The Saint John Henry Newman Catholic School, Stevenage

The Saint John Henry Newman School
Address
Hitchin Road Stevenage , Hertfordshire , SG1 4AE England
Coordinates	51°55′11″N0°12′49″W / 51.91965°N 0.21353°W / 51.91965; -0.21353
Information
Type	Academy
Motto	Cor ad cor loquitur (in English this means "heart speaks to heart")
Religious affiliation(s)	Roman Catholic
Established	1981
Department for Education URN	137895 Tables
Ofsted	Reports
Head teacher	David Carrasco-Morley (2023 - present) [1]
Previous Head teachers	Clive Mathew (2012-2023) [2] [3] Michael Kelly (1993 - 2012) [4]
Gender	Coeducational
Age	11to 18
Enrolment	1,481 [5]
Colour(s)	Blue, red, gold
Website	www.jhn.herts.sch.uk

The Saint John Henry Newman School is a Roman Catholic secondary school with academy status in Stevenage, Hertfordshire, England. In its most recent Ofsted inspection it was classed as a good school and the diocesan report, assessing quality of Catholic education, classed it as outstanding. It converted to academy status on 1 March 2012. ^[6]

History

Hitchin

St. Michael's College was established in Grove Road, Hitchin—next to the site of a new Catholic church—in 1903 by Fr. A. Prével of the Society of Saint Edmund. In 1925, the priests from the Order of Augustinians of the Assumption assumed control of both the church and the college. St. Michael's College was a Catholic boys' school which housed a number of boarding pupils. In 1953, following a General Inspection, the College was granted temporary recognition as a private grammar school and this status was made permanent in 1958

Stevenage

The expansion of Stevenage New Town during the 1960s led to the relocation of the school to Sandown Road, Stevenage, in 1968. It changed its name to St. Michael's RC School.

In 1985, the process of merging St. Michael's School with St. Angela's School for Girls began. The merging process was completed in 1987 under the leadership of Chair of Governors, John Alan Scouller ^[7] and the site of St. Michael's was sold, while the new "John Henry Newman School" moved to the former site of St. Angela's on Hitchin Road. The name of the school commemorates Cardinal St John Henry Newman.The School then changed its name to the Saint John Henry Newman School in 2019 after the canonisation of John Henry Newman in the Vatican city

School facilities

The school's drama, music and dance facilities are in a 'pavilion' building built in 2015 that cost £3 million. ^{[8] [ better source needed ]}

The school's sporting facilities including a hockey/football astroturf, tennis courts, sports hall and 2 full size pitches. ^{[9] [ better source needed ]}

Notable people

Former pupils

• Lewis Hamilton (b. 1985) - racing driver. ^[10] Hamilton left the school at 15, after being wrongfully expelled by the Headmaster. He was reinstated following an appeal to the school board. ^{[11] [12]}
• Ashley Young (b. 1985) - footballer, Watford F.C., Aston Villa F.C., Manchester United F.C., Everton F.C. ^[13]
• Seb Webber, international DJ and A&R at XL Recordings (1996-2001)
• George Beck (1904-1978), Archbishop of Liverpool, (at St Michael's, Hitchin), (also Headmaster) ^[14]
• Ross Kempsell (b. 1992) - political adviser and life peer

Former staff

• David Konstant, 8th Bishop of Leeds. Acting Head 1967 (at St Michael's, Stevenage) ^[15]

References

1. "Headteacher's Welcome - The Saint John Henry Newman Catholic school". www.jhn.herts.sch.uk. Retrieved 14 April 2024.
2. "Headteacher's Welcome - The John Henry Newman Catholic School". www.jhn.herts.sch.uk. Retrieved 10 January 2019.
3. "History of the School and alumni - The Saint John Henry Newman Catholic School". www.jhn.herts.sch.uk. Retrieved 14 April 2024.
4. "History of the School and alumni - The Saint John Henry Newman Catholic School". www.jhn.herts.sch.uk. Retrieved 14 April 2024.
5. England. "EduBase - The John Henry Newman Catholic School". Education.gov.uk. Retrieved 16 June 2013.
6. "Stevenage school first to become an academy - News". The Comet. 2 March 2012. Retrieved 16 June 2013.
7. The John Henry Newman School official website(in biographical sketch of the late Jill Biggs). Retrieved 2011-01-29. Archived 21 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine
8. "Subject Information - the Saint John Henry Newman Catholic School".
9. "Life at JHN - the Saint John Henry Newman Catholic School".
10. "Southern Counties - Sport - Lewis Hamilton fact file". BBC. 7 January 1985. Retrieved 16 June 2013.
11. "Streamable Interview excerpt". Streamable. 16 December 2021. Retrieved 16 December 2021.
12. Younge, Gary (10 July 2021). "Lewis Hamilton: 'Everything I'd suppressed came up – I had to speak out'". theguardian.co.uk . Archived from the original on 6 August 2021. Retrieved 10 July 2021.
13. Viner, Brian (6 October 2008). "Ashley Young ... sporting prodigy" . The Independent. London. Archived from the original on 18 June 2022.
14. Beck, Most Rev. George Andrew. doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.U152172. ISBN   978-0-19-954089-1.
15. "Rt. Reverend David Konstant". Archived from the original on 5 March 2009.

External links

• Official website
• St. Michael's College, Hitchin
• Hitchin Parish History Archived 3 March 2009 at the Wayback Machine
• Stevenage Parish History