John F Kennedy Catholic School is a voluntary aided

Voluntary aided school

A voluntary aided school is a state-funded school in England and Wales in which a foundation or trust owns the school buildings, contributes to building costs and has a substantial influence in the running of the school...

 Roman Catholic comprehensive

Comprehensive school

A comprehensive school is a state school that does not select its intake on the basis of academic achievement or aptitude. This is in contrast to the selective school system, where admission is restricted on the basis of a selection criteria. The term is commonly used in relation to the United...

 secondary school

Secondary school

Secondary school is a term used to describe an educational institution where the final stage of schooling, known as secondary education and usually compulsory up to a specified age, takes place...

 located in Hemel Hempstead

Hemel Hempstead

Hemel Hempstead is a town in Hertfordshire in the East of England, to the north west of London and part of the Greater London Urban Area. The population at the 2001 Census was 81,143 ....

, 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...

, United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

. It opened in 1967 and now has a student population of approximately 1100, aged 11 to 18. The headteacher is currently Bernadette Jenkins. The school's motto

Motto

A motto is a phrase meant to formally summarize the general motivation or intention of a social group or organization. A motto may be in any language, but Latin is the most used. The local language is usual in the mottoes of governments...

, as used on its logo (see image) and uniform is Pacem in terris (peace on Earth).

The school is also part of a local partnership of secondary schools, offering a variety of subject choices for post-16 students.

Achievements and recognition

The school gained Technology College

Technology College

Technology College is a term used in the United Kingdom for a secondary specialist school that focuses on design and technology, mathematics and science. These were the first type of specialist schools, beginning in 1994. In 2008 there were 598 Technology Colleges in England, of which 12 also...

 status in 1998, has received 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 ....

 inspection reports describing it as "outstanding", and appeared on Ofsted's "honours list". It has also received the following special recognitions:

• Schools Curriculum Award 2000
• Investor in People

The secondary school currently has a student population over 170 in 6th form, which is its largest 6th form on record. The school is acknowledged for its high standards and is, again currently one of the best schools in Hertfordshire.

Future of the school

In September 2009 the school opened a major £8.4m ($16.2m) new building project which has expanded facilities for several of the school's subject departments.
The new developments include:

• A new teaching block, taking up part of the area where the school's current tennis courts used to be
• 4 new tennis courts on currently unused field area
• A new sports hall in the 'spinney' (a wooded area on the school site)
• A new playground in front of the school's largest teaching block, the 'B Block'
• A new car park to help deal with local parking issues, which will take up the remainder of the current tennis court area

The school has minimised the impact on the local environment by avoiding significant loss of trees. The project also involved the planting of new trees, and using trees which are required to be cut down as wood-chip paths and for the construction of the gazebo-type structure in the 'spinney'.

See also

• Church school
  Church school
  A church school is a place of education, the precise nature of which varies from one national jurisdiction to another.The State of Alabama defines a church school as follows:...
  
  
• Department for Education and Skills
• Education in England
  Education in England
  Education in England is overseen by the Department for Education and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills. Local authorities take responsibility for implementing policy for public education and state schools at a regional level....
  
  
• List of schools in England
• 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...
  
  , the overarching scheme that the Technology College designation belongs to.