| Motto | The Opportunity to succeed |
|---|---|
| Established | 1956 |
| Type | Academy Trust |
| Headteacher | Mrs W Sharp |
| Specialism | Technology, Mathematics, Computing |
| Location | Main Street Etwall Derbyshire DE65 6LU England |
| Local authority | Derbyshire |
| DfE URN | 112990 |
| Ofsted | Reports |
| Students | 2100 |
| Gender | Coeducational |
| Ages | 11–18 |
| Colours | Oxford Blue |
| Website | www.johnport.org.uk |
John Port Specialist Technology, Mathematics and Computing College[1] is a very large academy in the village of Etwall, Derbyshire, England.
Contents |
With the current number of students around the 2100 mark[2] it puts John Port as the largest secondary school in Derbyshire, and one of the largest nationally.[3] The Head teacher is Mrs Wendy Sharp.
John Port is a mixed school, with the student age range between 11 and 16, and with the John Port 6th Form taking students from the ages of 16 to 18. However, even with the large size of the school a very real sense of community is maintained through each year being split into 12 forms. A child on entry to the school joins a form into which they stay until they leave in Year 11. Each form generally has the same personal tutor that is there for and follows their form through their years at JP. Each year also has a Head of Year and Deputies, to whom authority of the year is given to.
There are approximately 140 full time and temporary members of the teaching staff.
The school is on the site of a demolished country manor, Etwall Hall, Etwall, situated just outside Hilton, traditionally of the Port family who were the wealthy landowners/farmers of the parish.[4] In 1952, the Derbyshire County Council bought Etwall Hall from Reg Parnell, the famous racing car driver. The hall had been used during the Second World War by the Army, first as a petrol depot and later as an equipment supply centre and been left in a somewhat dilapidated state. After its demolition a secondary modern, Etwall Secondary School, and a secondary grammar school, John Port Grammar School, were built on the site. In 1965, they were amalgamated to form the John Port School that occupies the site today.
The name of the Port family, who lived at the hall, has been associated with Etwall since the 15th century. The family’s most famous son, Sir John Port, was the founder of the nearby Repton School and committed to the furthering of education for young men in the village. It therefore seemed entirely appropriate that the new school was named after him.
The large attractive site has an open feel, being a 'green' campus with plenty of well maintained open spaces between the individual teaching facilities. The centre of the site is focussed around the lake, one of the original fishing lakes that were in the grounds of the Etwall Hall.
The site is also home to the Etwall Leisure Centre, with public access from Hilton Road. This new centre was officially opened on 17 July 2009, although it didn't open to the public till 5 August 2009. The new facilities include a six-lane 25 m swimming pool, squash courts, fitness suite and large sports hall. The old centre closed to the public after the early morning swimming on 24 June. The old centre shut earlier than planned because the main circulation pump fatally failed the previous night. It was decided not to replace the pump because of the large cost. The pool was then dewatered and is now controlled by the school who are using it as a store. The long-term future of the old building is still undecided.
Teaching facilities are spread across the site, with each faculty having a separate building. The buildings (apart from Flamsteed, which is named after a famous local scientist John Flamsteed) are each named after settlements and features in Derbyshire and the Peak District (Ilam being in Staffordshire but with links to the Port family), named from A to I alphabetically, in chronological order of when they were first built. This system gives order to classroom numbering and also a 'short name for each block, i.e., 'A12' is the twelfth classroom in 'A' block (Ashbourne). The original school started with 'A' and 'B' blocks, and has expanded from there. The faculties and corresponding blocks are as follows:
The school Resources Centre is situated centrally on the site, occupying most of the ground floor of 'B' block. It has a full computer suite and a library stocked with 14,000 books on all subjects taught at the school, and aimed at 11–18-year-old readers. It is staffed by a professionally qualified Chartered Librarian, Mrs Durkan, to ensure that it is always well maintained and stocked to the needs of the student base.
There were originally two canteen dining halls on the site, one each in 'A' and 'C' blocks, until 'C' was closed and therefore 'A' is the only catering hall at the present time. It serves hot lunches and also caters for morning break. In February–March 2010 'Asbourne Stage' canteen, which served sandwiches, drinks and snacks at both lunch and break, closed down and the same food was sold at the main 'A' block canteen. 'Asbourne Stage' replaced the old 'Lite Bite' which closed June–July 2008. In April/May 2010, Lite Bite reopened selling cold food, with Ashbourne Hall only selling hot food.
Both boys and girls PE have been transferred to the new sports and leisure centre. The future of the previous gymnasiums ('A' Hall) and ('C' Hall) facilities has not been disclosed past 2010, although 'C' gym has been transferred into an examination centre.
The central location of 'E' block also houses the student welfare offices, which includes a local Connexions office on site. Student support was moved to 'E' block, from being spread over the site, on this newest block's completion in September 2006.
More rooms have been added to the ground floor of the Sixth Form ('G') block during building work in 2007.
Re-cladding of Chatsworth Building was completed in Summer 2010, part of a two-phase project to convert 'C' gym into an examination centre, and replace the previous concrete exteriors.
The old swimming pool is also set to be refurbished and converted into a 'Flexible Learning Centre' which will provide classrooms for many BTEC courses, amongst others.
The school gets well-above-average results at GCSE, and standards at both GCE AS and A level are above average according to Ofsted.[5] The school is twinned with the Gymnasium Melle,[6] and there are annual joint exchanges with their windband, with a bi-annual concert being held at John Port School.[7] The friendship of the schools arose out of the twinning arranged by the mayor of Osnabruck.[8]
The size of the school means that it has a very large catchment area, covering 31 parishes of South Derbyshire.
Ash | Barton Blount | Bearwardcote | Boylestone | Burnaston | Church Broughton | Dalbury Lees | Egginton | Etwall | Findern | Foremark | Foston | Hatton | Hilton | Hoon | Marston on Dove | Mickleover | Newton Solney | Osleston | Radbourne | Repton | Rolleston on Dove | Scropton | Stenson | Stretton | Sutton on the Hill | Thurvaston | Trusley | Twyford | Tutbury | Willington
And includes the following primary schools