QUEEN ELIZABETH HIGH SCHOOL, HEXHAM
SCHOOL DETAILS
Thank you for downloading the details for this post. Please take time to read the
information provided and also to look at our website. QEHS is going through a period of
change and we want to recruit the best teachers to help us to achieve our vision of being the
best school in the region.
Academic Performance (Key Stage 2 – 4)
Our ambition is to become the best performing school in the north-east and our exam results last
year continue the 3 year upward trend towards our objective.
Our GCSE results were our best ever with over 74% of students achieving 5 A*-C grades
including English and maths. Our results have improved since 2009 when 67% of our students
achieved this measure, and are now the best in Northumberland. Our GCSE performance in
English (81% A*-C) and Maths (82%) were also the best in the county.
Academic Performance (A Level)
Our 3 year improvement was evident in our A Level results too. The two key measures of
success published by the government both improved again last year. Our average A Level
points score per student of 843 is equivalent to more than 3 A grades at A Level, and our
average points score per entry was 220 (up from 198 in 2009). 56% of students achieved A*- B
grades, many of which came in the most academically demanding of subjects and over 180
students successfully achieved university places, including at Oxford and Cambridge.
Reasons for our success
Our recent success is no accident. Despite our “Outstanding” Ofsted grade in 2007 we restructured our leadership team and introduced a number of significant changes which we believe
have contributed to the improvements outlined above. We received an Ofsted visit again in April
and, under the new, much more challenging framework, were graded “Good” with inspectors
recognising the improvements since the last inspection.
1) Curriculum
We have improved our curriculum dramatically over the last few years and now offer a greater
choice of subjects than most schools. At Key Stage 4 we offer 27 GCSE and vocational courses
including in five separate languages, 4 separate science pathways, and vocational courses in
catering, horticulture, and the performing arts. Our Year 9 courses prepare students for their
GCSE studies and our advice and guidance programme ensures that the courses chosen by
students best suit their needs and abilities.
At A Level we offer the choice of 32 A Level courses and a further 8 vocational courses. The size
of our sixth form and the subject expertise of our teachers allow us to run courses that many
schools can’t (for example A Levels in 5 languages including Latin, Psychology, 3 separate art
courses, 2 English courses, 2 history courses and 4 science A Levels). Our outstanding
performance in maths attracts over 80 students each year to study AS Level maths and a further
N:\Vacancies\School Details – updated June 2012
15 to study further maths. Our newly extended and very popular sports science course produces
students who go on to study sports science degrees at top universities.
More details on the curriculum can be found on our website (www.qehs.net/curriculum) which
also includes a half-termly breakdown of the course content, coursework deadlines and reading
list for each course. This new addition to the website, requested by parents, provides an
invaluable reference tool on all of our courses from year 9 to year 13.
2) Facilities
Despite the shortage of money in current education budgets, we work hard to make the best use
of our facilities. Our 19th century Hydro building is the perfect place to house our fantastic art
department, and fairly recent additions to our building stock have included a theatre to house our
drama and dance provision, a new engineering and technology block, a refurbished training
restaurant and conference centre, and a state of the art recording studio in our music
department. Our geographical position and strong external partnerships provide our students
with access to many other local facilities – many of our PE courses make use of the facilities at
Wentworth Leisure Centre and our media students now have access to a new television studio
and media facility built nearby. Our Walled Garden provides a unique external place for our
students to use and the perfect place to run our horticulture course.
3) Extra-curricular opportunities
QEHS prides itself on academic excellence but we also realise that extra-curricular activities are
an essential part of school life and help to ensure that students are happy as well as successful.
Our renowned commitment to the performing arts can be seen through our weekly youth theatre
and fantastic productions such as “We Will Rock You” and “Into the Woods”. Our musicians put
on concerts in autumn and spring and we have numerous choirs and bands performing around
the local area. Our dance company, Youth Dance Tynedale, gives young dancers the
opportunity to perform in school and throughout the region.
The opportunities for our students to take part in sport are considerable and our students
compete at a very high level whether individually or in teams. Last year our Y9 football team
were league champions and reached two cup finals; our girls’ rowing crew represented England
at a home international competition; we are the current individual and team county champions in
golf and under 15 boys’ district volleyball champions; we are the junior and intermediate boys
area athletics champions and had several winners at the Northumberland Athletics
championships.
One of our great strengths as a school is our links with the local, national and international
communities, whether this be through sport and the arts or through our charity work, human
rights group, Fair Trade group, hospital concerts or foreign visits. This year our students
participated in three foreign exchange visits linked to schools in Spain, Germany and France.
We also ran an art trip to Paris, skiing trips for Year 9 and the sixth form, a science visit to the
Hadron Collider in the Cern laboratory, and an expedition to Morocco.
4) Expectations
We have very high expectations of ourselves and our students. Our students are well
behaved and a credit to themselves and the school. Our staff are very well qualified and all
students are taught by teachers with the necessary expertise to teach their subject to the
highest level.
This subject expertise, rigorous monitoring procedures, high quality
intervention and support, and staff development have ensured that almost all lessons
observed by staff last year were graded good or outstanding.
We hope that after reading about us, you would like to join us. We are not complacent and
still have much to do. We need enthusiastic and creative teachers with the ability to inspire
and motivate young people. We are looking for teachers who want to learn and develop in a
supportive environment, and to go the extra mile in teaching and supporting our students.
N:\Vacancies\School Details – updated June 2012