Bethany School (Goudhurst, Kent)

Infobox Secondary school
name = Bethany School

motto =
established = 1866
type = Independent
affiliations = Church of England
headmaster = Nicholas D B Dorey, M.A. (Cantab)
founder = Reverend Joseph James Kendon
chaplain = Rev. Simon Battersby
chairman =
enrolment = 415
grades = Year 7 (Secondary) - Sixth Form
colours = Blue and yellow
campus = Rural
city = Goudhurst, Cranbrook
state = Kent,
country = England
website = [http://www.bethanyschool.org.uk/ www.bethanyschool.org.uk]

Bethany School is an independent boarding and day school in Goudhurst, Kent in the United Kingdom. Since its foundation in 1866, the school still puts great emphasis on its Anglican character and education for those with learning difficulties. Being in the Kentish countryside, the circumambient area is largely orchards.

The school consists of six houses: Kendon, Pengelly, Todmans and The Mount for the boys, Old Poplars for the girls and The Orchard for the Sixth Form.

The current headmaster, Nicholas D B Dorey, joined the school in 1997 and has been keen to establish a 50:50 ratio of boys to girls, in a previously boys-only school. The school has been conducting a programme of rapid development with many new buildings, including the attempted Fact|date=January 2007 construction of a new boarding house for girls and an unsuccessful merger with Bedgebury School.

History

Bethany was founded in 1866 by the Reverend Joseph James Kendon as a Christian community for pupils to attain maximum potential by being treated as individuals.

In 1959 the school became a Charitable Trust.

The late 1970s saw the construction of Pengelly, a boarding house.

In 1985 the squash courts were officially declared open.

After over 120 years of being an all boys school, Bethany School started admitting the first girls in the 1990s.

Admissions

The Bethany School entrance exam is used for determining admissions for prospective pupils aged 11-13. For entry by prospective pupils further up the school, especially in the Sixth Form the school may conduct interviews, examine reports or require references.

Entrance exams can be arranged specially, however normal scheduled exams are in November and March. As the school admits a large proportion of overseas students, admission can be arranged to take place at the pupils current school.

Scholarships

If the results of an entrance exam are deemed exceptionally good, the school may in certain cases grant a scholarship worth up to 40%. Scholarships are available not only for academic ability, but also music, drama, art, design & technology and also sport. There are other specific scholarships available for pupils entering the Sixth Form.

Fees

As of September 2006 the termly fee is £4154 (or for Boarders £6462). The fee with part-time Dyslexia support is £4372 (Boarders £6679) and the fee with full-time Dyslexia support is £4593 (Boarders £6900).Many pupils from overseas require English language learning support and the termly fee with English as an Additional Language Support is £4593 (Boarders £6900) and the fee for the Sixth Form is £4372 (Boarders £6679). These fees are inclusive of textbooks, compulsory stationary, basic laundry, school magazines, house funds and Friends of Bethany subscriptions.

A £100 registration fee at the time of application and a deposit of £500 (or £1000 for boarders) is required, the deposit being set off against the pupil's final year expenses.

Pupils wishing to have music lessons can pay £175 to the relevant instructor in advance.

Sports & other extracurricular activities

Bethany has a wide variety of sport. Rugby, football and cricket are among the most popular sports that the school offers. There are often matches between other schools, usually from the county of Kent.

Badminton and squash are played throughout the year, often by pupils not wishing or able to participate in the main team sports of the season. Such people usually choose the group called 'general activity'. Basketball is played occasionally, but this limited due to the use of the area being predominantly used by badminton.

There are a wide variety of clubs available to pupils. These range from Art & Crafts, to range shooting, archery, table tennis and many more.

The Duke of Edinburgh's Award scheme is participated in by many students usually from year 9 upwards. This is a three stage award, from Bronze, Silver to Gold. The Gold Award if achieved is presented by the Duke of Edinburgh. The majority of pupils fail to attain the Gold Award, usually dropping out before achieving Bronze usually due not having signed off enough skills activities.

Business Studies pupils have the option in the Sixth Form of participating in Young Enterprise, a charity scheme where pupils form a business and attempt to generate profits for shareholders.

Recent development

From 1999 to 2005, Bethany School saw a major development of much needed new buildings.

The first in the series of buildings constructed under the recent development plan was the 6th form house, The Orchard. This was completed in 1999 and was able to provide a separate living area for Upper Sixth pupils who in previous years would have had to remain in houses Kendon and Pengelly. The development costs were a reported £1 million. [cite web |url=http://www.bethanyschool.org.uk/development/index.htm |title=Bethany Community |accessdate=2007-01-27]

The very outdated and disrepairable changing rooms were replaced in 2001 with a far more modern and sizable sports complex in a more well placed location amongst the other sports facilities. This not only provided changing rooms but also a new 'weights room' and also a rock climbing wall.

A new library was completed in 2002 (replacing the old changing rooms), and the previous unsuitably small library was converted into a drama studio. The library has been very well received, especially by the Lower 6th who have a much more modern and resourceful library for private study.

A building to house Business Studies and Geography was completed in 2003. This was required as more subjects were sharing classrooms, creating time-slot conflicts and a less appropriate working environment. In September 2005 the completely reconstructed and redesigned dining hall complex was completed, being the most recent addition to the schools development plan. This provides for a modern approach to catering repasts for the increasing number of students, and more formal occasions such as Old Bethanian society reunions.

