WELCOME
to Derby High School

Pupils attain highly and make excellent progress across the school.
ISI INSPECTION, JANUARY 2023
If you would like to arrange a visit and enjoy a tour of our wonderful school please contact our Admissions Team.
Our School
Vision & Values
Derby High School prides itself on its friendliness, and visitors to the school invariably comment on the calm and happy atmosphere in the school and the excellent relationships between the children and the staff.
One of the great strengths of the school is its broad social and cultural intake.
The school has a Christian foundation in the Anglican tradition, but our school community includes those of all faiths and none and while our values maintain our Christian tradition, we seek to learn from and celebrate the diversity of cultures and beliefs within the school.
Derby High School is delighted to have been given the highest possible ‘Excellent’ rating following a full inspection from the Independent Schools Inspectorate in January 2023.

Derby High is a vibrant and successful school.
AMY CHAPMAN, HEAD
A Community
Connected
Facebook Posts
Year 3 have been studying the book ‘The boy who biked the world’ and were thrilled to receive a response to their questions from author and adventurer Alastair Humphreys. We were absolutely delighted that he took the time to post his responses on YouTube. Thank you Alastair Humphreys!
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Congratulations to River, Year 7 student, and BoyCanto for getting through to the live semi-finals after their performance in tonight’s BGT. Good luck River, everyone at Derby High School is cheering you on and looking forward to seeing you in the live shows!
#BriatinsGotTalent #BGT2023 #boychanto #boyscantoo @boycanto_official #DerbyHighSchool ... See MoreSee Less

