Waddesdon Church of England School
Encyclopedia
Waddesdon Church of England School is a mixed secondary school in the village of Waddesdon
, in Buckinghamshire
. In September 2011 the school became an Academy.. It takes children from the age of 11 through to the age of 18 and has approximately 950 pupils, including a sixth form
of approximately 200 students.
It is a Church of England
school and is the only CofE secondary school in Buckinghamshire. It is administered by the Oxford Diocese
.
The school was opened in July 1962 with about 200 students. It was built on land from the Waddesdon Manor
estate, which was donated by Dorothy de Rothschild
. The school maintains a close relationship with the Rothschild family
and the school badge combines the five arrows from the Rothschild coat of arms with the Christian symbol of the cross.
Ofsted
has judged the school to be "outstanding" on three successive inspections, and the school is included in Ofsted's outstanding providers list.
Waddesdon School was awarded Beacon school
status in September 1998 and this was renewed in March 2001. The Beacon Schools programme was phased out in 2005 and was replaced with the Leading Edge Partnership programme. In September 2004, Waddesdon became the lead school in the Aylesbury Vale
Leading Edge Partnership, which also included The Grange School
and Quarrendon School.
In September 2003 the school was awarded specialist school
status as a Visual Arts College
, by the Department for Education and Skills (DfES). In December 2007 the school was awarded a second specialism in Mathematics and Computing
.
Since September 2006, Waddesdon has been part of the Buckingham School Sports Partnership. The partnership is led by the Buckingham School
, which has specialist
Sports College
status, and also includes the Cottesloe
and Royal Latin
secondary schools, as well as about forty local primary schools. Waddesdon School also has Sportsmark
status from Sport England
, recognising its PE and games provision.
which bisects the village. It adjoins the Waddesdon Estate and open countryside.
Over the years the school has grown significantly and various buildings have been added or refurbished to meet the school's needs. The main buildings date from the original opening of the school in 1962. They contain the school hall, library
, canteen and drama
studios, as well as a variety of classrooms and school offices. The science
labs are contained in the Parker building. The Dorothy de Rothschild building, which was opened by Lord and Lady Rothschild in 1999, houses the school's Maths
and Information and Communication Technology
(ICT) departments, and is now the home of the Maths & Computing
specialism. The Thorp building is named after the Reverend Tom Thorp, a former Chairman of Governors, who died in office in 2003. The building was officially opened in 2005 and named in his memory. It includes a teaching block that houses the Modern Languages department, a suite of art
studios and a sports hall. In 2007 the school added a new all-weather pitch to its sports facilities. The sports facilities were named the "The Alan Armstrong Sports Complex" in honour of the outgoing headteacher and former PE
teacher.
In year 12 students are invited to volunteer to carry out senior student roles. A head boy
, a head girl, and their respective deputies are elected by their peers as the collective Heads of School. About thirty students, from those who volunteered, are selected to serve as prefects.
and included in their initial list of sixty eight National Leaders of Education. Mr Armstrong retired at Easter 2007.
in Oxfordshire
, and had also worked in several local schools, including Aylesbury Grammar School
, Bicester Community College
and Lord Williams's School
in Thame
.
Waddesdon
Waddesdon is a village within the Aylesbury Vale district in Buckinghamshire, England, 6 miles from Aylesbury on the A41 road. The centre of a civil parish, including the hamlets of Eythrope, Wormstone and Woodham, Waddesdon was an agricultural settlement with milling, silk weaving and lace making...
, in Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan home county in South East England. The county town is Aylesbury, the largest town in the ceremonial county is Milton Keynes and largest town in the non-metropolitan county is High Wycombe....
. In September 2011 the school became an Academy.. It takes children from the age of 11 through to the age of 18 and has approximately 950 pupils, including a 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,...
of approximately 200 students.
It is a Church of England
Church of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
school and is the only CofE secondary school in Buckinghamshire. It is administered by the Oxford Diocese
Diocese of Oxford
-History:The Diocese of Oxford was created in 1541 out of part of the Diocese of Lincoln.In 1836 the Archdeaconry of Berkshire was transferred from the Diocese of Salisbury to Oxford...
.
