Kennet School: Difference between revisions
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[[Image:Kennet library.JPG|right|thumb|The Risman Library]] |
[[Image:Kennet library.JPG|right|thumb|The Risman Library]] |
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The Risman Library was opened on [[23 September]] 1997 by Councillor Ann Risman, the Chairman of [[Berkshire|Berkshire County Council]], who was accompanied by [[Chris Woodhead]], Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Schools. The library has shelving space for 25,000 books, and currently stocks around |
The Risman Library was opened on [[23 September]] 1997 by Councillor Ann Risman, the Chairman of [[Berkshire|Berkshire County Council]], who was accompanied by [[Chris Woodhead]], Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Schools. The library has shelving space for 25,000 books, and currently stocks around 23,000<ref>[http://www.westberks.org/GroupHomepage.asp?GroupID=2751 Kennet Comprehensive library page]</ref>. It has seating for approximately 80 pupils and has a separate VI form study section that is sealed off (by folding doors) during the lunch hour. The library is host to twelve [[desktop computer|workstations]] and thirty [[laptop]] computers all of which are connected to the [[Local area network|network]]. The library stocks six daily national papers and the [[Newbury Weekly News]]. The school's media resource of [[Compact Disc|compact discs]] and [[Compact Cassette|compact cassette]]s of both music and audio-books are kept in the library along with a stock of [[VHS]]s and [[DVD]]s for staff use. |
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===Canteen=== |
===Canteen=== |
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Revision as of 12:01, 8 July 2007
| Kennet Comprehensive School | |
|---|---|
| Kennet School Logo | |
| Address | |
 | |
Stoney Lane Thatcham , Berkshire United Kingdom | |
| Information | |
| Type | Comprehensive |
| Motto | Excellence through endeavour |
| Established | 1957 |
| Headmaster | Paul Gerard Dick OBE |
| Teaching staff | 121 |
| Years | 7 to 13 |
| Gender of pupils | Co-educational |
| Number of students | 2,000 total |
| Colour(s) | Navy blue and gold |
| GCSE average | 388.4 points/student[1] |
| Newspaper | Kennet News (1975-1990) Kennet Chronicle (2002-2004) |
| LEA | West Berkshire |
| Specialisms | Technology College, Language College and Arts College statuses |
| Website | kennetschool.net |
Kennet Comprehensive School is a secondary school in Thatcham, Berkshire, UK. It is a state school run by the West Berkshire Education Authority and in 2006 was the highest achieving comprehensive school in West Berkshire using contextual value-added results.[2] In the same year it was also rated as one of the highest achieving schools in England, ranking as the 101st best comprehensive in the Guardian's league table, based on A-level results[3] and 303rd based on GCSE results.[4]
It is also one of very few schools in England to have three specialisms, Technology College,[5] Arts College,[6] and most recently Language College.[7][8][9]
The school was awarded the Artsmark Gold by the Arts Council England in 2001[10] and 2004.[11] The school was also awarded the Challenge Award on 22 November 2006 as recognition for its efforts to support Able, Gifted and Talented students.[12]
The school opened on 11 September 1957 as a secondary modern, which then converted into a comprehensive in 1971. The school currently has 1,720 pupils on roll in years 7 to 11, 280 pupils attending VI form (years 12 and 13) with 121 teachers and 78 non-teaching staff. The headmaster is Paul Gerard Dick OBE (awarded for services to education, 2000).[13]
History
Construction started on the school in July 1956 and the original school buildings were constructed at a cost of GB£148,000 (equivalent to approximately £2,200,000 now). The school opened to students for the first time on September 11 1957 as a secondary modern school. In July 1959 the PTA helped to fund and construct an open air swimming pool for the school and in September 1971, the school was reorganised as a co-educational comprehensive.
