within this system to reinvigorate community spirit in the school.
At the end of each year, awards are given to the house with the best achievement, best performance in the weekly quiz, and best attendance level. There is also an overall "best house" award.
Sports
Many of Goffs' sports teams have performed well at the county and in some cases national level. Aside from this, the school often runs inter-house competitions in various sports, such as rugbyRugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
and a swimming gala
Swimming gala
A swimming gala is a swimming competition between clubs or groups of swimmers, usually of young people. This term is primarily used in the UK and South Africa; in Australia swimming carnival is the norm....
in which students and teachers can take part.
The school hosts a sports day
Sports day
Sports days, sometimes referred to as Field Day, are events staged by many schools and offices in which people take part in competitive sporting activities, often with the aim of winning trophies or prizes...
annually, held in the summer, which consists of track and field events.
Sporting Facilities at the school include Astro-turf, Sports Hall and a Large Field.
Notable alumni
- David BentleyDavid BentleyDavid Michael Bentley is an English footballer who plays for West Ham United as a winger, on loan from Tottenham Hotspur....
, professional footballer
- Richard LewisRichard Lewis (tennis and rugby league)Richard Lewis is a former British Davis Cup tennis professional from Surrey.Lewis became executive chairman of the Rugby Football League in 2002. On 1 April 2009 he replaced Michael Farrar as chairman of Sport England.-Tennis career:...
, professional tennis player, Chair of Sport EnglandSport EnglandSport England is the brand name for the English Sports Council and is a non-departmental public body under the Department for Culture, Media and Sport...
- Suzannah DunnSuzannah DunnSuzannah Dunn is an author and graduate of the MA creative writing programme at the University of East Anglia. She teaches MA creative writing at the University of Manchester, and is the author of ten novels...
, historical fiction author - John Linger, singer/guitarist in UK band Neils ChildrenNeils ChildrenNeils Children is an English post-punk band, founded by John Linger and Brandon Jacobs .-Career:Neils Children formed in 1999 at Harlow College in Essex, where John Linger and Brandon Jacobs were studying with Richard Hawkins...
- Glenn Ward, contestant on The ApprenticeThe ApprenticeThe Apprentice is a television franchise which originated in 2004 in the United States. As originally conceived, the show depicted 16 contestants from around the country with various backgrounds competing in an elimination-style competition to become an apprentice to Donald Trump...
2011