St Crispin's School
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| St Crispin's School |
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| Motto | Excellence for all |
| Established | 1953 |
| Type | Comprehensive |
| Headmaster | Mr. Alex Biddle |
| Students | 1050 (2006/7) |
| Location | London Road Wokingham, Berkshire England |
| Colours | green and yellow |
| Specialism | Maths and computing |
| LEA | Wokingham |
| Website | www.crispins.co.uk |
St Crispin's School, founded in 1953, is a mixed-sex comprehensive school in Wokingham, Berkshire, England, catering for pupils between 11 and 18 years of age. There were 1,057 students at the school in 2005, of whom 191 were in the Sixth Form.[1] The school is located on the London Road just outside the main town centre.
St Crispin's became a DFES specialist school in mathematics and computing[2] in September 2004, and is both a Microsoft Academy and a Cisco Systems Networking Academy. The school has Investor in People Status and also holds the Sportsmark Award. St Crispin's has strong links with the local community and has a special link with Costain through its building awareness programme.[3] In 2003 the school received a substantial addition to its funds by gaining a School Achievement Award from the DFES.[4] In 2004 St Crispin's School, represented by Ella Dolan and Joe Rogers, were the winners of the John Redwood Cup in the inaugural Wokingham Schools' Debating Competition.[5]
The school takes its name from St Crispin, the patron saint of cobblers, tanners and leather workers. The choice of name was perhaps inspired by the famous St Crispin's Day speech from Shakespeare's Henry V, a rousing battle cry from the king prior to the Battle of Agincourt which was fought on 25 October 1415 (St Crispin's Day).
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[edit] Architecture
St Crispin's School was the first of the Ministry of Education's prototype prefabricated schools. It was built between 1951 and 1953 by the Ministry of Education's own team of researchers into rational school building (David Medd and Mary Crowley) under the direction of S. A. W Johnson Marshall. The work was inspired by that of the Hertfordshire Architect's Department.[6] The aim was to establish new levels of cost efficiency for both erection and running costs. The new techniques speeded up the building process so much that the school was able to open five months ahead of the planned schedule. St Crispin's was classified as a Grade II listed building by English Heritage on 30 March 1993.[7] The building is of light steel construction with components of modular sizes. The school consists of a four-storey classroom block above the main entrance with a central courtyard and a rambling series of inter-connected mostly single-storey buildings. By the side of the main entrance were paintings by Fred Millett on the composition slabs, including a picture of a modular girl, however these have been removed. The original school site consisted of 29 acres, of which four acres were gardens to be tended by the students. The gardens have long gone but the school still has extensive playing fields and also benefits from the use of the adjacent St Crispin's Sports Centre.
[edit] History
St Crispin's was officially opened on 14 October 1953 by the Right Honourable Florence Horsbrugh, the then Minister of Education. It featured in a BBC Schools Current Affairs broadcast on 16 October 1953. There were 360 pupils aged between 11 and 15 on roll on the first day with 19 members of staff. By the end of the first full academic year there were 580 pupils at the school. The numbers rose rapidly and by 1958 there were 856 pupils on roll. As of the 2006/2007 academic year, there were 1050 students at the school.
In 2003 the school celebrated its fiftieth anniversary and was featured as a "School in Focus" on the Teachernet website.[8]
[edit] Buildings
The newest addition to the school is the brand new ICT block built in 2005 which contains four rooms, each with around 30 computers. Many of the local primary schools come to St Crispin's for special ICT days where they have the chance to try out the new system.
[edit] Admissions
In common with all other schools in the Wokingham district, school places are allocated by the LEA based on designated catchment areas and feeder primary schools. Around 190 places are available at St Crispin's every year.[9] The feeder primary schools for St Crispin's are:
- Hatch Ride Primary School
- Keep Hatch Primary School
- Nine Mile Ride Primary School
- Oaklands Junior School
- The Palmer Church of England Junior School
- Westende Junior School
- St Sebastian's Church of England School
[edit] Curriculum
In Years 7, 8 and 9 (Key Stage 3) students study the core subjects of English, Mathematics and Science plus the following foundation subjects: French, Design and Technology, Information and Communication Technology (ICT), History, Geography, Religious Education, Art, Music and Physical Education. In addition lessons are offered in Personal, Social and Health Education, Citizenship and Drama. German is offered as a second foreign language from Year 8 onwards to those in the top French sets. The subjects offered at GCSE and A level are shown in the table below.
