A report on a visit to Northgate High School, East Dereham, Norfolk : 1st to 12th November 1995

Abstract

Dereham: We are in Dereham, a pretty little town situated at the heart of Norfolk that is about 40kms to the west of Norwich. Dereham is a busy market town with a wide range of shops and services, in the midst of s01ne 2,000 square miles of beaches and unspoiled countryside. (See Appendix A) Among the renowned Dereham residents one should include George Borrow, author of the classics "Lavengro" and "The· Romany Rye", who was born at Dumpling Green on the southern edge of the town, and the poet William Cowper, who spent his latter years at a house in the market place. The population of Dereham is about 15,000 and they live a very intense social life where Golf is extremely popular. Northgate High School: is one of the two high schools that exist in the town of Dereham. It covers an area of about 14 acres; 11 acres of which are playing fields. The building was completed in 1967 and at that time it catered for boys only. It was a Secondary 1v1odern School like our present area secondary schools i. e. ( 11 + failures) and the ages of the students varied from 11 to 15. A5 from 1972 the school leaving age was raised to 16 years. In 1976, following the introduction of the Comprehensive System, a small group of 70 girls moved in to attend Form I, now Year 7. (See Appendix B for School's Plan). The catchment area of Northgate at that time was relatively vast. In fact students came from North Ehnham, Billingford, Swanton Morley, Seaming, Wendling, Beetley, Shipdham etc. After 1993 parents were free to choose the school for their children provided there was room available and the school was situated at reasonable distance from the students' home. This new system gave rise to a harsh competition among schools and it is still quite vigorous in order to combat the problem of falling rolls. We might say that as a result of this competition the school population at Northgate increased to 850. At present it stands at J 820 which is a great achievement taking into consideration the closing of the vast Swanton Morley base of the RAF which used to provide a good number of school children. The school population will presumably increase once more when the Anny will take over in the near future. There is another factor which deserves consideration: the demographic component of the area. Even a cursory walk around the town of Dereham and the nearby villages, will make one aware of the ageing population of the district. Most of these people came from the South East London. At the age of retirement they decided to sell their London property and take up residence in the quiet, rural atmosphere of Norfolk. On the other hand the social background of the students attending Northgate come from the Council Estates (like our Government Housing Estates) where one finds poverty due to unemployment, moral and psychological problems arising out of numerous families and single parents. The Friends Association of NHS often provides this category of students with clothing and other commodities like computers, books, stationery etc. By far this is the most numerous group of students attending Northgate; the second largest is that coming from Middle Class families. One finds also a small percentage of students that come from well off families whose parents willingly choose to have their children rub shoulders with the ordinary folks. Northgate High School is an LMS i.e. funded by the Norfolk County Council. The latter boasts that its relationship with schools and other organisations concerned with education in its widest sense has for many years been one of partnership, consultation and collaboration. Norfolk was the first Education Authority in the country to introduce a scheme of Local Management of Schools. This was in advance of the legislation which required it, and gave schools as much authority as the law then allowed. Under Local I'v1anagement, the Council gives schools money to spend as their governors wish.