County Upper School

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Bury St Edmunds County Upper School
Type Academy
Headteacher Mrs Vicky Neale
Location Beetons Way
Bury St Edmunds
Suffolk
IP32 6RF
England Coordinates: 52°15′24″N 0°42′08″E / 52.25662°N 0.70217°E / 52.25662; 0.70217
DfE URN 124787 Tables
Ofsted Reports
Staff 84
Students 962 (209 in 6th Form)
Gender Coeducational
Ages 13–19
Website www.bsecus.org

Bury St Edmunds County Upper School is a 13 to 19 co-educational comprehensive high-performing academy[1] part of the Bury St Edmunds Academy Trust comprising County Upper School, Horringer Court Middle School and Westley Middle School.[2] It is one of three 13-18 schools serving the town of Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk, England and its surrounding villages. Pupils enter Year 9 primarily from three catchment Middle Schools in Bury St Edmunds but students are drawn widely from across the villages and towns of West Suffolk particularly Newmarket and Mildenhall.[3] The school is regularly[1] over-subscribed with 266 first-choice applicants in 2009/10, 287 in 2010/11, 282 for 2011/12 and 279 for 2012/13[4] against a LEA Planned Admission Number of 260.[5] In September 2013 the number of students on roll was 962 and it is expected that will remain relatively unchanged for the foreseeable future. Attached to the main school is a Sixth Form, which at present stands at around 209 students spread between Years 12 and 13.[6] The school is located on Beetons Way, on the outskirts of town, next to St Benedict's Roman Catholic Upper School, which has close links with the County Upper Sixth Form.

County Upper School has specialisms in science and languages with a Gifted and Talented Focus,[7] and is also accredited as a "Consultant School" by the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust[8]

The school, as part of the Bury St Edmunds Academy Trust, successfully applied to the National College for School Leadership to become a Teaching School as part of the West Suffolk All-Through Teaching School Alliance [9] to train and develop teachers from September 2013[10] and it is also the lead Suffolk school in the Suffolk and Norfolk Initial Teacher Training (SNITT) initiative,[11] in partnership with Suffolk County Council and University College Suffolk, which is part of the Department for Education's School Direct Training Programme.[12]

Bury St Edmunds Academy Trust

As a school rated by Ofsted as "Outstanding" (1999, 2005, 2008, 2011, 2013) [13] under the Academies Act 2010 County Upper School applied to become an Academy Trust – a publicly funded independent school.

Together with Horringer Court Middle School, Westley Middle School and Barrow CEVC Primary School it forms the All-Through 4-18 Bury St Edmunds Academy Trust with the potential for students to move flexibly through the pyramid in accordance with their ability and aptitude allowing the four schools to work together strategically to drive up even further their standards and results.[14]

Origins

The Original West Suffolk County School Northgate Street Bury St Edmunds
County Upper School traces its origins back to the Education Act 1902 that gave County Councils the status of Local Education Authorities, greatly expanding their powers and their expenditure. Within a few years it was normal for half a county's budget to be devoted to education and the West Suffolk County School was opened in Northgate Street in Bury. A large red brick building, the former Falconbury School and site of the original Northgate House, had been purchased for the purpose in 1904, then altered and improved. This original building was then extended in 1907. At this time it was co-educational (for both girls and boys), with separate playgrounds. In the early 1950s the school became The County Grammar School for Girls with eligible boys from Bury and its surrounding villages attending the King Edward VI Grammar School.