The school was opened in July 1962 with about 200 students. It was built on land from the Waddesdon Manor
Waddesdon Manor
Waddesdon Manor is a country house in the village of Waddesdon, in Buckinghamshire, England. The house was built in the Neo-Renaissance style of a French château between 1874 and 1889 for Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild . Since this was the preferred style of the Rothschilds it became also known as...
estate, which was donated by Dorothy de Rothschild
Dorothy de Rothschild
Dorothy de Rothschild was an English philanthropist and activist for Jewish affairs who married into the Rothschild international financial dynasty....
. The school maintains a close relationship with the Rothschild family
Rothschild family
The Rothschild family , known as The House of Rothschild, or more simply as the Rothschilds, is a Jewish-German family that established European banking and finance houses starting in the late 18th century...
and the school badge combines the five arrows from the Rothschild coat of arms with the Christian symbol of the cross.
Ofsted
Office for Standards in Education
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 ....
has judged the school to be "outstanding" on three successive inspections, and the school is included in Ofsted's outstanding providers list.
Waddesdon School was awarded Beacon school
Beacon School
Beacon School was a government designation awarded to outstanding primary and secondary schools in England and Wales from 1998 to August 2005. The Beacon Schools programme identified schools that were examples of good practice and funded those schools to enable them to build partnerships with each...
status in September 1998 and this was renewed in March 2001. The Beacon Schools programme was phased out in 2005 and was replaced with the Leading Edge Partnership programme. In September 2004, Waddesdon became the lead school in the Aylesbury Vale
Aylesbury Vale
The Aylesbury Vale is a large area of flat land mostly in Buckinghamshire, England. Its boundary is marked by Milton Keynes to the north, Leighton Buzzard and the Chiltern Hills to the east and south, Thame to the south and Bicester and Brackley to the west.The vale is named after Aylesbury, the...
Leading Edge Partnership, which also included The Grange School
The Grange School, Aylesbury
The Grange School is a co-educational secondary school in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire.It is a community school, which takes children from the age of 11 through to the age of 18. The school has approximately 1250 pupils....
and Quarrendon School.
In September 2003 the school was awarded specialist school
Specialist school
The specialist schools programme was a UK government initiative which encouraged secondary schools in England to specialise in certain areas of the curriculum to boost achievement. The Specialist Schools and Academies Trust was responsible for the delivery of the programme...
status as a Visual 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...
, by the Department for Education and Skills (DfES). In December 2007 the school was awarded a second specialism in Mathematics and Computing
Mathematics and Computing College
Mathematics and Computing Colleges were introduced in England in 2002 as part of the Government's Specialist Schools Programme which was designed to raise standards in secondary education. Specialist schools focus specifically on their chosen specialism but must also meet the requirements of the...
.
Since September 2006, Waddesdon has been part of the Buckingham School Sports Partnership. The partnership is led by the Buckingham School
Buckingham School
Buckingham School is a co-educational secondary school in Buckingham, Buckinghamshire, United Kingdom.It is a community school, which takes children from the age of 11 through to the age of 18. The school has approximately 1000 pupils....
, which has specialist
Specialist school
The specialist schools programme was a UK government initiative which encouraged secondary schools in England to specialise in certain areas of the curriculum to boost achievement. The Specialist Schools and Academies Trust was responsible for the delivery of the programme...
Sports College
Sports College
Sports Colleges were introduced in 1997 as part of the Specialist Schools Programme in the United Kingdom. The system enables secondary schools to specialise in certain fields, in this case, PE, sports and dance. Schools that successfully apply to the Specialist Schools Trust and become Sports...
status, and also includes the Cottesloe
Cottesloe School
-About the School:The Cottesloe School, formerly known as Wing County Secondary School, is a co-educational secondary school located on the outskirts of Wing, Buckinghamshire. It occupies a very large rural site with views of the countryside in one direction and overlooking Wing village and its...
and Royal Latin
Royal Latin School
The Royal Latin School is a co-educational grammar school in Buckingham, England. In September 2011 the school became an Academy.. It takes children from the age of 11 through to the age of 18 and has over 1260 pupils, including a sixth form of 390 pupils. It maintains a staff of over 160...
secondary schools, as well as about forty local primary schools. Waddesdon School also has Sportsmark
Sportsmark
Sportsmark is Sport England's accreditation scheme for secondary schools. The scheme recognises a school's out of hours sports provision.Sportsmark awards are given to secondary schools for provision for sport and physical education. They are currently being reviewed along with Activemark awards...
status from Sport England
Sport England
Sport England is the brand name for the English Sports Council and is a non-departmental public body under the Department for Culture, Media and Sport...
