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The School

Barnwell West

Barnwell School was established in 1959 and is situated to the south of Stevenage and is one of the most popular schools in Hertfordshire. Between 2002-2005 it was the most improved school in Hertfordshire and one of the most improved schools in England. The work of the school is based around its core values of ACE - Achievement, Community and Environment.

In September 2006 the school expanded by taking in the students from another nearby school that was in Special Measures and was closed by the Local Authority. As a consequence, the school now has two campuses. Barnwell West (the original Barnwell site) and, less than a mile away, Barnwell East (the site of the closed school). All Years 10-13 are based on the East Campus at our Upper School. Through the Governments Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme we will have a new school built for us all to move in to.

Progress of the school has been impressive since its expansion with the local authority judging progress as 'outstanding' and HMI judging teaching, learning, behaviour & leadership and progress as all being good.

All Year 7-9 students are taught on the West Campus. The expansion of the school has brought considerable benefits to the students on both campuses, for example:

A larger Sixth Form of over 200 students housed in an excellent new common room and study area.
More choice at GCSE and probably the best range of Key Stage 4 courses in the County.
More clubs and activities and extra curricular opportunities across the school.
More specialist Teachers and expertise.

Barnwell is a Business and Enterprise School and the extra resources this brings to Barnwell are put back in to extra opportunities for students and a wide range of community provision.

Indeed the larger school has led to smaller class sizes and wider choice and opportunities for students. A feature of the school is that over 2,500 people use the school site each week outside of school time. This ranges from sports, adult education, local community groups etc.

The school is the local Extended School Hub, a full service school and highliy regarded within the authority for 'best practice' in this area.

The accommodation on the West Campus comprises 46 teaching rooms. This includes, situated within the extensive school grounds, Technology block, Music block, two Art rooms, Humanities block, six laboratories, Drama studio, Gym, Eight fully equipped IT rooms with internet and e-mail facilities, main hall, dining room, Learning Resources Centre, swimming pool and leisure Centre. The site has completed a number of major building programmes in recent years:

A total of over £1 million was spent on a suite of four new Humanities classrooms, two new Food rooms and one Textile room, new Learning Resources facilities and a new Science laboratory.
The school is the site of the Shephall Leisure Centre offering a very large Sports Hall, Dance Studio, Fitness Suite and Conference Room. This superb facility was lottery funded to the tune of £1 million with a further £½ million raised locally towards the costs.
£350,000 was spent on a new Reception and superb new ICT facilities including a suite of ICT rooms.
The school has interactive whiteboards and similar resources in all of the classrooms.

On the East Campus the school has over 30 classrooms many recently refurbished, with modern specialist ICT and Expressive Arts Blocks and specialist rooms for Science, Technology, etc. The Sixth Form have their own very large study and social area including over 50 new computers for private study and a total of 7 full equipped ICT rooms.

In addition, in September 2006, a superb construction facility was opened to provide a joint facility for students at the school and North Herts College. ICT is also a major feature of this campus and the school was accredited with the ICT Mark in July 2008.

The school prides itself on its commitment to proving the best possible learning environment for its staff and students alike. Visitors often comment very favourably upon the working environment and the way it is looked after.