Waddesdon Church of England School

Infobox UK school
name = Waddesdon Church of England School


size = 150px
latitude = 51.842836
longitude = -0.920225
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established = 1962
approx =
closed =
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type = Secondary modern voluntary aided school
religion = Christian - Church of England
president =
head_label = Headteacher
head = Mr Peter Norman
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chair_label =
chair =
founder =
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specialist = Visual Arts
Mathematics & Computing
specialist_pl = true
street =
city = Waddesdon
county = Buckinghamshire
country = England flagicon|England
postcode =
phone =
fax =
LEA = Buckinghamshire
ofsted = 110534
staff =
enrollment = 950
gender = Co-educational
lower_age = 11
upper_age = 18
houses =
colours = Green and Black color box|Greencolor box|Black
publication = Waddesdon Voice
free_label_1 =
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website = http://www.waddesdonschool.com/
website_name = www.waddesdonschool.com

Waddesdon Church of England School is a mixed secondary school in the village of Waddesdon, in Buckinghamshire. It is a voluntary aided school, which takes children from the age of 11 through to the age of 18. The school has approximately 950 pupils, including a sixth form of approximately 200 students. [cite web
last=
first=
authorlink=
coauthors=
title=Schools Directory
work=
publisher=Buckinghamshire County Council
date=
url=http://apps.buckscc.gov.uk/eforms/schools/schoolDetails.aspx?DFEE=5408
format=
doi=
accessdate=2007-01-25] It is a Church of England school and is the only CofE secondary school in Buckinghamshire. It is administered by the Oxford Diocese.

The school was opened in July 1962 with about 200 students. It was built on land from the Waddesdon Manor estate, which was donated by Dorothy de Rothschild. The school maintains a close relationship with the Rothschild family and the school badge combines the five arrows from the Rothschild coat of arms with the Christian symbol of the cross.

Ofsted has judged the school to be "outstanding" on three successive inspections, and the school is included in Ofsted's outstanding providers list. [cite web
title=Outstanding providers list
publisher=Ofsted
url=http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/outstandingproviders/index.cfm?fuseaction=exceptionalResults&action=bylea&bylea=825
accessdate=2008-01-08]

Waddesdon School was awarded Beacon school status in September 1998 and this was renewed in March 2001. The Beacon Schools programme was phased out in 2005 and was replaced with the Leading Edge Partnership programme. [cite web
title=The Standards Site: Leading Edge Partnership programme
publisher=Department for Children, Schools and Families
url=http://www.standards.dfes.gov.uk/leadingedge/
accessdate=2008-01-28] In September 2004, Waddesdon became the lead school in the Aylesbury Vale Leading Edge Partnership, which also included The Grange School and Quarrendon School.

In September 2003 the school was awarded specialist school status as a Visual Arts College, by the Department for Education and Skills (DfES). [cite web
last=
first=
authorlink=
coauthors=
title=Specialist Schools Home
work=
publisher=DfES
month=July | year=2006
url=http://www.standards.dfes.gov.uk/specialistschools/
format=
doi=
accessdate=2006-09-29] In December 2007 the school was awarded a second specialism in in Mathematics and Computing.

Since September 2006, Waddesdon has been part of the Buckingham School Sports Partnership. [cite web
title=Buckingham Partnership
publisher=Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes School Sports Partnership
url=http://www.bucks-pe.net/Buckingham/
accessdate=2007-07-09] The partnership is led by the Buckingham School, which has specialist Sports College status, and also includes the Cottesloe and Royal Latin secondary schools, as well as about forty local primary schools. Waddesdon School also has Sportsmark status from Sport England, recognising its PE and games provision.

chool site

The school is located on the edge of Waddesdon, away from the A41 road which bisects the village. It adjoins the Waddesdon Estate and open countryside.

