John O'Gaunt Community Technology College is a 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...

 and Technology College of approximately 633 pupils in Hungerford

Hungerford

Hungerford is a market town and civil parish in Berkshire, England, 9 miles west of Newbury. It covers an area of and, according to the 2001 census, has a population of 5,559 .- Geography :...

, Berkshire

Berkshire

Berkshire is a historic county in the South of England. It is also often referred to as the Royal County of Berkshire because of the presence of the royal residence of Windsor Castle in the county; this usage, which dates to the 19th century at least, was recognised by the Queen in 1957, and...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. It was Berkshire's first community school. The school was built in 1962 and is a fusion of 1960s decor and 1990s pre-fabricated buildings. Pupils between the ages of 11-16 years old can enroll with the secondary school, and those that are 16-18 can apply to join the sixth form

Sixth form

In the education systems of England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, and of Commonwealth West Indian countries such as Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago, Belize, Jamaica and Malta, the sixth form is the final two years of secondary education, where students, usually sixteen to eighteen years of age,...

. The school also offers extracurricular activities mainly sports and arts events. Students can also apply for a course at Newbury College, in which case students are taken by bus on a Wednesday (year 10/11) or Friday (year 12/13).

The school's 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 benefits the whole school in that almost all classrooms are equipped with an interactive white-board and multimedia capabilities.

The school gained national attention as the site of the denouement of the Hungerford massacre

Hungerford massacre

The Hungerford massacre occurred in Hungerford, Berkshire, England, on 19 August 1987. The gunman, 27-year-old Michael Robert Ryan, armed with two semi-automatic rifles and a handgun, shot and killed sixteen people including his mother, and wounded fifteen others, then fatally shot himself...

 on 19 August 1987. Michael Robert Ryan made the then-empty school the site of his final stand and suicide, having killed 16 people and injured 15 others.

Ofsted inspection

The most recent ofsted inspection was on the 3rd October 2007. More information is available at http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/reports/index.cfm?fuseaction=summary&id=110050 .

Drama

The drama department has a studio with lighting and sound equipment, two rehearsal rooms, that are shared with music; and a prop and costume cupboard.

The main hall also houses the main performance areas, with a DMX 25 channel lighting system, and 24 channel sound system with 2.1 surround sound. The lighting system was upgraded in July 2008.

Music

The music department has a music suite, including electronic keyboards, MIDI enabled Keyboards linked to multimedia PCs, with a Sibelius score creation package. Musical instruments available range from tubular bells to recorders. With the addition of three rehearsal rooms, two of which are shared with Drama, the music department also tutors students in how to play a musical instrument. The School uses peripatetic teachers from the Young Berkshire Musician Trust to tutor students.
The site=
John O'Gaunt is built on the outskirts of Hungerford, next to the leisure centre. There are nine buildings on the site, some of which are linked by corridors and others that aren't. The Kennet block (commonly referred to as the 'three-storey block'), the small and main halls, the office (or reception), the ‘De Monteforte’ block, the technology block, the Woodlands block (also known as the art block), the maths and science blocks, the performing arts, music, drama, and stage lighting block, and the physical education block.

Kennet Block

The Kennet Block contains the RE

Religious education

In secular usage, religious education is the teaching of a particular religion and its varied aspects —its beliefs, doctrines, rituals, customs, rites, and personal roles...

 department, the English department, and the modern foreign languages department.

The Library

The library resources are:

• Six computers, internet connected.
• non-fiction area.
• fiction area.
• project packs, consisting of leaflets and a list of books. These are usually themed to social sciences, and PSCHEE topics.
• chess sets and other board games which can be used via reservation at lunch times.

The library uses the management system Eclipse, which is a fully automated system, with an external search client, which can search the books available in the library from anywhere in the school.

The two teachers running the Library are Anne Randal and Rachel Beville.

There is also a Library committee, made up of students.
These Students act as Librarians and have duties in the Library.

Halls

The main hall is the main area for the school. At break and lunch times the hall plays the role of a food hall, with the cafeteria open to buy food. Seating is provided in the form of tables and chairs. The entrance to the cafeteria is through the Small Hall. The Small Hall is used for storage, and small and special events. When the halls are not in use as food halls, they are used for rehearsing events such as performances or concerts.

’De Monteforte’

The ‘De Monteforte’ block houses the offices, the ICT department, and the humanities

Humanities

The humanities are academic disciplines that study the human condition, using methods that are primarily analytical, critical, or speculative, as distinguished from the mainly empirical approaches of the natural sciences....

department.

Technology

The technology block houses technology classes, including graphical design, resistant materials, textiles, woodwork, and food.

Woodlands

This block is commonly known as the art block although housing the science and mathematics departments.

Science, Maths and Study & Support

These two subjects are in the Woodlands block. Mathematics is upstairs, sharing half a floor with the school's 'Study and Support' department, that assists students with learning difficulties, and emotional problems. The science department is downstairs (physics, chemistry and biology).

Performing arts, music, drama, stage lighting

This block houses all the theatre and media side of the school. After school hours, groups might rehearse a play, the school band practise or the choir rehearse.

PE block

This block has the changing rooms, and corridors to the swimming pool (owned and operated by the leisure centre), sports hall, astro-turf pitch, and playing fields.