Thank you so much 🙏🏼
Excellent
Congratulations to River, Year 7 student, and BoyCanto for getting through to the live semi-finals after their performance in tonight’s BGT. Good luck River, everyone at Derby High School is cheering you on and looking forward to seeing you in the live shows!
#BriatinsGotTalent #BGT2023 #boychanto #boyscantoo @boycanto_official #DerbyHighSchool ...
On Monday, Year 1 had a fantastic day visiting Tamworth Castle. The children were delighted to meet Lady Ferrers and helped her set the table for a banquet because her servants had strangely disappeared!
Lady Ferrers was most disturbed that her new servants were wearing shorts and showed them what children might have worn to a banquet. They then explored the castle grounds before enjoying lunch by the river.
In the afternoon the children became knights in training and listened with great interest about the armour which would have been worn, as well as the weapons which would have been used. The children all thoroughly enjoyed the day which brought their topic of Battles, Balls and Banquets to life.
#TamworthCastle #DerbyHighPrimary ...
Congratulations to all the students who entered our senior House Art competition. Mrs. Martin-Smith and our Art Prefects were extremely impressed with all the entries. The winning pieces this year are as follows:
People’s Choice Runner Up - Mr. Quichaud – St Andrew
People’s Choice Winner - Eleanor R (Year12) – St David
The Art & Design Prefect Choice: Runner Up - Indiana (Year8) – St Andrew
The Art & Design Prefects Choice: Winner - Mrs. Roe – St Patrick
The overall House Winner was St Patrick. Well done to everyone who submitted their art to the competition.
#DerbyHighSchool ...
Last night’s Upper Sixth Leavers’ Celebration Evening was a wonderful occasion. It was a real pleasure to be able to have students, parents and staff in school for this special event. Thank you to Mr Bournon and the band for the musical accompaniment, to all of the catering team, and all the staff behind the scenes planning to ensure the event was a great success.
This group of young people have shown great resilience, strength of character, care and kindness. We are hugely proud of all that they have achieved during their time at school. We wish them well in their forthcoming exams, they are very well prepared for the challenge.
For more photos from our Upper Sixth Leaver’s Celebration Evening, please visit our website gallery; https://derbyhigh.derby.sch.uk/gallery/u6-leavers-evening/
#DerbyHighSchool #derbyhighsixthform ...
Today our Year 11s celebrated as they now move onto their study leave ahead of taking their GCSE exams. With ice cream at break time, lots of shirt signing, and much laughter in the corridors, the year group had a memorable day. This afternoon, Miss Riley hosted presentations and an afternoon tea in the Devonshire, which included a fantastic performance from our GCSE music students. Thank you, Year 11, we wish you all the best for your GCSE exams and look forward to welcoming you back altogether, once more, to celebrate on GCSE results day.
#DerbyHighSchool ...
Our Senior School Experience Day is a fantastic opportunity for Year 5 pupils to experience our Senior School. It provides an exciting chance to meet new friends and try out new subjects.
Our Senior School Experience Day is open to all pupils from all schools currently in Year 5.
Spaces are limited so please reserve your place early to avoid disappointment. For more information and to book please contact our Registrar, Kristy Orpwood, via email admissions@derbyhigh.derby.sch.uk or telephone 01332 514267.
#DerbyHighSchool ...
Last night’s Senior Spring Recital was a wonderful combination of music from a selection of our ensembles, along with solo performances from the winners of the senior categories of our House Music competition. Thank you to all our performers, our peripatetic music teachers, Mrs. Storey and Mrs. Lesley for preparing our students and leading our ensembles. For many of our Year 13s it was their last performance at Derby High and it was fantastic to take this opportunity to recognise their significant contribution to Derby High Music.
For more photos from the evening, please visit our web site gallery; https://derbyhigh.derby.sch.uk/gallery/senior-spring-recital/
#DerbyHighSchool ...
Who will be watching BGT tonight? We’re very excited to announce that Year 7 student, River, will be performing on tonight’s show with BoyCanto. Good luck River, everyone at Derby High School is cheering you on!
#BriatinsGotTalent #BGT2023 #boychanto #boyscantoo @boycanto_official #DerbyHighSchool ...
What an adventure the Year 5 children have had over the last three days and two nights in the beautiful surroundings of the Peak District!
Year 5 set out on their adventure with a visit to Cromford Mills, where the children extended their classroom learning, finding out about Sir Richard Arkwright, who built the world’s first successful water-powered cotton spinning mill, a cornerstone of the Industrial Revolution.
After a lunch and a short walk through the picturesque village of Cromford, the group discovered their home for the rest of the week - the stunning Willersley Castle!
From rock climbing and zip-lining to rifle shooting and grass sledging, the children have seriously pushed their boundaries, with many facing extreme fears of heights, persevering and communicating brilliantly with each other and staff.
With inquisitive minds and sheer determination, memories have been made and life skills developed.
#DerbyHighPrimary #DerbyHighSchool ...
Today we shared a special Coronation lunch, across the whole school. With thanks to our catering team, we had Coronation Chicken and the official Coronation Quiche! Our Primary children came to school dressed in red, white and blue to celebrate the Coronation of Charles III and Camilla. They had many themed activities, and the afternoon has been filled with Coronation games. The children had lots of fun learning about the historical significance of this weekend.
We hope you enjoy the celebrations and long weekend.
#KingsCoronation #CoronationWeekend #DerbyHighSchool ...
This lunchtime we have been supporting #StopFoodWasteDay. With thanks to our catering team, we have been drawing attention to this global issue. We’ve had a delicious special menu and our students have completed a survey to give us insights and ideas on reducing food waste.
Stop Food Waste Day #DerbyHighSchool ...
Our DofE expedition season got off to a good start last weekend when 21 of our Year 11 students went out on their Silver Award practice. The three day, two night expedition took our students from Monyash to Winster via hills and valleys. Although the forecast had threatened rain, they largely stayed dry. Good humour and fine camp food buoyed the teams and they now look forward to their qualifying expedition in July.
Good luck to all our students departing today for their Gold Award practice expedition!
#DerbyHighSchool #DofESilver ...
Our Pre-School`s spring term topic, `Spring has Sprung` culminated in a butterfly release last week. The children were fascinated as they observed the caterpillars grow and change. Everyone was so excited to return to school after the Easter break to find four beautiful butterflies! These real-life opportunities create a sense of awe and wonder amongst the children and provide a wealth of cross curricular learning opportunities.
#DerbyHighPrimary #DerbyHighSchool ...
Yesterday some of our Senior school students created a short video assembly to help us understand more about the festival of Eid. We send our very best wishes to all those in our community who will be celebrating today and over the next few days.
#DerbyHighSchool #eid2023
image: Freepik.com ...
Our Sixth Form physicists and chemists had a packed few days in Geneva during the Easter holidays. They had a guided tour of the UN, spent the day at the Large Hadron Collider in CERN as well as visiting the lake, cathedral and Old Town in the city. They even managed to squeeze in some time for shopping and sampled some traditional Swiss Fondue.
#DerbyHighSchool #DerbyHighSixthForm ...
To celebrate Easter this year, we gathered for services in our Primary and Senior school on the final day of term. Our theme was ‘Hope’ and pupils across the whole school had decorated stones, showing what hope means to them personally. These are now displayed in our grounds – a beautiful reflection of what hope means to us as a school community. Happy Easter#easter2023🐰
#DerbyHighSchool #Easter2023 ...
Top of the Pops returned to the school calendar yesterday with a bang! Year 11 have traditionally rounded off the Spring Term with a music and dance extravaganza in aid of their chosen charities and yesterday our current cohort put on a fantastic lunchtime entertainment for the whole school. `Through the Decades’ took us on a journey from the 1980s to the present day, from `Footloose` to `Blinding Lights`, with some surprise appearances from the staff. Year 11 worked really hard as a team to put on a polished production, which raised nearly £800 for their two charities: Multiple Sclerosis Trust and Heart Link, a children`s charity in the East Midlands.
#DerbyHighSchool ...
This week our Year 3 went on their much-anticipated first residential trip. With thanks to our fantastic hosts at Standon Bowers, the children bought their classroom topic to life and had an inspiring time exploring the outdoors.
With a range of exciting activities, including fire lighting, den building, caving and spear throwing, it was wonderful to see the children using their Thinking for learning skills, collaborating, persisting and communicating effectively to have fun as a team.
Well done to all the children for exploring the activities and for being such a pleasure to take on this memorable school trip.
#DerbyHighPrimary ...
On Monday, 20th March and Tuesday, 21st March, over seventy students from across the senior school and sixth form joined forces as musicians, prop-makers, make-up artists, singers, actors, dancers, choreographers, backstage crew, light and sound technicians and director to put together two vibrant performances of `Annie`.
There was a palpable team spirit and it was a delight to see the students showcase their talents. Congratulations to everyone who took part in this incredible production.
To view the gallery of photos please visit our website.
https://derbyhigh.derby.sch.uk/gallery/annie-the-musical-senior-and-sixth-form-production/
#DerbyHighSchool ...
This half term we had a fantastic day of musical performances in the finals of our House Music competition. It was wonderful to get the whole Senior School together in the Senior Hall for this special Derby High tradition.
The competition saw finalists performing in categories that included intermediate and senior piano, strings, woodwind, brass, composition, drums, singing, duets and small ensembles.
The trophy for Intermediate Musician of the Year was presented to Ted (Year 8 ) and the trophy for Senior Musician of the Year was presented to Bethan (Year 13).
The winner of the House Choir was St Patrick with their rendition of Steal My Girl, by One Direction, and they also won House Music overall this year, having accumulated the most points throughout the whole competition. Congratulations St Patrick!
For more photographs from the day, please visit our website gallery; https://derbyhigh.derby.sch.uk/gallery/senior-house-music/
#derbyhighschool ...