Hartismere School
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Hartismere is a state funded co-educational day school for scholars aged 11–18 in
Eye Eyes are organs of the visual system. They provide living organisms with vision, the ability to receive and process visual detail, as well as enabling several photo response functions that are independent of vision. Eyes detect light and conv ...
, a town in High
Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowes ...
. The headmaster is James McAtear who joined the School in 2006. In 2009 the school changed its status to become a
Foundation School In England and Wales, a foundation school is a state-funded school in which the governing body has greater freedom in the running of the school than in community schools. Foundation schools were set up under the School Standards and Framework A ...
, the first in Suffolk. In September 2010 the school became Suffolk's first
Academy An academy ( Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy ...
and the first in England. It has been awarded Outstanding status by
Ofsted The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted) is a Non-ministerial government department, non-ministerial department of Government of the United Kingdom, His Majesty's government, reporting to Parliament of the U ...
on three successive occasions (2010, 2014 and 2018). The school has specialisms in Mathematics, Music, Science and Sport and in 2013 it was awarded Leading Edge status.


History

The site of the current School was excavated in 2008 revealing continuous habitation dating back to
Neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several parts ...
times. Enclosures included a full stone age burial, significant quantities of Roman coinage and a Saxon smithing area. The school has been gathering materials to set up a museum of local history. Planned exhibits will include Stone Age, Bronze Age, Celtic, Romano-British, Anglo-Saxon, Medieval and early modern materials. It also aims to tell the story of Eye airfield and the role of the school during World War II. The school was founded in the 15th century. Its original form predates the grammar school which was founded c. 1495. A variety of sites have been occupied by the School which has existed as a National School, a County School and was joined by a Secondary Modern in 1935. The Grammar School was closed in the late 1960s. The school became a Comprehensive and became known as Hartismere shortly thereafter. The school was temporarily closed during the summer term of the 2019-20 academic year due to the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
before reopening in September. The School was closed again due to the pandemic in the spring term of the academic year of 2020-21.


Academy Status

Hartismere High School became Suffolk's first
Foundation School In England and Wales, a foundation school is a state-funded school in which the governing body has greater freedom in the running of the school than in community schools. Foundation schools were set up under the School Standards and Framework A ...
in 2009. This meant that its Governing Body took ownership of the land and buildings of the school and became the employer of its own staff and its own admissions authority. Following this it became the first school in Suffolk to attain converter
Academy An academy ( Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy ...
on 1 September 2010. It became one of the first secondary schools to do so in England on the same day. At that point only schools graded outstanding by Ofsted were permitted to do so.


The Hartismere Family of Schools

Hartismere School was given Sponsor Academy status on 1 September 2010, the first in England to receive this status. However, it was only in 2016 that the multi-Academy Trust was set up. The became known as the Hartismere Family of Schools. On 1 May 2016 Benjamin Britten Music Academy and Centre of Excellence in mathematics became part of the Hartismere Family of Schools. On 1 May 2018 Woods Loke Primary joined the Hartismere Family. This was followed by Somerleyton Primary on 1 January 2019.


Ofsted inspections

Hartismere High School was regarded as a Satisfactory School by Ofsted prior to its 2006 inspection. During that year it was graded as Good before two successive Inspections, the first in 2010 and the second in 2014 graded the school as Outstanding. The school is now considered one of the best in
Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowes ...
, in 2021 former student
Niles Schilder Niles may refer to: Places Places in the United States * Niles, Fremont, California, a community that is now part of Fremont * Niles, Illinois, a village * Niles, Kansas, an unincorporated community * Niles, Michigan, a city * Niles, North Dakot ...
called the teachers at the school ‘fabulous’ and ‘very supportive.’


The Hartismere Hundred

The School motto of serving is seen by its staff and children as embodied in The Hartismere Hundred. This is the system by which the school supports one hundred charities annually and seeks to raise at least £100000 rotationally. It harks back to the geographical
Hartismere Hundred Hartismere was a hundred of Suffolk, that later gave its name to a poor law union, a rural sanitary district, and the Hartismere Rural District. Listed as ''Hertesmere'' in the Domesday Book, the name of the hundred is derived from "Hart's mere" ...
of the Doomsday Book. Scholars are introduced to this form of service in the first year of Lower School through supporting Guide Dogs for the Blind.


Grades and Results

In the academic year of 2018/19 99.3% of A Level students achieved a passing grade with 89% getting an A* to C grade. On results day of 2019 headmaster James McAtear said: “These results are a testimony to the hard work of all our staff, governors and students and to the support given to them by their parents.” By the accident year of 2020/2021 these results improved further to 100% of A Level students passing with 94% achieveing an A* to C grade.


Headmasters

*1445-1495, Joseph Coutts; *1495-1532, Thomas Golding; *1532-1548, No Headmaster; *1650-1672, Thomas Brown; *1675-?, Thomas Brown (returned); *1822-?, Rev John Knevett; *1837-1874, Rev. Charles Notley; *1888-1921, Mr Frederick Bray; *1937-1965, Mr Eric Crinean; *1982-1985, Mr Tony Lines; *1986-2006, Mr Richard Hewitt; *2006–present, Mr James McAtear


Facilities

The Lines hall hosts daily assembly and serves as the school's Drama studio and venue for evening concerts. It was named after Tony Lines, Headmaster from 1982-5, who died in service. The Reading Room is a reference only library for the use of College scholars only. It is equipped with Mac computers and hosts the College cultural programme on Wednesday mornings.


Notable former pupils

*
Dan Hipkiss Daniel James Hipkiss (born 4 June 1982) is a retired rugby union player who won 13 caps for between 2007–10, including the 2007 Rugby World Cup Final. Hipkiss played 130 times for Leicester Tigers between 2001–11 before moving to B ...
: played Centre for Bath Rugby and Leicester Tigers; he represented England at U16, U17, U18, U21 and England A. His full England debut came versus Wales in a World Cup warm up match at Twickenham on 4 August 2007. He played for England in the Rugby World Cup final in Paris in 2007. * Bessie Turner: singer/songwriter now based in Ipswich. *
Stuart O'Keefe Stuart Antony Alan O'Keefe (born 4 March 1991) is an English professional footballer who plays as a central midfielder for club Gillingham. He began his career with Ipswich Town, spending six years in the club's youth academy system, but wa ...
: (1991- ) professional
footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...
who plays as a central midfielder for League One club Gillingham. *
Niles Schilder Niles may refer to: Places Places in the United States * Niles, Fremont, California, a community that is now part of Fremont * Niles, Illinois, a village * Niles, Kansas, an unincorporated community * Niles, Michigan, a city * Niles, North Dakot ...
: (2002- ) English Archeologist and Historian.


References


External links

* {{authority control Academies in Suffolk Educational institutions established in the 15th century 15th-century establishments in England Secondary schools in Suffolk Eye, Suffolk