The Dronfield Henry Fanshawe School

Infobox UK school
name = Dronfield Henry Fanshawe School


size = 100px
latitude = 53.30145
longitude = -1.46638
dms = dms
motto =
motto_pl =
established =
approx =
closed =
c_approx =
type =
religion =
president =
head_label = Headteacher
head = Miss Teresa Roche
r_head_label =
r_head =
chair_label =
chair =
founder =
founder_pl =
specialist = Technology College
specialist_pl =
street = Green Lane
city = Dronfield
county = Derbyshire
country = England
postcode = S18 2FZ
LEA = Derbyshire
ofsted = 112969
staff =
enrollment = 1809
gender = Coeducational
lower_age = 11
upper_age = 18
houses =
colours =
publication =
free_label_1 =
free_1 =
free_label_2 =
free_2 =
free_label_3 =
free_3 =
website = http://www.dronfield.derbyshire.sch.uk
website_name =

The Dronfield Henry Fanshawe School is a high achieving comprehensive secondary school in North East Derbyshire. The school has a rich historic past, dating back to the 1580s, when it was endowed by Henry Fanshawe, and started by his son, Thomas Fanshawe. The school is situated in the centre of the historic town of Dronfield, between Chesterfield and Sheffield. The current school site includes buildings dating back to the 1870s, as well as modern buildings, which have been constructed to cope with ever increasing numbers. Many sites still remain around the town, however have been closed at different periods in the schools past for various reasons. The current headmistress is Ms T. B. Roche, after succeeding Mr C. J. Burke in April 2006.

The school includes well over 100 teachers, as well as support staff, caretakers, cleaners, etc. The current school includes around 2000 pupils, taking from Dronfield, as well as Chesterfield and Sheffield South (Gleadless, Norton, Meadowhead).

The school has recently undergone major, single site development, involving the building of a new block. The majority of the site has also been recently refurbished, making it a large, modern school.

The School Site

The school is currently in single-site status, following construction work in mid-2003. Previously the school had been on 3 sites. Although, the school has had 5 different sites throughout its history.

Holmesfield Site

Very little is known about this school site. It is known it existed in the years before 1570, was run by Henry Fanshawe, and merely provided an education facility for students living in the small village, at that time, of Dronfield, hamlet (now village) of Holmesfield, and the area in the Peak District around Owler Bar. To this day, there are no buildings that are known to have once been the school, however it is likely that these were demolished, as small lane in Holmesfield is named 'Fanshawe Gate', and it is likely that down this lane was the school site. Following the wishes of Henry Fanshawe at his death, his son, Thomas, closed this site, in favour of a larger site, more closely located to the location of the pupils.

Red Brick House

This was the second site of the school, opening in around 1570, following a move from Holmesfield. The building, much like a large house, only included a few classrooms and offices. The bulding still remains today on Church Street, at the bottom of High Street, in Dronfield, with a large plaque above the door commemorating its past. The building was vacated sometimes around 1750, due to a move to even larger premesies in the town centre. Today it

Fanshawe

The Fanshawe site opened in ????, following the move from Red Brick House. This move was coordinated by Thomas Fanshawe, the son of the late Henry Fanshawe. the school was renamed 'Dronfield Grammar School'. It opened with a new building, housing around 6 classrooms, a Library, service amenities, catering facilities and offices. The building was further developed in ????, with the addition of around 5 new classrooms. This building still exists today, as 'A Block - Millican Building' "(see below)." 'Dronfield Grammar School' soon changed to 'Henry Fanshawe School' after is became comprehensive, and wishing to dedicate to its founder.

Gladys Buxton Site

Due to increasing number of students on the newly developed 'Coal Aston' area of Dronfield, a new school was built to house KS3 students from this area. Named 'The Gladys Buxton School', this was soon merged into 'Henry Fanshawe School', now being a two site school. In 1991, this site was closed due to falling numbers. Teachers and students were transferred to the Gosforth site.

Gosforth Site

With the new 'Dronfield Woodhouse' housing estate opening as the largest housing estate in Western-Europe, a new secondary school for KS3 was needed to educate the extra students. It was named 'Gosforth School'. This was merged into 'Henry Fanshawe School'. Shortly afterwards it was renamed 'The Dronfield School'. During the single site moved in 2003, the site was closed.

ingle Site Status

During the summer of 2003, the school moved onto a single site. This made it far easier for staff and students to get around. During the time, several modifications were made.

F Block - Goldberg BuildingThis new building was built, to house mathematics, art, drama, dance, music, P.E. (site 2), MFL and KS3 science. it also contained a large studio hall and offices, it was named after the Goldberg Gymnasium, the school's twin school based in Sindelfingen,Germany, every year there is a German Exchange.

Library ExtensionThe library was extended and refurbished. A new electronic library system was installed.

A Block Conversion'A' block was renovated to change the maths rooms that took up most of the block, into I.C.T. rooms and P.S.E. rooms.

Current Site

The school is currently on one site, following work conducted in the summer of 2003.

'A' Block

'A' block was the first building to be built for the school. it is neo-Elizabethan in most parts, featuring traditional architecture. A large bell-tower sits at the front of the school. A Victorian extension was conducted in ???? to add new classrooms.

The building currently houses ICT, PSHE and English (site 2). It also houses administration, server rooms, teaching offices, E-learning and year offices.

'B' Block

'B' block is the oldest building on the site, although until around 10 years after 'A' block opened, it was not part of the school. Previously it had been used as a headmasters house.

Today it houses 'Department of Student Support', as the building is also known as 'The Student Support Centre'. This building holds 'The Unit' and 'Isolation'. Behavioural and learning support are also based in this building. This is the smallest building on the school site.

