Heanor Gate Science College

H E A N O R G AT E
SCIENCE COLLEGE
196 4 - 2014
G olden JUBILEE
196 4 - 2014
Commemorative brochure to celebrate fifty years
since the official opening on June 19th 1965
Golden Jubilee
A
“The Official opening of our school
was performed by the Deputy
Prime Minister (who is also M.P.
for the constituency in which the
school is situated) – the Right
Honourable George Brown P.C.
M.P., Minister of State for Economic
Affairs. Saturday June 19th was a
fine day and both staff and pupils
had been working hard so as to
ensure that this occasion should
be a memorable one. By 2pm
all was ready; the Assembly Hall
was gaily decorated with plants
and flowers. Outside the main
entrance the School’s own A.T.C.
Flight stood ready; inside a party
of distinguished guests and pupils
of the School Council waited…
Right on time, to the salutes of
Police Officers and the Guard
of Honour, a bronze Jaguar car
stopped in the appointed place…
Mr and Mrs Brown crossed
the forecourt and met the
1964 - 2014
Right on time,
to the salutes of
Police Officers
and the Guard
of Honour, a
bronze Jaguar
car stopped in the
appointed place…
The official opening of Heanor Gate County
Secondary School was on 19th June 1965,
nearly a year after the first pupils and staff
had started to work in the buildings. It
was a hot, sunny Saturday afternoon and
the School Hall was packed with staff,
representatives of the pupils, invited guests
and friends of the school.
n account in the school
magazine (“Gateway”
Volume 1 Issue 2 January
1966) records the events of the
afternoon:
|
Gateway Volume 1, Issue 2,
January 1966
Chairman of Governors and
the County Architect, the
Managing Director of the
Building Contractors and the
Headmaster. Photographers,
staff and pupils took
photographs as Mr Brown
unlocked the central door
with a golden key, and then
inside unveiled the badge
and commemorative plaque.
Having met guests, he shook
hands with all members of the
School Council before they
preceded him to the Hall.”
Golden Jubilee
|
1964 - 2014
Headteacher
Jubilee Comments
W
on
Mr B.C. Campi
1969 - 1987
Mr S. Spencer
1987 - 2005
Mr I.D. Astley
1964 - 1969
Past Headteachers
W
hen I arrived at Heanor Gate
School in September 1987 I was
38 years old. The last line of
my “career plan” at that time was to “get
a headship”, so I had no idea that I was
destined to remain at the school for the
next eighteen years and four months. I
suppose that I would have been grateful
to be the head of any school but Heanor
Gate was the one that I really wanted. I
knew Colin Campion was coming to the
end of his twenty year reign so I eagerly
scanned the education press waiting for
the job advert to appear and, when it did, I
immediately applied for the post.
The school was highly thought of back then
and has steadily progressed through some
quite major changes over the last three
decades. We have built up a reputation for
putting the individual child at the centre of
things and constantly striving to provide
appropriate learning opportunities for those
attending the school. I still bump into past
pupils of Heanor Gate who invariably refer
to their happy memories of the place.
As part of the school’s 25th anniversary
celebrations they sent me up in a hot –air
balloon, so I’m keen to learn what life
threatening experience they have in store
for Rob Howard to commemorate 50 years!
I look back over my time at Heanor Gate
with great pride and affection. I wish the
school every success for the future and
feel confident that it will go from strength to
strength.
S Spencer
elcome to our Golden
Jubilee commemorative
magazine. I have
had the pleasure of being
Headteacher at this great school
for nearly ten years. There have
been many changes during that
time, but one thing that has been
a consistent feature of Heanor
Gate is the motto that underpins
all we do: ‘Striving for Excellence
in a Caring Community’.
students faces when they get
their exam results; spending time
with students on educational
visits to places such as China and
Borneo; and then there is always
the fierce House rivalry which
culminates in Sports day each
year. In recent years I have been
especially proud of the external
funding we have been able to
secure for major refurbishments
and new buildings.
Over the years students have
benefited from a wide range of
opportunities and great teaching.
My staff really do care about the
students and freely give up their
time to ensure students develop
into well rounded individuals.
The atmosphere in the school is
commented upon by all visitors. It
is warm and welcoming and staff
and students alike are supportive
and friendly.
Mostly though, I have enjoyed
working with great staff and
having students who really
appreciate what you do for them.
I also have to say that I have
absolutely loved my time teaching
Biology. On that note though, I
have to acknowledge that you
know you are getting older when
one of your students says “you
used to teach my mum!”
Despite some ups and downs the
school has grown from strength to
strength and continues to enjoy a
good reputation in the community.
