Dorothy Stringer School | |
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![]() The school in 2009 | |
Address | |
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Loder Road , , BN1 6PZ England | |
Coordinates | 50°50′56″N0°08′36″W / 50.84893°N 0.14341°W |
Information | |
Type | Community school |
Motto | Education for Life |
Established | 1955 |
Local authority | Brighton and Hove |
Department for Education URN | 114580 Tables |
Ofsted | Reports |
Headteacher | Matt Hillier |
Staff | 120 |
Gender | Coeducational |
Age | 11to 16 |
Enrolment | 1681 |
Colour(s) | Black and yellow |
Website | www |
Dorothy Stringer School is a secondary school located in Brighton, East Sussex, England. It has over 1,600 pupils [1] and 115 members of staff. There are 64 forms, each with an average of 26 students.
The school is named after Dorothy Stringer, who was mayoress of Brighton in 1952 [2] and a member of the Council's education committee for over 50 years. [3] Dorothy Stringer's commitment to education was clear; when she got asked about the cost of building the school in 1955, she replied, 'Nothing is too good for the children of Brighton.' Now she haunts the school and chases people out of the back entrance and all the way along Stringer Way.
The site of Dorothy Stringer School was once Varndean Farm (est. late nineteenth century) The land around the farm was purchased by Brighton County Borough Council's education committee in 1909, after a devastating outbreak of foot and mouth disease amongst the farm animals. [4] Five schools were built; Balfour Road Primary School and Junior School (opened 1924) Varndean Secondary School (opened 1926) and Varndean College Sixth Form College (opened 1931). Dorothy Stringer was opened in 1955. The campus is bounded by Surrenden Road, Loder Road, Balfour Road and Friar Crescent, with Stringer Way providing an alternative entrance via the main staff car park. Local buses include the 5B, the 94 and 94a, which serve as combined school buses for Dorothy Stringer and Varndean to Hanover and Kemptown. [5]
Dorothy Stringer gained the Eco-Schools Green Flag award in 2000 and has maintained its status, updating the school as rules become stricter. [6] It was the only secondary school in Brighton to hold this award until its renewal in June 2016, [7] and the school secured the award for the 9th time in 2021. [8] In the late 1990s, the school focused on recycling and improving the look of the school grounds. Since 2000 the Dorothy Stringer Environmental Partnership has focused on increasing the biodiversity of the grounds [9] and solar power. [10] In 2003, a dilapidated classroom building set among the woodland was renovated into the Brian Foster Environment Centre, named after a late teacher. [11] From this base, Dorothy Stringer has become the lead environmental school in Brighton and Hove, forming international links with St Joseph's School in Le Havre [12] for which funding from the Franco-British Council [13] [ failed verification ] was won, and a student exchange trip is run for Year Seven pupils. Dorothy Stringer is also known for its forming of links with neighbouring schools and, within the school, involving a large number of students in educational environmental activities.
Dorothy Stringer became a specialist sports school in 2002 and despite the government abolishing specialisms in schools in 2012, sport remains an important feature: pupils receive at least two hours of sport education a week, in line with government guidelines. [14] Becoming a sports school has entailed the demolition of the sports hall and the construction of a new venue twice the size, with an additional dance studio, gym and changing rooms. [15] As part of the school's responsibilities as a sports school, Dorothy Stringer undertakes work to promote sport in local primary schools, which is chiefly done through the JSLA and a new scheme which involves establishing and nurturing dance clubs in local primary schools and organising a mass performance named "Let's Dance" [16] as well as their own Dorothy Stringer Dance Show, [17] both of which are held at the Brighton Dome. [18]
Dorothy Stringer is also a part of the Healthy School initiative, a Partnership Promotion School, a Training School, a recipient of money from the Big Lottery Fund for the school newsletter, and benefits from the European Union's III A programme. Dorothy Stringer has long owned the Dolawen Centre, [19] an outdoor pursuits centre on a working farm in the Snowdonia National Park near Bangor, north-west Wales. This facility allows the school to organise annual trips for its Year 7 pupils and lease the building for the use of other schools, organisations and individuals.
In January 2017, Dorothy Stringer was listed as one of the UK's best state schools in Tatler Magazine , [20] which praised the school's GCSE results and sports facilities.