, recognising its PE and games provision.
School site
The school is located on the edge of Waddesdon, away from the A41 roadA41 road
The A41 is a formerly-major trunk road in England that links London and Birkenhead, although it has now largely been superseded by motorways. It passes through or near various towns and cities including Watford, Hemel Hempstead, Aylesbury, Solihull, Birmingham, West Bromwich, Wolverhampton,...
which bisects the village. It adjoins the Waddesdon Estate and open countryside.
Over the years the school has grown significantly and various buildings have been added or refurbished to meet the school's needs. The main buildings date from the original opening of the school in 1962. They contain the school hall, library
Library
In a traditional sense, a library is a large collection of books, and can refer to the place in which the collection is housed. Today, the term can refer to any collection, including digital sources, resources, and services...
, canteen and drama
Drama
Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. The term comes from a Greek word meaning "action" , which is derived from "to do","to act" . The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes collaborative modes of production and a...
studios, as well as a variety of classrooms and school offices. The science
Science
Science is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe...
labs are contained in the Parker building. The Dorothy de Rothschild building, which was opened by Lord and Lady Rothschild in 1999, houses the school's Maths
Mathematics
Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...
and Information and Communication Technology
ICT (education)
Information and communication technologies in education deal with the use of information and communication technologies within educational technology.-Purpose:...
(ICT) departments, and is now the home of the Maths & Computing
Mathematics and Computing College
Mathematics and Computing Colleges were introduced in England in 2002 as part of the Government's Specialist Schools Programme which was designed to raise standards in secondary education. Specialist schools focus specifically on their chosen specialism but must also meet the requirements of the...
specialism. The Thorp building is named after the Reverend Tom Thorp, a former Chairman of Governors, who died in office in 2003. The building was officially opened in 2005 and named in his memory. It includes a teaching block that houses the Modern Languages department, a suite of art
Art
Art is the product or process of deliberately arranging items in a way that influences and affects one or more of the senses, emotions, and intellect....
studios and a sports hall. In 2007 the school added a new all-weather pitch to its sports facilities. The sports facilities were named the "The Alan Armstrong Sports Complex" in honour of the outgoing headteacher and former PE
Physical education
Physical education or gymnastics is a course taken during primary and secondary education that encourages psychomotor learning in a play or movement exploration setting....
teacher.
Facilities
The following facilities are available for students at Waddesdon Church of England School:- The Sixth Form Common Room: This has been designed with relaxation in mind; Perfect for R&R periods.
- Sixth Form Study Centre: The Study Centre is equipped with computers, wireless internet access and provide a quiet atmosphere for independent study.
- The Cedars Restaurant: Open at breaktimes and before school, The Cedars provides meals and snacks.
- Information Technology: The ICT department in the Rothschild building is open throughout the day, including sessions before and after school.
- Science: the Science dpeartmnet has 7 laboratories, 4 of which have recently been refurbished to a very high standard.
- Digital Art and Music Technology: Both subjects have dedicated ICT facilities equipped with Apple Mac computers.
- Physical Education: The PE department is housed in the Thorp Building and comprises a large sports hall, fitness and weights room, and floodlit Astroturf.