In December 1972, the school welcomed Prince Phillip who visited the school to see the Duke of Edinburgh award scheme. As part of an expansion of the school to be able to cater for more students, the new Science block was constructed, starting in August 1973 and in April 1974 the block was opened to students. In the Spring of 1974, the humanities/English block started to be built and opened in September of that year.
In May 1981, the school hosted the first Kennet Games, a sports day for physically handicapped children to participate in, the event continues - once a year. In November 1983, the sports hall was named the Hurford Hall in honour of George Hurford, an ex-headmaster of the school. In November 1995, the school buried a time capsule behind the leisure centre and during 1996 an expanded Kennet Leisure Centre, complete with an indoor heated swimming pool opened. In September 1997, the new Risman Library/history block opened to students.
In September 2000, the school was given Technology College status. In February 2002, a new technology block was built on the north of the site to replace dispersed classrooms at the cost of several million pounds. In September 2005, the science block was extended to allow for a larger preparation room and between June and September 2006, the Resources department was extended and the main entrance refurbished including automatic doors and a lobby area. In October 2006, work commenced on the building of a new drama and VI form study block, expected to open in September 2007.
Faculty
Headmasters
Headmaster (1957 - 1961)
Headmaster (1961 - 1978)
Headmaster (1978 - 1982)
Headmaster (1983 - 1987)
Headmaster (1989 - present)
Below is a list of Kennet's headmasters from its establishment in 1957.
| Years | Name |
|---|---|
| Kennet Modern School | |
| September 1957 to December 1960 |
T.S.B. Howe |
| January 1961 to July 1971 |
George Hurford |
| Kennet Comprehensive School | |
| September 1971 to July 1978 |
George Hurford |
| September 1978 to July 1982 |
Terrence Enright |
| September 1982 to December 1982 |
Keith Iles (acting) |
| January 1983 to July 1987 |
Nicholas Wheeler-Robinson |
| September 1987 to December 1988 |
Keith Iles (acting) |
| January 1989 to present |
Paul G. Dick |
Faculty members of note
The current headmaster, Paul Gerard Dick, was awarded an OBE for Services to Education in the 2000 New Year's Honours List.[14]
Teaching Awards
Paul G. Dick, 2001 Category Winner, The Leadership Trust Award for School Leadership in a Secondary School in South[15]
Martyn Greenway, 2003 Special Commendee, The Award for Teacher of the Year in a Secondary School in South [16]
Juli Morgan-Russell, 2003 Category Winner, The Guardian Award for Outstanding New Teacher in a Secondary School in South [17]
Sandra Baron, 2004 Category Winner, The Award for Teaching Assistant of the Year in a Secondary School in South
[18]
Students
VI form
There is a VI form in place at Kennet for students who wish to continue their education after the age of 16. Although Kennet pupils are given priority, pupils from other schools are also accepted. An interview and personal statement is required, and a reference or CV is also helpful. The VI form students have their own common area, where they can socialise away from lower year pupils. There is also a computer room and a section of the library provided for their use. The students do not have to wear uniform and this is seen as a privilege. The European Computer Driving Licence (ECDL) qualification can be studied with any VI form course. The new VI Form block, currently being built, will be used by students starting from September 2007.
Extracurricular activities
Houses
When students join the school they become a member of a house. The house system provides a structure for pastoral care, with the Head of each house being responsible for the students in that house. The house system is an integral part of extracurricular activies in the school. The houses compete against each other in sports, athletics, music, drama and outstanding academic excellence.
There are four houses at the school: Saint Patrick, Saint Michael, Saint Francis, and Saint David. Now defunct houses are Saint George and Saint Andrew, which were dissolved in the early 1980s. Each house is associated with a colour: St. Patrick with green, St. Michael with red, St. Francis with purple and St. David with yellow.
| House | Head of House | Deputy head of House |
|---|---|---|
| St. Michael | Tania Langley (acting) | Michael Loveridge (acting) |
| St. David | Robin Ireland | Cherie McDonnell |
| St. Patrick | Richard Staton | Mark Hewitt |
| St. Francis | John Martin | Jon Gemmel |
Exchange visits
Each year the school organises exchanges to France and Germany. The pupils can go to France in year 9 and Germany in year 10. It involves a foreign pupil staying with their exchange partner's family for 7-12 days, then vice-versa later on. These can prove very helpful in helping to learn a new foreign language.
