Witchford Village College

Witchford Village College (sometimes abbreviated to W.V.C.) is a secondary school in the village of Witchford. Currently, over 850 students, aged 11 to 16, and approximately 30 teachers. The current head teacher is David Taylor.

About the college

Witchford Village College is described as a good school with outstanding features following the recent Ofsted Inspection in January 2010.

Some of its characteristics include:

• A house system - Students are placed in one of four houses in which competitive activities can take place between houses.

• Year bands, with Years 7 & 8 banded together to provide support for new fledglings to the college.

Catchment area

 

Witchford College serves students living predominantly in South East Cambridgeshire, especially those who live in:

• Aldreth
• Coveney
• Ely
• Haddenham
• Little Downham
• Littleport
• Little Thetford
• Mepal
• Sutton
• Soham
• Stretham
• Wardy Hill
• Wilburton
• Witcham
• Witchford

Student facilities

 

The college offers many facilities for students not only for learning, but for help with certain personal issues, such as bullying.

Out of school hours learning (OSHL)

 

Students have access to after-school clubs on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, the college provides a late bus for the students to travel home on after the normal school buses have departed. Many of these clubs are sports clubs, for students to represent the school in sports such as football, rugby union, and netball. Revision sessions for various subjects take place as well.

Student support services (S3)

 

S3 is a room which students can talk to 'friendly' adults and school prefects about problems, be it in college or outside, and they can be sorted out. If the students are being bullied or need advice but do not want to talk to an adult about it, they are free to talk to a student in year 11 from the 'Here to Hear' group.

Netherhall School

The Netherhall School and Sixth Form Centre is a secondary school and sixth form in the Queen Edith ward of Cambridge, England. Its logo is the crest of Cambridge. It is one of the largest schools in the area in terms of capacity. Feeder primary schools include Queen Edith, Cherry Hinton Juniors, Fawcett, The Spinney, Morley Memorial, and Colville. It serves the south and east of Cambridge as well as villages which have become considered suburbs such as Cherry Hinton, Teversham, Fulbourn, Great Shelford, Little Shelford and Trumpington.

 

The school

The school is divided into the Sixth Form (Years 12-13), Upper School (Years 10-11) and Lower School (Years 7-9) on Queen Edith's Way. The Upper school site was previously separate from the Lower School site, however after several years of planning they have now been amalgamated on the previous Upper School site. Netherhall has been awarded Specialist Sports College status allowing access to extra government funding, roughly one million pounds over six years at the time of its status being granted.

The school also boasts a sixth-form college teaching a range of subjects at AS and A-level, the sixth form's results have been continuously improving over the last few years and in 2010 recorded a 97% pass rate - one of the highest in the region.

Sport

 

Extracurricular sport includes rugby, football, netball, trampolining, table tennis,triathlon,rounders,hockey and athletics

Facts and figures

 

The Headteacher is Caroline McKenney, who succeeded Mr. Williams in January 2007.

There are over 1,500 students in The Netherhall School and Sixth Form Centre.

21% of students achieve at least one A* and A grade. However the number of students achieving 5 A*-C grade is at 89%. Many Students go on to the local sixth form colleges Hills Road Sixth Form College, Long Road Sixth Form College or the vocational college Cambridge Regional College. Some continue on in the Netherhall Sixth Form Centre. Netherhall remains as one of the top schools in Cambridge.

Swavesey Village College

Swavesey Village College is a village college in the village of Swavesey in south Cambridgeshire. As of 2010 the school has around 1,200 students. The school was officially opened on 14 November 1958. As of 2010 the principal is Martin Bacon.

The school is divided into five "houses", all named after influential people in history:

• Brunel - House colour is red
• Orwell - House colour is blue
• Newton - House colour is green
• Wilberforce - House colour is Purple
• Cavendish - House colour is debatable. Usually a paler purple or blue.

The school has an intake from many surrounding villages including Bar Hill, Over, Longstanton, Fenstanton, Fen Drayton, Hilton, Papworth Everard, Boxworth, Elsworth, Lolworth and Willingham.

On 11 June 2008, Swavesey Village College became a foundation school within the Swavesey Village College Educational Trust. The school is also a Specialist Science College and a Specialist Modern Foreign Languages College.

On 1 April 2011, Swavesey Village College became an academy.

St Peter's School, Huntingdon

St Peter's is a secondary school in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire. It was founded in 1870, and in 2005 was granted specialist status for Mathematics and Computing.

The range of courses available to students has recently been increased, including multiple GCSEs and diplomas. One example is the "ICT diploma", which is the equivalent to 7 GCSE's The diploma was taken by many students in 2009.

St. Neots Community College

St. Neots Community College is a specialist performing arts college which serves students between the ages of 11 and 18. The name of this school was originally 'Ernulf Community College', but in September 2004 the school changed its name when it gained Specialist school status. The school became Cambridgeshire's first 11 - 18 Specialist Performing Arts College. The college is one of two schools within St Neots, Longsands College being the other. The school in May 2009 was put under special measures but as of March 2011 they were classed by Ofsted as a "Satisfactory school with good and outstanding features". The school in now partnered with Longsands College as part of the LLP. Following a consultation the school will become an academy from September 1st 2011 and will be renamed Ernulf Academy.

  

About

St Neots Community College was the first 11-18 Specialist Arts College in Cambridgeshire. On September 1, 2004 the college relaunched with its new name. The specialist subjects are Drama, Media and Music. Together with Art these subjects form the Performing Arts Team. Examination results in these areas are excellent.

However, the exam results for these are marred by the fact that only about 50% of students get 5 A*-C grades at GCSE each year, compared to 70% in most other local schools. This can be accounted for by the fact that the school takes in more disabled students (who may have learning difficulties, and either way often seem to get lower grades) than average. Unfortunately, the school tends to get poor OFSTED reports - it last got 'satisfactory' overall, with a few 'good' ratings in the Sixth Form only, and 'poor' behaviour but now the school is improving . The school has strong links with its local area special school Samuel Pepys enabling pupils to integrate with their mainstream peers during their post 16 education. Mr E Forrester became Principal of the school in September 2007 and left in 2010 with the school on special measures.

Notable students

• Terry Wiles, (1962– ) thalidomide baby and the subject of the book and film On Giant's Shoulders.

Special measures

In March 2009 the school was inspected by Ofsted and placed in special measures. The Principal, Mr Forester, has since resigned. The headmaster knew that the school would be put under special measures and introduced long-term plans. Ofsted are to return once a month until they come out of special measures.

Latest OFSTED reports have shown considerable improvements in key areas. SNCC has now entered into a federation with Longsands College in St Neots which will, hopefully, see more improvements in the management of the school.

In September 2010, St Neots Community College was partnered with Longsands College as part of the Longsands Learning Partnership (LLP). Robert Whatmough is now executive principle of both schools.

On 10th March 2011, St Neots Community College was officially out of Special Measures and has been described by Ofsted as a "Satisfactory school with good and outstanding features."

Aurora computer services

In December 2008, Aurora approached SNCC to take part in ground breaking research for face recognition, into the educational sector. It is a plan to see more reliable ways of attendance & to see if the system will work with teenagers.

They have installed one clock-face unit to monitor the arrival of all 160 6th form students. The project will run from January 2009 to July 2009.

St Ivo School

St Ivo School is a secondary school in St. Ives, Cambridgeshire.

  

Awards

ICT MARK - this award shows that St Ivo is at the forefront of using information and communication technology to enhance teaching and learning. The new quality mark recognises schools who can demonstrate they use ICT to support all learners and all school activities. The ICT Mark is awarded by Becta, the governments lead agency for ICT in education, and recognises the success that St Ivo has in developing a strategic approach to its use of ICT across the whole school.

ARTSMARK SILVER AWARD - This award aims to recognise the work done in departments such as dance, drama, music and art. Artsmark schools are committed to giving young people a wide range of arts experiences both in the classroom and in after school clubs, and to provide visits or partnerships with artists and arts organisations.

EUROPEAN AWARD FOR LANGUAGES 2006 WINNER - This award recognises creative ways to improve the quality of language teaching, motivate students and make the best of available resources. Award-winning projects provide a potential source of inspiration for others, in different languages, contexts and even different countries, and have an international dimension. St Ivo School has received this award as part of our participation in the Junior CULP - Cambridge University Language Programme, which enables students to learn a new language through intensive all day and twilight sessions, which are held at either the university or school.

Specialist status

St Ivo School – A Specialist Humanities College

In September 2008 St Ivo School was designated a Specialist Humanities School.

Comic relief 2009

In 2009, the whole school made a tremendous effort to "do something funny for money." Many students had sponsored silences, handcuffed themselves to each other and dressed up as many recognisable characters. One notable student, Tom Bletsoe, raised £509.43 by impersonating deputy headteacher Martin McGarry, who, in turn, wore school uniform. The school raised over £2,000 from these events and from having a non-school uniform day.

Notable alumni

• Leanne Jones: Lead role (Tracy Turnblad) in Hairspray - West End
• Karen Burke (Now Karen Drury): Author of The Jem Star.
• Emily Deeker: star of BBC News Channel
• Dominic Byrne: The Chris Moyles Show, BBC Radio 1
• Paul Clammer: author of Lonely Planet guide to Afghanistan
• Spencer Smith: Big Brother 3 Contestant
• Christian Wingate: Author of The Shades Of Another World: When Evil Rises
• John Ruddy: Norwich City Goalkeeper
• Paul Moseley: BBC Journalist
• Annemarie Wright: Artist
• Alan May: Internet radio presenter www.6towns.co.uk
• James Long: Lord of the Long estate, Worth 17 Billion (£)
• Professor Richard Evershed, Professor of Chemistry at Bristol University
• Scott Barron: Norwich City F.C. Footballer
• Professor Richard Evershed, Professor of Chemistry at Bristol University

St Bede's Inter-Church School

St Bedes Inter-Church School with Humanities Status (formerly St Bedes Inter-Church Comprehensive School) is the only Christian state secondary school in Cambridgeshire. It is predominantly funded by the Cambridgeshire County Council Local Education Authority with support from both the Roman Catholic Diocese of East Anglia and Anglican Diocese of Ely. The school currently has around 750 pupils and around 50 staff.

  

History

St Bede's opened in 1962 as a small Roman Catholic secondary school housed in one central building, under the leadership of headmaster K.G. Kent and around 18 nuns teaching and running the school. Over the years, the school began to admit students from other Christian denominations, notably the Anglican Church. In the light of the increasing ecumenical co-operation between the Roman Catholic and Anglican churches the school was closed, re-opening in 1988 as a joint Catholic/Anglican foundation, St Bedes Inter-Church Comprehensive School, retaining most of the original staff, including the nuns, but with a new management. Gradually, the nuns disappeared, the last two leaving the school in 2001.

Since then the school has expanded and additional buildings have been added; first a technology block, housing Food Technology, Textiles Technology and Design Technology, although now also hosts Information Technology; then the St Etheldreda block, a suite of 12 general-purpose classrooms (the "B Block") in 1995. Three science laboratories were refurbished in 2001; in 2003, four new English classrooms, a purpose built drama and dance studio and purpose built music rooms were added and in 2005 a state of the art Sports Hall including teaching rooms and tennis courts brought the school to its present state. However, due to the increasing popularity and expansion of the school the site continued to need mobile classrooms to cope with the demand for teaching space. The latest £4m development began in August 2008, aiming to replace all mobile classrooms with six teaching rooms, two new art rooms and a digital media centre, a chaplaincy and more refurbished science labs. These include the latest developments such as geothermal heating and wireless internet access. The new Art and Chaplaincy building has been conntected to the technology and English/music/drama building to create one large building which can be walked through when raining; covered walkways will be added between the main block and "B" block, the only building which now stands alone.

It was originally two-form entry, with a total of 300 students, 60 in each year group. In response to increasing popularity and over-subscription it has gradually grown, the final stage of planned growth taking place between 2003 & 2007 when it grew from four-form to five-form entry.

In 2004 the school had its last full OFSTED inspection, and was designated as mainly satisfactory, but served with notice to improve subjects such as music and food technology.

The school gained Humanities Specialist Status in September 2005 with History as the lead subject and Geography/Religious Education in support. This has meant increased funding for those departments, providing them with two extra teachers and new resources. In 2009 the school was invited to apply for a second specialism in light of the school's success in the Humanities department. The choice was Maths & Computing: the Maths department had previously been nominated as a consultant Maths department.

The school's 2007 OFSTED inspection judged it to be "a good school with outstanding features". However RE, Resistant Materials and ICT were noted to have lower achievement than other subjects in the school. After the inspection, Resistant Materials lost its status as an independent subject and, in 2008, new heads of department were appointed for RE and ICT.

In 2011, the school was re-inspected by OFSTED and designated as Outstanding in all areas except behaviour and overall quality of teaching, which it was advised to improve.

Mission statement

 

"To create and sustain, with God's help, a learning, caring and serving community where all people are valued for who they are and for who they may become in the light of Jesus Christ."

