Arnold Hill Comprehensive School
Encyclopedia
Arnold Hill Comprehensive School is a mixed state school in the county
of Nottinghamshire
in the East Midlands
. It teaches children from 11 to 18 - Years 7-13. It is located in Arnold
but it serves children from various nearby areas including Killisick, Daybrook, Woodthorpe, Mapperley and Sherwood. It is split into two sites ("Main School" and "Lower School") and has around 1675 pupils and 110 teachers. It is one of the largest comprehensive school
s in Nottinghamshire. A few famous names have attended the school in past years including Jermaine Jenas
and youtuber PlusAsh (Ashley Hardy).
. The lack of university places also limited the number of pupils able to progress to a university education so GCE pass marks were set very high, ensuring that only the academically gifted gained university places. An understandable but rather unfair application of examination pass criteria.
Third year pupils from Arnold Girls Secodary School and Robert Mellors secondary School in Arnold in 1975 heralded the schools new Comprehensive status.
Initially, on the 45 acres (182,108.7 m²) site, there was a lower school for first and second year pupils (formerly the girls secondary modern school building), the first batch of 120 third year pupils moved straight into the middle school, which consisted of 6 classrooms, six large house rooms, used for dining and house activities, and between them, three kitchens. School dinners were surprisingly good and the three kitchen concept worked well.
A large "Dutch barn
" meant a covered 'all weather playground' and served as a viable sports area for netball, basketball etc. when the weather was bad. In the separate gymnasium, the installation of a system of equipment consisting of vertical poles that screwed into the floor, then had horizontal poles and sundry other equipment attached to them, was an unmitigated disaster, as screwing several poles into plates in the solid floor, and plates on runners in the ceiling, merely lifted the roof and so the poles attached immediately fell out! Plasterboard interior walls didn't fare any better, with holes appearing almost from day one from accidents involving elbows or medicine balls.
Early PE teachers as they were known, soon established the school as one with strong sporting credentials, yet allowed those of a lesser physical stature, not suited to rugby for example, to develop an interest in badminton.
The first headmaster was Dr J H Higginson, a career educator, rather than just another head teacher, who wrote a fascinating book on the establishment of the school, entitled A School Is Born, (ISBN 0-86332-199-2 - published 1987) which covered many aspect of what was quite an advanced school for its day. The first deputy head was W T N Thompson. Several of the younger initial teaching staff remained for many years.
The school operated a very strong house system where the 'names' were then living international identities - clockwise around the three sided middle school, these were:
Gladys Aylward
, Ryder-Cheshire (Leonard Cheshire
and Sue Ryder
), Pandit - Anton Makarenko
, Eleanor Roosevelt
and Albert Schweitzer
,
The school was officially opened by Vikash Makanji, High Commissioner for India, 18 December 1959, and there was a constant stream of visitors to the school, who unusually for the day, had to lunch with the pupils. There was no separate staff dining facility so teachers who dined in, also had to eat with the pupils, which in those more formal days, often made for stilted conversation at the lunch table!
Pupils were encouraged to forge links with the countries represented by those houses and several made long term friendships that survive to this day. For many however, the world was a vast place in the late 1950s, with overseas travel only for the rich, and they did not foresee the rapid growth in low cost air travel, internet communications etc. that is now taken for granted.
A totally new school was built in the mid 1960s on the same site. In 1974, the separate schools occupying these premises were amalgamated to form Arnold Hill Comprehensive School.
and Humanities
Departments and also Lower School Resources (Library, IT Suite) during the rebuild of lower school following the fire and provided comfortable accommodation with air conditioning, and IT ports in every room. The "Village" was last used by pupils on Tuesday 4 April 2006, after which date the Humanities, and English departments began the move to the newly re-built Lower School ready to begin classes after the Easter Break on 24 April 2006. To accommodate this move pupils in years 7, 8 & 10 began their Easter Holiday early, with the Tuesday being their last day in school, the holiday was also extended the other side of Easter with pupils in these years returning on Wednesday 26 April 2006. Years 9 and 11 remained in school for the normal period due to the proximity of SATs
and GCSE exams.
suit. The stripper undressed to her undergarments before being asked to stop by a faculty member. A spokeswoman has said "There was an incident, we are aware of it, and it is being dealt with."
The new 6th form Centre is now complete.
County
A county is a jurisdiction of local government in certain modern nations. Historically in mainland Europe, the original French term, comté, and its equivalents in other languages denoted a jurisdiction under the sovereignty of a count A county is a jurisdiction of local government in certain...
of Nottinghamshire
Nottinghamshire
Nottinghamshire is a county in the East Midlands of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west...
in the East Midlands
East Midlands
The East Midlands is one of the regions of England, consisting of most of the eastern half of the traditional region of the Midlands. It encompasses the combined area of Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Rutland, Northamptonshire and most of Lincolnshire...
. It teaches children from 11 to 18 - Years 7-13. It is located in Arnold
Arnold, Nottinghamshire
Arnold is a suburb of Nottingham, England. It is to the north-east of the city boundary, and is in the local government district of Gedling. It has only had a market since 1968, and had a number of factories associated with the hosiery industry...
but it serves children from various nearby areas including Killisick, Daybrook, Woodthorpe, Mapperley and Sherwood. It is split into two sites ("Main School" and "Lower School") and has around 1675 pupils and 110 teachers. It is one of the largest comprehensive school
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...
s in Nottinghamshire. A few famous names have attended the school in past years including Jermaine Jenas
Jermaine Jenas
Jermaine Anthony Jenas is an English footballer who plays for Aston Villa in the Premier League on loan from Tottenham Hotspur. He is of mixed African-Caribbean and English descent.-Nottingham Forest:...
and youtuber PlusAsh (Ashley Hardy).
Grammar school to Comprehensive
The original designation was the Arnold County High School, which opened in 1959 as a grammar school. Pupils came from about a ten mile (16 km) radius and at that time, the county was in an extensive school building programme, to cope with the post-war baby boomBaby boom
A baby boom is any period marked by a greatly increased birth rate. This demographic phenomenon is usually ascribed within certain geographical bounds and when the number of annual births exceeds 2 per 100 women...
. The lack of university places also limited the number of pupils able to progress to a university education so GCE pass marks were set very high, ensuring that only the academically gifted gained university places. An understandable but rather unfair application of examination pass criteria.
Third year pupils from Arnold Girls Secodary School and Robert Mellors secondary School in Arnold in 1975 heralded the schools new Comprehensive status.
Initially, on the 45 acres (182,108.7 m²) site, there was a lower school for first and second year pupils (formerly the girls secondary modern school building), the first batch of 120 third year pupils moved straight into the middle school, which consisted of 6 classrooms, six large house rooms, used for dining and house activities, and between them, three kitchens. School dinners were surprisingly good and the three kitchen concept worked well.
A large "Dutch barn
Dutch barn
Dutch barn is the name given to markedly different types of barns in the United States and Canada, and in the United Kingdom. In the United States, Dutch barns represent the oldest and rarest types of barns. There are relatively few—probably less than 600—of these barns still intact...
" meant a covered 'all weather playground' and served as a viable sports area for netball, basketball etc. when the weather was bad. In the separate gymnasium, the installation of a system of equipment consisting of vertical poles that screwed into the floor, then had horizontal poles and sundry other equipment attached to them, was an unmitigated disaster, as screwing several poles into plates in the solid floor, and plates on runners in the ceiling, merely lifted the roof and so the poles attached immediately fell out! Plasterboard interior walls didn't fare any better, with holes appearing almost from day one from accidents involving elbows or medicine balls.
Early PE teachers as they were known, soon established the school as one with strong sporting credentials, yet allowed those of a lesser physical stature, not suited to rugby for example, to develop an interest in badminton.
The first headmaster was Dr J H Higginson, a career educator, rather than just another head teacher, who wrote a fascinating book on the establishment of the school, entitled A School Is Born, (ISBN 0-86332-199-2 - published 1987) which covered many aspect of what was quite an advanced school for its day. The first deputy head was W T N Thompson. Several of the younger initial teaching staff remained for many years.
The school operated a very strong house system where the 'names' were then living international identities - clockwise around the three sided middle school, these were:
Gladys Aylward
Gladys Aylward
Gladys May Aylward was the evangelical Christian missionary to China whose story was told in the book The Small Woman by Alan Burgess, published in 1957...
, Ryder-Cheshire (Leonard Cheshire
Leonard Cheshire
Group Captain Geoffrey Leonard Cheshire, Baron Cheshire, VC, OM, DSO and Two Bars, DFC was a highly decorated British RAF pilot during the Second World War....
and Sue Ryder
Sue Ryder
Margaret Susan Cheshire, Baroness Ryder of Warsaw and Baroness Cheshire, CMG, OBE , best known as Sue Ryder, was a British volunteer with Special Operations Executive in the Second World War, who afterwards led many charitable organizations, notably the charity named in her honour.-Early...
