Norton Hill School


Norton Hill School is a state school with academy status in Midsomer Norton, Somerset, England. It is part of the Midsomer Norton Schools Partnership academy group. It was formerly the Midsomer Norton Grammar School.
The school had 1,519 students from the age of 11 to 18 as of 2013 including 266 in the sixth form. It is situated in the Norton Hill area of west Midsomer Norton, north of Radstock. It is between Silver Street and Fosseway near the former Midsomer Norton railway station, being nearer to Silver Street and just east of the railway centre.

History

Grammar school

Some of the current school buildings date back to its original foundation as Midsomer Norton Grammar School in 1911.
In the 1950s, Midsomer Norton Grammar School teacher David Penrose and pupils from the school explored the newly discovered Hillier's Cave in the Mendip Hills, naming it after Gordon Hillier, headmaster at the school from 1926 to 1958.

Comprehensive

Norton Hill became a comprehensive school in September 1971. Secondary Modern schools at Paulton and Timsbury were also closed and their catchment areas and historical documentation transferred to Norton Hill.
In 1999, it gained specialist school status as a Technology College. In 2007, the specialism was changed to Maths and Computing College. In 2006, Norton Hill was awarded a second specialism as a Language College.
The school has received both the Sportsmark Award by Sport England and Artsmark Silver Award.

Academic performance

The school was described by Ofsted in 2007 as outstanding in every respect.
Its GCSE results place it seventh overall and fourth in the state schools in Bath and North East Somerset. At A-Level it is 12th in the area for points per pupil score, just below the average. In 2013 OFSTED awarded Norton Hill 'good'.

Alumni

Midsomer Norton Grammar School