Aylesford School - Sports College

Infobox UK school
name = Aylesford School - Sports College


size = 160px
latitude =
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dms = dms
motto =
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approx = 1940
closed =
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type =
religion = Non-denominational
president =
head_label = Headteacher
head = Mr D Lawson
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chair =
founder =
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specialist = Sports College
specialist_pl =
street = Teapot Lane
city = Aylesford
county = Kent
country = England
postcode = ME20 7JU
LEA = Kent
ofsted = 118882
staff =
enrollment = 860 (plus 101 in sixth form)
gender = Coeducational
lower_age = 11
upper_age = 18
houses = Four "Schools of Learning"
colours = Blue & Yellow
publication =
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website = http://www.aylesford.kent.sch.uk/
website_name = www.aylesford.kent.sch.uk

Aylesford School - Sports College is a secondary school in Kent, England, housed in recently completed (2008) modern buildings, situated in Teapot Lane, and serving an area to the west of Maidstone.

Aylesford is a mixed-sex school comprising years 7 to 11, with an added Sixth Form making up years 12 and 13.

The School achieved Specialist status as a Sports College in 2004, which ensures that a focus on sport is introduced to all aspects of the curriculum.

Aylesford School - Sports College states in its mission statement that it is: "committed to excellence by providing an education which prepares pupils for life-long learning and equips them with the skills and values necessary for the opportunities offered by citizenship of the 21st century."

Reconstruction

The school site at Teapot Lane - originally built largely by Italian prisoners of War during the 1940s, was redeveloped in 2005-2008, as part of a KCC-sponsored PFI scheme which also included two other local secondary schools, Holmesdale in Snodland, and The Malling, in East Malling, and three others elsewhere in Kent. Construction of the new school was headed by Costain. Unlike the other schools involved, space constrictions on the site meant that the new buildings had to be built over the original foundations, so a "temporary village" of classrooms was constructed on part of the site to house the majority of pupils and staff during the reconstruction period. [http://www.aylesford.kent.sch.uk School Website] "Retrieved May 2008"]

Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families, Ed Balls, accompanied by local MP Jonathan Shaw and officials from KCC, officially opened the new school buildings on 28 May 2008. Referring to the three local schools, the Minister said: "If we can do around the country, what we've seen in these three schools, we could really transform education in Britain."Kent Messenger Newspaper, June 13, 2008]

Organisation

In 2007, Aylesford introduced a new structure: although most teaching and learning continues to be carried out in year-based classes, instead of pupils being in year-based tutor groups, they join small mentor groups with pupils from all years. These meet regularly to focus on removing the barriers to education, so improving pupil's behaviour and achievement levels, through generating a family-based sense of belonging.

Each mentor group belongs to one of four larger groups known as 'Schools of Learning'. These allow for peer group mentoring to take place naturally, greater involvement for each and every child and more of a competitive atmosphere when it comes to Sports Day and similar events, as well as reducing incidents of bullying and intimidation, breaking down barriers across year groups, easing year seven pupils into secondary school education, and helping to build civil responsibilities and shared experiences for all.

A new uniform - Royal blue polo shirt with school name and badge, black plain jumper, crew or v-neck, Black tailored full length trousers/knee-length black skirt and black leather ankle-height footwear - was introduced in 2007 to coincide with the new building and the change to the schools internal organisation. A range of PE kit and outerwear was also introduced at the same time, giving a degree of choice while retaining a uniform lookSchool Prospectus, 2008/09]

The sixth-form is part of the Medway Valley Sixth-form Consortium, a collaboration with two other local secondary schools which offers a wider range of A-level and equivalent courses than any one of the schools could provide individually. Aylesford has a particular strength in Business Studies provision.

Ofsted and results

The school was inspected by Ofsted in May 2008, and before that, in December 2003.

In the latest report, the school is rated overall as "Satisfactory", and the Sixth-form: "Good".

The report also comments that:

"Aylesford School - Sports College is on a journey of improvement. From a legacy of significant underachievement, the school is now providing a satisfactory standard of education, and has the systems in place to reach a good level of performance."Ofsted Section 5 Inspection Report ref. 118882, May 2008]

This was reflected by the School's 2007-08 GCSE results where 60% of pupils achieved 5 A*-C grades (28% including both English and Maths), the best results the School has ever achieved. Kent County Council and the Sports College Trust recognised Aylesford School's achievement revealing it was the "most improved school in the county"Kent Messenger, Friday 3rd October 2008] and second most improved Sports College in the country.

External links

* [http://www.aylesford.kent.sch.uk The School website]
** [http://www.aylesford.kent.sch.uk/html/prospectus.asp# School Prospectus on-line]
* [http://www.kent.gov.uk/ Kent County Council - the Local Authority]
* [http://www.dfes.gov.uk Department for Children, Schools and Families]

Notes