Nottingham High School

Nottingham High School is an independent day school (HMC) comprising of an Infant and Junior School (for ages 4 – 11), Senior School (for ages 11 – 16) and Sixth Form (for ages 16 – 18).

The school was founded in 1513 by Dame Agnes Mellers with King Henry VIII sealing the school's foundation deed in that same year. After more than 500 years of teaching boys, we welcomed girls into our school, becoming a co-educational institution in 2015.

Students come from a wide range of backgrounds and we are committed to maintaining a representative entry, supporting this with generous bursary and scholarship funds for Year 7. Together, these mean that about a tenth of Senior School students receive some form of financial assistance.

The Headmaster, Kevin Fear, has membership of HMC and the Acting Infant and Junior Head, Angharad Simpson, membership of IAPS.

The School has an extensive student catchment and is first choice for much of Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire, Lincolnshire and Leicestershire.

Teachers at the High School are able to stretch the more able students whilst enabling all to achieve the highest possible value-added results. As well as teaching beyond the requirements of syllabus, there is a strong programme of departmental and School societies and clubs for students of all ages to enrich the curriculum. In addition regular visits are arranged to concerts and plays in the city through the High School Arts Society, offering subsidised tickets.

The High School operates a vertical pastoral system which is recognised as a particular strength. Tutors get to know the students in their charge very well indeed during the course of their school careers.

Music and drama in our own Founder Hall, and sport and outdoor activities (linked with the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Scheme, Combined Cadet Force and our own Scout Group) are enthusiastically supported by students and staff, as is a strong programme of Community Action.

The Concert Band, music groups, choirs, wind band and orchestras thrive, regularly tour overseas and compete with national success in competitions. In recent years, the School has appeared in national finals for cricket, hockey, swimming, orienteering and chess.

The School has its own swimming pool on site, sports ground at Valley Road, ten minutes drive away and our own hockey pitches at Beeston Hockey Centre. There are facilities and coaching available in many other sports and tours are a feature of the major sports.

Our staff are our strongest and most important asset and we want to ensure they are valued, supported and rewarded properly for their work at our school.  Our approach to staff well-being and benefits is to ensure accessibility and equity for all staff in our range of benefits and facilities and to foster a warm, collaborative and friendly working environment.  In recent years we have focused in particular on the importance of stretch and challenge, meta-learning, interleaving and spacing, as well as the development of blended learning. As a result, we are seeking to employ dynamic, forward-thinking subject teachers who engage with teaching and learning initiatives, are committed to sharing best practice, and willing to adopting new technologies as appropriate.

In 2020 the School was recognised again as a centre for best practice by the Independent Schools Teacher Induction Panel (IStip) following their quality assurance visit.  This recognises the high quality of NQT provision at Nottingham High School.

In recent years we have focused in particular on the importance of stretch and challenge, meta-learning, interleaving and spacing, as well as the development of blended learning. As a result, we are seeking to employ dynamic, forward-thinking teachers who engage with teaching and learning initiatives, are committed to sharing best practice, and willing to adopting new technologies as appropriate.