There are many highlights for
me as a Headteacher: the joy on
I hope you can join with us to
celebrate our Jubilee year.
Best wishes,
Rob Howard
Headteacher
Heanor Gate
Secondary
School
H
eanor Gate County Secondary School
began taking pupils in September
1964. It was officially opened on 19th
June 1965 by the Rt. Hon. George Brown, M.P.
1964
1980
It was one of many 11-16 secondary schools
built during the 1950s and 1960s to provide
pupils with a rounded education including a
range of practical and life skills.
In the 1980s it became a comprehensive
school, now including pupils who would
formerly have gone to grammar school,
and in the early 1990s, took Grant
Maintained Status, receiving its own
budget direct from central government.
1999
In 1999, Heanor Gate School, as it was
then known, became a Foundation
School and a sixth form was added to
allow pupils to continue at the school
until the age of 18.
Golden Jubilee
Tom Larimore’s
Silver Jubilee Article
|
1964 - 2014
All things must
change to
something new,
to something
strange
Recollections of the early years of Heanor Gate School, written in 1989
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
(1807-1882)
During the twentieth century, the site
on which Heanor Gate School is built
(19.5 acres) has seen many changes,
so illustrating perfectly Longfellow’s
couplet. Many years before the school
was even planned, green farmland had
given way to industry when the land
was mined for coal by open casting.
Having been worked out, the site was
restored during 1960. Then plans were
drawn up for a school to be established
on the site. The school buildings were
to be located on the piece of land
used for the storage of over-burden
during the opencast mining operations,
thus avoiding much of the subsidence
expected in other parts of the site. Also
to be avoided was the geological fault
crossing the site.
Construction of the school started in
March 1962 and by September the
whole of the foundations, frames (both
structural and cladding) floors and
roofs had been completed. Between
the main blocks subsidence joints
were built to minimise the effects
of movement due to former mining
operations.
The original accommodation of the
school comprised of Administration
Block, Assembly Hall and stage,
Gymnasium (including changing
rooms, showers and laundry unit for
towels), Specialist Rooms: Physics,
Chemistry and Biology laboratories,
Woodwork, Metalwork, Technical
Drawing, two Domestic Science,
Needlework, Art Rooms, Geography,
Music, Library and Division Room
and fifteen classrooms. Above the
Administration Block was the Youth
Wing (now the Library). Future plans
included the building of a caretaker’s
house. The cost of the original
buildings was £277,455 (of which
£69,919 was the cost of the Youth
Wing), the main contractors being
Messrs Henry James (Mansfield)
Limited.
All was ready for the first day when
the pupils arrived – September 1964.
There were nearly 600 pupils on
roll. Pupils of the Codnor and Howitt
Secondary Schools were transferred
to Heanor Gate, while First Year
boys and girls came from Primary
Schools in the catchment area which
included Morley, Smalley, Horsley
Woodhouse, Marlpool, Loscoe and
parts of Heanor.
Heanor Gate was planned as a
Junior Secondary School and
so formed part of the two-tier
Comprehensive pattern of education
in the town. All pupils spent at
least two years in the school, some
transferring to the Senior Secondary
School (the former Heanor Grammar
School) at the end of two years and
some at the end of three (where
parents wished pupils to stay beyond
the statutory leaving age of 15).
For those who wished to remain at
Heanor Gate, courses leading to the
Certificate of Secondary Education
were offered.
Heanor Gate
Secondary
School
I
n 2002 the school was awarded Science College Status - the first in
Derbyshire and one of only 24 around the country. This has included a further
change of name to the current one of Heanor Gate Science College. It also
led to an expansion of the curriculum to include a wider range of science
subjects including astronomy, electronics, geology and environmental science.
In 2006 Heanor Gate was designated a ‘High Performing School’ by the DFES
and in 2007 became the lead school for the new specialised diploma in ICT.
2010
2011
In 2010 Heanor Gate
suffered a serious fire,
destroying much of the
art and technology area
of the school.
In 2011 Heanor Gate converted to an academy
and since that time has begun a programme
of refurbishments and development, including
extensions to the art block in 2012, a fully
refurbished science block and improvements to
the Sixth Form in 2013. The most recent addition
has been a new student support and inclusion
block which opened in September 2014.
The Changing Face of Heanor Gate
2008
1964
2015
1
A Block: Administration
8
L Block: Media, Health & Beauty
15
G Block: Science & Social Science
2
C Block: Library & Pastoral Support
9
S Block: Sixth Form & Social Science
16
Tennis Courts
3
Kitchen
10
M Block: Music
17
F Block: Science
4
B Block: Dance, Drama, PE & Hall
11
K Block: Modern Foreign Languages
18
T Block: Student Support & Inclusion
5
New Gym
12
N Block: Art, Photography & Graphics
19
D Block: English, Maths, Computing & Business
6
Old Gym
13
J Block: Humanities & Textiles
20
E Block: English, Maths, Computing & Business
CCF Block
14
H Block: Technology & Catering
21
Student Reception
7
ite, 1964
school s
l
a
in
ig
r
The o
Can you
Remember?
