Barr's Hill School
Encyclopedia
Barr's Hill School and Community College is a comprehensive
secondary school
in Radford
, Coventry
, England
.
), south of the Coventry-Nuneaton Line. The site of the former Jaguar factory is a few hundred metres to the north. The Bablake School
is directly to the west, separated by Naul's Mill Park. The school is outside of but borders the parish of Radford
.
The school provides an extensive extended school's programme of classes and activities for the local community.
in World War 2. It was an all-girls grammar school
until 1975 when boys became pupils there for the first time. It was founded in 1908 with an intake of 180 girls, the original school building being the former house of John Kemp Starley
, the inventor
of the bicycle.
It became a comprehensive in 1975. In 2006 the school gained specialist Engineering status and acts as a hub for the teaching of engineering in Coventry. In 2010 Applied Learning was added as a combined specialism.
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...
in Radford
Radford, Coventry
Radford is a suburb and electoral ward of Coventry, located approximately 2 miles north of Coventry city centre. It is covered by the Coventry North West constituency.-Geography:...
, Coventry
Coventry
Coventry is a city and metropolitan borough in the county of West Midlands in England. Coventry is the 9th largest city in England and the 11th largest in the United Kingdom. It is also the second largest city in the English Midlands, after Birmingham, with a population of 300,848, although...
, 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...
.
Admissions
Barr's Hill is situated on a spacious green field site just north of Coventry city centre on the B4098 (former A51A51 road
The A51 is a road in England running from Kingsbury in Warwickshire to Chester. The road follows the following route:*Kingsbury*Tamworth*Lichfield*Rugeley *Little Haywood*Great Haywood*Weston*Sandon...
), south of the Coventry-Nuneaton Line. The site of the former Jaguar factory is a few hundred metres to the north. The Bablake School
Bablake School
Bablake School is a co-educational Independent school located in Coventry, England and founded in 1344 by Queen Isabella, making it one of the oldest schools in the United Kingdom...
is directly to the west, separated by Naul's Mill Park. The school is outside of but borders the parish of Radford
Radford, Coventry
Radford is a suburb and electoral ward of Coventry, located approximately 2 miles north of Coventry city centre. It is covered by the Coventry North West constituency.-Geography:...
.
The school provides an extensive extended school's programme of classes and activities for the local community.
Grammar school
The area was heavily bombedCoventry Blitz
The Coventry blitz was a series of bombing raids that took place in the English city of Coventry. The city was bombed many times during the Second World War by the German Air Force...
in World War 2. It was an all-girls 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...
until 1975 when boys became pupils there for the first time. It was founded in 1908 with an intake of 180 girls, the original school building being the former house of John Kemp Starley
John Kemp Starley
John Kemp Starley was an English inventor and industrialist who is widely considered the inventor of the modern bicycle, and also originator of the name Rover....
, the inventor
History of the bicycle
Vehicles for human transport that have two wheels and require balancing by the rider date back to the early 19th century. The first means of transport making use of two wheels, and thus the archetype of the bicycle, was the German draisine dating back to 1817...
of the bicycle.
Comprehensive
Academic performance
The progress made by students is among the best in Coventry. 29% of students gain 5 or more A*-C with English and Maths and 81% gained 5 or maore A*-C grades overall in 2010. A level results are amongst the best in the city.Barr's Hill Grammar School
- Delia DerbyshireDelia DerbyshireDelia Ann Derbyshire was an English musician and composer of electronic music and musique concrète. She is best known for her electronic realisation of Ron Grainer's theme music to the British science fiction television series Doctor Who and for her work with the BBC Radiophonic Workshop.-Early...
, composerComposerA composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
and electronic musicianElectronic musicElectronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments and electronic music technology in its production. In general a distinction can be made between sound produced using electromechanical means and that produced using electronic technology. Examples of electromechanical sound...
most famous for producing the 1963 realisation of the theme music to science-fiction TV series Doctor WhoDoctor WhoDoctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
, and associated with the BBC Radiophonic WorkshopBBC Radiophonic WorkshopThe BBC Radiophonic Workshop, one of the sound effects units of the BBC, was created in 1958 to produce effects and new music for radio, and was closed in March 1998, although much of its traditional work had already been outsourced by 1995. It was based in the BBC's Maida Vale Studios in Delaware...
. - Susan HillSusan HillSusan Hill is an English author of fiction and non-fiction works. Her novels include The Woman in Black, The Mist in the Mirror and I'm the King of the Castle for which she received the Somerset Maugham Award in 1971....
, author of fiction and non-fiction. Novels include The Woman in BlackThe Woman in BlackThe Woman in Black is a 1983 thriller fiction novel by Susan Hill about a menacing spectre that haunts a small English town.It was adapted into a stage play by Stephen Mallatratt...
, The Mist in the Mirror and I'm the King of the Castle for which she received the Somerset Maugham AwardSomerset Maugham AwardThe Somerset Maugham Award is a British literary prize given each May by the Society of Authors. It is awarded to whom they judge to be the best writer or writers under the age of thirty-five of a book published in the past year. The prize was instituted in 1947 by William Somerset Maugham and thus...
in 1971. - Prof Ann Moss, Professor of French at Durham UniversityDurham UniversityThe University of Durham, commonly known as Durham University, is a university in Durham, England. It was founded by Act of Parliament in 1832 and granted a Royal Charter in 1837...
from 1996–2003 - Jennifer PageJennifer Page (Millennium Dome)Jennifer Anne "Jennie" Page, CBE was Chief Executive of the London Millennium Dome project from 1 March 1995 until she was fired after a flawed opening night and poor early attendance at the start of 2000.-Education:...
, former Chief Executive of the Millennium DomeMillennium DomeThe Millennium Dome, colloquially referred to simply as The Dome or even The O2 Arena, is the original name of a large dome-shaped building, originally used to house the Millennium Experience, a major exhibition celebrating the beginning of the third millennium...
project, sacked after a disastrous opening. - Jean Reynolds, sportswoman
- Janice Tchalenko, potter
Barr's Hill School
- Brian Long (b.1967), author of more than 50 motoring books and other history titles.