Jack Hunt School

Jack Hunt School (Foundation)
Address
Ledbury Road, Netherton, Peterborough , Cambridgeshire , PE3 9PN England
Coordinates	52°34′41″N0°16′36″W / 52.577933°N 0.276697°W / 52.577933; -0.276697
Information
Type	Academy
Local authority	Peterborough
Specialist	Language/Sports
Department for Education URN	145271 Tables
Ofsted	Reports
Head teacher	Jon Hebbelthwaite
Gender	Co-educational
Age	11to 18
Website	https://www.jackhunt.net

Jack Hunt School, officially Jack Hunt School Language College, is a co-educational secondary school and sixth form located in Netherton in the city of Peterborough in the United Kingdom. Students are aged 11 (Year 7) to 18 (Year 13). Refurbishment of the premises, as part of the Peterborough Secondary School Review, increased the capacity by one form of entry in each year group, with a similar increase in the sixth form, amounting to around an extra 175 places. ^[1]

History

The school was officially opened by Jack Hunt, chairman of the Education Committee of the then Huntingdon and Peterborough County Council, after whom it is named. ^[2] Briefly, until education in the county was reorganised in 1976, it functioned as a secondary modern school

Jack Hunt School became a Beacon school in September 1999 for an initial period of three years. Following a successful application to the then Department for Education and Skills, Beacon status was granted for a further three years with effect from September 2002. In 2003, the school was reopened as a specialist Language College by John Simpson CBE. ^[3] In 2004, Beacon schools came to an end nationally and Jack Hunt successfully applied to become a new Leading Edge School. ^[4]

In September 2001 racial tensions escalated at the school following the racist murder of former pupil Ross Parker in the city shortly after the September 11th Attacks. Three Asian pupils were suspended in October 2001 following an attack on another pupil ^[5] but the school and headmaster Chris Hilliard were later praised in Parliament for the way they managed to overcome such problems. ^[6]

On 16 January 2012, the school received a hoax call stating that a bomb had been planted on the premises. ^[7] Subsequently the entire school had to be evacuated. The pupils were left outside for hours, leading to numerous complaints from parents. In response, and as a token of apology, the head purchased a doughnut for every pupil.

Previously a foundation school administered by Peterborough City Council, in April 2018 Jack Hunt School converted to academy status. The school is now sponsored by Peterborough Keys Academies Trust. It is notably the only secondary school in that is a part of the Peterborough Keys Academies Trust (PKAT) ^[8]

Facilities

Jack Hunt Pool is an 82 feet (25 m) dual-use facility, built on the premises but open to the general public. Jack Hunt is also home to Peterborough's Yamaha School. The school offers Keyboard, Guitar and Drumming to the community.

In 2019 Jack Hunt opened a new block (referred to internally as block 5) with a new dining facility, new classrooms and an all-weather astro turf football pitch.

Notable former pupils

• Fatima Manji, a reporter, Channel 4 News ^{[9] [10]}
• Aston Merrygold: member of boy band JLS. ^[11]
• Keith Palmer: better known as Maxim, MC with dance act The Prodigy. ^[12]
• James Fox, Paralympic rower. Part of team that won gold at the 2017 Paralympic Games.
• Kirsty Bowden, GB and England hockey player, Olympian and Commonwealth Games medallist.
• Richard V Reeves, British American writer and scholar and a Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution.

References

1. Secondary School Review Archived 16 April 2007 at the Wayback Machine Peterborough City Council (retrieved 15 April 2007)
2. Corporate Social Responsibility Archived 19 September 2008 at the Wayback Machine Hunt and Coombs, Solicitors (retrieved 28 August 2008)
3. "Jack Hunt School Language College".
4. A–Z of Partnership Schools 2007/8 (pp.24-25) University of Cambridge (retrieved 28 August 2008)
5. ATTACK - School's plea for calm - Environment - Peterborough Evening Telegraph
6. House of Commons Hansard Debates for 23 Jan 2003 (pt 1)
7. McErlain, Ken Hoax bomb scare probe after Peterborough school is closed Peterborough Evening Telegraph, 17 January 2012
8. Peterborough Keys Academies Trust Website Our Schools
9. "IN FOCUS: Celebration time for those who made the grade". Peterborough Evening Telegraph . 20 August 2004. Retrieved 24 July 2016.^{[ permanent dead link ]}
10. "Peterborough's Channel 4 newsreader complains to press regulator about Kelvin MacKenzie column in The Sun". Peterborough Evening Telegraph . 22 August 2004. Retrieved 24 July 2016.
11. Briggs, Stephen I always knew Aston had the X Factor Peterborough Evening Telegraph, 22 December 2008
12. Kirby, Terry Author in a Spot of Bother for 'horrible' view of Peterborough The Independent, 31 August 2006

External links

• Jack Hunt School
• Jack Hunt Pool
• Bouygues (UK) Construction