| Subject | GCSE | A level |
|---|---|---|
| Art and Design | Yes | Yes |
| Biology | Yes | Yes |
| Business Studies | Yes | Yes |
| Chemistry | Yes | Yes |
| Child Development | Yes | - |
| Computer Studies | No | Yes |
| Design and Technology | Yes* | Yes |
| Drama | Yes | Yes |
| Economics | - | Yes |
| English Language | Yes | - |
| English Literature | Yes | Yes |
| French | Yes | Yes |
| Further Mathematics | - | Yes |
| General Studies | - | Yes |
| Geography | Yes | Yes |
| German | Yes | Yes |
| History | Yes | Yes |
| ICT | Yes | Yes |
| Mathematics | Yes | Yes |
| Media Studies | - | Yes |
| Music | Yes | Yes |
| Psychology | No | Yes |
| Physical Education | Yes | Yes |
| Physics | Yes | Yes |
| Religious Education | Yes | Yes |
| Science (double award) | Yes | - |
| Statistics | Yes | - |
* The following Design and Technology subjects are offered at GCSE: Food and Nutrition; Graphic Products; Resistant Materials; Systems and Control; Textiles.
The following options are also available in the Sixth Form:
- Cisco Networking Academy Programme. St Crispin's is one of the relatively few schools in the UK to offer this globally accepted professional course in networking. For further details of the programme see the Cisco Academy Connection website.
- National Diploma in Business, Level 2. This course is aimed at those who do not meet the requirements for an A level in Business Studies.
- The new Keys Skills Qualifications in Application of Number, Communication, and Information Technology.
[edit] Headteachers
[edit] Eric Bancroft (1953-1971)
The first headteacher of St Crispin's was Eric Bancroft who joined the school in 1953. He moved to Wokingham from Yorkshire where he was formerly the headteacher of Sheffield County School. Drama was one of Mr Bancroft's particular passions and the school has always had a strong tradition in the subject. Mr Bancroft retired from teaching in 1972 and continued to live in Wokingham. He passed away on 13th July 1981.[10]
[edit] John Cole (1972-1992)
Mr Cole was selected as heateacher designate on 10th July 1971 and formally took over from Mr Bancroft in January 1972. He was responsible for overseeing the change to comprehensive status and the extension of the facilities to create new science, maths and sixth form blocks. He was trained as a French teacher and had a deliberate policy of teaching his subject to every pupil in their first year so that he knew every child in the school. He retired in 1992 and died of cancer on 4th January 2007 at the age of 75.[11][12]
[edit] Alex Biddle (1992 to 2007)
Mr Biddle was appointed as headteacher in November 2001 and took office on 27th March 1992. He has presided over a significant growth in the school roll from a low of 701 in 1993 to 1050 in the 2005-2006 academic year.[13]
[edit] Notable alumni
- Serena Doshi, internet entrepreneur and Chief Executive Officer of Neo1
- Stephen Hughes, footballer
- Peter Lewington, England and Warwickshire cricketer
- Stephen Meads, international squash player
- Tom Morgan, international rower
- Graham Woodward, President of Airbus Canada
[edit] Further reading
St Crispin's School: The Story So Far. Wokingham, Berkshire: St Crispin's School, 2003.
[edit] References
- ^ DFES statistics
- ^ The Standards Site. List of Maths and Computing Colleges.
- ^ Costain Building Awareness Programme
- ^ School Achievement Award Scheme
- ^ Wokingham Schools' Debating Competition
- ^ Pevsner, N. The Buildings of England: Berkshire, Harmondsworth, Middlesex: Penguin Books, pp.309-310.
- ^ Images of England ref. no. 41799
- ^ School in Focus - Celebrating Success: St Crispin's School, Wokingham
- ^ Wokingham District Council. A Parent's Guide to Secondary School Admissions for September 2007.
- ^ "The early years under Eric Bancroft (1953-71)". St Crispin's School: The Story So Far. Wokingham, Berkshire: St Crispin's School, 2003, pp8-13.
- ^ "Former school head dies". The Wokingham Times, 10th January 2007.
- ^ "Consolidation and comprehensive change with John Cole (1972-92)". St Crispin's School: The Story So Far. Wokingham, Berkshire: St Crispin's School, 2003, pp14-15.
- ^ "Into the new millennium with Alex Biddle (1992 until today)" St Crispin's School: The Story So Far. Wokingham, Berkshire: St Crispin's School, 2003, pp16-17.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- St Crispin's School website
- St Crispin's Gold
- Science buddies
- School overview and profile from Schoolsfinder
- Aerial view of St Crispin's from Live Search
- Music tuition at St Crispin's from Berkshire Maestros
- St Crispin's Guest Book for former pupils
