Chipping Norton School is a rural comprehensive school with over 1,150 pupils from 11 to 18 years of age. It serves the attractive Cotswold market town of Chipping Norton, about 20 miles north of Oxford, the nearby town of Charlbury and the surrounding villages of Chadlington, Enstone and Great Tew, Hook Norton, Kingham, Middle Barton and the Rollrights.
Chipping Norton School is a specialist Performing Arts School and is also a
training school for teachers entering the profession.
The curriculum is broad and balanced, based on a strong belief in the value of each subject area. From Years 7 to 11, all pupils study English, Mathematics, Science, Religious Education, Information Communication Technology, Physical Education, Technology, Personal, Social and Health Education, at least one Modern Foreign Language, at least one of the Humanities and a Creative Art (Art, Drama and Music). There are also opportunities to take Business Studies or a prevocational course in Years 10 and 11. Pupils are therefore prepared for up to 11 GCSE examinations at 16. In the Sixth Form there is a full range of GCE AS and A2 subjects and GNVQ courses.
Chipping Norton Schools Partnership comprises the secondary school
and ten feeder primary schools, two within Chipping Norton and eight in
outlying villages (see 'Primary Schools' page for details). The 'Extended Schools' programme (see download leaflet below) has been commended as innovative and forward looking
in the way it has engaged parents and pupils learning together in their
leisure time as well as in the sports schemes developed with the
neighbouring joint-use leisure centres.
The Ex-Chippy School PageA website
for all former students and staff of Chipping Norton School, Oxfordshire (link below)
With over thousand former pupils already listed, the site's mission is to enable former students of Chipping Norton
School to contact former friends with whom they have lost touch over the years.
 Blessed George Napier School
Mission Statement:Blessed George Napier is a Catholic School and Sixth form which seeks to appreciate and develop the talents of each individual.
Inspired
by the life of Christ and his teaching, Blessed George Napier, in
active partnership with home, parish and wider community, endeavours to
prepare its members to face the future with confidence and take up the
challenge of the Gospel.
We offer a great range of subjects at GCSE, AS and A2 Levels and are successful in our results.
Examination performance is an important measure of success and at Blessed George Napier we
also emphasise that the process of maturing and becoming responsible young adults is crucial
to us in fulfilling our Mission Statement. We provide a Christian, Catholic education and for
many of our families this is desired and appreciated. Particularly successful are the Annual
Pilgrimage to Lourdes for the Sixth Form, the highly successful choir tours in Europe, and the
exciting American Exchange visits to Memphis, Tennessee.
Kingham Hill School is a thriving family-style independent boarding and day school for around 230 girls and boys aged 11-18 years. Students come from a wide variety of backgrounds, both here in the UK and overseas. The school is situated on the borders of Oxfordshire, Gloucestershire and Warwickshire and set in 92 acres of glorious Cotswold countryside. Junior students cover a very wide syllabus that includes English, Maths, Science, History, Geography, French, German, Design & Technology, Information and Communication Technology, Physical Education, Religious Education, Art, Music, Drama and PSHE. Key Stage 3 tests are taken in English, Maths and Science. During the GCSE years, all pupils study the core subjects of English (two GCSEs), Double Science, Maths, ICT and PSHE.
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Theresa Dix, Work Related Learning Co-ordinator and Connexions Adviser
at Chipping
Norton School reports on a very successful Year 8 Enterprise Day
run at the school on Friday 26 March.
The day itself was
designed by Oxfordshire Education Business Partnership and run by
manager Phoebe Dawson. For many of the students, aged between 12 and 13
years of age, this was the first Enterprise day that they had taken part
in. The school hall was packed with students working their way through a
number of carefully constructed exercises designed to deliver work
related learning.
 The day was called ‘What would Chippy Choose?’
the idea being to ‘use local inspiration to create a cool creation’. The
students worked in small groups in the hall to come up with a product
or service that thought Chipping Norton needs and that they could sell.
The brief stated that the product must be environmentally friendly and
the students made a model to represent their idea that will be made from
recycled materials.
Ably assisted by a team of business
ambassadors the students worked their way through a number of tasks
culminating in a presentation of their ideas. The facilitators were
drawn from various local businesses including Sainsbury's
at Kiddington, Integration
Technology at Upper Heyford and Chippy based New Tricks Training
with representatives from the Army and
the Navy.
The
students came up with some fantastic ideas - some more practical than
others - but all extremely creative. Nearly 200 pupils took part,
demonstrating a wide range of skills from time-keeping to project
management, from creative thinking to presentation skills.
l-r Phoebe
Dawson, Theresa Dix with the winning team RFM and head teacher Simon
Duffy
The business ambassadors judged a two-minute
presentation and radio advert made
by each of the 32 groups culminating in a final watched by the whole
group. The students presented extremely well (most adults would balk at
the prospect of giving a presentation to an audience of 200!) The
winning team, RFM ( Louise Myett, Hannah Jarman, Maddie Cullen, Leah
Cullen
and Abbi Festa) won for their innovative product for
downloading music for use in the gym. There was also an award for best
presenter which went to Mikey Kazybanowski.
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FANTASTIC PERFORMANCE SHOWS REAL
PROFESSIONALISM
WOW! Les Misérables staged by Chipping
Norton School was an incredible showcase that demonstrated
professionalism of a school, its staff and students at the very highest
level.
Where to heap praise first? The principal singers were
tremendous. I could write a glowing report on each and every one of them
- but there just isn’t the room and it would be futile of me to single
anyone out for a special mention. What a vocal range they all had to
contend with, they sang (and acted) their socks off giving poignancy and
a tangible emotional connection to the wonderful score. The first rate
orchestra conducted by Miss Calnan was a far cry from the ‘bum note’
school orchestra I played in as a pupil! Blimey they were good. Miss
Calnan, along with Miss Johnston and Mrs Laughlin should be commended
for the musicality of the evening, it was glorious. Their 40 strong
chorus slipped effortlessly in and out of proceedings and when they sang
they gave me goosebumps, made the hair on my neck stand on end and
brought a tear to my eye. The ‘big numbers’ with principals were
marvelous and the final chorus had the audience on its feet, clapping,
cheering and whooping with joy.
 Miss Hollinshead and
Miss Homer have directed and choreographed these students to such a high
level it makes me wonder what the heck they are planning next? This
production was an awesome undertaking; 130 lighting cues, scores of
props to be managed, 200 costumes, ten big scene changes, a cast of 60
to move around, a tech crew of nearly 20, a front-of-house team, an
orchestra of 20 to rehearse, sets built, tickets & programme
designed and many, many, many hours of rehearsal and dedication much of
which must have been undertaken out of school hours. I honestly wouldn’t
blame the team if their next production featured a nude cast of two on
an empty stage! The staff and pupils deserve a huge “Thank You” and
“Well Done.”
Much has been made of the need for the school to ready its students
for the world of business. How can ‘Performing Arts’ possibly do that?
Well on stage and off-stage (the calm and efficient technical crew,
under Miss Fletcher, were brilliant too) the skills that business looks
for were on display in abundance: teamwork, positive attitude, pride in
your work, time-keeping (not a cue was missed), creativity, commitment,
professionalism, focus, confidence and raw talent.
As a dad with a daughter in the chorus I’m
positively brimming with pride in our school. What an amazing
achievement was this production. This isn’t a school resting on its
laurels and playing it safe. With Les Misérables they’ve stretched
themselves, reached for the stars... and created a few too.
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