Thomas Bennett Community College

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Thomas Bennett Community College (TBCC) is a maintained comprehensive secondary school for pupils aged 11 to 18. It caters for around 1400 pupils in years 7 to 13, including nearly 200 in its sixth form. It is now a sports college

1 Location
2 History
3 Organisation
4 External links

[edit] Location

The school is located in the Tilgate neighbourhood of Crawley, West Sussex. Its campus adjoins the A23 and Tilgate Forest.

Ashdown Drive, Crawley, West Sussex, RH10 5AD

[edit] History

The school was planned as part of the development of Crawley as a new town in the late 1940s. Originally it had been intended to open a grammar school and two secondary modern schools on the Tilgate campus, although by the time the school was built, this plan was changed to provide for a comprehensive secondary school for boys and girls.

The school was named for the chairman of the development corporation which had overseen the development of the new town, Sir Thomas Bennett. It was officially opened by him in 1959. The original school was comprised of three main buildings at opposite ends of the campus. Facilities were provided at the adjoining Ashdown and Southgate buildings, with a further building - known as Canterbury building - approximately 1/4 mile to the south-east. Uses of the buildings varied. In the 1970s, the Canterbury building was used for 'lower school' pupils in the first two years of school, with 'upper school' pupils in fourth and fifth forms moving to Southgate building, and sixth formers based in Ashdown building. By the 1990s, pupils in the main part of the school were split equally between Canterbury and Southgate buildings, depending on their house.

In 2005, a new school opened in the centre of the campus, with the old buildings being demolished. The school is now based on a single site, with all pupils sharing the building.

[edit] Organisation

The school is organised into four houses, named for the original house masters when the school opened in the 1950s, each of which was allocated a colour: