The Coleshill School
| The Coleshill School | |
|---|---|
| Location | |
 | |
| , | |
| Information | |
| Type | Secondary Co-Ed |
| Motto | 'Deo Non Fortuna' 'Through God, Not Chance' |
| Religious affiliation(s) | Church of England |
| Established | 1520 |
| Chairman | Mr Chris Bain |
| Acting Head | A Dudgeon |
| Executive Head | C Reid |
| Age | 11 to 18 |
The Coleshill School is a Maths and Computing College in Coleshill, Warwickshire, England, founded in 1520[1]. It is a mixed comprehensive school of about 1,027 pupils. In September 2004, The Coleshill School obtained its "Maths and Computing college" status, which has been incorporated in some variations of its name. This new status has enabled increased funding for the school in order to develop its mathematics and ICT facilities.
History
The school day and general runnings
The school day begins at 8.45am on weekdays Monday to Friday, although pupils and students can arrive at 8am to use the school's facilities. There are many buses available which pupils and students can use for travel to and from school - both publicly and privately owned. A bell rings at 8.45am to warn pupils are to proceede to their first lesson. Second lesson starts at 9:50 until 10:50. Then a break of 20 minutes is attended.
Third Lesson starts at 11:10 and finishes at 12:15 and then tutor time starts at 12:15.
Within each year group (Years 7 to 11, consisting of the five years of secondary education) there are six tutor groups in Years Seven, Ten and Eleven and in Year Eight and Nine there are Seven tutor groups, In Year 12 three tutor groups and in Year 13 two tutor groups. Each tutor group is Labelled A, B, C, X, Y, Z and Tutor Group D for years Eight and Nine. In the sixth form tutor groups are labelled as there year and the initials of their tutor. The current sixth form groups are 12AG, 12HS, 12SY, 13KW and 13AW.
Each tutor group is assigned a tutor who are led by a year leader, a non-teaching member of staff. The year leader also leads a team of Supporting tutors who will fill in when a tutor is absent. Each year has a member of the senior management team who also supports the year leader. The information is below:
| Year Group | Number of Tutor Groups | Year Leader | Senior Staff Link | Link Job Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 | 6 | Vanessa Barnes | Lisa Cantrill | Transition Leader |
| 8 | 7 | Amanda O'Neill | Rosemary Nicholls | Assistant Headteacher |
| 9 | 7 | Julie Fletcher | Deborah Seazell | Assistant Headteacher |
| 10 | 6 | Eileen Bishop | Mark Harrison | Deputy Headteacher |
| 11 | 6 | Barry Lucas | Stewart Tait | Deputy Headteacher |
| VI | 5 | Emma Bowes | Mark Harrison | Deputy Headteacher |
In Tutor Time one of the three sessions happen. Tutorial when the teacher takes the register and the tutor will come up with a task, Tutor Time Admin when students and the tutor manage their own tutor administration or Assembly led by the Headteacher, Senior Staff Link and Year Leader with also the tutors attend.
At 12:35 Lunch commences. Students are allowed to eat in the canteen, hall or outside. There are other activites such as Library and Extra Curriculur Activities. Every day up to Eight members of staff are on duty in the Dining Hall, Main Hall, The Playground, On the School Field and in the different blocks around the school
At 13:10 Lesson Four starts. At 14:10 Lesson Five Starts. At 15:10 School Finishes and Students go home after their Fifth Lesson.
Facilities
Notable facilities within the school include:[2]
- Three fully equipped computer rooms for the teaching of ICT
- Many further computer rooms for individual departments. These include English, Science, Maths, Geography, Music, the school library and the school sixth form
- Sets of laptops available for pupil/student use outside of computer rooms
- Thirty-five rooms equipped with data projectors for use with the staff's tablet-PCs.
- Seven well-equipped science laboratories
- Individual blocks for Art and Design, Music/Drama (including a drama studio and recording studio), and sixth form.
- Sports facilities which include two gyms, six tennis courts, and eight hectares of playing field.
Sixth Form
As well as catering for pupils aged 11-16 for secondary education, The Coleshill School also operates a successful sixth form centre, where it recruits mainly from its Year 11 school leavers; but also from other local schools in the area. The A-level subjects offered include Biology, Business, Chemistry, Drama, Economics, English, English Literature, IT, Mathematics, (Further) Mathematics, Music, Physical Education, Philosophy, Physics, and Psychology. Since 2008, Critical Thinking has also been introduced as an A-level subject. An AS-level in General Studies and a Key Skills qualification are compulsory to study if attending sixth form. BTEC qualifications are also offered.
The Coleshill School has its own centre dedicated to sixth formers. It consists of several class-rooms, a large computer room and a sixth form common room.
The sixth form is an integral part of the school, and it is often seen as the school's best feature. In a 2006 Ofsted report, it was noted that "The effectiveness and efficiency of the sixth form are good with some outstanding features, such as the contribution the students make to the life of the school".[3]
Such contributions include the Anti-bullying Committee (ABC) which involves itself with the prevention and treatment of bullying. There are also in-school employment opportunities for sixth formers. Currently, a number of students are in paid part-time employment as midday supervisors. Website developers and cleaners are also some of the other employment opportunities available to sixth formers. It is therefore evident that sixth formers do indeed make a contribution "to the life of the school".
However, the education league tables of UK colleges indicates that sixth formers from The Coleshill School achieve, on average, fewer academic points than other schools both locally and nationally.[4] In the Warwickshire area, The Coleshill School ranks 18th out of 26 schools with regard to A-level performance.[5]
Staffing and teaching
The Coleshill School has recently encountered many staffing problems. New staff are being enrolled in September 2008 for positions including Deputy Headteacher, Head of Mathematics, and Head of Design; whilst many unstaffed standard teaching posts are also being filled.
The lack of teachers in departments such as Science has been very influential for pupils and students. In the academic year 2007-2008, A-level students - due to there being no available physics teachers - were arranged to study externally at a college twice a week; both days being a two hour session after-school. This resulted in many students dropping the subject from their studies - or, in some cases - leaving the college completely.
The 2006 Ofsted report indicates both positive and negative results with regards to teaching. Teaching is described as "satisfactory", with elaboration given as "There is a significant amount of good teaching, but a few lessons are unsatisfactory".[6]
On 14 April 2009, it was announced that Headteacher Kate Kearney will step down from Headteacher position at the end of the 2009 spring term. This is reported to be so that Kate can seek a fresh career challenge, and it has been stated that Kate Kearney believes the decision to be "in the best interests of the school"[7]. The announcement came days after regulator Ofsted announced the decision to place the school in Special Measures.
Staff List
Executive Headteacher - Carol Reid; Acting Headteacher - Ann Dudgeon; Deputy Headteacher - Mark Harrison; Deputy Headteacher - Stuart Tait; Assistant Headteacher - Deborah Seazell; Assistant Headteacher - Rosmary Nicholls; School Business Manager - Teresa Phipps;
Design Faculty Head of Design, Head of Catering - Tamika Johnson; Second in Design, Head of Textiles & WKS, Catering, Torc - Clare Thomas; Head of Graphics, Textiles, Art - Clare Birch; Head of Resistant Materials - Barry Bennett; Graphics, Resistant Materials, L2l - David Nicol;
Expressive Arts
Head of Expressive Arts, Head of Drama - Tom Brown;
Head of Dance, Drama, English - Amy Howell;
Head of Music, Drama - Katie Loveless;
Head of Art & Design - Katrina Whitehouse;
Art & Design - Joanne Bradshaw;
Music, Wider Key Skills - Josephine Sands;
English Faculty Head of English - Sonia Hammersley; Second in English - Helen Kerr; Third in English, Study Skills - Jane Oberg; Head of Learning 2 Learn, English - Emma Towler; English - Clare Gelsthorpe; English - Robert Jagger; English - Peter Allesi;
E-Learning Faculty Head of E-Learning, ICT - Kenderick Poxon; Second in ICT - Andrew Gregory; ICT, Physical Education - S K Rehal;
Humanities Faculty Head of Humanities, Business Studies - David Howard; Head of History, Geography, Post 16 Careers - Andrew Watkins; Acting Head of Geography - Daniel Wright; Second in History, Geography, Study Skills - Victoria Raines; Inclusion Manager, Acting Second in Geography, Study Skills - Edward Smedmore; History, Social Religious Education, General Studies - Lydia Sears; Social Religious Education, History, Geography - Hugh Maccallum; Social Religious Education, History, Wider Key Skills - Zoe Richardson;