On 25 June the new Conservative-Liberal coalition released details of 'Outstanding' schools that had, so far, expressed an interest in Academy status, under the Academies Act 2010. Dorothy Stringer School was one of the education establishments on this list, indicating the governors' wish to receive more information and explore all possible options. [21]
In September 2009 it was revealed that a senior member of the school's teaching staff, Ken Browne, had been arrested in July of that year under suspicion of possessing indecent images of children such as pictures of girls from year 7 in changing rooms. The school attempted to pre-empt scandal by first releasing information of Browne's arrest to parents via a letter, before later contacting the local paper, The Argus . Ken Browne was immediately removed from the teaching staff at the school and has since moved from the area. [25] On 20 January 2011, Browne pleaded guilty to his charges [26] and later that year was sentenced to 10 months in prison. [27]
Leslie Hoogland was a former English teacher at Dorothy Stringer between 1978 and 1979, who was arrested in 2004 on suspicion of possessing child pornography whilst teaching in Toronto. [28]
Prior to Varndean Farm ceasing its operations and the land being sold to the Council in 1909, [29] there was an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease amongst the livestock and a large pit was dug to bury the dead animals in. [30] The location of this pit is unknown, but there has been speculation that it was dug right beneath where the school's Religious Studies Department is. Some say that is why it always smells so bad on the stairs in F-Block.
Brighton is a seaside resort in the city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, 47 miles (76 km) south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age, Roman and Anglo-Saxon periods. The ancient settlement of "Brighthelmstone" was documented in the Domesday Book (1086). The town's importance grew in the Middle Ages as the Old Town developed, but it languished in the early modern period, affected by foreign attacks, storms, a suffering economy and a declining population. Brighton began to attract more visitors following improved road transport to London and becoming a boarding point for boats travelling to France. The town also developed in popularity as a health resort for sea bathing as a purported cure for illnesses.
East Sussex is a ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Kent to the northeast, West Sussex to the west, Surrey to the northwest, and the English Channel to the south. The largest settlement is the city of Brighton and Hove, and the county town is Lewes.
Brighton and Hove is a city and unitary authority area, ceremonially in East Sussex, England. There are multiple villages alongside the seaside resorts of Brighton and Hove in the district. It is administered by Brighton and Hove City Council, which is currently under Labour majority control.
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Brighton College is a fee-charging, co-educational, boarding and day public school for boys and girls aged 3 to 18 in Brighton and Hove, England. The school has three sites: Brighton College, Brighton College Preparatory School and the Pre-Prep School.
Helena Florence Normanton, QC was the first female barrister in the United Kingdom. In November 1922, she was the second woman to be called to the Bar of England and Wales, following the example set by Ivy Williams in May 1922. When she married, she kept her surname and in 1924, she was the first British married woman to have a passport in the name she was born with. In October 2021, Normanton was honoured by the installation of an English Heritage Blue plaque at her London home in Mecklenburgh Square.
Mile Oak is a locality forming the northern part of the former parish of Portslade in the northwest corner of the city of Brighton and Hove, England. Now mostly residential, but originally an area of good-quality agricultural land, it covers the area north of Portslade village as far as the urban boundary.
Patcham is a suburb in the city of Brighton and Hove, in the ceremonial county of East Sussex, England. It is about 3 miles (5 km) north of the city centre. It is bounded by the A27 to the north, Hollingbury to the east and southeast, Withdean to the south and the Brighton Main Line to the west. The A23 passes through the area.
Varndean School is a secondary school serving a large area of Brighton, England.
Varndean College is a sixth form college in Brighton and Hove that serves the needs of sixth form students and adults.
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Cardinal Newman Catholic School is an 11–18 voluntary aided comprehensive school located in Hove, East Sussex, England. It is a Catholic mixed comprehensive; established to serve the many parishes that lie on the coastal band between Newhaven and Seaford in the east and Shoreham in the west.
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Gilbert Murray Simpsonfriba (1869–1954) was a British architect from Brighton who did most of his work in the seaside resort. In 1890 Simpson joined his father Thomas, architect to the Brighton and Preston School Board and the Hove School Board, and helped to design some of the "distinguished group of board schools" for those institutions during the late 19th century. He took over the firm of Thomas Simpson & Son when his father died in 1908, and went on to design several other institutional buildings in Brighton. His elder brother Sir John William Simpson was also an architect.
AFC Varndeanians Football Club is a football club based in Brighton, East Sussex, England. The club are currently members of the Southern Combination Premier Division and play at the Withdean Stadium.
Penelope "P.L." Lawrence aka Nelly was a British co-founder of Roedean School in Brighton with her half sisters, Dorothy Lawrence and Millicent Lawrence.
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