Tanbridge House School
Tanbridge House School is a secondary school in Horsham, West Sussex. It is a specialist school of IT, Maths and Science. Its current head master is Mr Jules White who started in January 2008. Previous heads include Ms J Ball, Mr Neil Chapman, Dr Peter Thomas and Ms Maureen Johnson. The school teaches a wide variety of subjects across the curriculum. In 2012 95.7% of students achieved A*-C grades at GCSE. Of those, 79% achieved 5 A*-C including English and Maths.
In November 2012, the school achieved an 'Outstanding' Ofsted rating in all four key areas of inspection. This placed it in the top three percent of secondary schools in the country and made it one of only seven 'Outstanding' secondary schools in the county.
School Information
There is a 'Student Voice' at Tanbridge which involves over 100 student representatives, who are involved in interviewing potential staff, leading on environmental and charitable issues and helping new pupils make the transition from primary to secondary school. The school was one of the first schools in West Sussex to achieve a Rights Respecting Schools Award.There areSMART boards in every classroom, nine dedicated IT suites with another five computer areas and iPads. Since 2008, the school has had a Virtual Learning Environment and Moodle. The school has its own Learning Resource Centre.
The annual school production is held every summer at The Capitol Theatre in Horsham; West Side Story Les Misérables, Evita, The Phantom of the Opera and Miss Saigon were all sell out shows.
Most recent sporting school honours included : Under 12 girls' football team were winners of North and Mid-Sussex 6-a-side competitions, the Year 9 boys' cricket team reached the County Finals, and one student in Year 11 is ranked number one in the country for the pole vault.
Further Education
Many of the students progress to colleges across the county, with the majority going to The College of Richard Collyer in Horsham although other colleges include Northbrook College in Worthing, Central Sussex College in Crawley, Brinsbury College in Pulborough and Chichester College.Houses
The school has three houses, which are all namesakes of famous English sportspeople. They are:- Redgrave, after Steve Redgrave
- Radcliffe, after Paula Radcliffe
- Wilkinson, after Jonny Wilkinson
School achievements
- Ofsted Outstanding
- Rights Respecting Schools Award
- Eco Schools Award
- Specialist Schools and Academies Trust
- Healthy Schools
- Specialist Science College
- Specialist Maths & Computing School
- Artsmark Silver
School Timeline
Date | Notes |
1627 | Original site built by Richard Nye |
1887 | The second site was built by Thomas Oliver. It was one of the first houses with electricity in Horsham and was an example of neo-Jacobean architecture. It is the building in Worthing Road and is still existent today. |
1920 | Thomas Oliver dies; the building was sold to the county council for £7000 |
1924 | The building becomes the Horsham High School for Girls |
1968 | The building was described as "a fine example of the revived Wealden tradition" |
1976 | The High School site is merged with the site at Manor House school and becomes Tanbridge House School, a mixed comprehensive. The former school buildings from the Manor House site were demolished and is now a supermarket. |
1988 | The school was due to be demolished but Audrey Robinson; a teacher at the school launched a successful campaign to save the building |
1993 | Foundation Stone for the new school laid by Sir Philip Ward. The new school had been planned by Chairman of Governors David Radbourne and Headmaster Neil Chapman. |
1994 | The current school site is built, adjacent to the A24 road. |
Notable alumni
- Devon Endersby, first-class cricketer
- Mark Hawkins - handball player, represented Great Britain
- Jamie Hewlett - artist/cartoonist and developer of the comic strip Tank Girl, and co-creator of the band Gorillaz
- Max Sanders - Brighton and Hove Alibion and England youth midfielder, currently on loan at AFC Wimbledon