Nottingham High School


Nottingham High School is a private, coeducational day school in Nottingham, England, consisting of an infant and junior school, and senior school. It was founded in 1513 by Dame Agnes Mellers, as a free grammar school for boys, with a charter signed by Henry VIII. The school is a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference and has been coeducational since 2015.
There were 1186 students enrolled as at December 2025, of whom 262 were in the sixth form, studying for advanced certificate examinations. The school was inspected by the Independent Schools Inspectorate in 2019, where it achieved a rating of 'excellent' in all categories.

History

Foundation

In 1513, the "Free School" was founded by Dame Agnes Mellers, after the death of her husband Richard, partly in his memory, but also as atonement for wrongdoings against the people of Nottingham. To do so she enlisted help from Sir Thomas Lovell as governor of Nottingham Castle and Secretary to the Treasury. Through their combined efforts, Henry VIII sealed the school's foundation deed on the 22 November that year. It is unclear whether this was a new institution or an endowment of an existing school, of which records exist back to 1289. Almost 20,000 boys are estimated to have attended between 1513 and 2013.
In the foundation deed, Mellers provided for a commemoration service in St Mary's Church in the Lace Market "on the Feast of the Translation of St Richard of Chichester, namely 16 June" each year, although the service "is now held on the nearest Saturday to that date." With the exception of Nottingham Goose Fair, this is the most ancient ceremonial event still held in the city of Nottingham, and the oldest still largely in its original form, although there seems to be no record of it being held between the mid-16th century and its revival in 1923. The formal procession seeks to symbolise the ancient links the school has with the Crown, the city and the church. The foundation deed also provides for distributing certain monies to the lord mayor of Nottingham, vicar and others. and for the purchase of bread, cheese and ale for consumption by officials attending the service. Any balance remaining is required to be given to the poorest scholar, but now is given to a representative scholar of the school.

Coat of arms

The College of Arms granted the school a coat of arms in 1949, the full blazon being:
The motto, Lauda finem, is Latin for "praise the end".
The arms incorporate those of the founder: the arms of the Mellers family were three blackbirds – on a white field; Dame Agnes, being a woman, would have displayed them on a lozenge, not a shield. In 2007 the school unofficially introduced a new logo for more general use, a modified version of the shield that omits the lozenge and ermine field.

Remembrance Day service

An annual Remembrance Day service on 11 November is attended by the whole school with the headmaster, president of the Old Nottinghamians and the school captain placing wreaths at the war memorial. Scholars attend a morning special assembly usually in the Player Hall, at which a minute's silence is observed. Representatives of the school's Combined Cadet Force mark their respect with a parade around the main school building.

Premises

Location

Since 1868 the school has stood high on Waverley Mount to the north of the city centre, looking down towards its foundation site in St Mary's Church and later building in Stoney Street. The present site has undergone a long programme of building and development.
;Main building
An example of Gothic Revival architecture, the first school building on the present site, built between 1866 and 1867, was designed by Thomas Simpson. It consists of a tower and three wings: West Wing, Middle Corridor, and East Wing. West Wing houses classrooms for mathematics, English and geography. Housed in Middle Corridor are the learning support department, two ICT centres, two language laboratories, religious studies classrooms, two multi-purpose lecture theatres, the school library, and staff offices. East Wing contains the old gymnasium, the Player assembly hall and classrooms for modern languages, history, and classics. The school front and other features are Grade II listed.
;Tower
Overlooking the city centre is the school tower, now used as a staff office. A school standard and the Union Flag are raised on it on special occasions, such as Founder's Day and the King's Official Birthday, and when a member of the school community has died.
;Additions
To the west, the Founder Hall building was built in 1963 to mark the school's 450th anniversary. It includes the school's swimming pool and the Founder Hall itself, and acts as a performing venue to supplement the Player Hall. A drama studio was added in 2013 to mark the school's 500th anniversary.
The Simon Djanogly Science Building from 1984 is situated to the south west with 13 laboratories for all three sciences. A 25-yard CCF shooting range remains in the basement. The building was opened on 2 March 1984 by the Duke of Edinburgh.
In front of the science building is the music school, completed in 1997. This houses the Lady Carol Djanogly Recital Hall, the Jones Trust Music Room, a music technology studio, a resources centre, seven instrumental teaching rooms, and a larger brass teaching room, a percussion studio and a classroom for Infant and Junior School pupils.
In 1989 a sports hall was built on land to the north-east of the site formerly occupied by fives court and a shooting range. It contains an multi-purpose exercise hall and a fitness room for older pupils.
In the north-west corner is the Sir Harry Djanogly Art, Design and Technology Centre. The ground floor was built in the mid-1990s, and a first floor was added in the 2003/2004 academic year to accommodate modern facilities for the Art Department.
A new dining hall and sixth form centre were constructed in the West Quad in 2009.
;Lovell House Building
Waverley House School, to the west of the main site, was purchased in 2008. Its buildings were refurbished and renamed the Lovell House Infant School. In 2013, this single-sex establishment was combined with the Junior School to form Nottingham High Infant and Junior School.

