The Misbourne School in Buckinghamshire has been named the Friendliest School in Britain 2005 by Friends Reunited.
The website that reunites people with their old school friends has analysed the millions of emails sent between the ex-pupils of more than 22,000 secondary schools in Britain to find out who keeps in touch the most.
Its second annual School Friendship League Tables put Misbourne, the UK's first purpose-built secondary modern in rural England, in first place ahead of Treloar, a special school for disabled children in Alton, Hampshire, and the Barbara Speake stage school in East Acton, London, whose famous ex-pupils include Phil Collins and Naomi Campbell.
Friends Reunited has also revealed for the first time that women appear to make closer, more long-lasting school friends than men.
A new study of Friends Reunited users shows that more than twice as many women than men have a best friend they met at school and, tellingly, men are three times more likely than women to feel that school friends are best left in the past. It's also significant that more women than men feel that their schooldays are the best days of their lives - and thus are perhaps more concerned to hang on to those times though their school friends.
Dr Mark Vernon, a Friends Reunited consultant and author of the book The Philosophy of Friendship, who helped carry out the survey, said: "Perhaps women make more long-lasting school friends because they tend to be more open and empathetic, which the best school friendships require."
"Men, on the other hand, make better friends in the workplace where sociability and conviviality are more important.
"Some sociologists have argued that intimacy in the modern world has been transformed so that men are just as likely to be intimate with other men as women are with other women. But this research suggests that men still have some way to go!"
The survey also reveals that nearly one in 10 people met their partner at school and that 20% of people have later on become friends with someone who they disliked at school.
See below for more survey results
With more than 12 million registered users covering more than 22,000 schools, Friends Reunited can give a unique insight into the comparative 'friendliness' of the ex-pupils of every school in Britain. The league tables are formulated by analysing the total number of contact emails sent by the ex-pupils of each school as a proportion of those registered, giving a comparable 'friendliness' rating regardless of the size of school.
The Misbourne School at Great Missenden in Buckinghamshire, which reaches its 50th anniversary in December (being celebrated on January 21 next year), came out top of the 2005 tables.
Ross Cotter, Deputy Headteacher, said: "We know that the atmosphere of the school is remarked upon by our many visitors and it's great to think that our former students, staff and governors remember it with such warmth. You might put it down to a genuine desire to build strong relationships in the school, to a caring approach, to being focussed on everyone achieving their best. Most of all it is based on a positive approach to all we do - and we look forward to another fifty years of success."
Sheena Doona (39) from the Misbourne class of '85 said: "The school instilled in us as students that being happy was one of the most important things. They encouraged peer friendship and led by example by befriending us. This was a major factor in why we were and are still proud and fortunate to say we were students of The Misbourne. I am still close friends with five girls I went to school with."
In second place is Treloar College in Alton, Hampshire, which has been providing first class education, therapy, medical support and training in independence for young people with physical disabilities for the past 100 years.
Actress Julie Fernandez, who was in series two of The Office on television, is an ex pupil. She said: "With my broadcasting career taking me to the USA at the moment, Friends Reunited is the ideal way to keep in touch."
School Principal Dr Graham Jowett said: "The College has received a number of awards recently for quite official things like our Ofsted inspection or special projects, so it was particularly special to learn of something totally related to our students themselves.
"Commenting on the school's position in the table, he adds: "All our students are IT-literate and aware of the potential of the Internet by the time they leave us. We also put a lot of effort into making sure they enjoy being here so that they will look back on their time at college and the friendships they make with an enormous amount of pleasure. Although we are a very small specialised college, with only about 60 leavers each year, our students come from all over Britain which makes Friends Reunited the ideal way to make contact."
The Barbara Speake Stage School, in third place with the accolade of Friendliest School in London 2005, was founded more than 50 years ago in London's East Acton by Barbara Speake as a teenager just out of ballet school. She is still headmistress.
Barbara Speake said: "Consistency is key to a friendly school. I've been here since the beginning and I think former students like to see the same faces when they come back to visit. The students here are happy because they are doing something they love and making a success of it."
