Kennet Comprehensive School
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| Excellence through endeavour | |
| Established | 1957 |
| School type | Comprehensive |
| Headmaster | Mr. Paul G. Dick OBE |
| Specialisms | Technology College, Language College and Arts College statuses |
| Location | Thatcham, Berkshire, United Kingdom |
| LEA | West Berkshire |
| Enrolment | 2,000 total |
| Website | kennetschool.net |
Kennet Comprehensive School (IPA: [kɛnɛt kɒmpɹiːhɛnsɪv skuːl])) is a secondary school in Thatcham, Berkshire, UK. It is a state school run by the West Berkshire Education Authority and in 2006 it was the highest achieving comprehensive school in West Berkshire using contextual value-added results.[1] In the same year it was also rated as one of the highest achieving schools in England, ranking as the 101st best comprehensive in the Guardian's league table, based on A-level results[2] and 303rd based on GCSE results.[3]
It is also one of very few schools in England to have three specialisms, Technology College,[4] Arts College,[5] and most recently Language College.[6][7][8] The school was awarded the Challenge Award on 22 November 2006 as recognition for its efforts to support Able, Gifted and Talented students.[9]
The school opened on 11 September 1957 as a secondary modern, which then converted into a comprehensive in 1971. The school currently has 1,720 pupils on roll in years 7 to 11, 280 pupils attending VI form (years 12 and 13) with 121 teachers and 78 non-teaching staff. The headmaster is Mr. Dick OBE. It has facilities for disabled pupils and is the home of Mr. Allen, psychologist and historian.
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[edit] History
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This article or section contains information about expected future buildings or structures. It is likely to contain information of a speculative nature, and the content may change as building construction begins and new information becomes available. |
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Dates of importance:
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| July 1956 | Construction of school begins |
| September 1957 | School opened as a secondary modern school |
| July 1959 | Open air swimming pool built |
| September 1971 | Re-organised as co-educational comprehensive |
| December 1972 | Prince Phillip visits the school to see the Duke of Edinburgh award scheme |
| August 1973 | New Science block construction starts |
| April 1974 | New Science block opened |
| Spring 1974 | Humanities/English block construction starts |
| September 1974 | Humanities/English block opened |
| May 1981 | First Kennet Games |
| November 1983 | Sports hall named Hurford Hall in honour of George Hurford |
| November 1995 | School buries time capsule behind leisure centre |
| 1996 | Expanded Kennet Leisure Centre opened |
| September 1997 | Risman Library/History block opened |
| September 2000 | Designated a Technology College |
| February 2002 | New Technology block on the northern side of the site opened to replace dispersed classrooms, Science 'modular' blocks rebranded as English department |
| September 2005 | Science block extended with corridor section removed |
| June 2006 | Start of office block extension |
| September 2006 | New Resources department and reception area opened |
| October 2006 | Start of drama and VI form study block construction |
| September 2007 | Opening of new drama and VI form study block |
The original school buildings were constructed at a cost of GB£148,000 equivalent to approximately £2,200,000 now. The Physically Disabled Resource (colloquially "the P.D.R.") was formerly called the Physically Handicapped Unit.
[edit] Houses
There are four houses at the school: Saint Patrick, Saint Michael, Saint Francis, and Saint David. Now defunct houses are Saint George and Saint Andrew, which were dissolved in the early 80s. Each house is associated with a colour: St. Patrick with green, St. Michael with red, St. Francis with purple and St. David with yellow. They compete with each other at house events and for house points, commendations, and in the VI form, certificates of excellence. The winners receive a trophy at the end of each term for the events they have won.
| House | Head of House | Deputy head of House |
|---|---|---|
| St. Michael | Mrs. Langley (acting) | Mr. Loveridge (acting) |
| St. David | Mr. Ireland | Mrs. McDonnel |
| St. Patrick | Mr. Staton | Mr. Hewitt |
| St. Francis | Mr. Martin | Mr. Gemmel |
[edit] Headmasters
Headmaster (1957 - 1961)
Headmaster (1961 - 1978)
Headmaster(1978 - 1982)
Headmaster (1983 - 1987)
Headmaster (1989 - present)
The current headmaster is Mr. Paul Gerard Dick who took office in January 1989. Below is a list of Kennet's headmasters from its establishment in 1957.
