Christ's College, Guildford

Christ's College, Guildford
Address
Larch Avenue Guildford , Surrey , GU1 1JY England
Coordinates	51.25559°N 0.58106°W / 51.25559; -0.58106
Information
Type	Academy
Religious affiliation(s)	Church of England
Established	2003
Local authority	Surrey County Council
Department for Education URN	142490 Tables
Ofsted	Reports
Chair	Stuart Zissman
Head teacher	Sarah Hatch
Staff	107
Gender	Mixed
Age	11 to 16
Enrolment	PAN 780
Houses	Austin, Redgrave, Turner, Sibley
Colour(s)	Red, blue, yellow, white
Website	www.christscollege.surrey.sch.uk

Christ's College is a Church of England secondary school that serves a large urban and rual community in the Bellfields neighbourhood of Guildford, Surrey, England.

The school was previously called Larch Avenue School, later being renamed Bishop Reindorp School, and took its current name in 2003. Previously a voluntary aided school administered by Surrey County Council, in December 2015 Christ's College converted to academy status and joined the Good Shepherd Trust which is a family of 16 church and community schools with in the Diocese of Guildford. The College continues to coordinate with Surrey County Council for admissions.

The main intake of students is from the area surrounding the school, but the school attracts students from as far as Woking and Ash.

New building

In January 2007 during the fieldwork ahead of the development of the new school buildings, an archaeological evaluation by the Surrey County Archaeological Unit took place. Bronze Age fllintwork and Roman pottery were found during the excavations. The archaeological discoveries made at Christ's College, are of great significance for both the local area and wider region. The information recovered will most certainly enhance knowledge of regional settlement patterns in the Roman and Bronze Age periods.

In 2008, the College moved into the new, purpose built building which was designed by DSDHA with an exceptionally high standard of teaching spaces and facilities. The new building cost in the region of £20 million and was short-listed for the RIBA Stirling Prize in early 2010 being described as allowing the school to be a 'small city' with the main atrium being the 'town square'.

On 23 June 2009 The college was formally opened by HRH The Duke of Edinburgh and to commemorate his visit, the Theatre within Christ's College was officially named “The Duke of Edinburgh Theatre”.

Ofsted

The college received a report from Ofsted in 2008 with the School having a 17% improvement in the maths department. January 2009 saw the opening of a new campus for Christ's College which would also be home to a ski centre.

In 2013 the college was inspected by Ofsted again and was graded as 'Good', the number of pupils being 649 with 37 in the sixth form. This grading was an improvement on the college's previous one of 'satisfactory' with the Inspectors being impressed with the pupils progress from Year 7 and the ethos of the college which 'promotes learning'. The exam results from the summer exams gave an average value added score for pupils which was one of the best in the county.

In the 2019 report the college was graded as 'requires improvement' by Ofsted on the grounds that pupils' outcomes had declined since 2013 and the 'progress of disadvantaged pupils and middle-ability pupils [was] well below average across a broad range of subjects.' In addition, the inspection found that though improving, pupils' attendance is well below average and students' behaviour disrupted lessons; staff did not apply the new expectations for behaviour consistently and did not feel supported when changes were made to school procedures and practices. The report also states that the 'quality of teaching is too variable across the school' and that 'teaching does not suitably challenge pupils from their different starting points.'

Since 2018 the school has consistently been ranked in the top ten worst performing secondary schools in Surrey, according to the Real Schools Guide; in 2020 the school was ranked 9th worst out of 54 Surrey schools.

House system

The college has four houses; Austen, Redgrave, Turner and Sibley. Each house is led by a member of the Sixth Form Head Prefect Team and a member of staff. The children are assigned a house when they start in Year 7 and generally stay in that house for the remainder of their school life. There are many inter-house competitions including inter-house drama in the form of the Drama Festival and inter-house Dance and Music in the form of the Dance and Music Festivals. Many inter-house sports continue throughout the school year.

Sixth Form

Christ's College has always had quite a small Sixth Form. Classes are small. In 2012 the Sixth Form moved into a new Sixth Form centre on the college's campus. In 2020 the sixth form closed and there is no intent of reopening as the building is now housing year 7 pupils.

Charity work

The college does work for charity, with it regularly holding fundraisers to help charities in the UK or across the world to get money they need. Money collected from mufti days is often given to a variety of charities and money raised by Sixth Form events and RAG WEEK often gets donated to 'Starfish Malawi'. The school is linked with another school in Malawi to provide a two-way learning experience for both colleges. smells of cheese