Established 1878 Headmistress Dr Helen Stringer PhD Gender Girls Number of students 833 (2007) | Type Independent day school DfE number 928/6057 Phone +44 1604 765765 Founded 1878 | |
Location Newport Pagnell Road
Hardingstone
Northamptonshire
NN4 6UU
England Address Hardingstone, Northampton NN4 6UU, UK Profiles | ||
Northampton High School is an independent day school for girls in Hardingstone, Northampton, England.
Contents
Location
The school is about 2 miles (3.2 km) from Northampton town centre along the Newport Pagnell road (the B526, formerly part of the A50 road) which separates the school from Wootton.
History
The school was founded in 1878 by a committee of local church people. It later came under the control of the Diocese of Peterborough (Church of England), whose Board of Education used to appoint the majority of the Governors. The school eventually became a direct grant grammar school. However, on the abolition of the direct grant system during the 1970s, the school became independent.
Before moving to its current location, the school was based in Derngate, Northampton town centre. The site was sold for a housing development with the school moving to new premises at its present location in 1992.
In 2006 the school joined the Girls' Day School Trust and no longer has a formal link to the church.
A new sixth form facility costing £150,000 was opened in 2008.
The Nursery opening time was extended to 46 weeks of the year in 2013.
A new gym and fitness centre was opened by former pupil and Commonwealth Games Gold medalist Caitlin McClatchey in 2014.
Catchment
Girls come from a large number of independent prep and junior schools as well as maintained primary and secondary schools within a wide area covering Northamptonshire and parts of neighbouring counties such as Buckinghamshire and Warwickshire. The vast majority of girls in the Junior School stay on to the Senior School for their secondary education. Most girls stay on into the Sixth Form and each year girls from other schools join at Year 9 (post prep) and the Sixth Form. Almost all Year 13 leavers proceed to Higher Education, either directly or following a gap year.
Results
This page shows the top institutions ranked on the basis of their pupils' A/AS-level and equivalent results in 2007. In 2007, on the basis of A/AS-level and equivalent results, the school achieved an average points score of 1035.8, making it the highest ranked in the county, and 93rd in the country, among the schools with 30 exam entrants or more.
Full rankings are available at the Independent Schools Directory website and from the Independent Schools Inspectorate. The latter report showed: "strengths in many aspects of its provision [...] high quality of learning, attitudes and behaviour of the girls contributes to the academic success of the school [...] high standards in the senior school. The headmistress and senior management team provide very effective leadership and management, ably supported by the governors. Very good quality and enthusiastic teaching supports girls’ attainment [...] high quality of pastoral care provided by the school contributes significantly to the personal development of the girls."
The standards of accommodation, maintenance and upkeep were: "outstanding and contribute to an excellent learning environment" and the school had no major weaknesses.
Sport
The sporting facilities in the school are of a high standard and the school sport squads frequently participate in local and nationwide tournaments. The school netball team is extremely competitive and have often been ranked as number one in the Northamptonshire county tournaments.
Notable former pupils
Prominent old girls include: