Ousedale School
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ousedale School, based in Newport Pagnell was opened in 1965 to serve the community of Newport Pagnell and its surrounding villages. A second campus in Olney opened in 2007 to serve younger students from the north of the Borough of Milton Keynes.
Ousedale serves a partially rural catchment area. Currently there are approximately 2070 pupils on roll including a Sixth Form of 360. From 2007, Ousedale expanded both its range of intake, and its premises. Newport Pagnell’s site will reduce its student numbers giving much-needed space and greater access to facilities; and, in response to strong local opinion, Olney now has a 600-place 11-16 years secondary school provision.
This new arrangement is the result of a decision by Milton Keynes Council to change the age of admission to secondary school from 12+ to 11+. Sixth Form courses will continue to be based at the Newport Pagnell Campus. The school continues with one Headteacher, Governing Body and staff – but based on two campuses.
[edit] Newport Pagnell campus
The Newport Pagnell campus is housed in some modern buildings. The main stages of building development since the opening of the school in 1963 have been in 1971, 1975 and 1979. In 1993 the school gained a new (9 classroom) teaching block. Accompanying this have been the extensive remodeling and refurbishment of other teaching areas together with the enhancement of the grounds and the removal of very old temporary accommodation. 1994 saw extensions to the Science block, to include four additional laboratories together with another Music room. A purpose-built Sixth Form Centre was opened in September 2000, which has 5 smaller teaching rooms specifically for Sixth From Lessons, a "Quiet Study" Area with Computer Terminals, hosted by the "Shhh Lady" and the social area, the Gallery.
The specialist accommodation includes a Sports Hall, a gymnasium and 3 squash courts together with extensive playing fields, flood lit tennis courts and a new full-size synthetic pitch. There are 14 Science laboratories, 6 Design Technology rooms and 2 Food Technology rooms. There is a suite of Business Studies rooms and also computer rooms. There are 2 Music rooms with 5 practice rooms, 4 Art and 2 Drama studios.
[edit] Olney campus
The new Olney Campus of Ousedale School opened in Easter 2007, six months behind schedule. The need for a second campus arose following the Local Education Authority's decision to commence secondary education from year 7 (previously the final year of middle school). The site at Newport Pagnell did not have enough room for another building to hold a year 7, and the government declined to provide enough funding for a completely new site in Newport Pagnell that would accommodate every student. The solution was to build a second campus in Olney for year 7, 8, 9, 10 and soon 11.