In 1964 The County Grammar School for Girls moved from its Northgate Street site to brand new premises at the end of Tollgate Lane (now known as Beetons Way) in north west Bury St Edmunds. For many years the girls had walked to this new site to make use of the playing fields that the Local Education Authority had acquired there. These long walks now became unnecessary. The school premises in Northgate Street gradually became used as an annex to the West Suffolk College until 1988. Today, the old red brick building forms the core of the Northgate Street Business Park, housing, amongst other enterprises, a Dance school, a Chiropractic clinic, the Headquarters of the East of England Ambulance Service and the East of England Museums Libraries and Archives, the original West Suffolk County School crest is still visible to passersby. In 1971 The County Grammar School for Girls became the co-educational and comprehensive County Upper School. The old single-sex state grammar school system, which divided children by gender and ability in Suffolk was now dead.[15]

The original West Suffolk County School crest, shown above the old Northgate Street building entrance, consisted of a gold cross fleury between five martlets on a blue shield and were the arms of Edward the Confessor, who in the 11th Century granted land to the Abbey of St Edmund,[16] and those of the old West Suffolk County Council.[17] The contemporary County Upper School crest has four birds around a cross surmounted by the Saxon Crown[18] of St Edmund, the last King of East Anglia.[19] The blue sweaters with an all gold crest worn by today’s pupils echo the colours of Edward the Confessor and are used by the school sports teams and on the school flag.

Facilities

Bury St Edmunds County Upper School today
The original girls' grammar school building, opened in 1964, provides the main teaching and administrative area. There are additional specialist facilities, built in the 1970s, to support the teaching of science, art, design technology. New facilities for humanities were built in the 1990s. In 2004 the school's kitchens were refitted, and a new block containing a secondary eating area was created alongside a gym, above this two classrooms were constructed, which are now the Sixth Form common rooms.

A new library opened in October 2006, and a completely refurbished Performing Arts Centre opened Easter 2007 which contains facilities for Dance, Drama and Music. This was dedicated to the memory of Michael Woodhouse, a wheelchair bound student, who unexpectedly died during Easter 2007.[20] Work on new facilities for Food Technology and Art were completed in Summer 2008 which forms part of a Visual Arts Centre, a Business Studies Centre was completed during Summer 2010, the Science Block was refurbished in Summer 2011 and the main Sports Hall in Summer 2012.

Staff

Since September 2005, the school has been led by Mrs Vicky Neale, following the retirement of Adrian Williams, who obtained an CBE for Services to Education after many years at the school. As of 2011, there are around 90 teaching staff.[21] The most recent workforce statistics from the Department for Education[22] indicates the Academy's pupil-teacher ratio of 14.4:1 is lower than both the Suffolk LEA average of 16:1 in Secondary Schools and 15.7:1 for England as a whole.[23]

Ofsted inspections

Their most recent full Ofsted inspection on 18–19 September 2013 rated County Upper School as Grade 1 - Outstanding for overall effectiveness and Grade 1 - Outstanding in all 4 inspection categories: Achievement of pupils; Quality of teaching; Behaviour and safety of pupils and Leadership and management for both the main school and Sixth Form; its 8th successive "Outstanding" rating from Ofsted since 1998[24][25][26]

The June 2013 Ofsted Report into the achievement of the top 30% most able students in non-selective comprehensive schools in England[27][28] visited County Upper School and gave a Grade 1 "Outstanding" rating for all five categories it inspected: Transfer, transition and induction; Most able achievement; Teaching, learning and assessment; Curriculum; Support and guidance[29]

The Education Act 2011[30] proposed that schools assessed as being Grade 1 "Outstanding" on their last inspection will not be subject to routine inspection unless concerns are raised with Ofsted about their performance. As with similar schools Ofsted wrote to County Upper School on 28 March 2011 with an "Interim Assessment"[31][32] stating that based upon pupils' academic performance,[33] very low rates of absence[34] and having taken into account the results of survey visits carried out since the last routine inspection.[35] they considered that the Outstanding performance had been sustained. Ofsted stated they would continue to undertake annual assessments of County Upper Schools' performance.