School prayer

 

"Lord, Guide us as we strive for wisdom and lead us into the ways of peace. Make our hearts strong and true, our words gentle and understanding, our actions loving and just. Help our school to be a place of nurture and growth for disciples in Christ. Amen"

Soham Village College

Soham Village College is a state secondary school with specialist Foundation Technology College and Language College status in Soham, Cambridgeshire, England. It has around 1350 students, aged 11 to 16. It has a wide catchment area which does not include Ely, although some students from Ely and the neighbouring villages attend the school. The college is split over two adjacent sites, Beechurst (formerly a large house) and Lodeside, built more recently.

The School is controlled by Cambridgeshire LEA.

  

History

The College has its origins in the Soham Free School, established in 1686. The School became known as the Soham Grammar School from 1878 and occupied a site on Churchgate Street. In 1925 the Grammar School moved to Beechurst House, located on Sand Street. Beechurst House (built in 1901) was formerly the home of the late Newmarket jockey, Charles Morbey. The Grammar School took boys aged 11-18 from surrounding villages, and was also home to a few weekly boarders.

The name Soham Village College comes from the former secondary modern style Village College which was established in 1958. The original village college took boys and girls between the ages of 11 and 15, and was built on a 17-acre (69,000 m²) site next to the Soham Lode known as Moat Fields. The village college system was the brainchild of Henry Morris, the Chief Education Officer at Cambridgeshire County Council. The College was officially opened by the Baronet and MP Sir Edward Boyle, a former Minister for Education. Morris's emphasis was on a community based establishment, and indeed the College was equipped with a public library and a youth leader.

The present day village college came into being in 1972 when the modern co-educational Village College merged with the long-established Grammar School. The merger was a direct result of the government raising the school-leaving age to 16.

Throughout the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s building work was carried out under the headships of A.E. Lawrence (between 1972 and 1985) and Dr. A.W. Bullock (between 1985 and 1999). This included the construction of the Ross Peers Sports Centre, a music block, and a science and technology block.

In 1993 the village college gained grant maintained status. This allowed for generous donations, such as the funds donated in the mid 1990s by Simon Gibson for the extension to the Mathematics and English departments (known as the Gibson Block in his honour).

In June 1998 the 'M Block', which contains science, humanities, ICT and languages rooms, was opened by Princess Margaret.

In August 2002 the school became infamous as the place where double child killer Ian Huntley worked as school caretaker. Clothing from the murdered children was found on the school grounds, leading to Huntley's arrest and eventual conviction in the Soham Murders case. Huntley's house on the school site, and the storage hangar where the clothing was found, were both later demolished.

Academic reputation

In the school's 2010 public exam results, 73% achieved at least 5 grade A-C GCSEs. The school still attracts many students from many schools both within and outside the catchment area. Many students have the opportunity to take extracurricular GCSE's, including Astronomy, Society Health & Development, Italian and Spanish.

However, students wishing to continue onto sixth form studies must change schools, usually attending establishments in nearby Ely or Cambridge.

  

New and Future Developments

---

New Inclusion Facility

 

In April 2010 the 'The Lode Centre' was refurbished to incorporates an new inclusion facility and is now known as 'The ISLE'. The centre will continue to house the Youth Development Team as well as being used for after school clubs.

Academy Status

 

As of 7th December 2010, the school governors voted unanimously to convert the school into an academy. A meeting was held with parents, who generally received this well. A final decision was announced on 30th January 2011. On 2nd February, the school announced that it would go forward with the conversion. The school will become an academy as of 1st April 2011.

New Performing Arts Block

 

On 6th April 2010, the school began the construction of a new Performing Arts Centre. It will be used for lessons (and activities) in music, dance and drama. The centre was finished in mid-2011 and opened by Ian Lavender on the 3rd November 2011.

Proposed New Sixth Form and College Green

 

During April 2010, East Cambridgeshire District Council issued the final draft of the Soham Masterplan Vision, a proposed improvement/redevelopment of the town over the next 20 years. The plan included a Sixth Form college and a new college green. The Sixth Form would be built at the current location of Soham's playing fields and the College green would be in-between St Andrew's C of E Primary, the new Performing Arts Centre and Beechurst.

New Multi-Purpose Tennis Courts

 

From January 2011 the Construction of new State of the Art Tennis Courts began to replace the original tennis courts which were demolished in order for the new Performing Arts block to be Built. They were built on what was Lodeside Playground and Opened in March 2011.

Awards

The Village College holds many awards. Currently it is a Foundation College with specialist status in technology and languages. The College has also been awarded the Artsmark - Bronze Award, International School Award, School Achievement Award, Sport England SportsMark Award, Basic Skills Quality Mark and Becta ICT Mark for Excellence in ICT.