), Pandit - Anton Makarenko
Anton Makarenko
Anton Semenovych Makarenko was a Ukrainian and Soviet educator and writer, who promoted democratic ideas and principles in educational theory and practice. As one of the founders of Soviet pedagogy, he elaborated the theory and methodology of upbringing in self-governing child collectives and...
, Eleanor Roosevelt
Eleanor Roosevelt
Anna Eleanor Roosevelt was the First Lady of the United States from 1933 to 1945. She supported the New Deal policies of her husband, distant cousin Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and became an advocate for civil rights. After her husband's death in 1945, Roosevelt continued to be an international...
and Albert Schweitzer
Albert Schweitzer
Albert Schweitzer OM was a German theologian, organist, philosopher, physician, and medical missionary. He was born in Kaysersberg in the province of Alsace-Lorraine, at that time part of the German Empire...
,
The school was officially opened by Vikash Makanji, High Commissioner for India, 18 December 1959, and there was a constant stream of visitors to the school, who unusually for the day, had to lunch with the pupils. There was no separate staff dining facility so teachers who dined in, also had to eat with the pupils, which in those more formal days, often made for stilted conversation at the lunch table!
Pupils were encouraged to forge links with the countries represented by those houses and several made long term friendships that survive to this day. For many however, the world was a vast place in the late 1950s, with overseas travel only for the rich, and they did not foresee the rapid growth in low cost air travel, internet communications etc. that is now taken for granted.
A totally new school was built in the mid 1960s on the same site. In 1974, the separate schools occupying these premises were amalgamated to form Arnold Hill Comprehensive School.
Lower School Fire (2004)
In September 2004 the school was forced to close for several months when a large fire destroyed 16 of the recently refurbished classrooms in the Lower School building. The school quickly allowed sixth form students and GCSE pupils (Years 10 & 11) to return, but the reduced number of classrooms - smoke and structural damage meant that the entire Lower School building was uninhabitable, except the reception and hall area - prevented pupils from years 7, 8 & 9 from returning for several weeks. Their return was delayed and rescheduled several times because of delays in the construction of the Portakabins, but eventually they were returned to school. The large array of Portakabin buildings were known officially as "The Village".The Village
"The Village" (known informally as "the Portakabins") was home to the EnglishEnglish studies
English studies is an academic discipline that includes the study of literatures written in the English language , English linguistics English studies is an academic discipline that includes the study of literatures written in the English language (including literatures from the U.K., U.S.,...
and 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....
Departments and also Lower School Resources (Library, IT Suite) during the rebuild of lower school following the fire and provided comfortable accommodation with air conditioning, and IT ports in every room. The "Village" was last used by pupils on Tuesday 4 April 2006, after which date the Humanities, and English departments began the move to the newly re-built Lower School ready to begin classes after the Easter Break on 24 April 2006. To accommodate this move pupils in years 7, 8 & 10 began their Easter Holiday early, with the Tuesday being their last day in school, the holiday was also extended the other side of Easter with pupils in these years returning on Wednesday 26 April 2006. Years 9 and 11 remained in school for the normal period due to the proximity of SATs
National Curriculum assessment
National Curriculum assessments are a series of educational assessments, colloquially known as Sats or SATs, used to assess the attainment of children attending maintained schools in England...
and GCSE exams.
Controversy Surrounding "Stripper" (2007)
On 6 November 2007, a stripper performed at the school for a student's birthday. According to The Daily Telegraph, the student's mother hired the stripper as a birthday gift for her 16 year old son as a mistake, intending to order a man in a gorillaGorilla
Gorillas are the largest extant species of primates. They are ground-dwelling, predominantly herbivorous apes that inhabit the forests of central Africa. Gorillas are divided into two species and either four or five subspecies...
suit. The stripper undressed to her undergarments before being asked to stop by a faculty member. A spokeswoman has said "There was an incident, we are aware of it, and it is being dealt with."
Sixth Form Centre Fire (2010)
On Wednesday April 28, 2010 at 11:30pm a fire broke out in the Sixth Form block. Fire crews spent six hours tackling the fire but the Sixth Form block was completely destroyed by the blaze. Consequently the building was demolished. As of June 2010 a new Sixth Form building has been constructed using Portakabins. The construction of a new centre began in early 2011.The new 6th form Centre is now complete.