School council
The school has an active school council which meets once every term under the authority of Peter Jenkins, deputy headmaster in charge of site matters. It discusses matters close to pupils, such as canteen prices, non-uniform day charities and queries about rumours around the school. The litter topic is normally forced into the agenda, due to the high amount of rubbish that is dropped on the floor by pupils.
Council powers
- The school council was informed of Paul German's decision to change the skirt style shortly before the general announcement was made, although they could make no objections to the action.
- Peter Jenkins invited the school canteen's management to discuss the high prices and lack of choice. The council was advised that the 'high quality' ingredients and inflation drives up the prices and the canteen no longer can choose the range of food thanks to Jamie Oliver's campaigning.
- Each term or year, the council is asked to choose a new charity for the non-uniform money to be donated to. However, they no longer have any say on the price of the event for pupils.
Kennet News
The Kennet News was the school newspaper first issued in May 1975 at the price of two new pence and was run until the late eighties. Its original slogan was News as it happens - and sometimes before it happens!. The newspaper carried issues relating to students and teachers alike. It reported the departure of George Hurford[19] and the arrival of Terrence Enright[20] in 1978 and later the arrival[21] and departure[22] of Dr. Nicholas Wheeler-Robinson. The main editor was Mr. Wilkinson aided by many students throughout its lifespan. Introductions were occasionally written by the headmasters and Keith Iles wrote a column 'Round the Iles' in many issues.
Charity work
Each house chooses its own charity to support, and throughout the year each tutor group fundraises towards their house's target amount of money. For example Saint Michael house's chosen charity was the Rwanda appeal until this academic year. The senior staff sometimes plan one-off events, such as the Kennet (World) Cup to raise money for charity.
Kennet (World) Cup
The Kennet (World) Cup was a football event that occurred on 19 June 2006 in aid of the Bobby Moore Cancer Appeal. Teams were organised as non-mixed six-a-side with rolling substitutes. Students in years 7 and 8 played in the first football tournament between 9h and 12h30 and then in tutor groups wrote reports about the events in the afternoon. Students in years 9 and 10 played in the second football tournament between 13h20 and 15h30. There were two cups and two shields available for each tournament. Each head of house chose one of the reports from each year to go forward and represent the house in a competition for Derek Leach trophy points. The event was designed to coincide with the World Cup. It was very successful and it was agreed that it would happen again in the future.
Statistics
Kennet is the highest achieving comprehensive school for both GCSE and A-level results in West Berkshire.[23]
| Year | Students achieving five A*-C grades at GCSE |
|---|---|
| 2006 | 71.0% |
| 2005 | 71.4% |
| 2004 | 70.0% |
| 2003 | 59.0% |
| 2002 | 66.0% |
| 2001 | 63.7% |
| 2000 | 61.4% |
| 1999 | 59.0% |
| 1998 | 61.0% |
| 1997 | 60.0% |
| 1996 | 59.0% |
| 1995 | 58.0% |
| 1994 | 54.0% |
| 1993 | 52.8% |
| 1992 | 47.5% |
| 1991 | 37.7% |
| 1990 | 35.0% |
| 1989 | 28.0% |
| Year | Average point score per student at A-level |
|---|---|
| 2005 | 317 |
Miscellaneous
Risman Library
The Risman Library was opened on 23 September 1997 by Councillor Ann Risman, the Chairman of Berkshire County Council, who was accompanied by Chris Woodhead, Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Schools. The library has shelving space for 25,000 books, and currently stocks around 23,000[24]. It has seating for approximately 80 pupils and has a separate VI form study section that is sealed off (by folding doors) during the lunch hour. The library is host to twelve workstations and thirty laptop computers all of which are connected to the network. The library stocks six daily national papers and the Newbury Weekly News. The school's media resource of compact discs and compact cassettes of both music and audio-books are kept in the library along with a stock of VHSs and DVDs for staff use.