Golden Jubilee
|
1964 - 2014
Golden Jubilee
Faces from the past
Recollections of the early years of Heanor Gate School, written by Trevor and Heather Dawn
to mark the school’s Golden Jubilee
T
revor joined the staff at
Heanor Gate when the school
opened its doors to students
in September 1964. The majority of
the other teachers had been either
at Codnor or Howitt schools before
the amalgamation. Trevor was one
of a handful of newcomers who had
not taught in either school. He was
a History graduate but also taught
English and games, and when asked,
Drama, Maths and Religious studies.
He left in July 1968. Heather joined
the school in September1968 to teach
English in the department lead by Ray
Weston. She left in April 1970.
Mrs H Dawn
The school was one of the new
“comprehensive” schools with a
non selected intake in years 7 and
8. Everything was new. There was
academic organisation in sets for some
subjects and mixed ability classes
for others; houses for competitions
Mr A G Ric
hards
such as sports, speech and drama,
academic progress, community
contribution and so on.
We remember the happy atmosphere.
One way in which this atmosphere
developed was in the many extracurricular activities. One of the
highlights was the pantomimes written
and organised by Ray Weston, ably
supported by Tom Larimore. Teachers
and students took part as actors and
musicians and behind stage. Many
students were involved as scenery
makers, costume makers, tumblers,
acrobats and singers. They were truly
whole school events. We remember
very well “Alice in Pantoland” where
Trevor was the Mad Hatter and another
where he was the Joker but the title
escapes us. Among the teachers
who took part were Peter Firth, Tom
Larimore, and Phyl Swift. Walter Cullen
and Geoff Smith were in the orchestra.
Mrs J M Lil
ley
Mr H Brentnall
Mr J Turner
Mr D Jone
s
|
1964 - 2014
Musical Rarity
hits the right note
T
his photograph is not only a
symbol of an exciting musical
instrument presented to
Heanor Gate Music Department
in 1970, but also a tribute to family
tradition!
The instrument began life in a
Methodist Chapel in the West
Midlands, played by my father
Wilfred Ellis aged 14, under the
watchful eye of his father,
Mr J J Ellis. When the chapel sadly
closed, my Grandfather offered it
to Heanor Gate providing we could
rebuild it, which we did!
One of my most treasured
memories will always be of the
official opening of the organ; the
school choir sang “The Heavens
are Telling” from The Creation
which I conducted; my father
accompanied us on the new
instrument and my Grandfather sat
on the front row. What an amazing
beginning to its life, albeit short, at
Heanor Gate by three generations
of the same musical family!
The organ was sadly removed
during the school expansion during
the 1990’s.
Kate Baker MBE
(nee Ellis - Head of Music and Royce House
1966 -2004).
Golden Jubilee
|
1964 - 2014
Recollections
Diary of School Secretary – Marjorie Clark
A genuine diary extract from Heanor Gate’s first school secretary –
Marjorie Clark who was one of the first ever members of staff to work at
the school (one of three – along with the Head Teacher and Caretaker!)
1964
May
The school is half finished. As yet there are no stairs to the upper
floors. The only furniture is in school is the Headmaster’s desk and
chair and my chair, desk and telephone! I’ve started ordering books,
stationary and art equipment. All the classroom furniture is on its
way. Mr Holloway, the Caretaker has been familiarising himself with
the Boiler House and heating system.
June
As the stairs are now in place, we can now arrange a meeting with
staff from William Howitt Secondary School and Codnor Secondary
School. It’s been an absolutely freezing today – I hadn’t envisaged
we would need heating in June! The staff who had portable electric
fires even went home to get them!
September
The school is now fully equipped, furnished and open to 300 pupils.
We hope this will have doubled by 1965.
1965
June
The school has been officially opened by
Rt. Hon George Brown MP. Additional staff
have now been appointed. Amongst the new
members is Mr Don Webb, a French teacher
who will forever be remembered because of
the dog. Students from the school were upset
when they saw a dog hit by a car and left in
the middle of the road. Mr Webb went out and
took the dog to the vet. He has adopted the
dog and called him ‘Walter’. Walter lives the
life of riley; it’s too hot for him to stay at home
so he’s ended up under my desk permanently
and the pupils take him out to play with them
at break and lunchtime.
The school is continually expanding and
prospering!