Mathematics Faculty Head of Mathematics Faculty - Emily McCall; Second in Mathematics - Sarah Young; Mathematics, Business Studies & ICT - Jane Kingscott; Mathematics - N Iradukunda; Mathematics - Julia Rankin; Mathematics, Study Skills - Yvonne Naylor;
Modern Foreign Languages Faculty Head of Modern Languages, Head of German, French - Angela Green; Second in MFL, Head of Spanish, French, PE - Caroline Furgeson; Head of French, Primary Transition Leader - Lisa Cantrill; Head of Vocational Studies, German, Business Studies, Geography - Christane Parker;
Physical Education Faculty Head of Physical Education, Head of Boys PE - Adam Gray; Head of Girls PE - Emma Bush; Physical Education - Richard Wilkinson; Physical Education, Dance - Katie O'Neill; Physical Education, ICT - Derek Halfpenny;
Science Faculty Head of Science, Head of Chemistry - C Boden; Second in Science, Head of Biology - Lynda Onion; Head of Physics, Science - David Merrifield; Science, Second in Biology - Hannah Stevens; Science, Second in Chemistry - T Dhillon; Science, Biology, Physchology - John McGrath; Science, Biology - P Lynch;
Vocational Studies Head of Vocational - Christane Parker; Vocational - L Roe; Vocational, ICT - Neeta Chauhan; Vocational, Head of WKS, DT, Torc - Clare Thomas;
2009 implementation of Special Measures[8]
![[8]](http://img6.imageshack.us/img6/7357/ofstedletter.gif){kind=link}
After a recent Ofsted inspection in March 2009, its report indicates that it is the opinion of Her Majesty's Chief Inspector that this school requires Special Measures because it is failing to give its pupils an acceptable standard of education. There are four stated areas of improvement that Ofsted has noted; these are:
- Ensure all teachers maximise the achievement, learning and progress of all pupils in lessons and consistently provide high quality written feedback when assessing pupils' work.
- Ensure there is consistency and coherence in the way that assessment information is used throughout the school to set realistic but challenging targets.
- Monitor pupils' progress rigorously and systematically and make sure that individual pupils know exactly how well they are doing and what they need to do to improve their work in all subjects.
- Increase the rigour and accuracy of self-evaluation and improvement planning at all levels of leadership.
The full report will be available from the Ofsted[9] website from 21 April 2009 onwards.
Extra-curricular activities
The opportunities for extra-curricular activities are encouraged by the school, and this is reflected in the recent events undertaken by pupils and students.
Within the last two years, school visits have been made to France, Spain, Poland, Italy and Namibia[10].
As well as these visits abroad, the school also offers more numerous trips and acitivites within the country. These include sports, choir, drama, dance, skiing trips, and residential visits[11].
Notable extra-curricular pupil recognition
There have been numerous instances where pupils and students from The Coleshill School have performed well in extra-curricular activities. These include:
- In 2006, some of the older pupils and students participated in a World Challenge event in Namibia, which involved a four-week expedition helping the local communities and schools. A video containing photographs of the event can be found by searching YouTube for "coleshill Namibia".
- In 2006, Year 10 pupils from The Coleshill School achieved both first and second place in a website competition run by BCS. Steve Cutler, David Edwards and Matt Letts won first prize for their school website - the prize being an RM laptop for the school - whilst Michael Conboy and Dan Hodgkinson achieved the runners-up award for their jokes site.[12]
- In 2007, two A-level students from The Coleshill School scooped top prizes in Warwickshire's Schools Sports Awards. Nathan Woodward - the No. 1 ranked Under-19s 400m hurdler in Europe and World School Games bronze medallist - was voted the sports person of the year among secondary school students, whilst Holly Scott earned the female award after finishing first with sailing partner Anna MacKenzie from Cumbria in The Mirror World Championships 2007 in South Africa - the first female champions.[13]
- In 2008, A-level student Suzy Windridge helped organise activities for "Fair Trade Fortnight", educating pupils about the benefits of fair trade. £100 was raised for the organisation in just one twenty minute break-time.[14]
- In 2008, Coleshill-based rock band A-PEX came second in the school talent contest "Coleshill's Got Talent".
External links