Beaconsfield High School is a girls' grammar school in Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire. The school takes girls from the age of 11 through to the age of 18. In order to gain admission into Beaconsfield High School, students from Buckinghamshire primary schools are required to take the 11+ examination and score an average of 121/141 across at least one exam, although students who score in the region of 117 will be considered for 'appeal'. The school has approximately 1,100 pupils with around 180 in each year group. Since 2016, girls have been split into one of six houses named after inspirational women. The school has around 60 classrooms and built a new 'sixth form area' in 2010 which provided around 12 new classrooms, a fully equipped computer room, a new canteen with a larger seating area and a new common room.
Academics
In September 1997, the Department for Education and Skills awarded the school specialist school status as a Technology College. It has been awarded a second specialism as a Language College. The school converted to academy statusin September 2014. In the 2008 exam series, it achieved a 100% pass rate at GCSE with an average of 502 points per candidate, and a 100% pass rate at A2 with an average points score of 397 per candidate. As of the 2012 A-Level results, Beaconsfield High School managed to obtain the best A-level results in Buckinghamshire.
Houses and Form groups
On entering the school in year 7, students are placed in form groups. As of the class 2014-15, there are six form groups, all containing girls from different houses. The houses are all named after inspirational women: Rambert, Rowling, Bhutto, Hamilton, Holmes and Parks. Until 2016, students stayed in the same form groups until the end of year 8, where they were required to move and meet other students from different forms. Now, students stay in the same form until sixth form. There are six houses. The head of house prefect is considered to be a responsible senior role. The heads of houses are required to encourage students to adopt a 'house identity', run house focuses every other week and organise the house assemblies by themselves that must sound like fun but is certainly hard work. 'House identities' are also achieved through the organisation of interhouse competitions; the main ones being Pip Cups Sports day. Pip cups are inter-house sporting competitions such as netball, hockey and gymnastics. Each year group from year seven to eleven are required to take part.
Facilities
Beaconsfield High School have a wide range of high quality facilities; both for sporting and academic hobbies. The school is equipped with three netball courts which are converted into tennis courtsin the summer, a 400m athletics track, a fitness gym and a sports hall which was opened in 2005 and can be used for sports such as; indoor hockey, indoor netball, badminton, volleyball, gym, trampolining, indoor athletics and many more. Not to mention our remarkable astroturf and sports hall, which both have benefited the local community since clubs often hire out these facilities after 6 pm. Since the school is recognised as a specialist language and technology school, these facilities are excellent. There is a language lab for students taking either French, German, Latin or Spanish and these are where the oral examinations take place in the summer. However, the school recently dropped the German language option and is only currently allowing students who join in the first year a choice of French, Spanish and Latin. Those students who decided to take Latin forward to GCSE level are expected to also take a modern language. Since 2016, the school has been funded thousands of pounds to build new science labs and is now taking over the creative aspect of the school. Recently, the school changed around its system for taking language exams, unlike previous years the students will not be taking their languages a year early and instead will follow the traditional system whereby students take language exams in year 11. The school's newly opened sixth form building consists of a well-equipped computer room and the library also provides computers as well as a 'study area' for students who wish to work in a silent and unobtrusive environment. All of the classrooms have interactive whiteboards to help with videos but also normal, old school whiteboards. The school is now taking a new environmentally friendly initiative and are asking students to bring inlunch boxes from home to reduce the immense use of plastic.
Head Teacher
Penny Castagnoli became the head teacher in 1995 and retired from her post in August 2009. Owain Johns, deputy head and the head of design and technology department was the acting headteacher although the school made a decision to employ Sally Jarrett who was offered the role and then stepped down following the controversy published in the Daily Mail Newspaper. From April 2012, Ms Annette France was appointed as headteacher, she retired from her post in 2015. Rachel Smith was appointed headteacher in April 2015 till current date.
