John O'Gaunt School is a

coeducational Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to ...

secondary school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., b ...

Hungerford Hungerford is a historic market town and civil parish in Berkshire, England, west of Newbury, east of Marlborough, and 60 miles (97 km) west of London. The population of the parish at the 2021 census was 5,869. The Kennet and Avon Can ...

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; abbreviated ), officially the Royal County of Berkshire, is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Oxfordshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the north-east, Greater London ...

, England for students aged 11 to 16. It was Berkshire's first community school.

History

Opened in January 1963, the school is a fusion of 1960s decor and 1990s pre-fabricated buildings. The school gained

Technology College In the United Kingdom, a Technology College is a specialist school that specialises in design and technology, mathematics and science. Beginning in 1994, they were the first specialist schools that were not CTC colleges. In 2008, there were 598 ...

status in 2003, and was renamed John O'Gaunt Community Technology College before converting to

academy An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

status and becoming John O'Gaunt School in 2012. It is run by the Excalibur Academies Trust, a multi-academy trust which includes several local primary schools and St John's Marlborough.

Hungerford massacre

On 19 August 1987, during the Hungerford massacre, gunman Michael Ryan entered the school during the summer holiday and killed himself in a classroom.

Sixth Form

In the first half of 2014, the school suspended their upcoming

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

intake for September 2014 due to dwindling student numbers, and intended to suspend the 2015 intake and beyond. For changes to intakes of 3 or more years,

West Berkshire Council West Berkshire Council is the local authority of West Berkshire in Berkshire, England. The council was created in 1974 as Newbury District Council, and was a lower-tier district council until 1998. The district was renamed West Berkshire on 1 Ap ...

were required to hold a statutory consultation, which resulted in the Sixth Form being closed from August 2016 onwards.

have indicated that should demand increase for a sixth form at the school in the future, that consideration would be given to reopening the sixth form.

Extracurricular activities

John O'Gaunt offers mainly sports and arts events. Students who apply for a course at Newbury College are taken by bus.

Former headteachers

* Ian Tucker (2015–2019) * Sarah Brinkley (2012–2015) * Neil Spurdell (2009–2012) * Lin Bartlett (1998–2008) * Marcia Twelftree (1993–1997) * Jeff Dawkins (1990–1993) * Monica Darroch (1990) * David Lee (1986–1989) * Keith McClellan (1985–1986) * David Lee (1975–1985) * Norman Fox (1975) * Rex Chesney (1963–1974)

Notable former pupils

* Adam Brown, actor, comedian and pantomime performer * Charlie Austin, footballer for

Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional association football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England. The team currently compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English f ...

* Michael Robert Ryan, perpetrator of the Hungerford massacre, who also killed himself at the same school

References

External links

* {{authority control Secondary schools in West Berkshire District Educational institutions established in 1963 1963 establishments in England Academies in West Berkshire District Hungerford