Towards the end of the 2006/07 school year, the science blocks burnt down. New scince blocks are currently being built (as of 17/09/08) and are due for completion in late October 2008.

Community

Bethany has historically, and continues to put a strong emphasis on community [cite web |url=http://www.bethanyschool.org.uk/community/index.htm |title=Bethany Community |accessdate=2007-01-27] ; extracurricular activities are wide and numerous, however, contrary to the current prevailing thesis of increasing physical activity, Bethany has dramatically cut the amount of sport that pupils take part in. Saturday School has been abandoned in favour of a five day week. The Sports Department has been criticised by the Independent Schools Inspectorate because "A2-level results have been slightly below the national average and the school’s average" and also because "the acoustics in the sports hall are far too resonant". [cite web |url=http://www.isinspect.org.uk/reports/2003/0111_03.htm |title= Independent Schools Inspectorate |accessdate = 2007-01-26 |format= |work=] The Head of Games as of 2007 is Philip G Marriott, CertED (PE).

It is compulsory for all students (but not staff) to attend religious worship. [cite web |url=http://www.schoolsguidebook.co.uk/schools/Bethany_School.html |title= Guide to Bethany School |accessdate = 2007-01-26 |format= |work=]

The school was respectably rated 52nd in Kent for GCSEs and 48th for A-Level results in the 2006 [http://www.dfes.gov.uk/performancetables/ League Tables] . The headmaster, Nick Dorey, who does not endorse League Tables, commented on the results by saying "I only ever look at the league tables very briefly, because I know what our students have achieved and therefore it doesn't tell me anything I don't already know." [cite web |url=http://www.thisiskent.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=142736&command=displayContent&sourceNode=142736&contentPK=16433378 |title=Head Critical of Ratings |accessdate=2007-01-26]

Boarding Houses

Todmans

This is for the most junior pupils - boys from years 7 and 8. It forms part of the school's chapel building.

The Mount

The mount is for boys from year 8 - a handful of which stay on until the Lower Sixth. The mount previously consisted of two buildings when Paul Holmes was house master. This changed when he was replaced by Anthony Khan who took over an entire building for his family. The remaining Mount building is a recent brick building.

Old Poplars

Currently Old Poplars is the only house that is exclusively for girls on the campus. Ranging from year 7 to the Lower Sixth.

Pengelly

Constructed in 1979Fact|date=January 2007 and named after the incumbent headmaster at the time, Pengelly is a newly refurbished building, housing boys from year 9 to the Lower Sixth.

Kendon

Kendon named after the founder of Bethany makes up a large proportion of the original building. It was originally known as the Old School.

The Orchard

This is the newest boarding house, originally intended for Upper Sixth pupils only it has been forced by space requirement to accept Lower Sixth pupils. It is widely viewed as the best house due to a wide range of facilities and generous proportions. Facilities include en suite rooms, a kitchen, snooker table room, sitting room and lounge. There is also a bar which opens in the evening on weekends and occasionally other days (usually if the following day is a holiday). The supply is limited, and pupils are not allowed to store drinks they purchase.

Staff

Bethany School continue to provide quality housing for the many of the more prominent staff. This has added to the sense of community that the school strive for. Some of the more prominent staff as off January 2007 include:

*Nick D B Dorey, Headmaster
*Timothy Hart Dyke, Head of English Department
*Michael W Hollman, Head of Maths Department
*Philip G Marriott, Head of Games Department

Technology

Bethany School was one of the first schools in Kent, if not England to begin requiring most pupils to purchase laptops for use in classrooms. In September 1999, Year 9 was the first year to adopt this principle and since then the whole school is now very focused on providing learning materials for laptops, and creating lesson plans with the use of laptops. Most of the classrooms have since 1999 been fitted with projection systems for computers, and are also capable of displaying video content. In this regard Bethany School is regarded as being at the forefront of technology for schools.

In 2001 the school obtained wireless Internet technology, revolutionary at the time. Although initially fairly localised to the main complex, this has since been extended to reach as far as Old Poplars and the Music School. This saw a great decline in IT room use as pupils were now able to access a world of information through the Internet from their own laptop computer.

Old Bethanians' Society

The Old Bethanians' Society was founded in 1887 for the former pupils of the school, many of whom reside in countries all over the world. [cite web |url=http://www.oldbethanians.co.uk/ |title=Old Bethanians' |Society accessdate=2007-01-31] Information on the current events of the school and former pupils are regularly updated on the website. They also contribute greatly to the annual Old Bethanians' magazine.Being a member of the society gives former pupils the opportunity to attend reunions at the school and contribute to the published material on the website.

Notable Alumni

* Ben Thompson

References

External links

* [http://www.bethanyschool.org.uk/ Bethany official site]
* [http://www.isinspect.org.uk/reports/2003/0111_03.htm Independent Schools Inspectorate]
* [http://www.isc.co.uk/index.php/40/0111 Independent Schools Council - Schools Information]
* [http://www.schoolsguidebook.co.uk/schools/Bethany_School.html Guide to Bethany School]
* [http://www.oldbethanians.co.uk/ Old Bethanians' Society]