| Years | Name |
|---|---|
| Kennet Modern School | |
| September 1957 to December 1960 |
Mr. T.S.B. Howe |
| January 1961 to July 1971 |
Mr. George Hurford |
| Kennet Comprehensive School | |
| September 1971 to July 1978 |
Mr. George Hurford |
| September 1978 to July 1982 |
Mr. Terrence Enright |
| September 1982 to December 1982 |
Mr. Keith Iles (acting) |
| January 1983 to July 1987 |
Dr. Nicholas Wheeler-Robinson |
| September 1987 to December 1988 |
Mr. Keith Iles (acting) |
| January 1989 to present |
Mr. Paul G. Dick |
[edit] Risman Library
The Risman Library was opened on 23 September 1997 by Councillor Ann Risman, the Chairman of Berkshire County Council, who was accompanied by Mr. Chris Woodhead, Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Schools. The library has shelving space for 25,000 books, and currently stocks around 21,000. It has seating for approximately 80 pupils and has a separate VI form study section that is sealed off (by folding doors) during the lunch hour. The library is host to twelve workstations and thirty laptop computers all of which are connected to the network. The library stocks six daily national papers and the Newbury Weekly News. The school's media resource of compact discs and compact cassettes of both music and audio-books are kept in the library along with a stock of VHSs and DVDs for staff use.
[edit] Canteen
Kennet's canteen services have been run by Scolarest for several years and recently rebranded the canteen as wellgood with the slogan well good for you. The canteen is often subject to student complaints. Recently a new manager was employed resulting in many price cuts and the ability to price food to the nearest penny rather than the nearest five-pence. Canteen prices rise on a regular basis 'with inflation' - the last inflation-based increase was during November 2006. Due to the intervention of Jamie Oliver, the choice and variety of food on offer has been chopped drastically to reduce junk food. The canteen operates an electronic card system, money is loaded onto the cards using a cash deposit machine or if loading notes/cheques put into an envelope and posted through the canteen door. The card is then used much like a standard debit card.
[edit] School council
The school has an active school council which meets once every term under the authority of Mr. Jenkins. It discusses matters close to pupils, such as canteen prices, non-uniform day charities and queries about rumours around the school. The litter topic is normally forced into the agenda by Mr. Jenkins, due to the high amount of rubbish that is dropped on the floor by pupils.
[edit] Council powers
- The school council was informed of Mr. German's decision to change the skirt style shortly before the general announcement was made, although they could make no objections to the action.
- Mr. Jenkins invited the school canteen's management to discuss the high prices and lack of choice. The council was advised that the 'high quality' ingredients and inflation drives up the prices and the canteen no longer can choose the range of food thanks to Jamie Oliver's campaigning.
- Each term or year, the council is asked to choose a new charity for the non-uniform money to be donated to. However, they no longer have any say on the price of the event for pupils.
[edit] Mobile phone mast
The school has a mobile phone mast on site. The local council earns £5,750 annually by having it on site.[10] There have been many concerns over possible health risks to the pupils and teachers who work and play at the school. The amount of money earned is low compared to the school budget, and makes the council appear money grabbing.
[edit] VI form
There is a VI form in place at Kennet for students who wish to continue their education after the age of 16. Although Kennet pupils are given priority, pupils from other schools are also accepted. An interview and personal statement is required, and a reference or CV is also helpful. The VI form students have their own common area, where they can socialise away from lower year pupils. There is also a computer room and a section of the library provided for their use. The students do not have to wear uniform, and this is seen as a privilege to them. The European Computer Driving Licence (¨ECDL) qualification can be studied with any sixth form course. The new VI Form block, currently being built, will be used by students starting in September 2007.
[edit] Charity work
Each house chooses its own charity to support, and throughout the year each tutor group fundraises towards their house's target amount of money. For example Saint Michael house's chosen charity was the Rwanda appeal until this academic year. The senior school staff sometimes plan one-off events, such as the Kennet (World) Cup to raise money for charity.
[edit] Kennet (World) Cup
The Kennet (World) Cup was a football event that occurred on 19 June 2006 in aid of the Bobby Moore Cancer Appeal. Teams were organised as non-mixed six-a-side with rolling substitutes. Students in years 7 and 8 played in the first football tournament between 9h and 12h30 and then in tutor groups wrote reports about the events in the afternoon. Students in years 9 and 10 played in the second football tournament between 13h20 and 15h30. There was two cups and two shields available for each tournament. Each head of house has chosen one of the reports per year to go forward and represent the house in a competition for Derek Leach trophy points. The event was also designed to coincide with the World Cup. The day was very successful and was agreed that it would happen again in the future.