Academic achievements

County Upper achieved a 92% A*-C pass rate in the Summer 2013 "A" Level examinations,[36] an improvement of 1% from 91% in 2012, versus a national percentage of 76.6%;[37] this was the best state school "A" Level result in Suffolk.[38]

Between 2009 - 2013 eleven County Upper Sixth Form students have achieved entry to Oxbridge Colleges.[39][40] and research by the Sutton Trust shows around three-quarters of students leaving Year 13 attend university after leaving County Upper with a third attending the 30 most selective universities and colleges.[41]

The 2013 GCSE results showed similar success with a record 77%[42] of students gaining 5 or more A*-C passes including English and Mathematics, up from 74% in 2012, compared with 56% in Suffolk[43] and 68.1% for England nationally.[44] This was the third highest percentage awarded for a state school in Suffolk and the best in the Western Area.[45]

40% of students also achieved an A*-C pass rate in 2013[46] for the GCSE subjects required to gain them the English Baccalaureate qualification,[47] (English, Mathematics, 2 Sciences, History/Geography and a Modern Foreign Language) surpassing the 35% government target for 2013.[48]

Science

County Upper has a specialism in science with a Gifted and Talented focus. An Ofsted subject inspection in May 2009 judged the overall effectiveness of science to be outstanding with no areas for improvement.[49]

The school is the Suffolk partner school in the East of England Science Learning Centre[50] promoting professional development amongst science education and learning professionals.

County Upper runs a Science and Engineering outreach programme including visits to universities and other science centres as well as workshops for gifted and talented students from feeder Middle Schools in West Suffolk. Year 9 Science students also participate in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) days run by the Smallpeice Trust[51] promoting engineering careers for young people and lower school students participate in the new Go4Set[52] STEM residential courses run by the Engineering Development Trust.[53]

In summer 2010 the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust (SSAT) designated County Upper as a Consultant School [54][55] in recognition of its assistance in helping other schools in Suffolk raise standards and achievement.

Languages

The school also has a specialism in languages with a Gifted and Talented focus.[7][56]

The school offers Latin, French, German, Japanese, Russian and Spanish for all pupils with Italian in the Sixth Form. It runs an overseas exchange programme to Kyoto in Japan, the Ancona region of Italy, Guadalajara, Spain and the Rhineland area of Germany.[57][58] The Japanese programme involves annual language and scientific exchanges, summer camps and extensive cultural activities between Japan and Bury St Edmunds.

The school runs a Modern Foreign Language outreach programme with its feeder Middle Schools in West Suffolk where Gifted and Talented pupils take part in workshops and activity days hosted at County Upper during the course of the academic year.

Sport and physical activities

The school runs 43 weekly extra-curricular sports clubs and activities,[59] its facilities include a sports hall, gymnasium, a mini-sports hall, a fitness suite, a PE lab, six tennis and netball courts, two full-sized football pitches, cricket nets and a floodlit all-weather hockey/five-a-side football pitch all on site.[60]

County Upper School won the 2011 BBC Look East School of the Year for Sport,[61][62] was selected the Suffolk Sport "Secondary School of the Year" Award sponsored by Ipswich Town FC Community Trust in 2011,[63][64] won the St Edmundsbury "School of the Year Award" for sport in both 2008 and 2011,[65] gained the Association for Physical Education (afPE) Quality Mark with Distinction in autumn 2012 after being asked by the Association to help pilot the new scheme nationally,[66] is partner school of both Sport England and the Youth Sport Trust via the Sportsmark Scheme[67] and offers a wide variety of sport and team games. It has achieved Football Association Charter Standard Secondary Development School status in recognition for the quality of its coaching.[68] The school works with the East of England coach for British cycling[69] and also fields an equestrian team.[70][71][72]

School teams were the Suffolk U15 cricket[73] and U16 netball champions for the 2010-11 season [74] and the U17 rounders team reached the semi-finals of the English National Schools Championships in July 2011.[75]

The captain of Suffolk County Cricket team, Mr Justin Bishop, is a PE teacher and cricket coach for the school[76] and Miss Heather Lymburn, also on the PE staff, is a member of the England Senior Korfball Squad.[77]

