| Established | 1911 |
|---|---|
| Type | Foundation school |
| Headteacher | Mr P Murphy |
| Specialism | Arts |
| Location | Hayes Lane (B265) Bromley Greater London BR2 9EH England |
| Local authority | Bromley |
| DfE URN | 101679 |
| Ofsted | Reports |
| Students | 1433 |
| Gender | Mixed-sex education |
| Ages | 11–18 |
| Former name | Bromley Grammar School |
| Website | Ravensbourne School |
The Ravensbourne School is a comprehensive secondary school in the London Borough of Bromley. It stands on a 22-acre (89,000 m2) site in Hayes Lane, to the south of Bromley, and in the parish of Bromley St Mark. It is named after the River Ravensbourne, which runs nearby.
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The school was opened in 1911 as the Bromley County Grammar Schools for Boys and Girls, on two sites: Hayes Lane (boys) and Nightingale Lane (girls).[1] The Hayes Lane site was officially opened on 18 October 1911. They were later renamed Bromley Grammar Schools. The buildings in Hayes Lane were considerably extended in 1933, using the original architect and keeping to the original neo-Georgian design. The new buildings comprised the Great Hall (connected to the original building by an open cloister) the science block, and the dining hall and gymnasium on either side of the hall. The new buildings were officially opened on 30 November 1934. Many of the School's early buildings are recognised as being of historic interest and are Grade II listed. The schools were controlled by Kent Education Committee until 1965. The girls' school had around 700 girls in ther mid-1960s.
In the late 1960s, following the then government's drive to phase out selective education, the Bromley Grammar Schools were merged with the nearby Raglan Road secondary modern school, to form the new Ravensbourne Schools, still on the two separate sites for boys and girls.
In 1988 the Education Authority decided that the two separate single sex schools should close and a new co-educational comprehensive school be opened at Hayes Lane. A programme of building works was embarked upon in order to make the school suitable for its new co-educational role.
In 1995 governors failed to properly check the CV of the school bursar who claimed to be a qualified accountant. In 2005 "massive deficits" in the schools' accounts were discovered and the bursar was found to have stolen money from the school using blank cheques signed by the headteacher.[2]
In 2003, with over subscription in Years 7 to 11 and an expanding sixth form, yet more building work was undertaken. A new dedicated sixth form block was created, the drama studios expanded and he War Memorial Library refurbished in the original style. A new Lower School Library was installed in what was, in 1911, the dining hall for the original 79 boys.
In October 2009 the school was found to have "significant faults" with its appeals procedures when a government ombudsman found that members of its admissions panel were not properly trained and the clerks recording of the appeal was "inadequate."[3]
Ravensbourne gets GCSEs a lot below the England average each year, and A levels well under the England average. GCSE examination results including English and Maths fell every year from 47% in 2006 to 37% in 2009.[4]
The results left the school the second lowest performing in the borough of Bromley.[5]
In 2010 the school's results seemed to show improvement but closer analysis revaled that this was achieved largely through the its use of 'equivalent' qualifications and without these the school stayed second bottom of the borough with 35% A*-C grades, only Kelsey Park achieving lower.[6]
Results for the English Baccalaurate were also low with only 8% of students achieving the necessary results to earn the qualification.
The school's best results come from internally assessed vocational qualifications but it struggles to produce the same high standards in more academic examined subjects. OFSTED commented, "Students make the best progress in many applied A level subjects. Leaders recognise that progress is not as rapid in some A-level subjects and are taking action to improve this."[7]
The school received an 'outstanding' from Ofsted in 2006-2007. This was downgraded to 'good' in 2009-2010. The inspector commented in a letter to the students, "We judged the school to be good. You achieve average standards in your GCSEs, though mathematics and English standards are not as high as in many other subjects."[8]