We are aware that the full distribution of 13,000 leaflets to announce this consultation does not seem to have been delivered to date (7th September).The specific areas we have identified where the leaflet should have been delivered, but has not reached homes in that area are the AL4 8 and AL5 5 postcodes. We are currently working with our distributors to identify why this has occurred and to resolve the problem. The leaflet will be distributed shortly and accordingly, we have extended the period of the consultation and it will now close on October 25th.

As part of the pre-opening work to become a Free School, the Trust is completing an ‘appropriate’ (as set out in Section 10 of the Academies Act, 2010) formal consultation exercise to determine whether they should enter into a Funding Agreement with the Department for Education, pending approval of the Secretary of State.

The public consultation will be 6 weeks long starting from 4th September. There will be a series of questions to which we seek your response. During this consultation we will hold a public event on September 18th at Rothamsted from 4pm-8pm where you can meet members of the Trust as they share the vision, ethos and purpose for the Katherine Warington School. The questions will be available on line and in print from Sept 4th.

Bim Afolami, new MP for Hitchin and Harpenden, is delighted that Harpenden will soon have its first new secondary school for fifty years, and welcomes the appointment of its Founding Headteacher.

Bim said: “I completely support the opening of the Katherine Warington School in Harpenden as we clearly need it. I am particularly pleased that the new school is being sponsored by the other secondary schools in Harpenden as I believe that this will help ensure the success of the new school. I am delighted at the appointment of Tony Smith – currently Deputy Head at Roundwood Park – to be the Founding Headteacher, especially in light of his dedication to getting the school set up as its Project Manager. I look forward to meeting Tony in due course and to working with him over the coming years.”

The Katherine Warington School is set to take on year seven pupils from September 2018.

Harpenden Secondary Education Trust proudly announces the appointment of the founding Headteacher of the Katherine Warington School.  The successful applicant is Tony Smith, currently Deputy Head at Roundwood Park School in Harpenden. Tony was selected from a national field of applicants after a two day interview process. He takes up the position from January 2018.

Tony has taught at Roundwood Park for ten years as an economics specialist and been a member of the senior leadership team for the last eight years. Since 2015 part of his role has been project manager for the Katherine Warington School, liaising with the EFSA, HCC, Harpenden parents and latterly Kier Construction who have won the contract to plan and build the new secondary school.

Tony Smith said ‘I am delighted to be appointed as the founding Headteacher for the first new secondary school in Harpenden for over 50 years. It is such a unique opportunity to set up the Katherine Warington School and work collaboratively with parents, students and the other exceptional secondary schools to open a new school with educational excellence at its centre. My absolute priority is to deliver a curriculum that inspires and engages students, promotes critical thinking and prepares them to succeed in a changing world’.

Philip Waters, Chair of HSET said ‘The Trust is absolutely delighted with the appointment of Tony Smith as our founding Headteacher.  It is the key decision to ensure the success of the new school.  As our Project Manager he has put his heart and soul into ensuring that the needs of our community will be met by the new school.  He will carry this project role to our initial opening in September 2018 and as our founding Headteacher he will recruit, develop, lead and inspire the new staff team to deliver a high quality educational experience for all of the students of Katherine Warington School’.

Claire Robins, principal proposer of the new school and Head of Sir John Lawes School said ‘Tony impressed us all at interview with his exciting ideas for making Katherine Warington School a stimulating and innovative place of learning for the young people of Harpenden.  It is great to know this important project is in such good hands.’

Tony added ‘the name and logo begin to tell the story of the Katherine Warington School – she was a progressive, inspirational scientist who was not scared to be different, combining traditional approaches with innovation. The broad and balanced curriculum will be delivered in a trusted, nurturing environment where students will flourish and staff are highly effective’.

The Katherine Warington School will open with 180 new Year 7 students in September 2018 on a permanent site in Batford. When full the school will have 900 students plus a Sixth Form of 250. Planning will be applied for in September after several public consultation meetings are held in July. The Open Day for prospective parents for September 2018 is Saturday 14^th October 2017.

For further information please contact Head@KWSchool.co.uk Tel 01582 714033

HARPENDEN SECONDARY EDUCATION TRUST PROUDLY ANNOUNCES THE CHOSEN NAME OF THE NEW SECONDARY SCHOOL TO BE BUILT IN HARPENDEN.

Harpenden Secondary Education Trust proudly announces the chosen name of the new secondary school to be built in Harpenden. The school will be called the Katherine Warington School after the scientist who lived in Harpenden for 90 years and pioneered research into the beneficial impact of boron and boric acid on plant and bean fertility during her working life at Rothamsted Research.

The name was one of over 700 suggestions from pupils at primary schools in and around Harpenden. These were narrowed down to a list of ten. Further research and investigation led to a final shortlist of three names. The Katherine Warington School emerged as the favourite name at a meeting of the Harpenden Secondary School Trust.

The name was initially suggested by Elizabeth Gilardo, an 8 year old pupil from St Dominic Catholic Primary School. Elizabeth said:

“I wanted to suggest a name that had something to do with Harpenden and someone who had made an impact. I searched the internet and liked the name Katherine Warington. I felt it was different from lots of the other schools that are either named after men or trees. I also liked that she was a woman working in science all those years ago. _‘I was surprised that Katherine had not been fully recognised for her achievements so her name becoming the school name would help that.”

Philip Waters chair of the Harpenden Secondary School Trust said:

“We are delighted that the new school celebrates a female scientist who was both ground-breaking and steeped in Harpenden history. The Trust look forward to seeing her name above the door of the new secondary school. We wanted the name to reflect not only the town but also the high achievement which is a characteristic of all the secondary schools in Harpenden and is very much what the parents in our community want too. The use of her name sets an aspirational target of achievement for the school and its students.”

Through the course of this selection process, living relatives of Katherine Warington were contacted and asked for their permission to use her name in this manner. The living family were delighted at the prospect of their pioneering relative being remembered and honoured in such a way.  Andrew Warington Wickham, great nephew of Katherine said:

“The family all feel deeply honoured and proud that the school will be named after a female scientist.”

The Katherine Warington School intends to open to students in September 2018.

For further information about Katherine Warington please click here.