County Upper Basketball Academy

In addition to the main school sports activities County Upper also hosts a dedicated Basketball Academy.[78] The academy has its own Sports Director with students from across East Anglia attending the County Upper Sixth Form. Students are accommodated locally, attend the school and regularly[79] enter regional and national-level competitions, tour the USA and have achieved scholarships to US Basketball Colleges.[80] The U17 Basketball Team were finalists and eventual runners-up in the English National School Championships in 2012.[81]

Music, drama and visual arts

County Upper has achieved an Artsmark Gold award for its wide range of musical, dance and theatrical groups and events. The school is an accredited Arts Award Centre[82] for the Trinity College London and Arts Council England scheme and an Examinations Centre for the Associated Board of the Royal School of Music and Rockschool.[83]

The school ensembles regularly perform in public holding numerous plays, concerts and choral events in and around Bury St Edmunds including performances at the town's new Apex Venue.[84][85][86] The school staged one of the first amateur productions of the Phantom of the Opera in 2012[87] and other recent productions have included Les Miserables, West Side Story, Anything Goes and The Pyjama Game.[88] There are over 20 music ensembles including two orchestras, several choirs, string & jazz ensembles and wind bands. There have been three Swing Band tours of Suffolk Virginia USA[89] together with music tours of Somerset and the Channel Islands. The bi-ennial school production takes place at the Theatre Royal, Bury St Edmunds.

The school holds an annual Art Exhibition for the community displaying students' work. Paintings, textiles, pottery and visual arts installations are shown to the public each summer with some of the very best going on display in public buildings in and around Bury St Edmunds.[90]

West Suffolk Music Centre

County Upper School hosts most of the Suffolk Youth Music activities in the Bury St Edmunds area on behalf of the Suffolk County Music Service.[91] These comprise of: The Bury St Edmunds County Music School; the West Suffolk Youth Jazz Orchestra, Big Band, Ceilidh Band, Wind Band, Youth Orchestra and various instrumental classes.

Awards and achievements

County Upper is recognized by Healthy Schools Suffolk and is accredited as an Investor in People. The English,Music and History Departments participate in the Prince of Wales' Prince's Teaching Institute Schools Programme[92] to enhance the quality and breadth of the curricula including visits to Stratford, Berlin, Rome, the Somme battlefields and Auschwitz[93] and County Upper received an International School Award[94] in 2007 and 2010[95] from the British Council both for its strength in foreign language teaching and its scientific and cultural links with Europe, Japan and the USA. It earned a "Distinction" designation from Education Extra[citation needed] for its extensive range of extra-curricular activities consisting of more than weekly 60[96] clubs and activities, its musical, drama & dance productions, the Duke of Edinburgh Award[97] scheme and its frequent sports and music tours abroad to countries including Malta, Jersey, Spain, Germany, Turkey and the USA.[58][98]

St Edmundsbury Borough Council awarded the school catering department a maximum 5 star rating in October 2010.[99]

The school's annual Charity Fortnight, organised by the Sixth Form, raises around £12,000 each year for good causes; one local, one national and one international.[100] The 2012 total of £15,607[101] topped that achieved in 2011, which included a special donation to Cycle to Rwanda[102] who County Upper School sponsored to mark Olympic year to help buy sports equipment for schools in Africa, of £14,852.[103]

The school recognises exceptional service by students to the school and the wider community each year by presenting The Princess Diana Award at its annual Prize Giving.[104]