The students are also awarded many different forms of awards for various achievements by the school, such as outstanding attendance, distinctive progression, and extra-curricular activities out of school such as sport. Scarlet ties are awarded to students who excell within sport, whether that be dedication to school teams or county sport participation, Emerald ties are awarded to those who are dedicated to the school's performing arts or county-level performing organisations. Tri-coloured ties are awarded to those within either the performing arts or sports at a national level.

Catchment area

 

The school has a wide catchment area, owing to its rural location. Students come mainly from the following areas:

• Soham
• Barway
• Wicken
• Fordham
• Isleham
• Chippenham
• Snailwell
• Kennett
• Burwell

However, some students come from other nearby settlements outside of the catchment area including:

• Stuntney
• Ely
• Littleport
• Newmarket
• Little Downham
• Witchford
• Stretham
• Wilburton
• Haddenham

The principal feeder primary schools are:

• St Andrew's C of E Primary (Soham)
• The Weatheralls (Soham)
• Fordham C of E Primary
• Isleham C of E Primary
• Kennett Primary
• Burwell Village College (Primary)
• Ely St. Johns (Primary)
• Ely St. Mary's (Primary)

50th Anniversary Celebrations (1958-2008)

 

A weekend of celebrations was staged to mark the 50th anniversary of Soham Village College. Between the 23rd and 25th of January 2009, displays of memorabilia and personal souvenirs provided a chronological account of past events and life at the Village College.

Sir Harry Smith Community College

Sir Harry Smith Community College is a secondary school in Whittlesey, Cambridgeshire. Opened in 1954 on the former site of the Whittlesea Workhouse, which was demolished in the 1930s, the College is named after 19th Century English Army General Sir Harry Smith who was born in Whittlesey, and whose grave is situated in the cemetery adjacent to the school. The college specialises in science and mathematics.

The school was noted for its racing car project, headed by Mr. Kneeshaw, who, with a team of mechanics, built a biofuel car to be entered into the 2008 Silverstone 24 hour race.

The school raised over £1400 in 2008 for 'Children in Need' and broke the world record for the largest number of people doing the Conga at once, beating the previous record by 10 people. During Children In Need the previous year, the school broke the world record for the most people performing the children's song, Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes.

After headteacher Michael Sandeman left in 2007, former teacher Laurie Richards temporarily took the role until the end of the 2007-2008 academic year. In September 2008, he retired after over 40 years at the school and former deputy head of nearby Ramsey Abbey School Jonathan Digby was appointed.

Additions and Improvements

 

Throughout the 1990s and 2000s, many improvements and extensions were made to the school's DT, Music, Drama, P.E. and English blocks. On 14 May 2009, the new 'Laurie Richards Community Centre' opened. In recent times a special support unit named after Eastenders actor David Proud, who attended the school, has also been added.

Plans for major refurbishment of most of the school are part of the Fenland Building Schools for the Future scheme. Detailed plans were submitted to Cambridgeshire County Council in February 2011. They include a large extension to accommodate classrooms and Supportive Skills rooms, a modern, glass-walled eatery and a new Drama Studio on the front of the main building. Other alterations are to be carried out inside, such as the creation of new science laborotories, seminar rooms, and the refurbishment of some existing classrooms. A large overhaul of the heating and electrics is planned too.

Work commenced in August 2011, beginning with the relocation of two mobile units. In early September the caretaker's house was demolished to make room for the contractor's site compound. The site will eventually provide extra car parking. Construction of the new classroom block began shortly after, followed by the refurbishment of four classrooms in late October. These rooms were relocated to mobile classrooms on the playground. In November, the cycle sheds were moved and a new block paving entrance path formed.

Notable Former Students

• Micky Gynn, FA cup winning footballer
• David Proud, Former Eastenders Actor, after whom the school's SEN suite is named

Sawtry Community College

Sawtry Community College is a Maths and Computing specialist, located in Sawtry, Cambridgeshire. There are 1402 pupils on the roll. (2007 Ofsted Inspection report figure).

Current management

The principal is currently Mr James Stewart. There is an additional Vice Principal, 3 deputy principals and 3 assistant principals.

Tutoring System

 

The school made a discussion to change to a Vertical Tutoring System in 2009. The school is now split into 2 schools, St Andrews and St Judith. St Andrews and St Judith is then split into 6 houses: Royce, Sinclair, Keynes, Darwin, Eliot and Clarkson. The houses are separated into the schools as shown in the table below.

