Mill Hill County High School
Encyclopedia
Mill Hill County High School is a large secondary school located in Mill Hill
Mill Hill
Mill Hill is a place in the London Borough of Barnet. It is a suburb situated 9 miles north west of Charing Cross. Mill Hill was in the historic county of Middlesex until it was absorbed by London...

, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

, 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

It is for students aged 11 to 18. The school has 1,700 pupils as of 2009. The current headmaster of the school is Geoffrey Thompson.

It is currently running well above its designed capacity. It is situated just east of the A1
A1 road (London)
The A1 road in London is an A road in North London. It runs from London Wall to Bignell's Corner, where it crosses the M25 and becomes the A1 motorway, alternating with the A1 as it continues to Edinburgh. The London section of the road passes through four London Boroughs: the City of London,...

, next to Mill Hill Golf Course and south of Nut Wood. It is north of Marsh Lane (A5109), and one mile north-east of Apex Corner. The London Gateway services
London Gateway services
London Gateway services is the southern-most motorway service station on the M1 motorway, located between Junctions 2 and 4 north of London, England....

 are just under a mile to the west. Moat Mount, the area where it was built, is one of the highest points in London.

History

The Orange Hill Grammar School (separate boys' and girls' schools) was on Abbots Road (next to Orange Hill Road) in Burnt Oak
Burnt Oak
Burnt Oak is a suburb predominantly in the London Borough of Barnet south of Edgware, although parts of it fall within Brent and Harrow.The name Burnt Oak was first used in 1754 and from then until the 1850s referred to no more than a field on the eastern side of the Edgware Road...

 (Edgware), and next to the former Burnt Oak site of St James' Catholic High School
St James' Catholic High School
St James Catholic High School is voluntary aided mixed sex school for students from 11-18 years of age. It was founded by the Dominican sisters in 1934. Today it operates from one site in Colindale, Barnet in north London...

. The Orange Hill school became Orange Hill Senior High School in the early 1970s, and was a mixed comprehensive. It merged with the Moat Mount School, which was where the current school is, in the 1980s. The Moat Mount School had around 900 boys and girls and a sixth form.

In the early 1990s, it became a grant-maintained school, opting out of the borough of Barnet. It became a technology college in 1994. In 1995 it applied to become a selective school, becoming selective in 1996 and can select up to 25% of its intake. By 1999 it had 1,000 applications for its 200 places.

Headteachers

  • Alan Davison 1997-2003 (head of Dame Alice Owen's School
    Dame Alice Owen's School
    Dame Alice Owen's School is a mixed voluntary aided secondary school in Potters Bar, Hertfordshire, England, founded in the London Borough of Islington.-Admissions:...

     since 2005, and of Notley High School
    Notley High School
    Notley High School is situated in Braintree in Essex, England. It is for 11–16 year olds. There is currently a lack of places available to children who live outside of the catchment area....

     from 1993-7)
  • Geoffrey Thompson 2004- (head of The Duchess's Community High School in Alnwick
    Alnwick
    Alnwick is a small market town in north Northumberland, England. The town's population was just over 8000 at the time of the 2001 census and Alnwick's district population was 31,029....

     from 1997-2003)

Traditions

The school uniform includes a striped maroon
Maroon (color)
Maroon is a dark red color.-Etymology:Maroon is derived from French marron .The first recorded use of maroon as a color name in English was in 1789.-Maroon :...

 and navy blue blazer. As of 2007, students in years 7-11 wear ties of different colours in order to distinguish students in different year groups. The different colours of ties are (in no particular order): Maroon, Black, Navy Blue, Royal Blue and Silver.

Curriculum

The school offers a compulsory education in Maths, English, Science, Geography or History, Religious Studies, Physical Education, Design & Technology, and I.C.T during Key Stage 3 and Key Stage 4.

In Key Stage 3, students must also learn History, Geography, Art, Music, Latin, German, French, Dance and Drama. The students may choose two of these subjects as GCSE subjects. They can also choose from Business Studies and Economics, which haven't been taught in KS3.

All students are offered an extra language (either German or Latin) in Year 8 with an exception of sets 5 and 10. The school requires all students to learn a modern foreign language in GCSE. If someone chooses Latin for GCSE, they would still have to take French as Latin is not a modern foreign language.

Transport

As of August 2009, the bus route 605 serves the school, with access to Mill Hill Broadway, Burnt Oak and Edgware Stations for all students. At Mill Hill Broadway there is access to the 240 Bus
London Buses route 240
London Buses route 240 is a Transport for London contracted bus route in London, United Kingdom. This service is currently contracted to Metroline.-History:...

, 221 Bus, 113 Bus
London Buses route 113
London Buses route 113 is a Transport for London contracted bus route in London, United Kingdom. This service is currently contracted to Metroline.-History:...

, 251 Bus
London Buses route 251
London Buses route 251 is a Transport for London contracted bus route in London, United Kingdom. The service is currently contracted to London Sovereign.-History:...

. Mill Hill Broadway railway station
Mill Hill Broadway railway station
Mill Hill Broadway railway station is in the London Borough of Barnet in North London.The station lies on the Midland Main Line and is served by First Capital Connect trains as part of the Thameslink Line service. It is in Travelcard Zone 4...

 is a thirty minute walk away.
There are also bus stops at Fairway like the 292 Bus
London Buses route 292
London Buses route 292 is a Transport for London contracted bus route in London, United Kingdom. The service is currently contracted to London Sovereign.-History:...

 and the 604 bus which is run by a different company.

Intake

In accordance with the school's status as a technology college, the school selects
Partially selective school (England)
In England, a partially selective school is one of a few dozen state-funded secondary schools that select a proportion of their intake by ability or aptitude, permitted as a continuation of arrangements that existed prior to 1997....