'C' Block

'C' block was built in 1938 to house various facilities, such as the library and more classrooms. Today it house 'Department of Humanities', as well as 'Dronfield Henry Fanshawe Post-16'. It also features 'Cafe Mojo', a modern-style cafe for Post-16 use only.This building was previously linked via a covered walkway, to D-Block, however this was later removed.

The lower-ground floor houses 'Business Studies', 'Cafe Mojo', 'Post 16 Centre' and 'Sociology'. The ground floor houses 'Geography and offices. The first floor houses 'Vocational Studies', including 'Health and Social Care', 'ASDAN' and 'Leisure and Tourism', as well as an ICT room. The second floor, houses 'History', 'R.E. (site 1), 'Psychology' and another entrance to 'Sociology'.

'D' Block

'D' block was built in the late 1970s to house a dining hall, drama studio, 'Chemistry' and 'Biology'. However, nowadays it houses 'Chemistry, 'Biology' and the 'LRC' (the LRC (Learning Resources Centre) replaced the library in 2003). On the lower-ground floor is a newly refurbished ICT suite, as part of the LRC, the ground-level floor houses the 'LRC', the first housing a staff room and a 'Biology' classroom, while the second floor houses 'Biology' and a 'Preparation 'Prep' Room'.

'E' Block

'E' block was built in 1996, to replace the previous 'E' block which was destroyed by a fire the year before. The building is the largest building by far, running the length of half of the campus. The building houses the main visitor reception, English (Site 1), Science (Site 1(GCSE and A Level Chemistry and Physics only)), Technology and 3 dining facilities.

The building caters for years 7, 8, 9 and 10, with regard to their lunchtime arrangements. It houses 4 dining halls and kitchens, these being 'Henry's Diner', a large diner serving modern, cooked food , 'The Phoenix Diner @ The Phoenix Hall', serving a variety of different, hot and cold food, 'Henry's Bistro', serving traditional hot food and 'The Fanshawe Diner', a modern grab-and-go facility.

'F' Block

'F' block was built in 2004, to house the new years 7 and 8, in response to the closure of the Gosforth site. The building is the second largest, and most recent. The building houses Science (Site 2( KS3 Science)), MFL, Creative Arts, Music, Art, Drama, Maths and P.E. (Site 2). As well as this, there are a large number of offices for lead staff and pastoral care teams in the building. The building suffers heavily from overcrowding, as it is a main hub of the school, and therefore one-ways systems are in place to ease the heavy flow. The building is linked by a wide corridor, to 'G' block (The Sports Hall), as a means of making getting around school under cover, easier.

'G' Block' (Sports Hall)

'G' (Sports Hall) block was built in around 1990, to replace the previous Sports Hall, which burned down as a result of an electrical fault. The building houses a large sports hall, 2 changing rooms, offices, a multi-gym and a lesser hall (The Movement Hall), which has a sprung floor.

'H' Block' (The Terrpins)

'H' (The Terrapins) block is a series of modular buildings, moved over from the Gosforth site upon its closure. These classrooms house technology Textiles (Site 2), and R.E. (Site 2). They are intended as a range of overflow classrooms. They are well known for how cold they are particularly in winter, as there is main heating system

Subjects Available at DHFS

Department of Science
Science (KS3 only)
Biology (KS4, AS and A2 Level only)
Chemistry (KS4, AS and A2 Level only)
Physics (KS4, AS and A2 Level only)
Science in Society (AS Level only)

Department of Mathematics
Mathematics (KS3, KS4, AS and A2 Level)

Department of English
English (KS3 only)
English Language (KS4 and A Level only)
English Literature (KS4 and A Level only)

Department of Modern Foreign Languages (MFL)
French (KS3, KS4 and A Level only)
Spanish (KS3, KS4 and A Level only)
German (KS3, KS4 and A Level only
Latin (KS4 only "(Currently discontinued))"

Department of Humanities
Geography (KS3, KS4, AS and A2 Level)
History (KS3, KS4, AS and A2 Level)
Religious Education (R.E.) (KS3 and KS4 only)

Department of Vocational Education
Psychology (KS4 and AS and A2 Level only)
Sociology (AS and A2 Level only)
Business Studies (GCSE, AS and A2 Level only)
Health and Social Care (KS4 Double, AS and A2 only)
Leisure and Tourism (KS4 Double only, As and A2 only)
ASDAN (KS4 Double only)

Department of Creative Arts
Art (KS3, KS4 and A Level only)
Drama (KS4 and A Level only)
Creative Arts (KS3 only)
Photography (GCSE, AS and A2 Level only)
Physical Education (KS3, KS4 and A Level only)

DHFS Facilities

Learning Resources Centre'The LRC', or 'The Library' is the schools library service. It provides a wide range of non-fictional and fiction-books, brochures, computer and internet access, dictionary and encyclopaedia access. It also boasts a Connexions Derbyshire branch inside. The LRC is located on the lower floor of 'D Block'.

Until October 2007, the LRC only occupied the ground floor, only half of D block, as the other half were chemistry classrooms, down a short staircase. This was changed as part of the refurbishment plan, as chemistry moved out, to make way for a new ICT teaching and learning facility, as part of private study for the LRC. This facility now boasts 30 computers.

E-Learning CentreThe dreaded 'E-learning Centre' is based in A-Block and is used both at lunch for internet access and also is used where there isn't a regular teacher available in a lesson, the e-learning contains over 90 computers.

Further References

School Website [http://www.dronfield.derbyshire.sch.uk/index/indexl.htm] North East Derbyshire Council Website [http://www.ne-derbyshire.gov.uk/]