Sawtry Community College
St Andrews			St Judith
Royce	Sinclair	Keynes	Darwin	Eliot	Clarkson

Colours Royce - Sinclair Keynes - Purple Darwin - Red Eliot Clarkson - Yellow

Sawston Village College

Sawston Village College, the first community college in the country and the first Village College, was founded in 1930 and realised the vision of Henry Morris, then Secretary of Education for Cambridgeshire.

In 1924, Henry Morris wrote a ‘Memorandum on the Provision of Education and Social Facilities for the Countryside, with Special Reference to Cambridgeshire’. In his memorandum, Morris avowed that:

• the village college would be ‘the community centre of the neighbourhood’;
• ‘it would not only be the training ground for the art of living, but the place in which life is lived’;
• ‘the village college could lie athwart the daily lives of the community it served; and in it the conditions would be realised under which education would not be an escape from reality, but an enrichment and transformation of it.’

Morris’s vision of a school indivisible from its community still holds true today at Sawston, his first village college. Its 1060 pupils aged 11 – 16 share the campus with adults who come to the college for a range of purposes, educational, social, leisure and sporting. The college has a partnership for community education and the arts: the Broadening Education Partnership, and a community sports centre that has 900 members.

The college also has the only youth-led cinema in the country. Its pupils take responsibility for the function of the cinema – front of house, projection, business planning, for example – offering regular screenings to the local community.

Feeder schools

Children from the following schools generally start attending Sawston Village College at age 11:

• Duxford Primary School;
• Bellbird School, Sawston;
• Icknield Primary School, Sawston;
• Great and Little Shelford Primary School;
• Stapleford Primary School; and
• William Westley Primary School, Whittlesford.
• Babraham CofE Primary School

Destinations

 

Students continuing in Further Education beyond 16 generally attend one of the following:

• Cambridge Regional College;
• Hills Road Sixth Form College;
• Impington Village College;
• Long Road Sixth Form College;
• Netherhall School.

Parkside Community College

Parkside Community College is a state secondary school with 600 places for children aged 11–16, situated in Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England. It is part of the Parkside Federation, along with Coleridge Community College.

  

Admissions

The college has two specialities as an Arts College and Language College. The College is situated in the centre of the city, north of Parker's Piece. It is now a member of the Parkside Federation along with Coleridge Community College under Principal Andrew Hutchinson. Parkside was the first school to be designated a specialist media arts college in 1997, under the UK government's specialist schools programme. It has developed a second specialism in Modern Foreign Languages. Although called a 'community college', it is neither a community school nor a College but has had Foundation status since 2003.

It is situated east of the A603 and next to the main Cambridge Parkside police station and the National Express coach stops. It is east of Emmanuel College, Cambridge.

History

The long history of the school is related in An Epoch-Making School, by former Deputy Principal Rosemary Gardiner (1983), which presents the transformations of the school from its origin as the Higher Grade Schools in Melbourne Place (1913), through its successive incarnations as the Central School for Boys and Girls and then Cambridge Grammar School for Girls.

  

Research work

Its work as a specialist media arts college has been documented in a number of research studies by staff at the school. These include studies of an extensive primary school animation project (e.g. Burn and Parker, 2001), run in conjunction with the Cambridge Film Consortium, a group composed of Anglia Ruskin University, City Screen (an Arts cinema chain), the Cambridge Film Festival, and Parkside itself.

The most recent and comprehensive account of the school’s media work, giving examples of work in digital video, computer games, animation, and television drama, as well as work across the curriculum, is provided in Burn and Durran’s Media Literacy in Schools (2007).

On 1 December 2008, the Nova 9 helium balloon took two space-suited teddies close to the edge of space from the grounds of Churchill College, Cambridge. The space suits were designed by 11-13 year olds at the school. The journey took just over two hours. The teddies descended back to Earth and landed near Ipswich, being located by GPS equipment.

  

Academic performance

It gets well above average results at GCSE - the best for state schools in Cambridge. With around 60 state schools nationwide, the school plans to offer the IGCSE especially in science subjects, largely prompted by the scientists among its pupils' parents.

Melbourn Village College

Melbourn Village College is an Academy, located in Melbourn, Cambridgeshire, England that serves an extensive area of South Cambridgeshire. The school has over 500 students aged 11-16.

  

Village College

A Village College is an institution specific to Cambridgeshire. It caters for the education of 11 to 16 year olds during the day, and provides educational and leisure facilities to adults out of school hours.