[edit] Teaching aids
The majority of Kennet School's classrooms have now been equipped with SMART boards to help incorporate ICT into learning, including watching films on. The cost of a 'SMART board' setup is estimated to be at around £2,000. The Mathematics Department has all of its rooms fitted with a whiteboard/projector combination which allows the teacher to display the computer's video output to the class and use the whiteboard. This contrasts with many of the SMART board set-ups where the whiteboards have been removed completely or been replaced by much narrower ones.
[edit] Exchange visits
Each year the school organises exchanges to France and Germany. The pupils can go to France in year 9 and Germany in year 10. These involve a foreign pupil staying with their exchange partner's family for 7-12 days, then vice-versa later on. These are very helpful in helping to learn a new language.
[edit] Kennet News
The Kennet News was a newspaper issued first in May 1975 for two new pence and ran until the late eighties. Its original slogan was News as it happens - and sometimes before it happens!. The newspaper carried issues relating to students and teachers alike. It reported the departure of Mr. Hurford[11] and the arrival of Mr. Enright[12] in 1978 and later the arrival[13] and departure[14] of Dr. Wheeler-Robinson. The main editor was Mr. 'Wilk' Wilkinson aided by many students throughout its lifespan. The Kennet News had columns from Mr. Peter Allen, Mr. Dave Glare, Mr. Robert Tubb, Miss. Whale and Miss. Kennedy. Introductions were occasionally written by the headmasters and a Mr. Keith Iles wrote a column 'Round the Iles' in many July issues.
[edit] School statistics
Kennet is the highest achieving comprehensive school for both GCSE and A-level results in West Berkshire.[15]
| Year | Students achieving five A*-C grades at GCSE |
|---|---|
| 2006 | 71.0% |
| 2005 | 71.4% |
| 2004 | 70.0% |
| 2003 | 59.0% |
| 2002 | 66.0% |
| 2001 | 63.7% |
| 2000 | 61.4% |
| 1999 | 59.0% |
| 1998 | 61.0% |
| 1997 | 60.0% |
| 1996 | 59.0% |
| 1995 | 58.0% |
| 1994 | 54.0% |
| 1993 | 52.8% |
| 1992 | 47.5% |
| 1991 | 37.7% |
| 1990 | 35.0% |
| 1989 | 28.0% |
| Year | Average point score per student at A-level |
|---|---|
| 2005 | 317 |
[edit] Notable Alumni
- Martin Reginald Dwight Edwards OBE
- Richard Barton QC
- Mark Lor
[edit] References
- ^ BBC News website: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/bsp/hi/education/06/school_tables/secondary_schools/html/869_gcse_lea.stm
- ^ http://education.guardian.co.uk/alevels/page/0,,1852555,00.html
- ^ http://education.guardian.co.uk/gcses/table/0,,1858302,00.html
- ^ http://www.standards.dfes.gov.uk/specialistschools/excel/TechnologyJuly2006.xls?version=1
- ^ http://www.standards.dfes.gov.uk/specialistschools/excel/ArtsJuly2006.xls?version=1
- ^ http://www.standards.dfes.gov.uk/specialistschools/excel/LanguagesJuly2006.xls?version=1
- ^ http://www.westberks.gov.uk/index.aspx?articleid=5636
- ^ http://www.newburytoday.co.uk/News/Article.aspx?articleID=1443
- ^ http://www.nace.co.uk/home.htm?ca_achieving_schools.htm~mainFrame
- ^ http://www.newsoftheworld.co.uk/masts.shtml
- ^ Kennet News Issue Number 14, 'Best Wishes Mr. Hurford!' - July 1978
- ^ Kennet News Issue Number 15, 'Kennet Welcomes Mr. Enright.' - October 1978
- ^ Kennet News Issue Number 32, 'Welcome to Our New Headmaster.' - March 1983
- ^ Kennet News Issue Number 44, 'The only time I make the front page of the Kennet News is when I am leaving!' - April 1987
- ^ BBC News website: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/bsp/hi/education/05/school_tables/secondary_schools/html/869_4042.stm
[edit] External links
- Kennet School Website
- West Berkshire Education Business Partnership (WBEBP)
- OFSTED's report on Kennet School
