Hundred of Hoo School
Encyclopedia
The Hundred of Hoo School is a comprehensive secondary school
located in the Hoo Peninsula
, in the village of Hoo
in Kent
, England
.
The school provides standard secondary education as well as offering advanced media facilities. The complex also includes a nursery
, a conference centre and sports centre. The school holds specialist Arts College
status. It has over 1,600 students. Starts at 8:30 and ends at 2:
55. The lessons are 1 hour long.
Hundreds and the parish of Hoo St Werburgh
, in which the village is located. Each parish was expected to provide 100 soldiers for the King in Saxon times. Its secondary school now provides education for over 1,700 boys and girls aged 11–19. The village of Hoo is one of half a dozen on the Isle of Grain
, on the Hoo Peninsula
situated between the Thames and Medway
. It is also close to Strood
, Rochester, Chatham
, Gillingham
and Rainham (the Medway Towns), which have a population of over 250,000, due to expand significantly in the future as part of the Thames Gateway
.
Medway Council is a Unitary Authority with 19 secondary schools (17 from the academic year 2009/10 due to the opening of an academy). The school draws its students mainly from the Hoo Peninsula, which is part rural and part semi-rural, and the Medway Towns, particularly Strood
. Its intake is broadly comprehensive.
In 1992 the Hundred of Hoo School and Hoo Middle School, on adjacent sites, merged as one into the existing buildings. Much additional building work has occurred since, providing the school with good specialist facilities and social areas for each year group, including a large Sixth Form
common room. An examination hall/exhibition/meeting venue, called the Morris Poole Examination Suite is able to accommodate up to 350 examinees or an audience of 600+. Each learning area has an ICT Suite. Specialist Drama and Media provision is to a high standard.
A Media Centre, built from the Specialist Schools funding for Media Arts (Special people's School Status achieved September 2004), was completed during 2005-2006. The school has also used the Lottery Funding to provide artificial pitches opened in January 2007.
In June 2009, in anticipation of an application to then named Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) for Trust status the school become partnered with the Sir Joseph Williamson Mathematical School in Rochester, a grammar school rated as "outstanding" by Ofsted. The substantive head of the Math School, Dr Gary Holden, became The Hundred of Hoo's Executive Principal and in October 2009 following a period of time as Acting Headteacher, Kevin Mahon was appointed substantive Head of School. By June 2010 the school had been confirmed as a National Challenge Trust School and a new Governing Body was in the process of being formed.
The school was to have four monitoring visits by a team of HMIs. By the first, the lead inspector declared the school to have made "satisfactory progress". In October 2010 at the conclusion of the fourth Monitoring Visit by HMI, the inspecting team led by Robert Ellis declared themselves satisfied that the school no longer required Special Measures.
The school's leadership team has been significantly changed with new external appointments being added to a few longer serving members of staff. Under the leadership of Dr Gary Holden and Kevin Mahon the school will be re-organised in to four Learning Communities similar to the traditional 'House' system in many schools. The Senior Leadership Team comprises four Heads of Community, two of whom were existing members of staff. Mrs Gaynor Black (Teaching and Learning) and Mr Gary Vyse (Pupil Progress) lead two communities. Two new appointments - Ms Cheryl Hall (Curriculum) and Matthew Tate (Pastoral) complete the tier. They each are helped in their role by an Assistant Head of Community - Mrs Lesley Nixon, Ms Emma Elwin, Mrs Jo Whittmann and Mr Gary Squires respectively. These Assistant Heads also line-manage the subjects through a Faculty system.
The total SLT also includes Mrs Lorraine Mottram (Human Resources), Mrs Jackie Baker (Inclusion), Mr John Keeley (Community and Specialism), and Mrs Julie Freeman (Business Manager). Lately, membership of the SLT has been enhanced by imaginative appointments using the talent within and outside of the school. Mr Alex Bolton who, in 2010 was nominated "Teacher of the Year" in Kent and Medway, and Ms Michelle Marshall were appointed after interview to be Associates. The work of the team was further developed by the appointment of Mr Stephen Lea as Consultant Leader. Mr Lea combines his role at Hoo with that of ICT adviser for Medway schools. The school's staff have been further strengthened by the appointment of Ms Gill Robinson, another adviser with the local authority,as Consultant Leader for Maths and is deployed in a similar arrangement to Mr Lea.
In the public examination results of summer 2010, the school experienced some improvement. The National Challenge baseline threshold of 30% was exceeded when 33% of the cohort left with 5 GCSEs including English and Maths at grade A*-C and 100% of the year group left with at least one GCSE. This in an improvement on 2009 where 25% achieved this but is well below national(53%) and local(54%) averages
In late June 2011, the school attracted further bad press, after the head of school Kevin Mahon was suspended after a 'leadership crisis' and general bad management. It was also reported that there is an allegation that staff had physically assaulted children.