Academics

 

Since September 2002, Melbourn Village College has been a specialist Performing Arts College with Music, Drama and Dance as its specialisms.

In its report on its 6 October 2005 inspection, Ofsted rated the school Good, point two on a four point scale saying "Melbourn Village College is a good school with some outstanding features. The college is well viewed by its students and their parents, and with just cause."

The following components were rated Outstanding:

• How well does the school work in partnership with others to promote learners' well-being
• How good is the overall personal development and well-being of the

learners

• How well are learners cared for, guided and supported
• How well equality of opportunity is promoted and discrimination tackled so that all learners achieve as well as they can
• How effectively and efficiently resources are deployed to achieve value for money

In 2006 59% of students obtained 5 or more A*-C GCSEs including English and mathematics, rising to 63% if those two subjects are excluded.

Adult Education

 

Melbourn Village College offers a wide range of Community Education, with lots of classes in the Arts. Melbourn College is an Arts School which receives extra funding for the arts, textiles and drama etc. and

Funding

 

In January 2000 the Secondary Heads Association used this school as an example of the disparity of funding between local authorities. If the school had been in Hertfordshire, two miles away, it would have received £359,000 more for its students. By November 2005 the school was £148,814 in debt.

Notable staff

 

In 1998 Judith Mullen, then warden of the College, was appointed president of the Secondary Heads Association.

In April 2006 Nicola Dunklin, a teaching assistant, set up the South Cambridgeshire branch of the charity, Friends of Chernobyl's Children.

Notable alumni

• Luke Chadwick, professional football player

Longsands College

Longsands is a coeducational secondary school in the town of St. Neots, Cambridgeshire, England. It offers state funded education.

  

History

Longsands College was opened in September 1960 as "Longsands School", a Secondary Modern, under its original headmaster Harold K Whiting assisted by Deputy Head Mr Denny and Head Mistress Miss K C Flowerdew. The school's original four houses were: Rutherford (after Physicist Ernest Rutherford), Britten (after composer Benjamin Britten), Eliot (after poet Thomas Stearns Eliot) and Moore (after sculptor Henry Moore).

When opened the school had four years. The 1st year was streamed into 1E, 1A, 1S, and 1T, 2nd year 2N, 2O, 2R, 2T and 2H, 3rd year 3S, 3O, 3U, 3T, 3H and 4th year 4W, 4E, 4S, 4T. The use of the letters of the cardinal points of the compass being a way of partially disguising which classes were streamed the highest. The 5th year was started in 1961 for those pupils staying on beyond school leaving age (then 15) who were taking the GCE at O level.

Subsequently, Longsands became a Comprehensive School. Prior to around 1998, it went by the name "Longsands Community College". The school used to be a technology specialist. In August 2011 Longsands College was renamed to Longsands Academy, as Longsands came a Academy.

Linton Village College

Linton Village College is a comprehensive Community College with foundation and Business and Enterprise College status in Linton, South Cambridgeshire.

Feeder schools

From the ages of 4 to 11, pupils are educated at their local village primary schools. Traditionally, these are:

• Burrough Green Endowed C of E (Controlled) Primary School
• Castle Camps C of E (Controlled) Primary School
• Great Abington Primary School
• Linton Heights Junior School
• Meadow Community Primary School, Balsham

Histon and Impington

Histon and Impington are villages in Cambridgeshire, England, They are situated just north of Cambridge with the main bulk of the settlements being separated from the city by the A14 road (Great Britain).
Over the years the two villages have grown and entwined together, to such an extent that many villagers today do not know where one ends and the other begins. They contain a combined total of six pubs. They have a Nursery, Infants', Junior, and Secondary school. The International Whaling Commission is based in Impington, whilst the East of England Development Agency is based in Histon, and the village is also the location of the radio station Heart 103 (formerly Q103), which covers Cambridge, Ely, Newmarket, Huntingdon and Royston and is part of GCap Media. Impington is also the home of Histon Football Club, and their Bridge Road ground. The club currently plays in the Football Conference.

The names Histon and Impington are probably of Saxon origin as both end in ton.

Histon

Suggestions for meanings of this name include: "farmstead of the young warriors" or "landing place". However, the latter of these is unlikely as Histon is situated above the floodline. The likely origin of the name is from the two Saxon/Old English words hyse and tun – hyse meaning "a young man or warrior", and tun meaning "house or farm". The village name has survived relatively unchanged since the writing of the Domesday Book when it was recorded as Histone.



