Sidney Stringer School
Encyclopedia
Sidney Stringer School specialises in Mathematics & Computing and is a coeducational (mixed) community college for pupils aged 11 – 18 in Hillfields
, Coventry
, England
.
The school was formed in from the merger of two secondary modern schools - Frederick Bird on Swan Lane (became a primary school) and Broad Heath on Broad Street. It was one of the first Community Colleges in the 1980s and one of the first Technology College
s in the 1990s.
The school was named after Alderman Sidney Stringer, a former mayor of Coventry who dedicated himself to the rebuilding of the city after the devastation of the second world war. The school was Coventry’s expression of commitment to one of its poorest communities, very much in the spirit of Sidney Stringer’s own vision of hope and renewal.
Thus was created a school with a unique ethos – that of a school which the community felt belonged to them. This attachment to the school has never wavered, despite some difficult times in the 1980s and early 1990s when hardship, deprivation and crime were all too common features of the local area.
Today the school serves a bustling area, close to the city centre with the most diverse population of any in the city. Numbers of students on roll, which fell to an all-time low of around 670 in the 1990s, have risen rapidly in recent years and the school is oversubscribed in some year groups.
Students enjoy their time at school and they say that they feel very much part of a family. The development of the school as the Sidney Stringer Academy will be an exciting new phase in the evolution of the school, still at the heart of its community.
The school has been a Specialist School for Mathematics and Computing since 2004. Contextual value added
scores show the school as having one of the highest value added scores at Key Stage 3 and 4 of any secondary maintained school in Coventry and Warwickshire. In Mathematics, the school has been in the top 0% or 1% over the last three years. Investment in ICT has been high over recent years. Over 300 new computers have been installed in the new buildings. There are now ten ICT suites which are shared between ICT and Business with a substantial number of computers, as well as six laptop trolleys in key curriculum areas.
and the President Kennedy School and Community College
it forms the North West Federation of Schools, which are allowed to provide the International General Certificate of Secondary Education
English course to pupils at the school.
level are Mathematics, ICT (the school's strongest subject), art and design, and drama. Standards of pupil achievement at year 9 are well below the national average in English, the sciences, and mathematics.
2007 Examination Performance
Key Stage 3
English saw their best ever results showing a good improvement.
Performance in mathematics continues to be strong: the results are good when looking at the level of entry. This cohort of students had the lowest KS2 L5+ at 49% compared to any other cohort of students currently at the school. Therefore considering this lower starting point the subject still exceeded FFT B and D estimate.
Science continues to improve year on year. This year the conversion of 2 levels has improved greatly and although the results are below 60% they are still inline with FFT D estimates.
Key Stage 4
The progress is again good with all FFT B and D exceeded (5+ A – G, 5+ A – C, 5+ A – C including maths and English). The overall 5+ A* - C was just short of 40%
Key Stage 5
This year the points score improved despite a reduction in the %A-B grades from 52.9 to 36.1 and a drop in the number of entries from 104 in 2006 to 72 in 2007.
Other Improvements
The school has grown to its largest population (1200) for many years: a direct result of parental support. We feel we make a huge different to the educational chances of all the students who come here - as shown by our results.
CVA
Sidney Stringer has one of the highest CVA - Contextual Value Added
scores in the city. This is a new, complex Key Stage 2
to Key Stage 4
contextual value added (CVA) score designed to show the progress children have made. This is done by comparing their achievements with those of other pupils nationally who had the same or similar prior attainment in their test results at KS2 and KS3. It has one of the highest improvement rates in the country making their grade from year 7 to year 9 a whole two levels higher. In summer 2007, Sidney Stringer students produced their improved SATS, GCSE and A Level results. The SATs results in 2007 were the best ever for the school; GCSE results were up 11% on 2006 and 97% of A level students passed, with 48.4% of these passing with A or B grade – placing the school third in Coventry.
The school is also the location for various evening courses run by the Coventry Adult Education Service.
and in 2006 participated in the Motiv8
project.
Coventry Local Authority has decided that Sidney Stringer should become an Academy, opening in existing buildings in September 2010 and in new buildings the following year. The City Council is itself a major sponsor, together with the City (FE) College. The other two sponsors are Coventry University and Jaguar Cars. This unusual arrangement pays tribute to the school’s excellent record in providing for the education of local children, and is part of city plans for the regeneration of the city area of Hillfields – the Swanswell Regeneration Initiative. The formal consultation exercise undertaken in February 2008 revealed remarkable support for the school from the local community, with over 80% of respondents demanding that the name of the school remain the same: the sponsors agreed! The specialisms of the new school will be Mathematics, Design and Technology.
