History
This senior school is the product of a merger in 1973 of two neighbouring schools, with their playing fields divided by a single white line: Worthing County Secondary School for Girls (Rodmell Road site) and Worthing Technical High School (Boulevard site). The County Secondary School for Girls moved to the new brick built Rodmell Road building in 1953 from the historic Sussex Road school with Miss Lilian Belchamber continuing her distinguished career as the head mistress until the creation of Durrington High School in 1973. The Technical High moved to the Boulevard location in 1955 from Union Place Worthing and renamed Worthing Technical High School. The school building has now been rebuilt and extended considerably with the Technical High building demolished some years ago and many sections of the Rodmell Road building still standing and extended. Durrington High School continues to have the seahorse as their school crest which was the emblem of the County Secondary school. The school uniform has been modified over the years and the successful re-introduction of compulsory school blazers in 2008.
Drama: Under the direction of Paul Brown, a former pupil, who was Head of Drama & Creative Arts, Durrington High School was represented in the West End with pupils performing in the production of "Fire Costs" at the Lyric Theatre, Shaftesbury Avenue in October 1993 - a performance that was produced by the Home Office. The production was originally presented at the Connaught Theatre, Worthing in the Autumn of 1991 and was the result of a competition run by West Sussex Fire Brigade in which local schoolchildren were encouraged to submit stories based on the subject of fire. The winning entries were turned into a play by Paul Brown; Boundstone's Head of Drama, Tom Brown; the Connaught Theatre's Manager Stephen Holroyd and Mel Denman from West Sussex Fire Brigade. Durrington High was renowned for the quality of its drama department's public theatre productions, particularly under the team of Paul Brown, Hilary Lane and former head of music Richard Colbourne. During the course of the 1994/5 re-build, two high-quality Shakespearian productions were presented at the Barn Theatre, Field Place - including an open air Summer production of "The Tempest" and the pre-Christmas production of "Macbeth". The newly opened school included a purpose built drama studio,amphitheatre and overhaul of the existing Rodmell Hall stage. The exterior of the new drama studio (reminiscent of a mini version of Chicester's Minerva Theatre) includes stone heads representing Shakespearean characters that were designed by pupils who appeared in many of the productions during the 1994/5 school year. The school won the local heats of Rock Challenge in 2008 and 2009. They came 3rd in the Southern Rock Challenge Finals 2008. In 2011, they also placed 8th in the U.K. Maths challenge test.
Read more about this topic: Durrington High School
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“It takes a great deal of history to produce a little literature.”
—Henry James (1843–1916)
“We know only a single science, the science of history. One can look at history from two sides and divide it into the history of nature and the history of men. However, the two sides are not to be divided off; as long as men exist the history of nature and the history of men are mutually conditioned.”
—Karl Marx (1818–1883)
“[Men say:] “Don’t you know that we are your natural protectors?” But what is a woman afraid of on a lonely road after dark? The bears and wolves are all gone; there is nothing to be afraid of now but our natural protectors.”
—Frances A. Griffin, U.S. suffragist. As quoted in History of Woman Suffrage, vol. 4, ch. 19, by Susan B. Anthony and Ida Husted Harper (1902)