Famous alumni include the actor Jack Wilde, comedian Brian Conley, model Naomi Campbell, entertainer and presenter Keith Chegwin and, most famously, rock star Phil Collins.
Contemporary of Phil Collins, Peter Newton (55), began at the school in 1966. He said: "My classmates and I had failed to find a footing in the mainstream schools, so when Barbara opened her doors, and we walked in, we just knew we belonged there. It was and always has been a very close-knit and supportive place."
Asked for her memories, ex pupil Anne Marion, said: "Barbara Speake's amazing earrings, dangly is not the word! Helen tying my ringlets round the tree in the playground so I couldn't go to maths; Helen, Karen and I singing 'Three Degree' songs in the school playground so that everyone standing at the bus-stop by the fence knew how talented we were; babysitting for Phil Collins. Karen looked after the gorgeous little girl. I looked after the huge dog! Phil drove us both home and gave us much more than the going rate of £1 an hour; Miss Young, the maths teacher. Why did we care about maths? We were going to be film stars.... Miss Young cared and Helen and I took our maths O level at fourteen and she was so proud."
Nearly 6,000 members from aged 16 upwards had their say on the big questions about school in a survey carried out through the Friend Reunited site. The results send out an encouraging message to anyone who is at school at the moment.
Schoolwork often seems to be completely irrelevant to what's going on in the real world and a total waste of time. But a resounding 84% of ex-pupils said school is either important or very important in the way your life turns out.
And the good news is that those teachers who say you're going to end up on the scrapheap are more often wrong than right. Nearly one in three (29 per cent) said they'd turned out more successful than their teachers predicted and only seven per cent had done less well. For 56 per cent, success in life mirrored their performance at school.
Despite the emphasis on doing well at school, 60 per cent of the Friends Reunited users insisted that teaching should be foremost about inspiring pupils. The other 40 per cent thought that teaching facts and figures is more important.
But in the end the most important thing about school seems to be making friends. More than half (52 per cent) said making friends was the best thing about school, 28 per cent said 'what you learn' - and only 20 per cent said the best thing about school was 'leaving'.
The School Friendship League Tables have been formulated by analysing data from the Friends Reunited website to give each school a 'friendliness' rating. This is determined by the average number of emails sent by each ex-pupil to their classmates and the average number of pupils who send messages. Friends Reunited has looked only at the number of messages sent, not at the contents, which remain confidential. Only people who actively use the site to correspond with other members are taken into account. Visits by those who are 'just looking' to see who from their school is registered are not included.
School Friendship League Tables Top 20
For the full table please visit www.friendsreunited.co.uk or call the Press Office
Schools that appeared in last year's table have their previous position shown in brackets
| School | ||||
| Misbourne County Secondary, Great Missenden, Buckinghamshire | 1520 | 2.3 | 41.00% | 65.58% |
| Lord Mayor Treloar College, Alton, Hampshire | 539 | 3.2 | 36.40% | 58.18% |
| Barbara Speake Stage School (13), London | 525 | 3.6 | 34.10% | 54.55% |
| Shoreditch Secondary School (68), Hackney, London | 1502 | 2.5 | 26.80% | 48.30% |
| Risedale Community College (42), Catterick Garrison, North Yorkshire | 2566 | 2.3 | 28.40% | 45.52% |
| St George's Boarding School, Stowmarket, Suffolk | 505 | 2.5 | 32.50% | 45.47% |
| Barnsbury Secondary School for Girls (194), Islington, London | 1766 | 2.2 | 28.20% | 45.12% |
| Maltby Grammar School (14), Maltby, Yorkshire | 1112 | 2.6 | 28.10% | 45.04% |
| Mexborough Grammar School (39), Mexborough, SouthYorkshire | 1679 | 2.2 | 27.80% | 44.41% |
| Chelmsford Technical High, Chelmsford, Essex | 1100 | 3 | 27.10% | 43.35% |
| Greenway Secondary Modern, Uxbridge, Middlesex | 2324 | 2.1 | 26.80% | 42.89% |
