Gosford Hill School

51°48′58″N 1°16′45″W / 51.81624°N 1.27913°W / 51.81624; -1.27913InformationTypeAcademyEstablished1932Local authorityOxfordshireSpecialistMaths and ComputingDepartment for Education URN138897 TablesOfstedReportsHead teacherNigel SellarsStaff90GenderCoeducationalAge11 to 18Enrolment900Websitewww.gosford-hill.oxon.sch.uk

Gosford Hill School is a co-educational secondary school with academy status in the village of Kidlington in Oxfordshire, England.^[1]

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, Cassington, Hampton Poyle, Islip, Noke, Oddington, Shipton-on-Cherwell, Thrupp and Yarnton 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^[2]

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 4 acres (16,000 m²) had been part of Gosford Hill Farm, which itself had been turned into Oxford Zoological Gardens by Frank Gray by the time the school was built.

On 1 November 2012 the school completed its transition to an academy.

Sporting achievements

On 16 May 2016, Gosford Hill were crowned the English Schools' FA Under 15s National Small Schools Cup Champions, defeating Howden School from East Riding of Yorkshire 6-3 at the Madejski Stadium in Reading. ^{[3][4] [5] [6]}

Notable alumni

• David Rodigan - Reggae DJ and radio presenter^{[citation needed]}
• Tim Supple - Theatre and opera director^{[citation needed]}
• Nick Cope - musician^{[citation needed]}
• The Candyskins - 1989 rock band^{[citation needed]}
• Irene Tracey - Vice Chancellor of the University of Oxford^[7][8]

References