Hitchin Girls' School

Hitchin Girls' School
Address
Highbury Road Hitchin , Hertfordshire , SG4 9RS England
Coordinates	51°56′52″N 0°16′10″W
Information
Type	Academy
Established	July 1889
Founder	John Mattock
Specialist	Science College
Department for Education URN	117503 Tables
Ofsted	Reports
Chair	Colin Minton
Head teacher	Mrs. F.C. Manning
Staff	75
Gender	Girls
Age	11 to 18
Enrollment	1079
Houses	Austen Bronte Curie Frank Jewel Teresa Pankhurst Rosa
Colour(s)	Navy blue and gold
Website	http://www.hgs.herts.sch.uk/Home/index.htm

Hitchin Girls' School is a secondary school with academy status in Hitchin, Hertfordshire, England. The school has 1079 students and is in a consortium for sixth form teaching with Hitchin Boys' School and The Priory School. It gained academy status in 2011. It is the highest building in Hitchin, and upon inspection in 2013 was given the "outstanding" rating by OFSTED. There are 80 teachers and 1100 students currently on roll.

History

In 1639, John Mattock gave the rents and profits from nine acres of land for "the maintenance of an able and learned schoolmaster for instructing the children of the inhabitants of Hitchin in good literature and virtuous education for the avoiding of idleness, the mother of all vice and wickedness," a quotation which can now be found as a plaque above the school's main entrance.The original school he founded, Tilehouse Free School, suffered many hardships, including conflict with the locals between Mattock's preferred Classics-based curriculum and a more practical 'three Rs' style of education, substandard teaching and a large amount of debt. This school closed in 1876. It was revived, however, by Frederick Seebohm, a rich and influential Quaker, as a fee-paying mixed school with some scholarships available for the town's poorest inhabitants. In 1889, this new school was first housed in the "Woodlands" building in Bancroft, Hitchin, owned by Seebohm's business partner Joseph Sharples, but moved in 1906 to its current location on Windmill Hill, also given by the Seebohm family, along with £1,000 towards the building and its maintenance. Since 1960, there have been no more boarders; the dormitories were converted into the school's library in 1955, which used to be housed in the current staffroom. It was awarded specialist Science College status in 2004. The head teacher is Frances Manning, who replaced Mrs Edwards at the start of the 2007/8 academic year. In July 2011 it became an academy.

The school's traditions include form running, a relay race which takes place at the end of every term. The first form running competition was held in 1920, and the Girls' School remains the only state school in the country to maintain this tradition. Gymnastics competitions are held every year, the first of which took place in 1914. Founders' Day, honouring the original benefactors, has taken place every year since 1932.

Facilities

The school occupies several buildings:

• The Main Block built in 1906, with extra classrooms and a dining room added in 1929, 1939 and 1958. This block is currently used for teaching Maths, History, Classics, Computing and Art. It also houses the school library, which formerly served as dormitories for boarding students. The Main Hall, used for plays and assemblies, is situated there.
• A Science and Gym Block built in 1972, which is used for indoor PE lessons and for the teaching of all three sciences
• The Lower Block built in 1978, which contains specialist teaching rooms for Design and Technology and is also used for English and Modern Foreign Languages
• Highbury House, a music and foreign language teaching area
• A Sixth Form Centre which features a common room and several teaching areas for those in the Hitchin Consortium
• Woodside, a new block of classrooms designated for the increased intake of Year 7 students, which was finished on September 5th, 2018.
  

House System

The school is split into eight houses, with six established in 2004 and two added in 2018 to accommodate an expansion of the school.

House	Founded	Named after	Colour
					2004	Jane Austen	■	Yellow
Bronte	2004	Emily Bronte	■	Green
Curie	2004	Marie Curie	■	Red
Frank	2004	Anne Frank	■	Purple
Jewel	2004	Jewel Plummer Cobb	■	Orange
Pankhurst	2018	Emmeline Pankhurst	■	Teal
Rosa	2018	Rosa Parks (voted by students)	■	Pink
Theresa	2004	Mother Theresa	■	Blue

Old Girls' Association

The original Old Girls' Association was established in 1916 and disbanded in 1976. A new version was founded in 1989 as part of the school's centennial celebrations. It is a group of old student girls who left the school in past years. The group plans many events for the school and activities that are educational and held indoors during lessons and also arrange outdoor extra curricular activities.

Notable former pupils

• Joanna Haigh, physicist and academic
• Emma Kennedy, English television actress, writer and presenter
• Eileen Soper, artist

Bibliography

• Douglas, Priscilla Mary; Donald, Joyce; Duignan, Elizabeth (1988) The School On The Hill ISBN 9780951372807

External links

• Official site