Secondary school
Secondary school is a term used to describe an educational institution where the final stage of schooling, known as secondary education and usually compulsory up to a specified age, takes place...
located in the Hoo Peninsula
Hoo Peninsula
The Hoo Peninsula is a peninsula in England separating the estuaries of the rivers Thames and Medway. It is dominated by a line of sand and clay hills, surrounded by an extensive area of marshland composed of alluvial silt. The name Hoo is the Old English word for spur of land.-History:The Romans...
, in the village of Hoo
Hoo
Hoo is used in placenames in the east of England to indicate coastal peninsulas and promontories. It appears in:* Fort Hoo, a fort on an island in the River Medway, Kent* Hoo St Werburgh and Cliffe-at-Hoo on the Hoo Peninsula in Kent* Hoo, Suffolk...
in Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
.
The school provides standard secondary education as well as offering advanced media facilities. The complex also includes a nursery
Nursery school
A nursery school is a school for children between the ages of one and five years, staffed by suitably qualified and other professionals who encourage and supervise educational play rather than simply providing childcare...
, a conference centre and sports centre. The school holds specialist Arts College
Arts College
Arts Colleges were introduced in 1997 as part of the now defunct Specialist Schools Programme in the United Kingdom. The system enabled secondary schools to specialise in certain fields, in this case, the performing, visual and/or media arts...
status. It has over 1,600 students. Starts at 8:30 and ends at 2:
55. The lessons are 1 hour long.
History of the school
Opened in 1956-1957, the Hundred of Hoo is named after the SaxonAnglo-Saxons
Anglo-Saxon is a term used by historians to designate the Germanic tribes who invaded and settled the south and east of Great Britain beginning in the early 5th century AD, and the period from their creation of the English nation to the Norman conquest. The Anglo-Saxon Era denotes the period of...
Hundreds and the parish of Hoo St Werburgh
Hoo St Werburgh
Hoo St Werburgh is one of several villages on the Hoo Peninsula in Kent, England, to bear the name Hoo. It constitutes a civil parish in the borough of Medway, with a population of 7,356 at the 2001 census.- History :...
, in which the village is located. Each parish was expected to provide 100 soldiers for the King in Saxon times. Its secondary school now provides education for over 1,700 boys and girls aged 11–19. The village of Hoo is one of half a dozen on the Isle of Grain
Isle of Grain
The Isle of Grain, in the north of Kent, England, is the easternmost point of the Hoo Peninsula. No longer an island, the Isle is almost all marshland and the Grain Marshes are an important habitat for birdlife...
, on the Hoo Peninsula
Hoo Peninsula
The Hoo Peninsula is a peninsula in England separating the estuaries of the rivers Thames and Medway. It is dominated by a line of sand and clay hills, surrounded by an extensive area of marshland composed of alluvial silt. The name Hoo is the Old English word for spur of land.-History:The Romans...
situated between the Thames and Medway
Medway
Medway is a conurbation and unitary authority in South East England. The Unitary Authority was formed in 1998 when the City of Rochester-upon-Medway amalgamated with Gillingham Borough Council and part of Kent County Council to form Medway Council, a unitary authority independent of Kent County...
. It is also close to Strood
Strood
Strood is a town in the unitary authority of Medway in South East England. It is part of the ceremonial county of Kent. It lies on the north west bank of the River Medway at its lowest bridging point, and is part of the Rochester post town....
, Rochester, Chatham
Chatham, Medway
Chatham is one of the Medway towns located within the Medway unitary authority, in North Kent, in South East England.Although the dockyard has long been closed and is now being redeveloped into a business and residential community as well as a museum featuring the famous submarine, HMS Ocelot,...
, Gillingham
Gillingham, Kent
Gillingham is a town in the unitary authority of Medway in South East England. It is part of the ceremonial county of Kent. The town includes the settlements of Brompton, Hempstead, Rainham, Rainham Mark and Twydall....
and Rainham (the Medway Towns), which have a population of over 250,000, due to expand significantly in the future as part of the Thames Gateway
Thames Gateway
The Thames Gateway is an area of land stretching east from inner east London on both sides of the River Thames and the Thames Estuary. The area, which includes much brownfield land, has been designated a national priority for urban regeneration, taking advantage of the development opportunities...
.
Medway Council is a Unitary Authority with 19 secondary schools (17 from the academic year 2009/10 due to the opening of an academy). The school draws its students mainly from the Hoo Peninsula, which is part rural and part semi-rural, and the Medway Towns, particularly Strood
Strood
Strood is a town in the unitary authority of Medway in South East England. It is part of the ceremonial county of Kent. It lies on the north west bank of the River Medway at its lowest bridging point, and is part of the Rochester post town....
. Its intake is broadly comprehensive.
In 1992 the Hundred of Hoo School and Hoo Middle School, on adjacent sites, merged as one into the existing buildings. Much additional building work has occurred since, providing the school with good specialist facilities and social areas for each year group, including a large Sixth Form
Sixth form
In the education systems of England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, and of Commonwealth West Indian countries such as Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago, Belize, Jamaica and Malta, the sixth form is the final two years of secondary education, where students, usually sixteen to eighteen years of age,...
common room. An examination hall/exhibition/meeting venue, called the Morris Poole Examination Suite is able to accommodate up to 350 examinees or an audience of 600+. Each learning area has an ICT Suite. Specialist Drama and Media provision is to a high standard.
A Media Centre, built from the Specialist Schools funding for Media Arts (Special people's School Status achieved September 2004), was completed during 2005-2006. The school has also used the Lottery Funding to provide artificial pitches opened in January 2007.
The present
Over a significant period, the school's external examination results have been below national norms and in 2009 only 25% of the school's Year 11 cohort had left with five GCSEs which also included English and Maths. These results were lower than the statutory target of 30% and as a result of its inability to achieve this standard the school was identified as being in danger of closure and in need of a government intervention it was therefore designated as a "National Challenge School". The school was inspected in April 2009 and as a result was judged to be "Inadequate" and in need of "Special Measures". The inspector report stating that the school's standards were "exceptionally low". The Governing Body was stepped down and in its place an Interim Executive Board led by Dr Peter Clough of the DCSF was appointed to oversee the transition to Trust status.In June 2009, in anticipation of an application to then named Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) for Trust status the school become partnered with the Sir Joseph Williamson Mathematical School in Rochester, a grammar school rated as "outstanding" by Ofsted. The substantive head of the Math School, Dr Gary Holden, became The Hundred of Hoo's Executive Principal and in October 2009 following a period of time as Acting Headteacher, Kevin Mahon was appointed substantive Head of School. By June 2010 the school had been confirmed as a National Challenge Trust School and a new Governing Body was in the process of being formed.
The school was to have four monitoring visits by a team of HMIs. By the first, the lead inspector declared the school to have made "satisfactory progress". In October 2010 at the conclusion of the fourth Monitoring Visit by HMI, the inspecting team led by Robert Ellis declared themselves satisfied that the school no longer required Special Measures.
The school's leadership team has been significantly changed with new external appointments being added to a few longer serving members of staff. Under the leadership of Dr Gary Holden and Kevin Mahon the school will be re-organised in to four Learning Communities similar to the traditional 'House' system in many schools. The Senior Leadership Team comprises four Heads of Community, two of whom were existing members of staff. Mrs Gaynor Black (Teaching and Learning) and Mr Gary Vyse (Pupil Progress) lead two communities. Two new appointments - Ms Cheryl Hall (Curriculum) and Matthew Tate (Pastoral) complete the tier. They each are helped in their role by an Assistant Head of Community - Mrs Lesley Nixon, Ms Emma Elwin, Mrs Jo Whittmann and Mr Gary Squires respectively. These Assistant Heads also line-manage the subjects through a Faculty system.
The total SLT also includes Mrs Lorraine Mottram (Human Resources), Mrs Jackie Baker (Inclusion), Mr John Keeley (Community and Specialism), and Mrs Julie Freeman (Business Manager). Lately, membership of the SLT has been enhanced by imaginative appointments using the talent within and outside of the school. Mr Alex Bolton who, in 2010 was nominated "Teacher of the Year" in Kent and Medway, and Ms Michelle Marshall were appointed after interview to be Associates. The work of the team was further developed by the appointment of Mr Stephen Lea as Consultant Leader. Mr Lea combines his role at Hoo with that of ICT adviser for Medway schools. The school's staff have been further strengthened by the appointment of Ms Gill Robinson, another adviser with the local authority,as Consultant Leader for Maths and is deployed in a similar arrangement to Mr Lea.
In the public examination results of summer 2010, the school experienced some improvement. The National Challenge baseline threshold of 30% was exceeded when 33% of the cohort left with 5 GCSEs including English and Maths at grade A*-C and 100% of the year group left with at least one GCSE. This in an improvement on 2009 where 25% achieved this but is well below national(53%) and local(54%) averages
Shows and Productions
The school puts on productions each year, usually the genre being a musical. The school presents many productions including "Strut: Fashion Show" which donates all profits to charity, "Hoo's Got Talent", a show usually shown at The Central Theatre/The Brook Theatre, Chatham, Kent and their Christmas show.Controversy
In 2011 the school attracted press coverage following allegations of a relationship between Mark Spendley, a teacher at the school and Sirisha Chhibber, a former student.In late June 2011, the school attracted further bad press, after the head of school Kevin Mahon was suspended after a 'leadership crisis' and general bad management. It was also reported that there is an allegation that staff had physically assaulted children.