Canteen
Kennet's canteen services have been run by Scolarest for several years and recently rebranded the canteen as wellgood with the slogan well good for you. The canteen is often subject to student complaints. Recently a new manager was employed resulting in many price cuts and the ability to price food to the nearest penny rather than the nearest five-pence. Canteen prices rise on a regular basis 'with inflation' - the last inflation-based increase was during November 2006. Due to the intervention of Jamie Oliver, the choice and variety of food on offer has been chopped drastically to reduce junk food. The canteen operates an electronic card system, money is loaded onto the cards using a cash deposit machine or if loading notes/cheques put into an envelope and posted through the canteen door. The card is then used much like a standard debit card.
Mobile phone mast
The school has a mobile phone mast on site. The local council earns £5,750 annually by having it on site.[25] There have been many concerns over possible health risks to the pupils and teachers who work and play at the school.
References
- ^ GCSE results
- ^ BBC News website: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/bsp/hi/education/06/school_tables/secondary_schools/html/869_gcse_lea.stm
- ^ http://education.guardian.co.uk/alevels/page/0,,1852555,00.html
- ^ http://education.guardian.co.uk/gcses/table/0,,1858302,00.html
- ^ http://www.standards.dfes.gov.uk/specialistschools/excel/TechnologyJuly2006.xls?version=1
- ^ http://www.standards.dfes.gov.uk/specialistschools/excel/ArtsJuly2006.xls?version=1
- ^ http://www.standards.dfes.gov.uk/specialistschools/excel/LanguagesJuly2006.xls?version=1
- ^ http://www.westberks.gov.uk/index.aspx?articleid=5636
- ^ http://www.newburytoday.co.uk/News/Article.aspx?articleID=1443
- ^ http://www.artscouncil.org.uk/artsmark/artsmark_round1.php
- ^ http://www.artscouncil.org.uk/artsmark/artsmark_round4.php
- ^ http://www.nace.co.uk/home.htm?ca_achieving_schools.htm~mainFrame
- ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/education/590628.stm
- ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/education/590628.stm
- ^ http://education.guardian.co.uk/teachingawards/story/0,,583033,00.html
- ^ http://www.teaching-awards.co.uk/2003/catwinners/Further_Info.asp?NominationID=3396&RegionalPositionID=1&RegionID=7
- ^ http://www.teaching-awards.co.uk/2003/catwinners/Further_Info.asp?NominationID=3421&RegionalPositionID=2&RegionID=7
- ^ http://www.teaching-awards.co.uk/2004/catwinners/Further_Info.asp?NominationID=2818&RegionalPositionID=2&RegionID=7
- ^ Kennet News Issue Number 14, 'Best Wishes Mr. Hurford!' - July 1978
- ^ Kennet News Issue Number 15, 'Kennet Welcomes Mr. Enright.' - October 1978
- ^ Kennet News Issue Number 32, 'Welcome to Our New Headmaster.' - March 1983
- ^ Kennet News Issue Number 44, 'The only time I make the front page of the Kennet News is when I am leaving!' - April 1987
- ^ BBC News website: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/bsp/hi/education/05/school_tables/secondary_schools/html/869_4042.stm
- ^ Kennet Comprehensive library page
- ^ http://www.newsoftheworld.co.uk/masts.shtml
External links
- Kennet School Website
- West Berkshire Education Business Partnership (WBEBP)
- OFSTED's report on Kennet School
51°24′5.8391″N 1°14′54.7686″W / 51.401621972°N 1.248546833°W