County Upper School
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
This article does not cite any references or sources. (March 2008) Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed. |
| Bury St Edmunds County Upper School | |
 |
|
| Type | Comprehensive |
| Headteacher | Mrs Vicky Neale |
| Specialism | Science College |
| Location | Beetons Way Bury St Edmunds Suffolk IP32 6RF England |
| LEA | Suffolk |
| Ofsted number | 124787 |
| Staff | 80 |
| Students | 934 |
| Gender | Coeducational |
| Ages | 13 to 18 |
| Website | http://www.countyupper.suffolk.sch.uk |
| Coordinates: | |
County Upper School is a 13 to 18 co-educational comprehensive school, one of three serving the town of Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk, England and its surrounding villages. It is served by four main middle schools. In February 2008 the number of students on roll was 934, and it is expected that the roll will remain relatively unchanged for the next decade. Attached to the main school is a Sixth Form, which at present stands at 193 students spread between Years 12 and 13. The school is located on Beetons Way, on the outskirts of town, next to St Benedict's Roman Catholic Upper School, which has close links with the County Upper Sixth Form.
Contents |
[edit] Origins
Bury St Edmunds County Upper School traces it’s origins back to the Education Act 1902 that gave County Councils the status of Local Education Authorities, greatly expanding their powers and their expenditure. Within a few years it was normal for half a county's budget to be devoted to education and the West Suffolk County School was opened in Northgate Street in Bury. A large red brick building, the former Falconbury School and site of the original Northgate House, had been purchased for the purpose in 1904, then altered and improved. This original building was then extended in 1907. At this time it was co-educational (for both girls and boys), with separate playgrounds. In the early 1950s the school became The County Grammar School for Girls with eligible boys from Bury and its surrounding villages attending the King Edward VI Grammar School (KEGS).
In 1964 The County Grammar School for Girls moved from its Northgate Street site to brand new premises at the end of Tollgate Lane (now known as Beetons Way) in north west Bury St Edmunds. For many years the girls had walked to this new site to make use of the playing fields that the Local Education Authority had acquired there. These long walks now became unnecessary. The school premises in Northgate Street gradually became used as an annex to the West Suffolk College until 1988. Today, the old red brick building forms the core of the Northgate Street Business Park, housing, amongst other enterprises, a Dance school, a Chiropractic clinic, the Headquarters of the East of England Ambulance Service and the East of England Museums Libraries and Archives, the original County School crest is still visible to passersby. In 1971 The County Grammar School for Girls became the co-educational and comprehensive County Upper School. The old single-sex state grammar school system, which divided children by gender and ability in Suffolk was now dead.[1]
[edit] Facilities
The original girls' grammar school building, opened in 1964, provides the main teaching and administrative area. There are additional specialist facilities, built in the 1970s, to support the teaching of science, art, design technology. New facilities for humanities were built in the 1990s. In 2004 the school's kitchens were refitted, a new block containing a secondary eating area was created (called the 'County Cuppa') alongside a gym, above this two classrooms were constructed, which are now the Sixth Form common rooms. A new library opened in October 2007, and a refurbished performing arts block opened in Easter 2007 which contains facilities for Dance, Drama and Music. This was dedicated to the memory of Michael Woodhouse, a wheelchair bound student, who unexpectedly died during Easter 2007. Work on new facilities for Art and Food Technology will be completed in Summer 2008.
Each year group within the school has its own social area and the main school is provided with refreshment and leisure facilities. The school possesses six tennis/netball courts, extensive playing fields, a gymnasium, a mini Sports Hall and a large Sports Hall, which is also used for full school assemblies three times a year.
[edit] Staff
Since September 2005, the school has been headed by Mrs. Vicki Neale, following the retirement of Adrian Williams, who obtained an CBE for Services to Education after many years at the school. As of 2008, there are around 80 teaching staff.[2]
[edit] Awards
County Upper is designated a specialist Science College, has achieved the Artsmark Gold award, is recognized by Healthy Schools Suffolk and is accredited as an Investor in People. It has received an International School Award and has also recently (February 2008) obtained the distinction of again being designated 'Outstanding' by the schools inspection watchdog Ofsted.[3] This is the third successive time County Upper has achieved this assessment, following similar full inspections in 1998 and 2003 plus a survey inspection in 2005. It places the school amongst the top four rated in the East of England and it is the only school in Essex, Suffolk or Norfolk to have achieved such a long run of outstanding marks.[4]
[edit] External links
- County Upper School Website
- County Upper School OFSTED Reports
- County Upper School Performance Tables
[edit] Notes
- ^ St Edmundsbury Borough Council web site - The Twentieth Century (edit)
- ^ County Upper Teaching Staff
- ^ Ofsted inspection report 315059 6-7 Feb 2008
- ^ Bury Free Press Article 13 March 2008
