formed by the merging of the boys' grammar school with the girls' high school at the other end of Buckingham Road. The Newbury girls grammar school had opened in 1904 in the technical institute in Northbrook Street. Miss Esther Jane Luker was the first headmistress and seems to have had an enthusiasm and charisma to match that of Sharwood-Smith. Both led their schools through the first world war. In 1910 the girls' school moved to purpose-built premises in Andover Road with 250 pupils. The school groups, equivalent to the houses at the boys' grammar school, were Jade, Flame, Blue and Gold. In 1933 Miss Luker retired. After the second world war Miss Ireland became headmistress in 1945. She retired in 1968 and was replaced by Miss Gray who carried on till the merger with the boys' grammar school in 1975 when, as noted above, Basil Cooper became headmaster of the combined comprehensive school. The comprehensive school formed in 1975 took over the name of St Bartholomew's School together with its motto. Initially the school used the previous buildings with the boys' grammar school buildings given the name of Wormestall while the girls' high school buildings took on the name of Luker. The boys' house names were kept but each was merged with one of the girls' colour groups. In 1985 Basil Cooper retired and was replaced by Robert Mermagen. In 1994 he, too, retired and was replaced by Stuart Robinson. In 2009 he was replaced by Mrs Christina Haddrell but stayed on to cover the transfer to new school buildings in 2010. These were built between the sites of the two previous schools on Buckingham Road, but nearer the old girls' High School on the south-west side of Fifth Road. Both of the previous school buildings were converted into private flats. In 2011 the school gained academy status. In 2014 Mrs Haddrell retired and was replaced as Headmistress by Ms Julia Mortimore. In 2022 Ms Mortimore retired and was replaced as Headteacher by Dr David Fitter. St. Bartholomew's is one of only a few state schools to participate in the Combined Cadet Force (a programme sponsored by the Ministry of Defence), with around 200 cadets between the ages of 14 and 18. Ofsted inspections The school was last inspected by Ofsted in October 2021 and was rated 'outstanding'. The school notably achieved 'outstanding' in all categories of inspection. The previous