Avon Valley College
Encyclopedia
Avon Valley College is a comprehensive school
in Durrington, Wiltshire
. Over its history it has been known as Durrington Senior School, Durrington Secondary Modern School, Durrington Comprehensive School and Upper Avon School.
in line with government policy. As the school grew in the 1950s a new site was built at the end of Recreation Road, at the north-eastern corner of the village, at a cost of £118,732. This new site opened on 7 September 1959, and the old site became Durrington Junior School. In the 1970s extensive new additions were made to the school buildings and in 1974 it officially became a comprehensive school. http://www.wiltshire.gov.uk/dirschool/getschool.php?id=190 Throughout its history the school has enjoyed limited academic success and went through a period of decline in the 1990s, culminating in it being placed in special measures in the year 2000 after a damning Ofsted
report http://archive.wiltshiretimes.co.uk/2000/11/30/230476.html. There was good news, however, when it had these measures lifted earlier than expected in 2002 http://www.wiltshiretimes.co.uk/news/archive/2002/03/07/Wiltshire+Archive/7356420.Upper_Avon__chuffed_to_bits_/ and the school has shown improvement in subsequent Ofsted reports.
. The percentage of students receiving 5 or more GCSE grades at A*-C was 33% in 2001, compared to the LEA
average of 55.5%. This then dropped to 30% in 2002 (LEA average 57%) before rising back to 33% in 2003 (LEA average 57.6%). In 2004 the percentage of students receiving 5 or more A*-C grades including Maths and English was 33% (LEA average 47.2%)http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/bsp/hi/education/04/school_tables/secondary_schools/html/865_4071.stm. In 2006 this percentage rose to 39%, but fell back to 30% in 2007, before rising again to 40% in 2008, then falling back again to 32% in 2009 http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/bsp/hi/education/09/school_tables/secondary_schools/html/865_4071.stm.
In 2010 the school scored its highest overall GCSE results yet, with 43% achieving five or more GCSEs including Maths and English at grades A*-C, however this still only ranks the school at 29th out of 34 in the LEA (excluding the three schools which do not offer GCSEs). It fared significantly worse in the Government's new English Baccalaureate requirements, achieving just 2% which puts it 31st out of 34. This suggests that the improvement in grades has been largely due to more students taking less academic subjects.http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/special/education/school_tables/secondary/10/html/865.stm
Comprehensive school
A comprehensive school is a state school that does not select its intake on the basis of academic achievement or aptitude. This is in contrast to the selective school system, where admission is restricted on the basis of a selection criteria. The term is commonly used in relation to the United...
in Durrington, Wiltshire
Durrington, Wiltshire
Durrington is a village and civil parish in Wiltshire, England. It is in the east of Salisbury Plain, about north of Salisbury, south of Swindon and northeast of Stonehenge...
. Over its history it has been known as Durrington Senior School, Durrington Secondary Modern School, Durrington Comprehensive School and Upper Avon School.
History
It was established in 1922 on a site in Bulford Road, and in 1944 it became a Secondary Modern SchoolSecondary modern school
A secondary modern school is a type of secondary school that existed in most of the United Kingdom from 1944 until the early 1970s, under the Tripartite System, and was designed for the majority of pupils - those who do not achieve scores in the top 25% of the eleven plus examination...
in line with government policy. As the school grew in the 1950s a new site was built at the end of Recreation Road, at the north-eastern corner of the village, at a cost of £118,732. This new site opened on 7 September 1959, and the old site became Durrington Junior School. In the 1970s extensive new additions were made to the school buildings and in 1974 it officially became a comprehensive school. http://www.wiltshire.gov.uk/dirschool/getschool.php?id=190 Throughout its history the school has enjoyed limited academic success and went through a period of decline in the 1990s, culminating in it being placed in special measures in the year 2000 after a damning Ofsted
Ofsted
The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills is the non-ministerial government department of Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Schools In England ....
report http://archive.wiltshiretimes.co.uk/2000/11/30/230476.html. There was good news, however, when it had these measures lifted earlier than expected in 2002 http://www.wiltshiretimes.co.uk/news/archive/2002/03/07/Wiltshire+Archive/7356420.Upper_Avon__chuffed_to_bits_/ and the school has shown improvement in subsequent Ofsted reports.
Results
Academic results for the past decade have been consistently amongst the lowest in WiltshireWiltshire
Wiltshire is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset, Somerset, Hampshire, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire. It contains the unitary authority of Swindon and covers...
. The percentage of students receiving 5 or more GCSE grades at A*-C was 33% in 2001, compared to the LEA
Local Education Authority
A local education authority is a local authority in England and Wales that has responsibility for education within its jurisdiction...
average of 55.5%. This then dropped to 30% in 2002 (LEA average 57%) before rising back to 33% in 2003 (LEA average 57.6%). In 2004 the percentage of students receiving 5 or more A*-C grades including Maths and English was 33% (LEA average 47.2%)http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/bsp/hi/education/04/school_tables/secondary_schools/html/865_4071.stm. In 2006 this percentage rose to 39%, but fell back to 30% in 2007, before rising again to 40% in 2008, then falling back again to 32% in 2009 http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/bsp/hi/education/09/school_tables/secondary_schools/html/865_4071.stm.
In 2010 the school scored its highest overall GCSE results yet, with 43% achieving five or more GCSEs including Maths and English at grades A*-C, however this still only ranks the school at 29th out of 34 in the LEA (excluding the three schools which do not offer GCSEs). It fared significantly worse in the Government's new English Baccalaureate requirements, achieving just 2% which puts it 31st out of 34. This suggests that the improvement in grades has been largely due to more students taking less academic subjects.http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/special/education/school_tables/secondary/10/html/865.stm
Historical
There were formerly three houses, each named after its respective head.| House | House colour |
|---|---|
| Martin | |
| Guest | |
| Owen |