Notes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 County Upper School page on Suffolk County Council Education and Learning web site abstracted 14 September 2011
  2. ↑ DfES List of Open Academies and Schools Submitting Applications
  3. ↑ Suffolk County Council map of CUS Catchment area
  4. ↑ Suffolk County Council booklet Upper/High Schools in Suffolk 2012
  5. ↑ Suffolk County Council Guide to Upper/High School Admissions 2011/12
  6. ↑ School population taken from latest DfE statistics September 2011
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Specialist Schools and Academies Trust school search page
  8. ↑ Bury Free Press article 8 October 2010
  9. ↑ WSTSA Webpage abstracted 5 October 2013
  10. ↑ BFP Article 15 March 2013
  11. ↑ SNITT website abstracted 23 Dec 2012
  12. ↑ SDP page DfE website abstracted 23 Dec 2012
  13. ↑ Ofsted Interim Assessment dated 28 March 2011
  14. ↑ Bury Free Press article dated 23 July 2012 abstracted 2 September 2012
  15. ↑ St Edmundsbury Borough Council web site - The Twentieth Century (edit)
  16. ↑ English Heritage Bury St Edmunds Abbey History
  17. ↑ West Suffolk County Council Coat of Arms
  18. ↑ Arms of St Edmund King and Martyr
  19. ↑ "The history of the legend of Saint Edmund" Stedmundsbury Borough Council web site
  20. ↑ Bury Free Press Article 26 April 2007 Retrieved 16 April 2009
  21. ↑ County Upper Teaching Staff
  22. ↑ DfE 2011 School-level Workforce statistics (provisional) released 20 April 2011
  23. ↑ DfE 2010 School Workforce in England statisics published 26 May 2010
  24. ↑ Ofsted Inspection 18-19 September 2013 Final Report number 427214
  25. ↑ EADT article dated 11 October 2013
  26. ↑ BFP article dated 11 October 2013
  27. ↑ Ofsted Report 130118 dated 13 June 2013
  28. ↑ BFP Article dated 26 April 2013
  29. ↑ Ofsted Inspection Report 22 March 2013
  30. ↑ BBC Article on 2011 Education Bill dated 27 January 2011
  31. ↑ Ofsted Letter dated 28 March 2011
  32. ↑ Bury Free Press Article 15 April 2011
  33. ↑ DfE Performance Tables 2010 for Suffolk Schools
  34. ↑ DfE Suffolk School Absence Rates 2011
  35. ↑ Science Subject Visit 12 Mat 2009
  36. ↑ EADT Article dated 15 August 2013
  37. ↑ Daily Telegraph Article dated 19 August 13
  38. ↑ Suffolk & Essex 2012 A Level Results Table East Anglian Daily Times 17 August 2012 abstracted 1 September 2012
  39. ↑ [http://www.buryfreepress.co.uk/news/Didn39t-they-do-well.5574252.jp. Bury Free Press Article 21 August 2009]
  40. ↑ Bury Free Press Article 20 August 2010 abstracted 22 August 2010
  41. ↑ Degrees of Success - University Chances by Individual School, Sutton Trust, 8 July 2011.
  42. ↑ EADT Article dated 22 August 2013
  43. ↑ EADT Article dated 23 August 2013
  44. ↑ Ofqual Explanation of Summer 2013 GCSE Results
  45. ↑ EADT Data dated 23 August 2013
  46. ↑ DfE EBacc Performance Tables
  47. ↑ DfE English Baccalaureate web page dated 25 March 2011
  48. ↑ Daily Telegraph article dated 12 January 2011 abstracted 6 September 2011
  49. ↑ Ofsted Science subject visit feedback letter re: Inspection 12 May 09
  50. ↑ Science Learning Centre reference page for CUS
  51. ↑ "STEM Day" Page 1 Bury St Edmunds CUS Accolade December 2008
  52. ↑ Go4Set Home Page
  53. ↑ Engineering Development Trust Home Page
  54. ↑ SSAT Accreditation page
  55. ↑ Bury Free Press article Friday 8 October 2010
