Gosford Hill School is a co-educational

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 in the village of

Kidlington Kidlington is a major village and civil parish in Oxfordshire, England, between the River Cherwell and the Oxford Canal, north of Oxford and 7 miles (12 km) south-west of Bicester. It remains officially a village despite its size. The 20 ...

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.

History

The school, originally called the Kidlington Church of England Central School, was built to teach children over the age of 11 whose numbers had grown during the 1920s to the point where the National School in the village was not able to accommodate them. By combining the number of over-11s from Kidlington with those from the church schools in the surrounding villages of

Begbroke Begbroke ( ) is a village and civil parish in Oxfordshire about west of Kidlington and northwest of Oxford. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 783. Archaeology Fragments of early pottery have been found in the parish, as we ...

Cassington Cassington is a village and civil parish in Oxfordshire about northwest of Oxford. The village lies on gravel strata about from the confluence of the River Evenlode with the River Thames. The parish includes the hamlet of Worton northeast of ...

Hampton Poyle Hampton Poyle is a village in the Cherwell valley in Oxfordshire, England, about northeast of Kidlington and about north of the centre of Oxford. It is part of the civil parish of Hampton Gay and Poyle. Hampton Poyle was a separate civil pa ...

Islip Islip may refer to: Places England * Islip, Northamptonshire *Islip, Oxfordshire United States *Islip, New York, a town in Suffolk County ** Islip (hamlet), New York, located in the above town **Central Islip, New York, a hamlet and census-d ...

, Noke, Oddington,

Shipton-on-Cherwell Shipton-on-Cherwell is a village on the River Cherwell about north of Kidlington in Oxfordshire, England. The village is part of the civil parish of Shipton-on-Cherwell and Thrupp. Manor The earliest known record of Shipton-on-Cherwell is fr ...

, Thrupp and

Yarnton Yarnton is a village and civil parish in Oxfordshire about southwest of Kidlington and northwest of Oxford. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 2,545. Archaeology Early Bronze Age decorated beakers have been found in the pa ...

a sufficient number was achieved to justify the cost of a new school. The first Headteacher, when the school opened on 7 September 1932, was Herbert Chapman who had been the head of the National School The original buildings, designed by R Fielding Dodd, ARIBA and GT Gardner consisted of 4 classrooms and a Practical Studies Centre. Two more classrooms were added in 1934. The site of had been part of Gosford Hill Farm, which itself had been turned into Oxford Zoological Gardens by

Frank Gray Francis Tierney Gray (born 27 October 1954) is a Scottish Association football, football manager (association football), manager and former player. He played for Leeds United F.C., Leeds United, Nottingham Forest F.C., Nottingham Forest, Sunde ...

by the time the school was built. On 1 November 2012 the school completed its transition to an academy.

Notable alumni

David Rodigan David Michael "Ram Jam" Rodigan MBE OD (born 24 June 1951) is a British radio DJ who also performs as a disc jockey. Known for his selections of reggae and dancehall music, he has played on stations including Radio London, Capital 95.8, Ki ...

MBE Mbe may refer to: * Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo * Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria * Mbe language, a language of Nigeria * Mbe' language, language of Cameroon * ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language Molal ...

- Reggae DJ and radio presenter *

Tim Supple Timothy Supple (born 24 September 1962) is a British born, award-winning international theatre director. He is the son of the academic Barry Supple. Career Supple has directed and adapted theatre in London and the UK as well as across the world ...

- Theatre and opera director *

Nick Cope Nick Cope (born 8 December) is an English musician running regular music sessions in Oxfordshire for young children and their families. Cope also performs at schools and theatres and music festivals in the UK and overseas. Cope was previously t ...

- musician *

The Candyskins The Candyskins were an English rock band formed in 1989 in Oxford, England. Though early members of the 'Oxford Scene', they enjoyed limited commercial success compared to their contemporaries Radiohead and Supergrass. They were considered by ...

- 1989 rock band *

Irene Tracey Irene Mary Carmel Tracey (born 30 October 1966) is Vice-Chancellor of the University of Oxford and former Warden of Merton College, Oxford. She is also Professor of Anaesthetic Neuroscience in the Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences an ...

- Vice Chancellor of 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 ...

References

{{authority control Secondary schools in Oxfordshire Academies in Oxfordshire Kidlington Educational institutions established in 1932 1932 establishments in England