Bishopshalt School is a secondary school and

sixth form In the education systems of England, Northern Ireland, Wales, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and some other Commonwealth countries, sixth form represents the final two years of secondary education, ages 16 to 18. Pupils typically prepare for A-l ...

with academy status based in the

London Borough of Hillingdon The London Borough of Hillingdon () is the largest and westernmost borough in West London, England. It was formed from the districts of Hayes and Harlington, Ruislip-Northwood, Uxbridge, and Yiewsley and West Drayton in the ceremonial county ...

. It has specialisations in music and the performing arts. Between 2013 and 2014, the school was used for scenes in the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

...

History

Pearce 2007, p.89

The original buildings in the Greenway became part of Uxbridge High School. On 6 October the school was officially opened by Sir John Reith, the

Director-General A director general or director-general (plural: ''directors general'', ''directors-general'', ''director generals'' or ''director-generals'' ) or general director is a senior executive officer, often the chief executive officer, within a governmen ...

of the

...
. Walter Wilks Sawtell was headmaster of the school from its founding in 1907 until 1929. He remained in the position to oversee the move of the school, before resigning to become rector of

Madehurst Madehurst is a small village and civil parish in the Arun District of West Sussex, England on the south slopes of the South Downs in the South Downs National Park. It is three miles (5 km) north-west of Arundel, to the west of the A29 ro ...

in Sussex. The school name was changed to Bishopshalt School in 1930 to acknowledge it was no longer in Uxbridge. It is derived from the history of the site as for 500 years the Bishops of Worcester rested at the grounds of the school on their journeys to and from London. A

Cierva C.19 The Cierva C.19 was a 1930s British two-seat autogyro, designed by Spanish engineer Juan de la Cierva. It was built by Avro as the Avro Type 620. It proved to be the most successful and widely produced of the early de la Cierva designs. Develo ...

Mk.3 Autogiro landed on the school field in July 1931, piloted by the Cierva Autogiro Company's Flying Manager Reginald A.C. Brie, a former pupil of the school. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

, the school was used for rallies and inspections of the local

Girls' Training Corps The National Association of Training Corps for Girls (initially the ''National Association of Girls' Training Corps'') was formed in the United Kingdom in 1942 by the then Board of Education. It was the umbrella organisation for the ''Girls Train ...

. Randalls of Uxbridge, a local family-owned department store, donated three oak chairs to the school in October 1949. In 1969, the school's air raid shelters were removed and replaced by a car park. The shelters had been built in 1939 but remained because of the threat of the Cold War. The London Borough of Hillingdon held council meetings in the school hall while the Civic Centre in Uxbridge was under construction. In 1977 the school changed from a

grammar school A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented secondary school ...

to a comprehensive.Pearce 2007, p.119 An episode of ''

Jeeves and Wooster ''Jeeves and Wooster'' is a British comedy-drama television series adapted by Clive Exton from P. G. Wodehouse's "Jeeves" stories. It aired on the ITV network from 22 April 1990 to 20 June 1993, with the last series nominated for a Britis ...

'' starring

Hugh Laurie James Hugh Calum Laurie (; born 11 June 1959) is an English actor, comedian, writer, and musician. He first gained recognition for his work as one half of the comedy double act Fry and Laurie with Stephen Fry. The two men acted together in ...

and

Stephen Fry Stephen John Fry (born 24 August 1957) is an English actor, broadcaster, comedian, director and writer. He first came to prominence in the 1980s as one half of the comic double act Fry and Laurie, alongside Hugh Laurie, with the two starring ...

was filmed in the school grounds.Pearce 2007, p.118 The school has also been used as a filming location, for the film adaptation of '' Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging'', directed by

Gurinder Chadha Gurinder Chadha, (born 10 January 1960) is a British film director of Indian origin. Most of her films explore the lives of Indians living in England. The common theme among her work showcases the trials of Indian women living in the UK and ho ...

, and the BBC comedy ''Big School''.

Present day

The current headmaster is Liam McGillicuddy, who started in September 2019. Previous headteachers are Kim Rowe (2011 to 2019), David Bocock (2004 to 2011), Vincent Hodkinson (1996 to 2004) and Leslie Bather (1970–1996).Pearce 2007, p.120 Bishopshalt School specialises in music and the performing arts. It has its own large playing fields and an ornamental garden specifically for the 6th form students. Bishopshalt has six house system 'houses', five named after bishops that rested at the old mansion, on their first day out from London, going to Worcester in the days of horse-drawn coach travel. Cranmer, De Salis, Evesham, Manor, Stanley and Worcester are the houses. The school motto is ''Fidelis'', meaning 'faithful'. De Salis house was named after a local family that included bishop Charles De Salis and his elder brother

Cecil Fane De Salis Sir Cecil Fane de Salis, , (31 May 1857 – 9 March 1948) was chairman of Middlesex County Council 1919–1924, and landowner in the parish of Harlington. Biography Second of four sons of Rev. Henry Jerome Fane De Salis of Portnall Park ...