  56. ↑ Page 1 Bury St Edmunds CUS Accolade February 2009
  57. ↑ School Document
  58. ↑ 58.0 58.1 List of school major residential trips September 2009
  59. ↑ Bury Free Press Article "Sport is a top scorer for school" dated 16 December 2011
  60. ↑ Prospectus listing sports facilities
  61. ↑ BBC Sport Web Site Look East Sports Awards abstracted 9 December 2011
  62. ↑ BFP article "County Upper School in Bury St Edmunds takes Gold in Regional Awards" dated 9 December 2011
  63. ↑ Suffolk Sports 2011 Awards winners list
  64. ↑ Suffolk Sports Awards 2011 Citations
  65. ↑ Abbeycroft Leisure Ports Awards Nmination & Winners 2011
  66. ↑ afPE Quality Mark for PE &Sport
  67. ↑ "Sportsmark 2008". Bury St Edmunds CUS Accolade. February 2009. p. 6. 
  68. ↑ "Charter Standard for Football". Bury St Edmunds CUS Accolade. January 2009. p. 5. 
  69. ↑ "Cycling with a British Coach". Bury St Edmunds CUS Accolade. February 2009. p. 6. 
  70. ↑ "Equestrianism". Bury St Edmunds CUS Accolade. June 2009. p. 7. 
  71. ↑ "All the Sport for October". Bury St Edmunds CUS Accolade. October 2009. p. 4. 
  72. ↑ "Equestrianism". Bury St Edmunds CUS Accolade. October 2011. p. 6. 
  73. ↑ Page 1 CUS September Accolade
  74. ↑ Bury Free Press article "County top of the class after Suffolk triumph" dated 3 June 2011 abstracted 5 June 2011
  75. ↑ Rounders England National Championships results webpage abstracted 26 October 2011
  76. ↑ Bury Free Press article dated 3 June 2011
  77. ↑
  78. ↑ Suffolk Basketball Article 8 April 2009
  79. ↑ CUS Basketball Academy Fixture List
  80. ↑ EADT Article 21 Dec 2012 abstracted 22 Dec 2012
  81. ↑ EADT Article 19 April 2012 abstracted 6 May 2012
  82. ↑ List of Arts Award Centres in the East of England
  83. ↑ County Upper School [age on Rockschool Website
  84. ↑ Bury Free Press Article 25 July 2008
  85. ↑ Bury Free Press Article 18 April 2011
  86. ↑ Bury Free Press Article dated 18 April 2011
  87. ↑ EADT Article dated 13 July 2012 abstracted 2 September 2012
  88. ↑ Bury Free Press article dated 13 July 2012 abstracted 2 September 2012
  89. ↑ Swing Band Concert Apex Bury St Edmunds June 2011
  90. ↑ Bury Free Press Article "Praise for annual school exhibition" p119 1 July 2011
  91. ↑ Head of Suffolk County Music Service letter "Re-location of Suffolk Youth Music activities: Bury St Edmunds" dated 19 December 2012
  92. ↑ The Prince's Teaching Institute
  93. ↑ List of Prince's Teaching Institute participating schools
  94. ↑ Global Gateway DCSF International School Award
  95. ↑ List of Schools in 2007 receiving the International School Award
  96. ↑ List of Clubs and Activities Autumn Term 2008 County Courier No.2 Dated 12 September 08 Spring Term 2009 County Courier No.15 Dated 9 January 09Summer Term 2009 County Courier No.26 Dated 24 April 09
  97. ↑ County Upper School page of Suffolk DofE Website
  98. ↑ Bury St Edmunds CUS Accolade Archive 2007-2009
  99. ↑ St Edmundsbury Borough Council Food Hygiene Ratings
  100. ↑ Bury Free Press Article 25 December 2010
  101. ↑ Bury Free Press Article dated 24 Dec 2012
  102. ↑ Cycle to Rwanda web site
  103. ↑ Bury Free Press Article "Students hand over cheques after fund-raising fortnight" dated 23 December 2011
  104. ↑ Bury Free Press article dated 28 July 2012 abstracted 2 September 2012

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