Abbs Cross School and Arts College

Abbs Cross School and Arts College (once known as Abbs Cross Technical High School) is situated on Abbs Cross Lane, Hornchurch, East London in the London Borough Of Havering. Abbs Cross is now an Arts College. Like most secondary schools in its area, it lacks a sixth form centre although the school has a strong link with Havering Sixth Form College in which a majority of its students go on to attend. The School's Headteacher is Mr. G. Mayoh
Abbs Cross school was opened in 1958 as a mixed secondary (technical) school. It was enlarged in 1973.

Aims

Abbs Cross School was expanded and reorganised in 1973 as a Comprehensive School. Today it remains fully committed to the principles of comprehensive education and seeks to introduce each individual child to traditional academic values. The motto of the school is

Committed to Opportunity and Excellence.

The aims of the school are as follows:-
# To provide all pupils with the opportunity and encouragement to develop their full potential.
# To provide a purposeful, caring and friendly environment in which their pupils are happy, feel valued as individuals and learn to be considerate of, and tolerant towards other people and their differing views and respectful of their property.
# To meet the pupils' personal and social needs, including self discipline, and help them acquire moral values including honesty and integrity.
# To prepare theit pupils to play a full and constructive role in a democratic, multicultural and competitive society, in the worlds of work, leisure and family life. In its latest Ofsted report (2008) the school gained the mark "Outstanding". [ [http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/oxedu_reports/display/(id)/95554 2008 Ofsted inspection report] ]

Teaching and learning

Abbs Cross continues to provide a high quality of education, striving for increasingly high standards, for the benefit of its pupils, staff governors and local community, in a caring, supportive and disciplined environment.

"The very good teaching results in pupils attaining well above average standards" Ofsted November 2004

There are 840 pupils in the school with 168 in each of the five year groups. The school claims to be committed to equality of opportunity and provide all pupils with the full range of a differentiated curriculum which is broad and balanced to meet the needs of the individual.On entry to the school the 168 children are divided into six groups giving classes of 28 not 30! Specialist teaching staffs ensure that all pupils progress at the appropriate rate. By the end of Year 7 some subjects introduce pupil grouping according to ability, further enhancing their provision and ensuring individual needs are met.

Currently at the end of Year 9 Teacher Assessment and National Curriculum Tests are used to assess pupil attainment for all relevant subjects studied. In Years 10 and 11, and in the lead up to external examinations, pupils follow individualised courses of study. Supporting the backbone of the core subjects of English, Mathematics, Science and ICT there is a range of courses on offer: the curriculum at Key Stage 4 (Years 10 and 11) is continually under review reflecting the changing demands of society

Assessments recording and reporting

The School uses Records of Achievement from Years 7 to 11. This is a formal reporting process that involves input from pupils and teachers and includes target setting to allow pupils to negotiate their progress. This Process is usually abbreviated by most students as ROA’s (pronounced ROWERS)

The emphasis throughout the School is firmly based on positive achievement. The object of the Record of Achievement is primarily to enhance the motivation of pupils and to increase their commitment to learning.

Sports

"The pupils have access to excellent extracurricular provision" (Ofsted November 2004)

The school provides a full range of team sports including the traditional football, rugby, basketball, netball, hockey, rounders, volleyball and athletics and competes in regional and national competitions such as the Pentathlon Competitions in which it competed at Crystal Palace and Bristol University. Other competitive sports include tennis, table tennis, trampolining and golf.

The School recently completed £3.5m Sports and Leisure Centre comprises a Sports Hall, 25m swimming pool, fitness centre and Dance/Aerobics studio. The high specification also attracts community membership and is open all year round for members of the public.

The provision for Physical Education in the curriculum is supplemented by many and varied extra-curricular activities. They are a SportsMark school demonstrating our commitment to Sports.

The main building was erected in 1958 with an additional block being built in 1974. These are supplemented by more recent refurbishments. Governors are committed to a planned improvement of facilities and the ongoing redecoration programme is part of a wider accommodation strategy being considered.Many of the traditional classroom areas which are suited by department enjoy up to date facilities and are supported by ICT and audio-visual equipment. They have ten classrooms with interactive whiteboard technology and every room is served by PC link to the network and supervised internet accessibility.
In addition the school enjoys a large playing field which includes pitches for rugby, soccer, hockey, netball plus a concrete cricket strip and four new all-weather tennis courts.The school also makes extensive use of the Borough facilities at the Europa Centre and Hornchurch Sports Complex.The new Performing Arts College includes Music, Drama, Dance and recording facilities.

Arts

The School is widely recognised for its Arts Mark with hundreds of pupils on the waiting list. Auditions are also held for students who wish to enter the school as a Performing Arts Student.The School holds exceptional shows all year round. The most noted one has to be the Christmas Event with a phenomenal range of talent revealed.

In 2006 the school held the musical "Bugsy Malone" in were talent scouts attend and claimed that the version of the play was indeed superior to the one performed in the local Theatre - Queen's Theatre, Hornchurch. In the year following the school put up the popular musical "Grease" in which the Michelle Antrobus the Runner-up of "Grease is The Word" attend. Its most recent performance in 2008 was the famous The Wizard of Oz, which had a fantastic cast and live music from a selected orchestra.

Abbs Cross Music Department has a Dance Band that has played for H.M Queen Elizabeth II at the Romford Market, Tony Blair and Ruth Kelly at the Guildhall in London, Heritage Concerts at the Queen Theatre Hornchurch for the Mayor of Havering and was a Dome Performer for the Year 2000 at the Millennium Dome,Greenwich

The School also holds its popular Arts Week in the summer in which the school timetable is suspended for a week in order for activities such trips to West End theatres and workshops take place.

Alumni

* Alex Jennings
* Bob Neill
* Rob Lee

The school is to hold a Jubilee Anniversary party in September 2008 (50th Anniversary)

References

* From: 'Hornchurch: Education and charities', A History of the County of Essex: Volume 7 (1978), pp. 51-55. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=42814. Date accessed: 24 January 2008.

External links

* [http://www.abbscross.havering.sch.uk/ Web site]
* at Ofsted