| Motto | Everyone matters |
|---|---|
| Established | 1986 |
| Type | Comprehensive community school |
| Headteacher | Mr. T Carroll |
| Specialism | Sports College |
| Location | Vandyke Road Leighton Buzzard Bedfordshire LU7 3DY England |
| Local authority | Central Bedfordshire |
| DfE URN | 109678 |
| Ofsted | Reports |
| Staff | 80 approx. |
| Students | 1,287 total |
| Gender | Coeducational |
| Ages | 13–18 |
| Colours | Burgundy |
| Website | Vandyke Upper School |
Vandyke Upper School and Community College is an Upper School and Sixth Form college in Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire, England. There are currently 1,287 students attending compulsory education at Vandyke, with a further 261 students making up the 6th form.[1]
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The school was opened in 1976 as a comprehensive school for 13-18 year olds.[2][3]
During the Ofsted inspection that took place between the 13th and 14th of December 2006, Vandyke Upper School achieved a Grade 2 (Good) rating.[2]
For several years, Vandyke Upper School has been a participant of the Rock Challenge, a dance and drama event promoting healthy lifestyles amongst school pupils.[4] In September 2005, Vandyke Upper School achieved Sports College status.[1] Vandyke Upper was granted £113,940 from the British Government's Big Lottery Fund in July 2006. The funding is to provide out of hours sporting activities to promote healthy living and open up new opportunities in sport for young people.[5] In July 2007, the school was awarded the Government Charter Mark for excellence in customer service. Vandyke Upper School met 63 exacting standards of customer service to qualify for the award.[6] The Government's Key performance indicator, a program that logs school's GCSE and Key Stage Two exam performances, has placed Vandyke's results in the top 25% of schools across the country. According to the log, 61 percent of Vandyke students attained A* to C grades in their GCSE's in 2007.[7]
Vandyke Upper School donated forty-eight computers to Kabalega Secondary School, in Uganda. Twelve more computers went to an NGO, the Link Development Community, also of Uganda, who work to improve education within the country.[8]Annually, since 2005, Vandyke has held fund raising events for the charity, Smile Malawi. Smile Malawi is a charity aimed at improving educatory standards for children in Malawi.[9] In 2008 Vandyke Upper School raised over £2000 for Smile Malawi.
The Governing Body of Vandyke Upper School is proposing a change of school category from a community school to a foundation school which will acquire a charitable trust to be called the Vandyke Education Trust.[10]. This is a new type of school that, while still being part of the local authority, has the opportunity to be supported by a Charitable Trust set up to help continue their drive for improved standards for the students in school and the work with the wider community. To provide continuity and stability for the Trust, the Governors of Vandyke Upper School proposed to formalise, through a Trust, their partnerships with:
The partnership will devote itself to:
range of high quality learning opportunities for the benefit of our students and the local community; and
innovation and shared learning with a focus upon quality. The Governing Body will gain new powers and responsibilities. It will become the employer of staff, although existing pay and conditions arrangements will be unchanged as the school will remain in the maintained sector and be subject to national pay and conditions agreements. The Governing Body will also become responsible for student admissions, but will work jointly with the Local Authority to administer the provision of student places within the requirements of the National Schools Admissions Code. The Trust will hold the land and capital assets for the school and the Governing body will have (as now) day to day responsibility for managing these assets. The full consultation documents, Booklet One “Changing to Foundation School Status andAcquiring a Charitable Trust” and Booklet Two “Questions and Answers” together explain in more detail these proposals and outline the functions of the partners who will add capacity to the proposed Trust. Stakeholders have the opportunity to comment on these proposals during the consultation period which runs from Monday 14th June 2010 to Friday 16th July 2010, 3 pm (5 weeks). At an extraordinary meeting of the Governing Body will be held on Tuesday 20th July. Governors will consider feedback from the consultation and then decide whether to proceed and to publish statutory proposals on changing category and acquiring a charitable trust or to remain a community school. Details of the consultation process and how to respond are included in Booklet One “Changing to Foundation School Status and Acquiring a Charitable Trust”.
The main site of the school is divided into two main buildings. The buildings are divided into blocks which house different departmental sections of the school:
| Main Building | Secondary Building |
|---|---|
| Administrative Block | English Department |
| Sixth Form Admin. and facilities | Science Department |
| Media Department | Year 11 Common Room (formerly 10 and 11 Cafeteria) |
| TV Studio | Humanities and CPRE Department |
| Cafeteria | History Department |
| Theatre and Drama Studio | Foreign Languages Department |
| Music Department | ICT and Business Department |
| Dance Studio | FT department |
| Specialist Sports Department | Design and Art Technology Department |
| Fitness Building (Gym) | Maths Village |
Vandyke Upper School and Community college has facilities such as a flood lit artificial turf pitch and theatre. In 2006 and 2007, construction and refurbishment work occurred resulting in the creation of a new library, new administration blocks, new reception area, sports facilities including a dance studio and changing rooms. Over Summer 2007, work was carried out to refurbish the English block, as well as new buildings being developed within the music department.
Currently work is being undertaken in the Humanities department and the Arts Department to refurbish the Arts Room to make a dark room for the new photography course and the old dining room. The old dining room has been made into a extra PE/Dance Area plus a place for students to eat and relax during Lunch and break times.