Forest School (Horsham)

Infobox UK school
name = The Forest School


size =
latitude = 51.05948
longitude = -0.30672
dms = dms
motto =
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established =
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closed =
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religion =
president =
head_label =
head = Ms Siobhan Denning
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founder =
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specialist = Engineering College, Business and Enterprise College
specialist_pl = true
street = Comptons Lane
city = Horsham
county = West Sussex
country = England
postcode = RH13 5NW
LEA = West Sussex
ofsted = 126065
staff =
enrollment = 1075
gender = Boys
lower_age = 11
upper_age = 16
houses =
colours =
publication =
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website = http://www.forest.w-sussex.sch.uk/
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The Forest School is an all-boys secondary school in Horsham, West Sussex. It is a specialist school in Engineering and Business and Enterprise.

In 2004, the school achieved a 62% 5 A* - C pass rate, and a 100% 5 A* - G pass rate, for subjects resulting in a GCSE qualification. In 2005 and 2006, the school continued its 100% A* - G pass rate. The 2005 A* - C pass rate was 66%, and the 2006 rate was 64%. The amount of tutor groups per year group has expanded from 6 to 8 in just 2 years.

On 30 November - 1 December 2006, the school had its first OFSTED inspection since 2002. The inspection resulted in the school being given 'Satisfactory' status.

taff and structure

The school changed its management structure in 2006. This involved the merging of formerly separate departments into five curriculum teams. The teams are: Technologies, Communications, Sciences, Living, Lives and Ethics (incorporating Geography, History, PSE and RE), and Activity and Aesthetics (incorporating PE, Drama, Music and Art).

chool houses

Pupils and staff (excluding the Headteacher) attending the Forest School are sorted into four Houses - Dyson (Yellow), Hawking (Green), Marconi (Blue - previously York), or Branson (Red - previously Lancaster). Pupils with siblings already at the school are usually placed in the same house as them. These houses compete with each other in an annual merit competition (merits are given for achievements or community work) and in various sports events including Cross-Country and Sports Day. Each house has a staff member appointed as its head. Each year, representatives from each house are chosen from each year group. House Captains are taken from Year 11.

At the beginning of the term starting September 2007, the four houses changed their names from the old Lancaster, Tudor, Stuart and York to new names, which represent their status as a business and enterprise college. The new names are, Marconi, Dyson, Branson and Hawking. Different forms are in different communities, as they are now called, for example, 7C, 8C, 9C...11C and 7G...11G etc are in Marconi.

Discipline

There are several internal methods of discipline in the school. For example, like many schools, the school uses Report Cards which are issued to students who need to meet targets in lessons in general. The card must be checked in every lesson by the teacher, who will write a tick or a cross underneath the targets (there are usually three targets). There are 3 levels of Report Card, with Yellow being the least serious(Form Tutor), Blue being the most serious (Senior Staff Member) and Pink being in between (Key Stage Co-ordinator / Home-School Liaison Officer).The school also follows a 'consequences policy' where if a pupil does something wrong, the will have a five minute warning, and this will gradually get up to isolation or a Senior Leadership Team Detention. The school also uses consequences cards, where if a pupil does something not quite worthy of a detention they will get a signature and if they do something helpful such as handing out books or holding the door open for a teacher they will get a sticker 6 signatures gets the pupil an SLT and 3 stickers erases all signatures (the pupil gets issued a new card) and they pupil is entered into the prize draw (the prize being a gift token). The form with the most cards filled with stickers at the end of the year wins.

chool events

Awards Evening

Around mid November, the Forest School holds an Awards Evening. The awards are given to pupils who have performed particularly well in curriculum subjects, and there are also awards given for gaining a certain number of merits. Previous Year 11s are also awarded special awards and trophies for various reasons. A Guest of Honour attends every year to present the awards. Speeches are also made by the Head teacher, the Head Boy and the Chairman of the Governors, as well as the Guest of Honour.

Activities Week & Work Experience Week

In July each year, the entire school is brought off timetable for one week. Key Stage 3 pupils participate in a series of activities based on a specific, enterprise-related theme. For example, the Languages Department had pupils create foreign language posters for a space-themed restaurant in Activities Week 2005 (the theme was Space-Enterprise). In Activities Week, pupils are placed in groups based on their Houses rather than ability or tutor group. The Activities Week "lessons" last 90 minutes rather than the usual 60, and there are three "lessons" each day rather than five.

Year 10 pupils spend the week at Work Experience placements within the community (the pupils can arrange their own placements or the school may organise one for them). Pupils are given a booklet in which to chart their progress in the placement and record key information, and all pupils are visited by a member of staff at some point during the week.

Prefects

Forest School is also known for its prefects which, under the guidance of the acting headmistress and the senior management staff, now play a vital role in the day-to-day running of the school. The most notable of these roles is carrying out duties during break and lunch times. There are several teams of Prefects, and each team is assigned to an area of the school, such as the Maths Department or the Canteen. In the current 2007/08 Year 11, there are more prefects than in any previous Forest Year 11.

Before this academic year the prefects were easily identifiable for their maroon/red jumpers but this year, through popular demand of the teachers, the school has opted for a sky-blue, long-sleeved shirt and a blue tie with white stripes and one Forest School crest, also in white

This year the school has created higher prefects, who are in control of areas and can give warnings to disruptive students.

Business & Enterprise Centre

£1.5 million has been spent on a new Business and Enterprise centre. The Business and Enterprise Centre was officially opened by members of the local business community on Friday 13 October 2006. It comprises over 180 brand new PCs spreading over 6 rooms which are used by Year 10 and 11 as tutor bases. Other features include a kitchen area and a conference / assembly hall. The school has also made the Centre available for hire by the general public, its vision being to use the BEC as a hub in the community.

External links

* [http://www.theforestschool.com Forest School]