Nicholas Chamberlaine School

Nicholas Chamberlaine School (NCS), named after a local benefactor (1632-1715), opened in 1953 to serve the population of Bedworth. It has always been a comprehensive school in the truest sense which is fully rooted in its community.

NCS is the first choice of secondary school in the town and the largest. Former students include well-known sportspeople and at least one pop star!

After a period of instability NCS (then Nicholas Chamberlaine Technology College) joined the Griffin School Trust and swiftly earned its first Good judgement from Ofsted in 2015.  The latest Ofsted inspection, in April 2024, judged the school to be Good in all areas. 

We pride ourselves on our arts and sports provision.  All KS3 students are provided with an orchestral instrument and peripatetic music lessons.  Our orchestra and choir have performed on the most prestigious London stages.  Our sports teams enjoy huge success with both boys and girls competing at a high level and we enjoy hosting the annual GST sports festival which brings teams from all schools into fierce competition every September.  We take part in several projects such as the Griffin Arts Festival (which takes place over 2 weeks and involves the students); The Shakespeare Schools Festival; National Theatre projects and our own annual school production.

We are a true community of staff who support each other and care deeply for our students and colleagues.  We are proud of our school and our Trust and feel privileged to serve such a wonderful community.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Alison Ramsay

Executive Head

About the Griffin Schools Trust

The Griffin Schools Trust (GST) is a family of ten primary and two secondary schools in the Midlands, London and South East. We have a strong track record in making schools much better for children and their families and for the staff who work with us. Our single most important mission is to provide the conditions in which children discover who they are and then go on confidently to take their places in society, making a contribution to the world through the use of their talents. We will never prepare children to know their places.

When schools decide to join us they bring their histories to us and together we turn them into traditions reflecting the Trust’s mission and values whilst preserving and extending the each school’s individuality. We offer a rich curriculum and an unusual range of enrichment and extension clubs and activities. We also have shared traditions so that children form every school feel part of the same family. Every summer term we hold the Griffin Arts Festival. In the spring we have Founders Day and the Science Symposium and in the autumn students compete in the Griffin Science Symposium. All these festivals are linked in an annual theme schools’ four houses compete for a Trust cup which is awarded to the house colour which has accumulated most points from all Trust events. All staff, including the CEO, belong to a house.

Great GST schools have nothing institutional about them and great GST staff are thoughtfully recruited for their excellent knowledge and their broad interests. They are developed by Heads as well as the research and training opportunities offered across the Trust to add their individual magic to the mix. All our schools practice open and distributed leadership and place a high value on creativity as well as growing great talent pipelines to ensure that there are plenty of opportunities for promotion within and beyond the school.

Look at our website and click through to some of the schools as well as the one to which you are applying. We are frequently told that colleagues have found their professional home at GST. Is it yours? We look forward to hearing from you.

Anne Powell

Chief Executive Officer