Derby High School, Derby

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Derby High School, Derby, is an independent secondary school with a junior department at Littleover, Derby, England. The senior school (ages 11 to 18) is for girls only, but the kindergarten and junior school (3 to 11) are co-educational.

[edit] Overview

The school is non-denominational and is a member of the Woodard Schools group. It has a dress code, which changes for girls in the Sixth Form.

The senior school takes girls only, from the age of eleven to eighteen. Some girls gain responsibility as prefects, and there is a Head Girl. The Sixth Form, divided into Lower Sixth and Upper Sixth, has some seventy girls.

Girls in the senior school are divided into Houses, which compete in the areas of sport, drama and music.

The co-educational kindergarten and junior school take boys and girls from the age of three. Many girls continue into the senior school, but boys move on to other schools at the age of eleven.

[edit] Premises

The school's main premises are at Hillsway, Littleover, and include sports facilities on site. A new building, planned to open in late 2007, contains a Sixth Form Centre.

[edit] Curriculum

The curriculum is built around teaching for GCSE and A-level. In the senior school, all subjects are taught by specialist teachers.

The senior school begins with Year 7, which has two forms of equal ability, each with a form tutor. Girls are taught in forms for all subjects except Maths, for which there are sets. In Year 7, the traditional core subjects are taught: English (with Drama), Maths, History, Geography, French, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Art, Music, Design Technology, Home Economics, Religious Studies, PE, Information and Communication Technology.

In Year 8, German becomes a second language.

In Years 9, 10, and 11, all subjects are offered to GCSE. All girls must take Maths, English, and ICT, and choose six other courses, including at least one language and one science.

Years 12 and 13 are the Lower Sixth and Upper Sixth, with most girls taking three A-levels.

There are also programmes of visits to support learning, with regular trips to places and events outside the school for sciences, History, Geography, and Religious Studies.

[edit] GCSE results

At GCSE, in recent years one hundred per cent of girls have gained five GCSEs at grades 'A starred' to 'C', and at those grades the school has an average pass rate of ninety-eight per cent across all subjects. Sixty-six per cent of all GCSE grades are 'A starred' or 'A', well over three times the national average for all schools.

[edit] Sports

Physical education is compulsory for all children in the school. The main school sports are hockey, netball, gymnastics, and tennis, plus dance, basketball, badminton, rounders, swimming, trampolining, and volleyball.

[edit] Extra-curricular activities

Activities outside school are strongly encouraged and include school plays, the Duke of Edinburgh Award scheme, public speaking, debating, the school choir, and school clubs for music, crafts, science and photography. There are music and drama workshops, some being joint events with Derby Grammar School for boys.

There are annual trips to France, Germany, Ethiopia and Thailand, plus a four-week World Challenge expedition every other year.

[edit] Fees and scholarships

The school's fees for the year 2007-2008 range from £6,210 to £8,280 a year, depending on the age of the child. There are scholarships and also other bursaries for cases of financial need.

[edit] Kindergarten

The kindergarten, currently headed by Michelle Hannaford, is for boys and girls aged three to seven. It emphasizes learning through fun activities and has small class sizes.

[edit] References

• Derby High School - official web site
• Derby High School, Derby at axcis.co.uk
• Derby High School at isbi.com
• GCSE: Top Independent Schools 2004 at independentschools.co.uk
• Derby High School at BBC News (secondary school education tables)