Houses
In 1963, shortly after its opening, the school introduced a house system, with four houses competing against each other in sports and academic endeavours. The four houses were called Courtney, Lipscomb, Dixon and Goodwin. The house system was discontinued in 2001, in favour of a system focused on year groups. This new arrangement still retains the previous competitions, but they are now solely between the forms within each year group.Year groups
The school promotes a learning culture based on year groups. Each year group focuses on a specific learning target. Each year group also has their own title, colour and motto in order to create a year group identity. The details are as follows:| Year Group | Title | Colour | Target | Motto |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year 7 | The Waddesdon Way | Green | Organisation | "Treat others with dignity and respect" |
| Year 8 | Aim Higher | Sky Blue | The acquisition of knowledge and Life skills | "The sky’s the limit" |
| Year 9 | Within the Community | Red | Sharing knowledge | "Take an active part" |
| Year 10 | Responsibility and Reality | Purple | Time Management | "I can and I care" |
| Year 11 | Run the race : the final lap | Gold | Self-assessment | "Go for PB (Personal Best)" |
Student roles
The school has a Student Council which includes an elected representative from each form and members of the school's senior management team.In year 12 students are invited to volunteer to carry out senior student roles. A head boy
Head boy
Head Boy and Head Girl are terms commonly used in the British education system, and in private schools throughout the Commonwealth.-United Kingdom:...
, a head girl, and their respective deputies are elected by their peers as the collective Heads of School. About thirty students, from those who volunteered, are selected to serve as prefects.
Alan Armstrong (1985-2007)
Alan Armstrong joined the school in 1985, and led it for twenty two years. During that time the school increased in size and added a sixth form. The school was adjudged to be "outstanding" in three successive Ofsted reports, and repeatedly improved its exam results. Mr Armstrong and Waddesdon School also supported other local schools, particularly the Grange and Quarrendon schools. In 2006 he was identified as an outstanding leader by the National College for School LeadershipNational College for School Leadership
The National College for Leadership of Schools and Children's Services is a British government-funded non-departmental public body which offers head teachers, school leaders and senior children's services leaders opportunities for professional leadership development.- History :Established in 2000...
and included in their initial list of sixty eight National Leaders of Education. Mr Armstrong retired at Easter 2007.
Peter Norman (2007-present)
Peter Norman joined the school in 2007. He had previously been the headteacher of The Warriner School, BloxhamThe Warriner School, Bloxham
The Warriner School is a secondary school which opened in 1971 and is situated on the Bloxham Road in Bloxham, Oxfordshire. The school has 1,114 pupils in the 11–16 range. It has Technology College status and serves the villages in the northern half of the Cherwell District...
in Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire is a county in the South East region of England, bordering on Warwickshire and Northamptonshire , Buckinghamshire , Berkshire , Wiltshire and Gloucestershire ....
, and had also worked in several local schools, including Aylesbury Grammar School
Aylesbury Grammar School
Aylesbury Grammar School is a single-sex male grammar school in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, England, which educates 1,250 pupils.-Admissions:As a selective state school, its entry requirements are dictated by the exam taken at the age of 10-11...
, Bicester Community College
Bicester Community College
Bicester Community College is a mixed, multi-heritage, comprehensive school, with around 1200 students and has been a Government-designated specialist Technology College since 1998...
and Lord Williams's School
Lord Williams's School
Lord Williams's School is a co-educational secondary school in Thame, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom. It is a comprehensive school, which takes children from the age of 11 through to the age of 18...
in Thame
Thame
Thame is a town and civil parish in Oxfordshire, about southwest of the Buckinghamshire town of Aylesbury. It derives its toponym from the River Thame which flows past the north side of the town....
.
Partner Schools
Waddesdon Church of England School has very strong links with the local community and works with the following partner schools:- Waddesdon Village Primary School
- Whitchurch Combined School
- Grendon Underwood Combined School
- Westcott Church of England School
- Quainton Church of England Combined School
- Haddenham St Mary's Church of England School
- The Buckingham SchoolBuckingham SchoolBuckingham School is a co-educational secondary school in Buckingham, Buckinghamshire, United Kingdom.It is a community school, which takes children from the age of 11 through to the age of 18. The school has approximately 1000 pupils....
- John Colet SchoolJohn Colet SchoolThe John Colet School is a co-educational secondary school in Wendover, Buckinghamshire, England. In August 2011 the school became an Academy....
- Blueprint
- The Grange SchoolThe Grange School, AylesburyThe Grange School is a co-educational secondary school in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire.It is a community school, which takes children from the age of 11 through to the age of 18. The school has approximately 1250 pupils....
- Aylesbury Vale Academy