Impington

This is most likely to mean "farmstead or place of the Empings"; the Empings were a 6th century Saxon tribe that lived in the area, Its name has been recorded in various guises throughout its history, in the Domesday Book it was recorded as Epintone, but it has also been recorded as Empinton, Ympiton, Impinton, Hinpinton and Impynton, before it became known as we know it today.
  

Histon and Impington Infants School

This was built in 1912 with the land and money being given by John Chivers and was opened in 1913 for all children of the villages from eight to fourteen. It became a primary school in 1939 with the opening of Impington college, and an infants a while after the opening of the junior school, on the green.

Histon and Impington Junior School

This school was opened in 1970 but it was not until mid-to-late 1970s that it was enlarged to become the junior school. Until then, the two Histon and Impington schools had the same head teacher, who had to cycle from school to school every day The new junior school was built on the village green and was at first just four classrooms, two for each of years 3 and 4 (ages 9-11), when the first pupils attended. It was opened in January 1972. Pupils first went to the old junior school in the morning, packed a box of their things from their desks and then were walked up to the new junior school.

Hinchingbrooke School

Hinchingbrooke School is a large school situated on the outskirts of Huntingdon in Cambridgeshire. Originally all of the surrounding land—including what is now Huntingdon Town—comprised the grounds of Hinchingbrooke House. In fact, the Town was given the name "Huntingdon" as the owners of the house were known for hosting magnificent hunting parties. There is still an avenue of trees leading from the start of Hinchingbrooke House towards the town, which was the old entranceway through the grounds. It is now a comprehensive school.

History

Hinchingbrooke School was founded as Huntingdon Grammar School in 1565. Among its pupils in its early history were Oliver Cromwell and Samuel Pepys.

At the beginning of the 20th century the school began admitting girls as well as boys, and by the 1960s was admitting about 90 pupils per year.

On 1 September 1939 it opened in a new building on Brampton Road—the same day that war broke out. In 1970 the school began to take pupils of all abilities and soon became fully comprehensive. At the same time the school changed its name and above moved to new premises in Hinchingbrooke Park and the renovated Hinchingbrooke House.

In 1992 the former Grammar School buildings were closed and the school was united on a single site in Hinchingbrooke Park. Shortly after, the old 'lower school' building was severely damaged in a major fire and was subsequently demolished.In the school, there are four houses: Cromwell, Montagu, Pepys and Vesey.Each year the four houses compete for the house cup in both academic and sporting competitions.

In 2006 Hinchingbrooke School became a Specialist Sports College.The current headteacher Keith Nancekievill joined the school from Gosforth High School in 2003.

Comberton Village College

Comberton Village College is a secondary school in Comberton.

Comberton Village College was opened in 1960. As a Cambridgeshire Village College, it was designed to be a centre for the life of its community and to provide quality education for pupils aged between 11 and 16.

In 1974, the school became fully comprehensive and, in April 1993, it became grant-maintained. It changed to a Foundation School and has recently become a Foundation School with a Trust: the recently formed Comberton Educational Trust. The pupil roll is 1369 and rising while over 2,000 adults use the college for a wide range of continuing education and leisure activities. A £7 million building programme was completed in 2003 that significantly enhanced a range of the school's facilities, including major new leisure facilities. A further £4 million building project is now underway to provide further specialist teaching and learning facilities across a range of subject areas ready for use in September 2009.

The school has recently been granted a presumption to open a new Sixth Form due to its high-performing status. Capital funding from the Learning and Skills Council has been secured to build the required new facilities for the agreed new 350-place Sixth Form. This is now set to open in September 2011. It will offer a strong suite of academic courses across the subject areas as well as applied courses. This development will then enable students from Comberton to complete their sixth-form studies as well as providing opportunities for students from other local schools.

The new SiXth Form Building was opened by Sir David Bell,permanent secretary for the Department for Education on June 14, 2011. Comberton Village College will offer the AQA Baccalaureate desired by many Russell Group universities which requires students to complete an extended project as well as general studies and ‘critical thinking’ elements in addition to their A-Levels.

The school is now in discussion with both the DCSF and Cambridgeshire Local Authority about the possibility of opening a new branch of the school at the nearby developing community of Cambourne, part of the school's catchment area. This will provide further opportunities for new quality educational provision in the local area. It will be overseen by the new Comberton Educational Trust.

As of 24 June 2010, the school has been invited by Education secretary Michael Gove to become one of the UK's first 'Free Schools' and as a result would be classified as an 'Academy'. The school announced its intention to convert to academy status on September 28, 2010.