Selston Arts and Community College

Selston Arts and Community College

Headteacher	Mrs Dianne Stendall
Specialism	Arts College
Location	Chapel Road Nottingham Nottinghamshire NG16 6BW England
Local authority	Nottinghamshire
DfE URN	122857
Ofsted	Reports
Students	955
Gender	Coeducational
Ages	11–18
Website	sacc.notts.sch.uk

Coordinates: 53°04′21″N 1°18′26″W / 53.07250°N 1.30728°W / 53.07250; -1.30728

Selston Arts and Community College, or 'SACC' as it is informally known, is a comprehensive school that educates students aged 11–16. It is located in Selston, Nottinghamshire, England. Selston is a specialist school, with Visual Arts status that it obtained in 2006. The head teacher is Mrs Dianne Stendall and the Head of Arts is Mrs H.Hogg.

History

The school was previously called Matthew Holland School, named after the chairman of the local education committee at the time of its construction, who lived locally. The name change was the subject of much debate as it had been known as Matthew Holland for more than half a century. The building was constructed in the late 1930s, and during the war was on standby for use as an hospital until being established as an educational institution in late 1945 or early 1946.

Demographics

The College is a mixed school with around 780 pupils which prides itself on its inclusivity. The Primary schools which feed SACC are Holly Hill Primary School, Jacksdale Primary School, Bagthorpe Primary School, Underwood CofE Primary School, and Brinsley Primary School. Over 90% of students directly transfer from these schools to the college.

Academic performance

In 2009-10 83% of students achieved five or more GCSEs at grade A*-C.

In 2009 the Colleges Value Added score was 1019 which placed the college in the top 10 of Nottinghamshire schools for the progress made by students.

Whilst supporting the college's self evaluation that the results in English and Maths at Key Stage 4 need to be improved, the Ofsted inspection in October 2007 praised the 'happy feel' of the college and judged that "its overall effectiveness is satisfactory. Amongst its strengths is the rigorous monitoring of standards, which is beginning to have an impact on overcoming a legacy of underachievement. Through the college's hard work a significantly higher proportion of students attained five or more good GCSE grades in this summer's examinations."

In 2006-07 51% of Year 11 pupils attained five A-Cs in their GCSEs, and the average student point score was 340.8. Although in the proceeding year 38% of pupils attained five A-Cs, the average point score was significantly lower at 299.6. The improvement in results in 2006-07 was also reflected in Government Value Added statistics that showed a marked improvement over 2005-06 putting the college around half way up the Nottinghamshire schools league table.

Premises

In the past, the state of the school was always upon the agenda of school council meetings since it had long been criticised by the students for the building's aged looks. However, the school made an effort to change the working environment for the students; they installed new carpets, new desks, renewed the furnishings in all the science rooms, turned Room One into a conference centre and created a high tech. visitors reception area.

Some students at the school complained that the classrooms, in particular the ones along the south-east façade, got unbearably hot in summer because the old wooden windows along these corridors, if opened, could have potentially put students and staff at risk. However, the windows were subsequently replaced. The school will be rebuilt in the future as part of the government's Building Schools for the Future programme, but this may not be for several years.

Arts College status

After a long campaign, SACC obtained its Arts College status in 2006, and subsequently received specialist funding. This funding has not only supported the arts departments within the college, but has been a catalyst for many improvements benefiting the whole student community. SACC now offers an expanded range of arts related options for GCSE.

Notable alumni

Liam Bailey (1994-1999), musician signed to Polydor Records.

References

External links

• Official website