| Robert Richardson Grammar School, Sunderland | 557 | 3.2 | 26.80% | 42.80% |
| Sturry Sec Mod/Frank Montgomery, Canterbury, Kent | 1112 | 4.9 | 23.70% | 42.73% |
| Aylestone School, Kensal Rise, London | 1579 | 2.1 | 26.40% | 42.25% |
| St Denis, Edinburgh, Scotland | 537 | 5 | 26.30% | 42.01% |
| Italia Conti Acad of Theatre Arts, London | 1002 | 2.1 | 29.80% | 41.78% |
| Charlton Park Convent, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire | 1066 | 2.7 | 26.10% | 41.73% |
| Preston Manor County Grammar, Harrow, Middlesex | 918 | 2.8 | 29.70% | 41.63% |
| High Storrs Grammar School, Ecclesall, Sheffield | 1636 | 2.5 | 23.10% | 41.59% |
| Vauxhall Manor Comprehensive School, London | 1612 | 2 | 26.00% | 41.59% |
4th place Shoreditch Secondary School (now part of Hackney Community College), Hackney, London
Principal Chrissie Farley said: "Coming 4th in the league table means a great deal to us, as we pride ourselves on providing a diverse culture, where all students fit in from day one. These results show that we're really succeeding at this - which is fantastic."
5th place Risedale Community College, Catterick Garrison, North Yorkshire
Headteacher, Mr Tadeusz Zaranko, said: "We're a unique school as we're based on a Garrison so have a high turnover of students as most parents are in the Forces. Appearing so high in the table is a real testament to the college that such strong friendships are formed in such a short space of time."
6th place St George's Boarding School (Finborough School), Stowmarket, Suffolk
Principal, Mr John Sinclair, said: "The success comes from always having a strong boarding element in the school. This extended family life continues into post school relationships. There has always been and still is a closeness which comes from being a small school which develops into lasting friendships between day and boarding pupils."
7th place Barnsbury Secondary School for Girls (194) (Elizabeth Garrett Anderson School), Risinghill Street, Islington, London
Headteacher, Ms Jo Dibb said: "One of the things that characterises the school is the friendly, harmonious relationship between staff and pupils and between the pupils themselves and this is something pupils carry on into life after school."
8th place school Maltby Grammar School (Maltby Comprehensive) (14), Braithwell Road, Maltby, Yorks
Assistant head, Mr Pete Hodgson, said: ""Maltby was a traditional mining community which has retained many of the qualities associated with this such as friendliness, caring, supporting and a sense of belonging. Pupils have kept these qualities with them when they've moved on and I think this goes some way to explaining Maltby's position in the table."
9th Mexborough Grammar School (Mexborough School), Mexborough, South Yorkshire
Headteacher, Dr Janet Campbell, said: "It reflects the commitment and loyalty that students and the wider community have towards the school. We have excellent relations between staff and pupils and a friendly, enjoyable atmosphere."
10th place Chelmsford Technical High School, Chelmsford Essex
Acting headteacher, Mrs Glynis Howland, said: ""We are a small, friendly girls' school of only 860 pupils so there is a real opportunity to make lasting friendships. The majority of our students stay on to the sixth form and consequently spend 7 of the most formative years of their lives together, having a thoroughly great and enjoyable time."
Friends Reunited was launched in July 2000 as a back bedroom hobby. A combination of word of mouth and immense media attention has propelled the site to phenomenon status, expanding beyond the school friends proposition to include workplaces, teams/clubs and streets. Friends Reunited has touched many thousands of lives, reuniting friends and family around the globe.
12 million people registered (about half of all UK households with internet access)
5,000 new members registered on average per day (more than enough to fill the Royal Albert Hall every day)
4,500 years have been spent looking at the site by the UK public (if you started reading when the Pyramids were built, you'd just be finishing now)
6.5 billion pages of the website have been looked at in total (that's the same as reading 4.2 million copies of the Lord of the Rings Trilogy)