Blessed George Napier Roman Catholic School, known locally as BGN, is a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

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) ...

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. It is located on Addison Road in the Easington ward of

Banbury Banbury is a historic market town on the River Cherwell in Oxfordshire, South East England. It had a population of 54,335 at the 2021 Census. Banbury is a significant commercial and retail centre for the surrounding area of north Oxfordshire ...

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the north west of South East England. It is a mainly rural county, with its largest settlement being the city of Oxford. The county is a centre of research and development, primarily ...

, England.

Foundation

The school is named "Blessed George Napier" after

George Napper George Napper (Napier) (born at Holywell manor, Oxford, 1550; executed at Oxford 9 November 1610) was an English Roman Catholic priest. He is a Catholic martyr, beatified in 1929 by Pope Pius XI. Life George Napper was a son of Edward Napper (d ...

(Napier), who is the patron of the school, and there are memorial plaques on the outside of the school, depicting his death. BGN is one of only two Catholic schools offering secondary education in Oxfordshire, the other one being

Greyfriars Catholic School Greyfriars Catholic School is a mixed Roman Catholic secondary school with academy status, located in Cowley, Oxfordshire, England. At the end of the 2021–22 academic year, the school was renamed from St Gregory the Great Catholic School. ...

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

. Previously a

voluntary aided school A voluntary aided school (VA school) is a state-funded school in England and Wales in which a foundation or trust (usually a religious organisation), contributes to building costs and has a substantial influence in the running of the school. In mo ...

administered by

Oxfordshire County Council Oxfordshire County Council is the county council (upper-tier local authority) for the non-metropolitan county of Oxfordshire in the South East of England. It is an elected body responsible for some local government services in the county, includ ...

and

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Birmingham The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Birmingham is one of the principal Latin-rite Catholic administrative divisions of England and Wales in the hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church. The archdiocese covers an area of , encompassing Staffordshire ...

, Blessed George Napier Roman Catholic School converted to academy status on 1 August 2014. However the school continues to coordinate with Oxfordshire County Council for admissions.

Facilities

The school has two main buildings (with a third building under construction as of October 2021), one of which is named the Corrigan building after Monsignor Corrigan, two outbuildings, including a Sports Centre, an

Astroturf AstroTurf is an American subsidiary of SportGroup that produces artificial turf for playing surfaces in sports. The original AstroTurf product was a short-pile synthetic turf invented in 1965 by Monsanto. Since the early 2000s, AstroTurf has m ...

court at the rear and an on-site Chapel, with stained glass windows depicting the life and death of the School's Patron, Blessed George Napier, as well as two Portakabins as classrooms. The Sports Centre is named the "Monsy" after Monsignor Corrigan, a fairly well-known and long-serving Chair of Governors now deceased. The school has 870 students in the 11–18 age range, including a

. In the past, BGN has won awards for its school meals catering. It also has a youth choir, who still fundraise at local supermarkets during the Christmas period and go on trips to other countries. There will soon be a third additional building coming in late september 2022.

External links

School website
Secondary schools in Oxfordshire Catholic secondary schools in the Archdiocese of Birmingham Academies in Oxfordshire {{Oxfordshire-school-stub