Oxted School
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| Motto | Working Together For Excellence |
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| Established | 1929 |
| Type | Secondary School |
| Religion | non-denominational |
| Headteacher | Guy Nelson |
| Location | Bluehouse Lane Oxted Surrey RH8 0AB England |
| Local authority | Surrey |
| DfE URN | 125253 |
| Ofsted | Reports |
| Students | over 2100 |
| Gender | Male/Female |
| Ages | 11–18 |
| Houses | Detillens, Foyles, Grants, Stocketts, Tenchleys |
| Colours | (by house, as above) Green, Red, Yellow, Purple, Blue |
| Publication | Prospectus |
| Website | www.oxted.surrey.sch.uk |
Coordinates: 51°15′36″N 0°00′05″W / 51.2599°N 0.0015°WOxted School is a mixed comprehensive secondary school in the English town of Oxted, Surrey. It was opened in 1929 as the first mixed grammar school in Surrey and now has over 2000 pupils aged 11–18) (Years 7-13). The school has a specialist status in science and mathematics.
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[edit] History
Oxted County School, as named until 1999 when it became known as Oxted School, was built in 1929 at the cost of £35,000. In its first term it had only 22 pupils but this increased to 120 after two years. It was originally designed to grow to 250 pupils. Now, in 2010 it has well in excess of 2000 pupils.
The school was the first mixed grammar school in Surrey when it opened. The sexes were strictly segregated and they had separate staircases, playgrounds and had to sit at separate sides of the classroom in lessons. As a punishment, girls would have to write lines; boys were caned by the headmaster.
[edit] Current status
The school has a 65%+ 5 GCSE or above pass rate; over 95% of its students receive 5 GCSEs grade C and above.
Most of the 400 Sixth form go on to university at the end of their time at the school.
[edit] ODD Youth Theatre
The school has a performing arts department and its own theatre company called The Odd Youth Theatre. It is run by David Morris, the head of Drama. Having previously been known as The Performing Arts Society, the new name Odd Youth Theatre (Oxted Dance and Drama) was adopted when the company took Dancing In The Dark, adapted from the novel by Joan Barfoot, to The Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 1992. The company returned to Edinburgh in 1999 with two productions, Find Me and Molly. Recent productions include Under Milk Wood, Oliver, Into the Woods, Guys and Dolls and Sleeping Beauty. The 2011 school production was the musical West Side Story.
[edit] Buildings
- The original building of 1929
- The 1951 extension of the original building
- The PE Block (1960s)
- The Art Block (1987)
- The Drama Studio (1991)
- The Science Block (1993)
- The Design and Technology Block (1997)
- The Meridian Building (1999/2000). This replaced the destroyed 1960s Humanities Block, see below.
- A few hut classrooms constructed over the years
- The Eden Building (Mathematics) completed in summer 2008.
[edit] The Fire in 1998
On August 16 1998, former students of the school[citation needed] allegedly set fire to bins outside the Humanities Block, resulting in a fire that destroyed the entire building. This contained 22 classrooms, library, canteen, thousands of books and 125 computers.
The school reopened as usual in the September with temporary hut classrooms. Some of these huts still remain.
The replacement building is called The Meridian Building[1] as The Greenwich Meridian runs directly alongside it. It contains 23 classrooms, library and canteen. It was opened officially in April 2000 by the former headteacher, Roger Coles.
[edit] Notable Former Pupils
- Ian Pearce, professional footballer
- Alison Streeter, record-holding swimmer, International Swimming Hall of Fame
- Ronnie Biggs, perpetrator of the Great Train Robbery of 1963.
- Tommy Hill, winner of the 2011 British Superbike Championship season.