, who was a benefactor and governor of the school and last owner of the nearby Dawley Court at Goulds Green.

Dramatic society

Bishopshalt School runs a dramatic society named Bishopshalt Operatic and Dramatic Society, known as BODS. The company is open to students at the school from the tenth to the thirteenth academic year. They perform annually during December. The latest BODS show was- '9 To 5.' The Junior BODS (for years 7,8 and 9) are performed in June/July every year. The latest Junior BODS show was- Moana Jr.

Academic performance

It gets the third highest A level results in Hillingdon and above average results at GCSE. Bishopshalt also recently won the Hillingdon Maths challenge for Year 7. They have a successful netball and football team as well.

Notable former pupils

Carla Mendonca Carla is the feminized version of Carl, Carlos or Charles, from ''ceorl'' in Old English, which means "free man". Notable people with the name include: * Carla, French singer and former member of the children's music group Kids United * Carla Abe ...

, actor *

Claire Richards Claire Anne Richards (born 17 August 1977) is an English singer who is best known for being in the pop group Steps. Richards was a contestant on the second series of '' Popstar to Operastar'' before being voted off in the semi finals. She po ...

, singer *

Bilal Saeed Bilal Saeed ( born 12 December 1988) is a Pakistani singer-songwriter, music producer and composer. He is best known for his singles "12 Saal" , "Adhi Adhi raat " and 'Teri khair mangdi" . The latter was also used in the Bollywood film Baar Ba ...

, philosopher *

Neil Shipperley Neil Jason Shipperley (born 30 October 1974) is an English football manager and former professional player who played as a forward. He notably played in the Premier League for Chelsea, Southampton, Crystal Palace, Nottingham Forest and Sheffi ...

, footballer * Warren Goodhind, footballer * Ryan Watson, actor Bishopshalt Grammar School * Lisa Adkins, Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, University of Sydney * Leslie Clifford Bateman, Malaysian politician * Vernon Bogdanor, professor of government at the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

* John Taylor Hughes, Anglican Suffragan bishop of

Croydon Croydon is a large town in south London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a local government district of Greater London. It is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater London, with an extensi ...

1956–1977 and to the Forces 1966–1975 *

Oswald Morris Oswald Norman Morris, (22 November 1915 – 17 March 2014) was a British cinematographer. Known to his colleagues by the nicknames "Os" or "Ossie", Morris's career in cinematography spanned six decades. Life and career Morris was raised in Mi ...

, cinematographer *

Bernard Miles Bernard James Miles, Baron Miles, CBE (27 September 190714 June 1991) was an English character actor, writer and director. He opened the Mermaid Theatre in London in 1959, the first new theatre that opened in the City of London since the 17th ce ...

,character actor, writer and director *

Mel Read Imelda Mary Read (born 8 January 1939), known as Mel Read, is a British politician who served in the European Parliament. Read was educated at Bishopshalt Grammar School and the University of Nottingham, before becoming a laboratory technici ...

, Labour MEP for the East Midlands from 1999 to 2004 *

Nick Simper Nicholas John Simper (born 3 November 1945) is an English bass guitarist, who was a co-founding member of Deep Purple and Warhorse. In the 1960s, he began his professional career in bands such as Johnny Kidd & the Pirates, The Flower Pot Me ...

, Deep Purple bass guitarist * R. C. Vaughan, professor of pure mathematics at

Imperial College London Imperial College London (legally Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom. Its history began with Prince Albert, consort of Queen Victoria, who developed his vision for a cu ...

from 1980 to 1998 and at Penn State University from 1999 * John Arthur Watts, Conservative MP for Slough from 1983 to 1997, and Leader of Hillingdon Borough Council from 1978 to 1984

References

;Citations ;Bibliography * Pearce, Ken. (2007) ''Hillingdon Village''. Stroud: Sutton Publishing

External links

Bishopshalt School Website

EduBase
{{authority control Academies in the London Borough of Hillingdon Educational institutions established in 1907 Secondary schools in the London Borough of Hillingdon 1907 establishments in England