 10% of its intake through a test of abstract reasoning. A further 15% are selected via auditions for musical and dance ability. The remaining places are allocated to applicants who have a sibling at the school, or who live near to the school.

The class system

In the school for key stage 3 to 4, the sets of classes, grouped according to ability, are in numbers. There are two groups of numbers:
  • 1 & 7 = Top Ability
  • 2 & 8 = Well above average
  • 3 & 9 = Above Average
  • 4 & 10 = Average
  • 5 = Support


Not all classes are grouped according to ability, particularly in KS3. For example, dance and drama, music, design and technology and art classes are all grouped randomly. PE is grouped in sets 1 - 5 for Year 7. For Year 8 and Year 9, it is grouped according to what importance you give to PE.

Both groups have separate subjects at separate times. In Year 9, each group has 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....

, mathematics
Mathematics
Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...

, languages and art
Art
Art is the product or process of deliberately arranging items in a way that influences and affects one or more of the senses, emotions, and intellect....

, dance & drama and music
Music
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...

.

Mill Hill County High School also has a support department which comes to the need of those students who may have learning difficulties. Support teachers are often referred to as Learning Support Assistants.

Notable alumni

  • Ben Strevens
    Ben Strevens
    Benjamin John Strevens is a professional English Football player currently signed to Wycombe Wanderers in League One. He plays as a striker or attacking midfielder.-Playing career:...

    , professional footballer currently playing for Brentford F.C.
    Brentford F.C.
    Brentford Football Club are a professional English football club based in Brentford in the London Borough of Hounslow. They are currently playing in Football League One....


Orange Hill Grammar School (boys' and girls')

  • Air Vice-Marshal
    Air Vice-Marshal
    Air vice-marshal is a two-star air-officer rank which originated in and continues to be used by the Royal Air Force. The rank is also used by the air forces of many countries which have historical British influence and it is sometimes used as the English translation of an equivalent rank in...

     Paul Clark CB, former GEC-Marconi then BAE Systems North America
    BAE Systems Inc.
    BAE Systems Inc. is a major subsidiary of the British defense and aerospace company BAE Systems plc. As per its Special Security Agreement, BAE Systems Inc...

     executive, and Commandant of the RAF Signals Engineering Establishment (RAFSEE) at RAF Henlow
    RAF Henlow
    RAF Henlow is a Royal Air Force station in Bedfordshire, England, equidistant from Bedford, Luton and Stevenage. It houses the RAF Centre of Aviation Medicine, the RAF Signals Museum and 616 Volunteer Gliding Squadron.- History :...

     (now home of the RAF Signals Museum) from 1990-1
  • Ronald Cohen
    Ronald Cohen
    Sir Ronald Cohen is an Egyptian-born British businessman and political figure, known as "the father of British venture capital" and "the father of social investment".-Early life:...

    , venture capitalist
    Venture capital
    Venture capital is financial capital provided to early-stage, high-potential, high risk, growth startup companies. The venture capital fund makes money by owning equity in the companies it invests in, which usually have a novel technology or business model in high technology industries, such as...

    , and Chairman since 2005 of the Portland Trust
    Portland Trust
    The Portland Trust is a private 'not-for-profit' UK foundation whose purpose is to the promotion of economic development as a way of engendering peace and stability between Palestinians and Israel.- Foundation :...

  • David Dein
    David Dein
    David Barry Dein is the former vice-chairman of Arsenal Football Club and former vice-chairman of the Football Association. He was also the President of the G-14 group of European football clubs between October 2006 and May 2007 and has sat on various committees within FIFA and UEFA including...

    , former Arsenal FC vice-chairman
  • Robert Elms
    Robert Elms
    Robert Elms is an English writer and broadcaster. Elms was a writer for The Face magazine in the 1980s, and has a self-confessed love of clothes and fashion...

    , writer and lunchtime broadcaster on BBC London 94.9
    BBC London 94.9
    BBC London 94.9 is London's BBC Local Radio station, and part of BBC London. Broadcasting across Greater London and beyond on 94.9 FM, DAB, Virgin Media Channel 930, Sky Channel 0152 and also online...

  • Graham Minter LVO, Ambassador to Bolivia from 1998-2001
  • Prof Charles Oppenheim, Professor of Information Science since 1998 at Loughborough University
    Loughborough University
    Loughborough University is a research based campus university located in the market town of Loughborough, Leicestershire, in the East Midlands of England...

  • Stephen Pankhurst, software developer and founder (in 2000) of Friends Reunited
    Friends Reunited
    Friends Reunited is a portfolio of social networking websites based upon the themes of reunion with research , and job-hunting...

     (with his wife Julie Pankhurst)
  • Jean Simmons
    Jean Simmons
    Jean Merilyn Simmons, OBE was an English actress. She appeared predominantly in motion pictures, beginning with films made in Great Britain during and after World War II – she was one of J...

     OBE, Hollywood actress
  • Jon Smith, Chief Executive since 2001 of First Artist Corporation
  • Jeffrey Taylor, Film, Television & Stage producer (Stagescreen Productions)

Orange Hill Senior High School

  • Angus Fraser
    Angus Fraser
    Angus Robert Charles Fraser is the current Managing Director of Cricket of Middlesex County Cricket Club, and a former English cricketer and journalist....

     MBE, former England cricketer and Managing Director since 2009 of Middlesex County Cricket Club
    Middlesex County Cricket Club
    Middlesex County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Middlesex. It was announced in February 2009 that Middlesex changed their limited overs name from the Middlesex Crusaders, to the...


External links

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