Tapton School
| Tapton School | |
|---|---|
| File:Tapton logo.gif | |
| Location | |
 | |
| Information | |
| Type | State, Secondary School |
| Motto | Valuing everyone, Caring for each other, Achieving excellence |
| Established | 1960 |
| Head Teacher | Mr. David Bowes |
| Number of students | 1566 |
| Color(s) | Black or Navy sweatshirt with School Logo, Black trousers, Black shoes or trainers and White, black or burgundy polo shirt |
| Website | [1] |
Tapton School is a secondary school located in Crosspool, Sheffield in the UK. It is a state school, sited next to another secondary King Edward VII School, and near to Lydgate Junior School, Lydgate Infant School and Notre Dame High School. Tapton School has over 1570 pupils, aged between 11 and 18 years old. Tapton officially opened in 1960, however in 2000, the school was rebuilt under the Private Finance Initiative [2]. Students and faculties officially moved to the new building in September 2001.
Success
Tapton is consistently one of the three most successful schools in Sheffield, academically. Results at A level and GCSE are consistently above the National average. The Times' best schools list 2007 puts the school around 200th in the country, second in Sheffield, though results at GCSE and A level in 2007 would put Tapton first. In recent years, various pupils have also excelled in sports with badminton teams and the 6th form basketball team winning national competitions and one pupil running in the Commonwealth games.
The school obtained "Specialist Science College" status in the 2003/4 academic year. Teams of pupils have won or placed highly in several national science quizzes.
The school was inspected by OFSTED on 29/1/07 and rated as "outstanding". [3]
Reconstruction
The original 1950s school was knocked down and replaced by new premises under the private Finance Initiative in 2001 and is rented from its landlords, Interserve PLC. The new buildings include 13 science laboratories, a technology block with 10 classrooms, a music block with dedicated practice rooms, a dividable drama studio and a gym and sports hall.
Outside, there is also a fully-floodlit astroturf, used extensively by local organisations and other schools for a range of sports.
Notable alumni
Tapton's alumni include the athletes Seb Coe and Becky Lyne; the novelist and critic Philip Hensher; 3 of the founder members of Def Leppard; and Richard McCourt, better known as Dick from Dick and Dom.
Some members of the Sheffield band, "Little Glitches", attended Tapton School, while there they were in the band "The Teastains". [citation needed]