Type | Academy |
---|---|
Head Teacher | Elizabeth Rymer |
Location |
Claremont Road Barnet, London London NW2 1TR England 51°34′24″N 0°13′09″W / 51.57341°N 0.21912°WCoordinates: 51°34′24″N 0°13′09″W / 51.57341°N 0.21912°W |
DfE number | 302/4012 |
DfE URN | 137361 Tables |
Ofsted | Reports Pre-academy reports |
Gender | Mixed |
Ages | 11–18 |
Colours | Light Green, Green and Black |
Website | Whitefield Barnet |
Whitefield School is a secondary school and sixth form located in the London Borough of Barnet. In 2009 it came under new leadership and was in the top 1% most improved schools in the country in 2010. Since then it has been in the top 1 or 2% of schools in the country for the value it adds to the expected progress of its students, (i.e. they achieve more at Whitefield than they might at most other schools). Whitefield was one of the first schools in Barnet to convert to academy status in 2011, in order to use the freedoms granted by this status to further improve the remarkable academic performance of its students. The sustained improvement in exam results, outstanding teachers and strong relationships between staff and students, has seen numbers applying to join Whitefield increase dramatically in recent years.
The school is in Cricklewood, just south of the North Circular Road and west of the A41 Hendon Way. School Entrance co-ordinates: 51, 34.395N 0, 13.143W
The nearest tube station is Brent Cross on the Northern line Edgware branch and the nearest bus station is Brent Cross Shopping Centre.
The school was built between 1953-54 on the site of the disused Hendon Metropolitan water treatment works, part of the original Clitterhouse Farm. It was originally a Secondary Modern School and opened in autumn 1954 later than originally intended. This gave pupils transferring from other schools in the then Borough of Hendon and surrounding areas an extra three weeks summer holiday. At the time of opening it had seven 1st year classes of between thirty and forty. Classes 1 and 2 first year had French or German in their curriculum, unusual at the time. Other older pupils transferred in to second, third and fourth year classes.
In 1954 the school grounds extended only as far east as the Clitterhouse Brook, a small tributary of the river Brent. Many years later the grounds extended east beyond the Brook to the boundary with Hendon Way. This area was the overgrown disused site of the settling ponds of the old water treatment works which were transformed into school playing fields, obviating the need to book and use the football and cricket pitches of nearby Clitterhouse Park.