The new Sidney Stinger Academy will create many changes in the school. The academy will have five houses and also the uniform will be changed from green sweatshirts to black blazers and a tie, making the school look much smarter and creating the sign of a new start. The principal of the new academy will be Mrs Wendy Tomes.
Hillfields
Hillfields is a suburb of Coventry in the West Midlands of England. It is situated north of Coventry city centre, and has undergone a series of name changes throughout its history which has seen it change from a village, to a remote suburb, to a large postwar redevelopment zone.- History...
, Coventry
Coventry
Coventry is a city and metropolitan borough in the county of West Midlands in England. Coventry is the 9th largest city in England and the 11th largest in the United Kingdom. It is also the second largest city in the English Midlands, after Birmingham, with a population of 300,848, although...
, 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...
.
History
Sidney Stringer School opened in 1973 as the first urban community school in England. Its mission as a community school was to serve the whole population of the community, not just the children, through open access to educational provision and all facilities seven days a week, for most of the year. Learners of all ages worked together, and a crèche supported those adults with young children.The school was formed in from the merger of two secondary modern schools - Frederick Bird on Swan Lane (became a primary school) and Broad Heath on Broad Street. It was one of the first Community Colleges in the 1980s and one of the first Technology College
Technology College
Technology College is a term used in the United Kingdom for a secondary specialist school that focuses on design and technology, mathematics and science. These were the first type of specialist schools, beginning in 1994. In 2008 there were 598 Technology Colleges in England, of which 12 also...
s in the 1990s.
The school was named after Alderman Sidney Stringer, a former mayor of Coventry who dedicated himself to the rebuilding of the city after the devastation of the second world war. The school was Coventry’s expression of commitment to one of its poorest communities, very much in the spirit of Sidney Stringer’s own vision of hope and renewal.
Thus was created a school with a unique ethos – that of a school which the community felt belonged to them. This attachment to the school has never wavered, despite some difficult times in the 1980s and early 1990s when hardship, deprivation and crime were all too common features of the local area.
Today the school serves a bustling area, close to the city centre with the most diverse population of any in the city. Numbers of students on roll, which fell to an all-time low of around 670 in the 1990s, have risen rapidly in recent years and the school is oversubscribed in some year groups.
Students enjoy their time at school and they say that they feel very much part of a family. The development of the school as the Sidney Stringer Academy will be an exciting new phase in the evolution of the school, still at the heart of its community.
About the School
Sidney Stringer School is a well-established city centre school, which has long enjoyed popularity for its commitment to meeting the needs of a very diverse population of all students. The aim is to raise the expectations and achievements of every student whatever their needs, talents, strengths or weaknesses, by providing high quality inclusive education in every curriculum area. The school has grown rapidly in recent years and is now oversubscribed in two year groups and near capacity in others: the roll currently stands at 1180 with 148 in the sixth form.The school has been a Specialist School for Mathematics and Computing since 2004. Contextual value added
Contextual value added
Contextual value added is a statistic used by the government of the United Kingdom to assess the performance of schools.The statistic is intended to show the progress children have made whilst attending a particular school...
scores show the school as having one of the highest value added scores at Key Stage 3 and 4 of any secondary maintained school in Coventry and Warwickshire. In Mathematics, the school has been in the top 0% or 1% over the last three years. Investment in ICT has been high over recent years. Over 300 new computers have been installed in the new buildings. There are now ten ICT suites which are shared between ICT and Business with a substantial number of computers, as well as six laptop trolleys in key curriculum areas.
Ofsted
The 2006 Ofsted inspection gave the school an overall grade of good, and noted a high capacity for further improvement. Standards in the sixth form, progress in mathematics and racial harmony were described as outstanding.North West Federation
The school's headteacher is Wendy Tomes. Along with Barr's Hill School and Community CollegeBarr's Hill School
Barr's Hill School and Community College is a comprehensive secondary school in Radford, Coventry, England.-Admissions:Barr's Hill is situated on a spacious green field site just north of Coventry city centre on the B4098 , south of the Coventry-Nuneaton Line. The site of the former Jaguar factory...
and the President Kennedy School and Community College
President Kennedy School and Community College
President Kennedy School and Community College is a secondary school located in Coventry, England. President Kennedy was made a specialist Humanities College school by the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust in 2005. This brought significant financial investment and set tough targets for the...
it forms the North West Federation of Schools, which are allowed to provide the International General Certificate of Secondary Education
IGCSE
The International General Certificate of Secondary Education is an internationally recognised qualification for school students, typically in the 14–16 age group. It is similar to the GCSE in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, Standard Grade in Scotland or Junior Certificate in the Republic of...
English course to pupils at the school.
Academic Performance
The school works hard to ensure that students achieve their very best regardless of their starting point. Its best subjects at GCSEGeneral Certificate of Secondary Education
The General Certificate of Secondary Education is an academic qualification awarded in a specified subject, generally taken in a number of subjects by students aged 14–16 in secondary education in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and is equivalent to a Level 2 and Level 1 in Key Skills...
level are Mathematics, ICT (the school's strongest subject), art and design, and drama. Standards of pupil achievement at year 9 are well below the national average in English, the sciences, and mathematics.
2007 Examination Performance
Key Stage 3
English saw their best ever results showing a good improvement.
Performance in mathematics continues to be strong: the results are good when looking at the level of entry. This cohort of students had the lowest KS2 L5+ at 49% compared to any other cohort of students currently at the school. Therefore considering this lower starting point the subject still exceeded FFT B and D estimate.
Science continues to improve year on year. This year the conversion of 2 levels has improved greatly and although the results are below 60% they are still inline with FFT D estimates.
Key Stage 4
The progress is again good with all FFT B and D exceeded (5+ A – G, 5+ A – C, 5+ A – C including maths and English). The overall 5+ A* - C was just short of 40%
Key Stage 5
This year the points score improved despite a reduction in the %A-B grades from 52.9 to 36.1 and a drop in the number of entries from 104 in 2006 to 72 in 2007.
Other Improvements
The school has grown to its largest population (1200) for many years: a direct result of parental support. We feel we make a huge different to the educational chances of all the students who come here - as shown by our results.
CVA
Sidney Stringer has one of the highest CVA - Contextual Value Added
Contextual value added
Contextual value added is a statistic used by the government of the United Kingdom to assess the performance of schools.The statistic is intended to show the progress children have made whilst attending a particular school...
scores in the city. This is a new, complex Key Stage 2
Key Stage 2
Key Stage 2 is the legal term for the four years of schooling in maintained schools in England and Wales normally known as Year 3, Year 4, Year 5 and Year 6, when pupils are aged between 7 and 11. The term is applied differently in Northern Ireland where it refers to pupils in Year 5, Year 6 and...
to Key Stage 4
Key Stage 4
Key Stage 4 is the legal term for the two years of school education which incorporate GCSEs, and other exams, in maintained schools in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland—normally known as Year 10 and Year 11 in England and Wales, and Year 11 and Year 12 in Northern Ireland, when pupils are...
contextual value added (CVA) score designed to show the progress children have made. This is done by comparing their achievements with those of other pupils nationally who had the same or similar prior attainment in their test results at KS2 and KS3. It has one of the highest improvement rates in the country making their grade from year 7 to year 9 a whole two levels higher. In summer 2007, Sidney Stringer students produced their improved SATS, GCSE and A Level results. The SATs results in 2007 were the best ever for the school; GCSE results were up 11% on 2006 and 97% of A level students passed, with 48.4% of these passing with A or B grade – placing the school third in Coventry.
Local involvement
The school liaises with its feeder primary schools, with year 5 and 6 pupils from those schools attending Sidney Stringer to experience "taster" lessons. Other primary pupils make use of the school's ICT facilities, and teachers from Sidney Stringer run physical education clubs at the primary schools during lunchtimes.The school is also the location for various evening courses run by the Coventry Adult Education Service.
Charity work
The school holds displays to raise awareness of World Refugee DayWorld Refugee Day
World Refugee Day, observed June 20 each year, is dedicated to raising awareness of the situation of refugees throughout the world.- History :...
and in 2006 participated in the Motiv8
Motiv8
Motiv8, a pun on the word "motivate", may refer to:* Motiv 8, alias of Steve Rodway, a Eurodance producer and remixer* Motiv8 , a warez group* "Motiv8", a song by breakbeat hardcore duo Altern-8...
project.
Sidney Stringer Academy
In 2006, controversial plans to merge Sidney Stringer School with Barr's Hill School to form a city academy were dropped.Coventry Local Authority has decided that Sidney Stringer should become an Academy, opening in existing buildings in September 2010 and in new buildings the following year. The City Council is itself a major sponsor, together with the City (FE) College. The other two sponsors are Coventry University and Jaguar Cars. This unusual arrangement pays tribute to the school’s excellent record in providing for the education of local children, and is part of city plans for the regeneration of the city area of Hillfields – the Swanswell Regeneration Initiative. The formal consultation exercise undertaken in February 2008 revealed remarkable support for the school from the local community, with over 80% of respondents demanding that the name of the school remain the same: the sponsors agreed! The specialisms of the new school will be Mathematics, Design and Technology.
The new Sidney Stinger Academy will create many changes in the school. The academy will have five houses and also the uniform will be changed from green sweatshirts to black blazers and a tie, making the school look much smarter and creating the sign of a new start. The principal of the new academy will be Mrs Wendy Tomes.