Sudbury Upper School

Infobox UK school
name = Sudbury Upper School


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motto = "Achieving Success For All"
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established = 1972
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closed =
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type = Comprehensive
religion =
president =
head_label = Headteacher
head = Mr D Forrest
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specialist = Arts College
street = Tudor Road
city = Sudbury
county = Suffolk
country = England
postcode = CO10 1NW
LEA = Suffolk
ofsted =
staff =
enrollment = 984
gender = Coeducational
lower_age = 13
upper_age = 19
houses =
colours = Black, Red & Gold
publication =
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website = http://www.sus.org.uk

Sudbury Upper School is a 13 - 18 comprehensive school in the town of Sudbury, Suffolk for 13 - 19 year old students. [http://www.suffolk.gov.uk/EducationAndLearning/Schools/ListOfSuffolkSchools/SudburyUpperSchoolandArtsCollege.htm Sudbury Upper School and Arts College] Suffolk County Council, retrieved June 10, 2007 ] The school was established in 1972 (following the country wide introduction of the comprehensive school system) to serve the expanding town of Sudbury, and its surrounding villages. Sudbury Upper School was an amalgamation of Sudbury Grammar School, the High School for Girls and the Secondary Modern School. It is mainly populated by students from its three pyramid feeder middle schools; most of the students from Uplands Middle School and All Saints Middle School in Sudbury, and about half of those from Clare Middle School. In addition, the school attracts students from outside its catchment area. [http://sudburysuffolk.com/database/index.php?action=listingview&listingID=10] Sudbury Town Council, retrieved July 11, 2007 ]

The school has achieved several notable national awards, including the Schools' Curriculum Award (1990 and 1997), the School Achievement Award (2002 and 2003), Investors In People Standard, Sport England's Sportsmark, Arts College Status (approved for redesgination 2007), and Artsmark. [ [http://www.artscouncil.org.uk/regions/press_detail.php?id=247&rid=8 Schools in the East receive most Artsmark Gold awards in the country] Arts Council, 9 June 2004]

Current Information

The school has a student population of approximately 984, with 190 in the sixth form. The accommodation includes a separate performing arts block, a sports centre open to the public and a recent extension housing the modern foreign languages and mathematics departments.

The uniform consists of a black v-neck sweater and white dress shirt or blouse, both of which sport the school's logo on the left breast. The uniform previously consisted of a plain white shirt or blouse and a black and red striped tie, but this ceased for the new intake in 2005. The school's logo is a modified version of the , specifically stripped down to only the crest section, which has also been slightly modified in keeping with the modern atmosphere of the school. There is no requirement for the sixth form to wear uniform but guidelines to acceptable clothing are specified in the sixth from handbook.

Extracurricular

The school has a wide range of extracurricular activities including many related to sport and the performing arts. Many music events are held each year including an evening performance of rock bands called "Scuzzfest". A new concept at the school are classic album nights, where AS and A2 music technology students perform a classic album in its entirety. There will be 5 albums performed through the year including 3 Feet High and Rising and Electric Ladyland.Fact|date=October 2007 Sport is a strength at the school and the Sudbury Upper School under-15 girls rounders team were Suffolk champions in 2006. [ [http://www.suffolkfreepress.co.uk/template/ViewArticle.aspx?SectionID=851&articleid=1611123 Rounders: County title for Sudbury Upper] Suffolk Free Press, 6 July 2006] Art clubs are run on regular basis and the school holds an annual art & technology exhibition in Sudbury Town Hall.

Partnership Work

The school is working closely with its sister school, Great Cornard Upper School, to enable students to access a specialist curriculum across both sites.

The two schools have forged a link that allows students to study on both campuses. Since September 2008, students at Sudbury and Great Cornard Upper Schools have had the opportunity to mix and study at both centres. The closest relationship is at sixth-form level, where the amalgamation of the two schools' courses hsve given students greater choice in what they can study. Students from the age of 14 will get the chance to experience the new set-up, which has seen both schools synchronise their timetables.

With both schools having specialist status – technology at Cornard and the arts at Sudbury – the new link means the schools can pool resources so students can take advantage of both areas of expertise.The sixth-form link-up will mean around 40 different courses will be on offer to post-16 students. A joint prospectus for next year's sixth form students is now available from both schools. [ [http://www.suffolkfreepress.co.uk/news/Schools-join-to-offer-best.3557827.jp Schools join to offer best of both worlds Suffolk Free Press, retrieved December 28, 2007] ]

Building of a new vocational teaching block on the site, which will house construction, began in October 2007 with an expected completion date of July 2008. [ [http://www.suffolkfreepress.co.uk/ViewArticle.aspx?SectionID=850&articleid=1311413 Upper schools' bold new link] Suffolk Free Press, 12 January 2007]

Notable incidents

The school had a trebling of race-related incidents reported by staff from 9 in 2005-06, to 30 in 2006-07, though Suffolk's County education advisor for race has noted that the school "has been very vigorous in recording instances and that they are taking steps to address any incidents in an honest and open way." [cite web|url=http://www.eadt.co.uk/content/eadt/news/story.aspx?brand=EADOnline&category=News&tBrand=EADOnline&tCategory=News&itemid=IPED16%20Sep%202007%2020%3A59%3A39%3A290|title=Bid to tackle racism at Suffolk schools|publisher=East Anglian Daily Times|accessdate=2008-01-14] A Suffolk County Council audit in 2006 raised concerns of theft from vending machines in the school's sports centre. [cite web |url=http://colin.suffolkcc.gov.uk/cgi-bin/cyp/edms_will_temp.cgi?p=doc&id=1_560 | publisher = Suffolk County Council Audit Services | title = CORE ASSURANCE WORK – Children, Young People & Schools Directorate Quarterly Report on Q3 |accessdate=2008-01-14]

The school made the national news in 2005 when six 15-year old pupils took pictures of themselves in the toilets in bras and posted them on the internet, [cite web |url=http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=345784&in_page_id=1770|publisher =The Daily Mail|title = Schoolgirls put pictures on the Internet| first = Andrew | last=Levy|accessdate=2008-01-14] and in August 2007 when a former maths teacher was sentenced to a year's imprisonment after pleading guilty to six counts of abusing a position of trust. [cite web|url=http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=474049&in_page_id=1770&ICO=NEWS&ICL=TOPART|publisher=The Daily Mail|title=Wife uncovered teacher's affair with pupil he texted 200 times|first=Andrew|last=Levy|accessdate=2008-01-14] In spring 2008, a supply teacher was filmed on a camera phone removing his shirt in a cover lesson at the school. As soon as the headteacher found out, the gentleman was asked to leave the premises immediately and was banned from working in schools in Suffolk.cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/7450552.stm|title=Stripping supply teacher banned|date=June 12, 2008|publisher=BBC News|accessdate=2008-06-12]

References

External links

* [http://www.sus.org.uk/ Official website]
* [http://www.dfes.gov.uk/cgi-bin/performancetables/school_06.pl?Mode=Z&No=9354018&Type=LA&Num=935&Phase=k&Year=06&Base=d/ DfES Performance Website]