Countesthorpe Community College

Countesthorpe Community College

Motto	Learning in a supportive environment
Established	1970s
Type	Comprehensive
Headteacher	Mr Brian Myatt
Specialism	Technology College
Location	Winchester Road Countesthorpe Leicestershire LE8 5PR England
Local authority	Leicestershire
DfE URN	120268
Ofsted	Reports
Students	1116
Gender	Coeducational
Ages	14–18
Website	www.countesthorpe.leics.sch.uk

Coordinates: 52°33′14″N 1°09′32″W / 52.55385°N 1.15887°W / 52.55385; -1.15887

Countesthorpe Community College is a upper school situated on the western edge of Countesthorpe in Leicestershire near the A426

History

When the school first opened its doors in the 1970s, its informal learning environment caused controversy, with much interest from national press. Many features of the school were regarded as radical. There was a Moot at which issues around management of the school could be thrashed out. Membership was open to teachers, the student body and was attended by the Head Tim McMullan. The school was run with a high level of teacher control through to the mid 80s when a combination of the NUS strikes and the introduction of the national curriculum challenged the old order and increasingly the school was run by the Head and senior management team from 1987 onwards.

The school was highly controversial because of the amount of student autonomy. There was no school uniform, no staff room and both staff and students could smoke in the cafe which was adjacent to the main entrance. Visiting parents would be appalled by the fug of smoke on entering the school, but at the same time there was no smoking in toilets or behind the bike sheds and students had to have parental permission to smoke on the premises.

The centrepiece of the school was the idea of a negotiated and individualised curriculum. Each student was assigned to a 'team' on arriving in the school. This team was a space, a group of teachers and about 150 students. The core curriculum was taught in the team area by team teachers and included Art, integrated humanities, general science, Maths and English. Other specialist subjects were shared across the two other teams in each year so that a wide range of choice could be offered including the usual languages, sciences etc but also control technology, and the famous music department in which bands were formed but no orchestras played.

Team allowed the school to contain 7 small schools which were more intimate than normal in a student body of 1400. Three in each of the then fourth and fifth years of the GCSE cohort and one for the sixth form. Most subjects taught at GCSE relied on Countesthorpe developed curricula - at least until the introduction of the national curriculum. There were few exams, a lot of coursework and the school won the schools curriculum award several years running in the 80s.

Tim McMullan was the first head of the school curriculum innovation and with John Watts, the second head, introduced most of the social innovations that were to make it so distinctive.

It has been said that the school was originally based on the public school Summerhill School and had a similar ethos where students could learn what and when they wanted. However it was different in many ways, the school was huge compared to Summerhill and had to be organised accordingly. In many ways the educational ethos was much more sophisticated than that revealed by AS Neill in his own writing on Summerhill. McMullan and his teachers were trying to develop autonomous learners, people who would be able to succeed because they had learnt how to learn. The school had a sophisticated resources room in which students could research the topics in assignments.

However there is no question that the school was controversial in the community "The school, as such, fell into poor repute.^{[citation needed]}" and particularly among some parents.

Countesthorpe today

During the late 1980s a shift in attitudes started to take place and the college began to restrict the freedoms that had been practised in its first 15 years. The introduction of the national curriculum, a greater focus was placed on student achievement, mainly due to an ever competitive workplace that students would encounter when they left the school.

The school takes students from the Blaby District and the Oadby and Wigston District, with some students coming from further afield. It performs at the national average at GCSE, and its A level results are above the England average.

This year the college has had the best results in its history in 2008 with 64% of students graduating from year 11 getting five or more A* to C grades. 97.3% of students graduating from 16+ in 2008 passed their exams.

During the 1990s the emphasis was firmly placed on improving students grades and clamping down on poor behaviour.

Catchment area

Countesthorpe Community College is fed mainly by Thomas Estley, Broughton Astley and Leysland High School, Countesthorpe. However, some students also enter the college from Brockington College, and South Wigston High School.