Playing field

The school's games field is not on the main site but at Valley Road, approximately to the north. Historically farmland from as early as 1878, namely Harvey's Farm; then briefly Hucknall Road Farm in 1920, it was converted to use as a playing field around 1960. It features a number of rugby pitches and posts during winter, which are converted for athletics in the spring, with a running track and areas for shot put, javelin, discus, pole vault, hurdles and high jump. During the summer, the ground is used for cricket, with nets put up and squares re-established for the season. Tennis courts, netball courts, and an archery range are also located there. The pavilion has several changing rooms on the ground and first floors, and a refreshment area for staff and guests. Until 1897, boys played sports and had their PE lessons at the Forest Recreation Ground.

School organisation

The junior and senior schools both have four houses, each named after a person connected with the school. The house system plays an integral role in school life. House tutors provide pastoral care and support.

Junior school houses

The junior school's four houses are named after former pupils or staff who served with distinction in the First World War and were killed in action or died of their wounds. Ball's House recalls Albert Ball, a fighter pilot in the RFC and pupil at the school in 1907–1909, Hardy's House Theodore Hardy, an assistant master in 1891–1907 and a British Army chaplain in 1916–1918, Tonkin's House FC Tonkin, a former pupil who served in the King's Royal Rifle Corps, and Trease's House Reginald Trease, a pupil at the school in 1898–1905. The houses compete annually for a General Efficiency Cup donated in 1927 by William Crane.

Senior school houses

The four houses in the senior school are Mellers', named after the school's founder, Cooper's, named after Frederick Cooper, an artist who in 1872 donated almost of land to the school, Maples', named after Samuel Maples, a former pupil who bequeathed £3,000 to fund scholarships in 1892, and White's, after Sir Thomas White, who endowed a charity to provide interest-free loans to "young men of good name and thrift" in the Midlands, some money from which was lent to the school in slightly questionable circumstances in the mid-19th century).
;Wheeler Cup
Houses compete for the Wheeler Cup, which is awarded on the cumulative performance in competitions throughout the school year. These cover athletics, chess, hockey, cross country, rugby, bridge, shooting, swimming, cricket, general knowledge, verse recitation, singing, and individual music.

Curriculum

Nottingham High School offers a wide range of GCSE, Advanced Subsidiary-Level and General Certificate of Education Advanced-Level subjects. Many are also studied by younger pupils at the school in years seven and nine.
Sixth-form subjects include Ancient Greek, art, biology, chemistry, classical civilization, computer science, design and technology, drama, economics, English language, English literature, Extended Project Qualification, French, further mathematics, geography, government and politics, German, history, Latin, mathematics, music, music technology, physical education, physics, psychology, religious studies, statistics, and Spanish.
All sixth-form students were expected to undertake the EPQ from 2010, but for students entering sixth form from 2019 it is optional.

Uniform

In years 7 to 11, the uniform consists of a black blazer with a badge bearing the arms of Dame Agnes Mellers, black trousers or a black skirt, a white shirt, black leather shoes, a house tie, and black or white socks. It is also possible to wear a jumper under the blazer. This is black with the school crest on the right chest. For those who have represented the school in sport, it may be black and red and bear the school coat of arms.
In the sixth form, students wear a black, grey or navy blue suit with a shirt of any colour but black.
Ties are a feature of the school uniform and used to signify pupils' status within the school.
Special ties include:
  • Foundation – A black tie bearing a red squirrel holding a ducal coronet, presented on Founder's Day to pupils who have performed well in public examinations, and to teachers on completing ten years' service
  • Lovell Order – Black, bearing the arms of Sir Thomas Lovell, for those who have performed a special service, such as librarians, the choir, orchestra and band secretaries, society officials and the stage staff, and teachers completing twenty years' service
  • Sports Colours – White with narrow diagonal black and yellow stripes, for high sporting achievement, such as first-team level
  • Music Colours – Similar to sports colours, first awarded in 2007 to mark outstanding contributions to school music
  • Third XV – Black with orange stripes to members of the school rugby third XV
  • Prefects – no longer awarded
  • Officers – Black with red stripes, bordered by white bands with the school coat-of-arms at top, presented since 2005 to Officers of the School
  • Quincentenary – Black with diagonal stripes and school coat-of-arms, designed by Young Enterprise Team Sterling, sold to pupils and Old Nottinghamians to mark the 500th anniversary of the School