Manor Community College

The Manor - a Foundation School (formerly Manor Community College)

Motto	"Students First" and "Developing the talent of the future"
Established	1959
President	Julie Spence OBE, QPM, DL, former Chief Constable of Cambridgeshire and gender champion
Principal	Ben Slade[1]
Chair of Governors	Cllr. Andrew Pellew [2]
Specialism	Creative and Performing Arts
Location	Arbury Road Cambridge Cambridgeshire CB4 2JF England
Local authority	Cambridge
Students	450 from September 2011
Gender	Coeducational
Ages	11–16
Houses	none
Colours	burgundy and gold
Website	themanorcambridge.org

Coordinates: 52°13′31″N 0°07′52″E / 52.2252°N 0.13098°E / 52.2252; 0.13098

The Manor - A Foundation School (formerly Manor Community College) is a small comprehensive school in North Cambridge for students aged 11 to 16. In 2007 the school appointed 30 year old Ben Slade as Principal. Slade was formerly presenter of the cult BBC 1 network children's TV programme, Why Don't You?.^[3]

Partner schools

Associate primary schools are: Shirley Infant and Primary School, Kings Hedges Primary School, The Grove Primary School and Orchard Park Primary School.

The school also has a strong partnership with Cambridge Regional College who currently manage the school's sports and leisure facilities. This partnership was brokered by Ben Slade and former CRC Chief Executive Rick Dearing. This has continued and developed further under the leadership of Anne Constantine.

History

The school was built around 1959 based on a design by the architects W. Doig and M.R. Francis and, at that time, was a flagship school in Cambridge City. More recently, the buildings have been described by Slade as "a grim 1960s car park" although a great deal of time an effort has been invested in bringing them up to date.^[4] The school was named after Manor Farm which was in the area and was owned by Cambridgeshire County Council, who bought the farm in 1909 from the Benson family of Chesterton hall.The Council split the farm into smallholdings, and the name of one of the smallholders, William Downham, is commemorated in a nearby road called Downham's Lane^[5] The school was top of a recent proposal for Building Schools for the Future which would have meant new buildings or significant refurbishment in 2013 but plans were shelved by the Coalition Government in 2010.^{[citation needed] [6]}

The school has seen its results double in the last 4 years under new leadership. In 2007 results were 23% 5 higher grades including English and Maths. These rose to 49% in 2010. At 5 higher grades results rose from 32% in 2007 to 60% in 2010 - a remarkable achievement for the students, staff and parents/carers.

The leadership of the new principal was praised in by OfSTED in 2008 just 9 months after taking up post: "The newly appointed Principal provides clear direction for the work of the school. Since September 2007, he has accurately evaluated its work and set about tackling the areas for support with vigour. He has not flinched from the challenges posed by this and is resolute in his pursuit of improved standards and achievement."

OfSTED also commented that "the changes made are recognised by parents, the vast majority of whom are supportive of the school's work. A considerable number commented on the improvements, including the renewed focus on improving standards. The comment, 'the effort of staff and pupils to make a dramatic improvement is working', is typical."

Today

Slade was successful in his application (to the DfE on behalf of the school's governing body) for a change of status from "Community College" to "Foundation School" and, furthermore, to acquire a Trust, namely The North Cambridge Community Trust. The new Trust was formed on 3rd September, 2010. The Trust partners are Cambridge Regional College, Cambridgeshire County Council, Cambridgeshire Constabulary, an Associate Primary School Cluster, Cambridge Centre for Sixth-form Studies, Ridgeons Group Ltd and Kings Hedges Neighbourhood Partnership.

The Manor was designated as a specialist performing arts college by the DCSF in 2007 and they were successfully re-designated by the DfE in 2010. They were also awarded ArtsMark Gold by the Arts Council for England and the Prince's Teaching Institute Award for English by HRH Prince of Wales in 2009 and 2010 respectively. OfSTED returned to re-inspect the school in September 2010. The significant and substantial improvements and "the excellent leadership of the headteacher" were acknowledged in the OfSTED inspection in September 2010. This time HMI concluded that The Manor is "a good school" with "outstanding capacity to make further improvements". This is a significant turn around for the once troubled school. ^[7]

In June 2011, Slade announced Julie Spence OBE, QPM, DL former Chief Constable and gender champion as Patron of the school. This is Mrs Spence' first Cambridgeshire-based public role.

In September 2011, The Manor, under Slade's leadership, will be oversubscribed for the first time in 25 years.

The reputation of the school both in the press and in the local and regional community has improved significantly since 2007. He is not afraid to speak out for students. staff or the local community. ^[8]

Notable staff

• Ben Slade is the Principal, appointed in 2007. Previously he was a Vice Principal of a large comprehensive school, a drama teacher and a presenter of "Why Don't You...?" a children's television programme^[3]. He was 30 when he was appointed making him the youngest headteacher in the country at the time.^[9]

• Previous headteachers include David Cressey, Stephen Mummery, Oliver Gaggs and Paul Lewin - still going strong and writing books at the age of 92!

• 2009/2010 was the school's Golden Jubilee. Over 700 visitors were welcomed back to events organised by long serving members of staff Liz Butter and Jo Arbon.

References

1. ^ Four new heads, Chesterton Challenge, September 2007, p.2
2. ^ School Web Site, accessed 23 October 2008
3. ^ ^{a b} In praise of summer mischief, Finlo Rohrer, BBC news magazine, 17 July 2008
4. ^ Manor Community College: Arbury Road, Cambridge 2000, accessed 24 October 2008
5. ^ Cambridge Street Names, Ronald D. Gray, Derek Stubbings, p.129, 2000, ISBN 0521789567
6. ^ Exley, Stephen (29th January 2009). "Upgrades for schools axed". Cambridge News. http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/Cambridge/Upgrades-for-schools-axed.htm. 
7. ^ Exley, Stephen (6th September, 2010). ""Rejuvenated" Cambridge school praised by inspectors". Cambridge News. http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/Home/Cambridge-school-rejuvenate.htm. 
8. ^ Uzel, Suzan (13th June, 2011). "Headteacher slams 'despicable prejudice' towards Arbury". Cambridge News. http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/Home/Headteacher-slams-despicable-prejudice-towards-Arbury-15062011.htm. 
9. ^ New heads are on younger shoulders as ambitious teachers seek top job, Alexandra Frean, 21 July 2008, Times online