| Established | November 1957 |
|---|---|
| Type | Comprehensive school |
| Headteacher | Andrew Owen |
| Specialism | Sports College |
| Location | Burnham Road Highbridge Somerset England |
| Local authority | Somerset County Council |
| DfE URN | 123879 |
| Ofsted | Reports |
| Students | 1,365 |
| Ages | 11–18 |
| Website | www.kingalfred.somerset.sch.uk |
The King Alfred School is a coeducational comprehensive school located in Highbridge, Somerset, England. The school is a specialist Sports College. In 2007, the school celebrated its 50th anniversary.[1] The school has a Sixth Form Centre for students studying AS and A2 levels.
The school is associated with the King Alfred Sport Centre which is next to the school site.[2] There is some evidence of Roman remains under the school playing field.[3]
An Ofsted report in September 2007 rated the school as satisfactory with some good points.[4] An earlier Ofsted report from March 2002 rated the school as very poor overall, but noted a significant improvement in academic results, financial management and pupil numbers compared with the previous time the school was inspected in 1996.[5]
In 2009, 43% of pupils achieved five or more GCSE passes at grade A* to C including Mathematics and English, compared with 46.8% in the rest of Somerset and 46.3% nationally.[6] This was an improvement of the school's performance in 2004–2006 when it achieved 29%, 36% and 33% pass rates respectively. In 2008 however, GCSE passes dropped by 2% compared with 2007.[7] The school's contextual value added score of 984.5 was the fourth lowest in the county.[8]
In October 2005, nine pupils from the school were rescued by helicopter from the Black Mountains in South Wales after getting into difficulty while taking part in activities for their The Duke of Edinburgh's Award.[9]