Over the years the school has grown significantly and various buildings have been added or refurbished to meet the school's needs. The main buildings date from the original opening of the school in 1962. They contain the school hall, library, canteen and drama studios, as well as a variety of classrooms and school offices. The science labs are contained in the Parker building. The Dorothy de Rothschild building, which was opened by Lord and Lady Rothschild in 1999, houses the school's English and Information and Communication Technology (ICT) departments. The Thorp building is named after the Reverend Tom Thorp, a former Chairman of Governors, who died in office in 2003. The building was officially opened in 2005 and named in his memory. It includes a teaching block that houses the Modern Languages department, a suite of art studios and a sports hall. In 2007 the school added a new all-weather pitch to its sports facilities. The sports facilities were named the "The Alan Armstrong Sports Complex" in honour of the outgoing headteacher and former PE teacher.

Organisation

Houses

In 1963, shortly after its opening, the school introduced a house system, with four houses competing against each other in sports and academic endeavours. The four houses were called Courtney, Lipscomb, Dixon and Goodwin. [cite web
title=House Results
publisher=Ex-Waddies
url=http://www.ex-waddies.co.uk/housepos.php
accessdate=2007-07-12] The house system was discontinued in 2001, in favour of a system focused on year groups. This new arrangement still retains the previous competitions, but they are now solely between the forms within each year group.

Year groups

The school promotes a learning culture based on year groups. Each year group focuses on a specific learning target. Each year group also has their own title, colour and motto in order to create a year group identity. The details are as follows: [cite web
title=The Waddesdon Learning Culture
publisher=School website
url=http://www.waddesdonschool.com/curriculum/parents.html#culture
accessdate=2007-07-11]

tudent roles

The school has a Student Council which includes an elected representative from each form and members of the school's senior management team.

In year 12 students are invited to volunteer to carry out senior student roles. A head boy, a head girl, and their respective deputies are elected by their peers as the collective Heads of School. About fifty students, from those who volunteered, are selected to serve as prefects.

Headteachers

Since its opening in 1962, Waddesdon School has had five headteachers.

Alan Armstrong (1985-2007)

Alan Armstrong joined the school in 1985, and led it for twenty two years. During that time the school increased in size and added a sixth form. The school was adjudged to be "outstanding" in three successive Ofsted reports, and repeatedly improved its exam results. Mr Armstrong and Waddesdon School also supported other local schools, particularly the Grange and Quarrendon schools. [cite web
title=Cabinet Minutes 16 April 2007
publisher=Buckinghamshire County Council
url=http://www.buckscc.gov.uk/cabinet_papers/cabinet/2007/cab_20070416_minutes.pdf
accessdate=2007-07-12|format=PDF] In 2006 he was identified as an outstanding leader by the National College for School Leadership and included in their initial list of sixty eight National Leaders of Education. [cite web
title=National Leaders of Education (NLE)/National Support Schools (NSS)
publisher=The National College for School Leadership (NCSL)
url=http://www.ncsl.org.uk/nle.cfm
accessdate=2007-07-12] [cite web
title=National Leaders of Education (NLE) October 2006
publisher=The National College for School Leadership (NCSL)
url=http://www.ncsl.org.uk/media/230/8A/National-Leaders-of-Education-October-2006.pdf
accessdate=2007-07-12|format=PDF] Mr Armstrong retired at Easter 2007.

Peter Norman (2007-present)

Peter Norman joined the school in 2007. He had previously been the headteacher of The Warriner School, Bloxham in Oxfordshire, and had also worked in several local schools, including Aylesbury Grammar School, Bicester Community College and Lord Williams's School in Thame. [cite web
title=Peter Norman Welcome Letter - 18 Apr 07
publisher=School website
url=http://www.waddesdonschool.com/documents/lettershome/letter002.pdf
accessdate=2007-07-12|format=PDF]

References

External links

* [http://www.waddesdonschool.com/ Waddesdon Church of England School website]
* [http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/reports/index.cfm?fuseaction=summary&id=110534 Ofsted Reports]
* [http://www.oxford.anglican.org/files/docs2/Waddesdon_Section_48_Report_06_Final_version.doc SIAS (Statutory Inspections of Anglican Schools) Report 2006]
* [http://www.dfes.gov.uk/cgi-bin/performancetables/dfe1x1_05.pl?School=8255408&Mode=Z DfES Performance Tables]
* [http://www.ex-waddies.co.uk/index.php Ex-Waddies, the official website for former students of Waddesdon Church of England School]