Crispin School

Crispin School was formed in 1973 by the merge of Elmhurst Grammar School and Strode Secondary Modern School.[2] In 1999, the school was awarded specialist technology status, with a second specialism in music awarded in 2008.[3]

Crispin School was converted to an academy in 2011,[2] under the provisions of the Academies Act 2010.[4]

Students in years 7 and 8 (key stage 3) are able to study the following subjects: English, Mathematics, Science, History, Geography, Beliefs and Values, Art, Drama, Food Technology, French, Graphics, ICT and Computing, Music, PSHE, PE, Textiles, and Resistant Materials.[5] At GCSE level, all students continue to study English, English Literature, Mathematics, Science (at least two GCSEs), Physical Education, and Society, Relationships and Values. Optional subjects include Geography, History, French, Spanish, German, Religious Studies, Art, Drama, Food and Nutrition, Graphics, Health and Social Care, ICT and Computing, Music, Media, Photography, Sport, Business Studies, Textiles and Resistant Materials.[5]

Crispin was recognized in the Ofsted inspection in October 2017 that the school received good grades in all areas.[6] Ofsted’s inspectors believe that the school is constantly improving, implementing its commitment to being deeply committed to meeting the needs of all young people in the area.[7]

Musical activities on offer to students include school choir, senior choir, orchestra and string group, all of which occur daily.[8] A wide range of musical enrichment activities are also offered, including the Annual Carol Service at Wells Cathedral, Joint Christmas Concert with Brookside Academy, Spring Concert where up to 150 students perform, Music Days for particular years, School of Rock Days, Orchestra visits an trips to London which have included attending musicals and a live rendition of the music and film of Ratatouille at the Royal Albert Hall.[9]

School shows are performed at the nearby Strode Theatre. Recent productions include Tales of the Arabian Nights (2016), Oliver (2017), Alice (2018), Find Me (2018), Bugsy Malone (2019) and Sister Act (2020).

The school’s art and photography GCSE scores achieved a great performance across the country. In the past six years, GCSE’s A*-C/4-9 scores have exceeded 90%. Therefore, in 2016, the department was selected as an excellent area in the school challenge partner review.[10] The student works were displayed around Crispin. About a half numbers of students choose either GCSEs in fine art or photography and some choose both.[10] The GCSE Art and Photography Virtual Exhibition are held in the school. Annual trips take place to galleries in London, Bristol Zoo and the Eden Project.

There are a wide variety of sports on offer for students to take part in. These include handball, netball, rugby, and football as well as equestrian and triathlon. At the end of each school year, Crispin puts on a Sports Awards evening for its students.

A number of residential trips take place, including ones to Iceland, France, Italy, New York, Swaziland, and Kenya. Crispin has a link with a school in Kenya and the ‘Masana Block’ is named in recognition of this link.

In 2017 the school moved to a House system with 10 vertical tutor groups in each House. The Houses composed of four parts: Corvus, Falco, Sturnus and Tyto, the four names are derived from bird genus.[11] Each House has a Head of House, a House Learning Coordinator and a House Captain voted for by the staff and students with the House. The Houses were introduced to develop a clear sense of belonging and togetherness across all of the years. In order to promote this, the school has weekly competitions to allow students to participate in their Houses. The competitions range from Spellings Bees, Tug of War and Fastest Omelette.[11]

Each month also has a theme to promote the social and moral culture within the school. The student has made notable contributions to the local Food Bank as part of Charity Month in December and Unicef’s Shoe Drive in April where over a thousand pairs of shoes were donated.

The competitions contribute towards a final house points total leading to a winning house for the year. The winning house is awarded a day of treats to celebrate their success together as a House. Students are also rewarded with weekly Tutee of the Week awards, attendance certificates and house points for their readiness to learn each day.

Crispin value the relationship they have with their Partner Primary Schools. Schools are invited into Crispin regularly to participate in subject-specific days to prepare them for Secondary School life. Crispin encourages its students to develop leadership skills through assisting Primary school children during learning. Students have lead in Drama, English and PE days. Primary Schools have also attended Geography, Music and Art days.

In 2017, the School's official Facebook page[12] posted an update entitled 'Success and Shoes', featuring pictures of some students' footwear and suggesting that students who are "‘sharply’ dressed" achieve more academically and behave better at school. The post received backlash from parents and members of the community. The school later apologized for misbehaving.[13]

Crispin School has an active alumni programme with over 500 alumni registered with Future First.[14] Alumni return to the school to deliver workshops for each year group about careers and raising aspirations. The school has also arranged work experience visits with alumni. Notable alumni include:

• Helen Chamberlain - television presenter
• Beccy Huxtable - Producer and Co-Presenter of The Scott Mills Show on BBC Radio 1.
• Jaye Jacobs - actress in Holby City, former deputy-head girl.

• Official website