Roundwood Park School is a mixed, 11-18

secondary school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' secondary education, lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) ...

with academy status situated in

Harpenden Harpenden () is a town and civil parish in the City and District of St Albans in the county of Hertfordshire, England. The population of the built-up area was 30,240 in the 2011 census, whilst the population of the civil parish was 29,448. Har ...

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For govern ...

, UK. Opened in 1956, it currently has around 1300 pupils, most of whom live in the local area and surrounding villages (e.g.

Markyate Markyate is a village and civil parish in north-west Hertfordshire, close to the border with Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire. Geography The name of the village has had several former variants, including ''Markyate Street'', ''Market Street'' and ...

, Southdown, Whitwell, Kimpton,

Flamstead Flamstead is a village and civil parish in north-west Hertfordshire, England, close to the junction of the A5 and the M1 motorway at junction 9. The name is thought by some historians to be a corruption of the original ''Verulamstead''. Flams ...

Redbourn Redbourn is a village and civil parish in Hertfordshire, England, lying on Watling Street, from Harpenden, from St Albans and from Hemel Hempstead. The civil parish had a population of 5,113 according to the 2011 Census. The three tiers of ...

Breachwood Green King's Walden is a civil parish in the English county of Hertfordshire. The name includes an apostrophe, but this is often omitted. The main settlement is now Breachwood Green, and there are also the hamlets of King's Walden, Ley Green, Darleyha ...

and

Wheathampstead Wheathampstead is a village and civil parish in Hertfordshire, England, north of St Albans. The population of the ward at the 2001 census was 6,058. Included within the parish is the small hamlet of Amwell. History Settlements in this area were ...

.) At the beginning of 2011, Roundwood (along with

Sir John Lawes School Sir John Lawes School (also known as SJL) is a mixed state secondary school with academy status in Harpenden, United Kingdom. The school has close links to two other local secondary schools, Roundwood Park School and St George's School, a ...

, the

University of Hertfordshire The University of Hertfordshire (UH) is a public university in Hertfordshire, United Kingdom. The university is based largely in Hatfield, Hertfordshire. Its antecedent institution, Hatfield Technical College, was founded in 1948 and was ident ...

, and

Rothamsted Research Rothamsted Research, previously known as the Rothamsted Experimental Station and then the Institute of Arable Crops Research, is one of the oldest agricultural research institutions in the world, having been founded in 1843. It is located at Harp ...

) formed a charitable trust. St George's School joined the trust in 2013 and it is now known as "The Harpenden Secondary Schools Trust".

Academics

It runs a full curriculum, including all standard subjects as well as vocational subjects for Sixth Form students. The current headteacher is Mr Alan Henshall. He was preceded by Nicholas Daymond.

Facilities

The construction of a new modern 'Maths and Music' block was finished in October 2008, which was opened by

Johnny Ball Johnny Ball (born Graham Thalben Ball; 23 May 1938) is an English television personality, a populariser of mathematics and the father of BBC Radio 2 DJ Zoe Ball. Early life Ball was born in Bristol and attended Kingswood Primary School on th ...

. The school has a multimillion-pound sports centre, officially opened on 7 September 2011 by

Mike Atherton Michael Andrew Atherton (born 23 March 1968) is a broadcaster, journalist and a former England international first-class cricketer. A right-handed opening batsman for Lancashire and England, and occasional leg-break bowler, he achieved the ca ...

. The sports centre is also used for children's parties and sports clubs outside school hours. The construction of an all-weather outdoor football pitch was announced in 2016 and was completed in 2018.

Houses

At the beginning of the 2011 academic year, the school introduced a house system as an Olympic legacy. The houses were originally named after colours, but in June 2012, the current house names were unveiled. The houses also represent two charities, a national charity and a local charity. Each house has a charity week where money is raised for these two charities. * Grey-Thompson (Blue) * Wilberforce (Red) *

Frank Frank or Franks may refer to: People * Frank (given name) * Frank (surname) * Franks (surname) * Franks, a medieval Germanic people * Frank, a term in the Muslim world for all western Europeans, particularly during the Crusades - see Farang Curre ...

(Pink) *

Scott Scott may refer to: Places Canada * Scott, Quebec, municipality in the Nouvelle-Beauce regional municipality in Quebec * Scott, Saskatchewan, a town in the Rural Municipality of Tramping Lake No. 380 * Rural Municipality of Scott No. 98, Saska ...

(Green) *

Cadbury Cadbury, formerly Cadbury's and Cadbury Schweppes, is a British multinational confectionery company fully owned by Mondelez International (originally Kraft Foods) since 2010. It is the second largest confectionery brand in the world after Mar ...

(Purple) *

Owens Owens may refer to: Places in the United States *Owens Station, Delaware * Owens Township, St. Louis County, Minnesota *Owens, Missouri *Owens, Ohio *Owens, Virginia People * Owens (surname), including a list of people with the name * Owens Br ...

(Yellow) *

Mandela Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (; ; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African anti-apartheid activist who served as the first president of South Africa from 1994 to 1999. He was the country's first black head of state and the ...

(Orange)

Notable alumni

Ralph Adams-Hale Ralph Adams-Hale (born 31 March 1997) is an English professional rugby union player who plays as a prop for Premiership Rugby club Saracens. Early life and education Adams-Hale lived for much of his childhood in the village of Kimpton, Her ...

, rugby player *

Edward Corrie Edward Lyall Corrie (January 1848 - 1931) was an English rower who won Silver Goblets at Henley Royal Regatta three times. Corrie was born in Liverpool, the son of Edgar Corrie, a merchant, and his wife Helen. Corrie moved to London where he b ...

, tennis player *

Joanna Dennehy Joanna is a feminine given name deriving from from he, יוֹחָנָה, translit=Yôḥānāh, lit=God is gracious. Variants in English include Joan, Joann, Joanne, and Johanna. Other forms of the name in English are Jan, Jane, Janet, Janice, ...

, spree killer *

Natasha Dowie Natasha Khalila Dowie (born 30 June 1988) is an English footballer who plays as a striker for Women's Super League club Reading. She represented the England women's national football team at the youth level before making her senior internation ...

, football striker *

Seline Hizli Selin Saime Hizli (also credited as Seline Hizli) (born 1989) is an English actress from Flamstead, Hertfordshire, best known for her starring role in the second and third series of the BBC One drama '' Land Girls''. Early life and education Hiz ...

, actress *

Rhys James Rhys James (born Rhys Jones, 30 April 1991) is an English stand-up comedian. James has appeared on ''Mock the Week'' and '' Live at the Apollo''. Personal Life James studied for a politics and international relations degree at Manchester Unive ...

, comedian *

Sarah McKenna Sarah McKenna (born 23 March 1989) is an English rugby union and rugby sevens player. She is a member of the England Women's Rugby Team and plays for Saracens Women's at club level. International career McKenna made her debut for the Engl ...

, rugby player *

Richie Driss Richie Driss is an English television presenter, best known for presenting the weekly CBBC programme '' Blue Peter'' and becoming the 38th presenter on the show. Early life and career Driss was born in St Albans, Hertfordshire. He attended both ...

, ''

Blue Peter ''Blue Peter'' is a British children's television entertainment programme created by John Hunter Blair. It is the longest-running children's TV show in the world, having been broadcast since October 1958. It was broadcast primarily from BBC Tel ...

'' presenter

References

External links

School website
{{authority control Academies in Hertfordshire Harpenden Secondary schools in Hertfordshire 1956 establishments in England Educational institutions established in 1956