Burnham Upper School

Infobox UK school
name = Burnham Upper School

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size = 75px
latitude = 51.528557
longitude = -0.661698
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established = 1969
approx =
closed =
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type = Secondary modern community school
religion =
president =
head_label = Headteacher
head = Mr Max Bilsborough
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chair =
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specialist = Sports College
street =
city = Burnham
county = Buckinghamshire
country = England flagicon|England
postcode =
phone =
fax =
LEA = Buckinghamshire
ofsted = 110501
staff =
enrollment = 740
gender = Co-educational
lower_age = 11
upper_age = 18
houses =
colours =
publication =
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website = http://www.burnhamupper.bucks.sch.uk/
website_name = www.burnhamupper.bucks.sch.uk

Burnham Upper School is a co-educational secondary school in Burnham, Buckinghamshire. It is a community school, which takes children from the age of 11 through to the age of 18. The school has approximately 740 pupils. [cite web
last=
first=
authorlink=
coauthors=
title=Schools Directory
work=
publisher=Buckinghamshire County Council
date=
url=http://apps.buckscc.gov.uk/eforms/schools/schoolDetails.aspx?DFEE=4074
format=
doi=
accessdate=2006-09-21]

In September 2005 the school was designated by the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) as a specialist Sports College. [cite web
last=
first=
authorlink=
coauthors=
title=Specialist Schools Home
work=
publisher=DfES
date=July 2006
url=http://www.standards.dfes.gov.uk/specialistschools/
format=
doi=
accessdate=2006-08-02]

In February 2007 an Ofsted inspection judged the school to be "inadequate" and recommended that it be placed on special measures. [cite web
title=Inspection Report
publisher=Ofsted
date=February 2007
url=http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/reports/pdf/?inspectionNumber=288694&providerCategoryID=8192&fileName=\\school\\110\\s5_110501_20070718.pdf
accessdate=2007-08-16]

Burnham Upper School is one of several Buckinghamshire schools which host mobile phone masts. Contracts between Buckinghamshire County Council and various mobile phone operators generate an income of £145,000 per annum, of which about £59,000 comes from contracts for masts that are installed in schools. [cite web
title=Questions and Answers for County Council Meeting
publisher=Buckinghamshire County Council
date=2004-01-22
url=http://www.buckscc.gov.uk/cabinet_papers/council/bcc_20040122_questions.pdf
accessdate=2007-04-16] [cite web
title=Is there a mast near you?
publisher=News of the World
url=http://www.newsoftheworld.co.uk/masts.shtml
accessdate=2007-04-16]

The school was once one of the top secondary schools in the Berkshire and Buckinghamshire area, however lack of funding caused it to become one of the most dysfunctional schools in the area. Probably because the Director of Learning is just a PE teacher. The ofsted report identified that the maths department and sixth form academy were the worst in the area, with several changes of teachers including teachers from other subject departments teaching other subjects they were not fully qualified in.

However the school has got one of the most successful secondary school football teams in the south east, benefited by the establishment of the sports college. But in most fields the school was continuously cutting back on costs leading to paper shortages and out of date text books and computer systems.

Since the Ofsted report in 2007 the school has changed for the better the sixth form academy is running more efficiently with a record number of students staying on for higher education. However it has abolished the grouping system in rank of intelligence which had 3 X band groups for the most intelligent students and 2 Y bands for the least intelligent students. This move is seen as way to cut costs further to fund for other aspects of school which need most attention, whether this will benefit the school is yet to be seen.

The school has averaged F grades for the final GCSEs for the higher grouped students and averaged Z grades for the lower grouped students. The grades on average have seemed to taken a huge big massive fall in recent years, but the number of students going onto the dole has increased. Very few previous students have managed to gone on to obtain university diplomas.

Student and teacher morale has seen a fall, and the leaving rate has seen an increase. The school is also experiencing an increase in the number of foreign origin students most particularly students of Asian origin, however it is still quite a low figure compared to most schools in local Buckinghamshire and Berkshire area.

The subjects the school offers are: Mathematics, Science, English (GCSE divided into language and literature), Geography, History, Art and Design, Woodwork Technology (not a GCSE option), Food Technology, Textiles Technology, Business and Communications, Religious Studies (not a GCSE option), Physical Education, Drama and French.

Additional GCSE courses include: Resistant Materials, General Studies, ASDAN (pass or fail principle), Childcare and GNVQ courses. Previous subjects include Graphic Design (abolished due to poor grades and teaching).

Despite a poor history the school still has a high application rate which always exceeds the free spaces averaging over 900 applications.

References

External links

* [http://www.burnhamupper.bucks.sch.uk/ School Website]
* [http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/reports/index.cfm?fuseaction=summary&id=110501 Ofsted Reports]
* [http://www.dfes.gov.uk/cgi-bin/performancetables/school_06.pl?Mode=Z&No=8254074&Type=LA&Num=825&Phase=1&Year=06&Base=b DfES Performance Tables]