Curriculum

The school has followed the National Curriculum since its introduction. The school is currently almost fully subscribed, but has the capacity to take more students. It offers a wide range of subjects at both GCSE and A-Level, together with BTECs and Vocational based subjects. From September 2009 the school will offer specialist diplomas.

School buildings

During the breaks for summer holidays and exam revision time in 2007 the 16+ area - which is provided for the exclusive use of the students studying at higher education - was re-decorated. The area now features a bright and airy colour scheme of pink, white and lime green. A number of issues which were raised by past students have now been acted on, such as the lack of study and suitable space to socialise and relax. The once-single room has been split into two main sections. The first is a general gaming zone, in which two pool tables and a table football game are situated. On the borders of this room there are a number of high chairs situated so that students can work with either laptops or other school work on a wide surface area specially made for this purpose. In the next part if the new 16+ section, there is a coffee bar which also sells food and drink, but with the hope of promoting healthy schools, the bar only serves health drinks and other food items such as apple bars and fresh fruit.

Theatre

The school has a professional 200 seat theatre (the seats are from the Theatre Royal) that is used during the school day for assemblies and drama groups and used in the evenings by local community groups.

Dining hall

Recently [2007] the school has just acquired a grant of money to expand the dining hall/area which is mostly used by years 10 and 11. The new area now allows lunch times to be easier for visitors and students alike, as it has added a large space in which a new dinner serving area has been placed, there are also many tables and chairs in which people can relax during breaktimes, lunchtimes and in 'free periods', which are enjoyed only by Sixth Form students. The dining room is the first extension to the school since it was built. Along with the new space, students have been given two new plasma screen TVs which are situated on the far wall of the dinner hall, these two screens are linked up to most Digital Freeview music channels which allow music to be played throughout lunch, via a number of speakers dotted around the room.

Technology status

In 2006 the college was awarded technology status and as a result was given half a million pounds to spend on improving the equipment and teaching. Technology status has tripled the number of computers in the school, added a data projector to every classroom and has paid for a number of new staff who help support teachers and students use of technology.

The college also features a fully student-accessible wireless internet network via WLAN, which is used by staff members on laptops, which they use to conduct lessons, as well as by students - both using school-owned laptops and their own, personal laptops. The entire computer system in the college is networked, allowing users on any system to access network drives containing resources relevant to their academic work. Network users can also print to any of the computers in the school.

The school is at the forefront of modern technological advancements. A recent addition to the college's technological agenda was the addition of a web-based access portal for network users. The portal, which can be accessed at http://www.learninglink.me.uk/ by network users, using their college username and password, provides the user with access to their school account's full documents directory, a shared drive containing hundreds of resources for various areas of the curriculum, access to their college email accounts and a full web-based directory of information and files for the courses which students are taking (either at GCSE or A-Level).

Concerns that the college does not look like a specialist technology college have been raised by students at the school. Planned projects, such as a student TV station, student made information kiosks and some other as yet unknown projects, have been raised to counter this concern.

Music

The college is widely renowned in the local community for its fantastic music department. Currently, the music department at Countesthorpe Community College features two large music rooms, equipped with pianos by Bechstein and Steinway, which serve as both classrooms for GCSE, BTEC and A-Level music groups and numerous practise rooms during free time and after-school sessions; many smaller individual practice rooms which can be used at any time; and a fully functional recording studio, which is used by music students and out-of-school bands alike.

The school was a part of the development of English rock/britpop band Kasabian, the members of which met whilst attending both Leysland High School and Countesthorpe College in the village of Countesthorpe.

Other well known ex-Countesthorpe musicians include folk singer-songwriter Pete Morton, Crazyhead guitarist Kevin Reverb (Bayliss), James Maddocks, Jersey Budd and former Factory Records act Kevin Hewick.

During the two to four years students study at the school, many students with a taste for music form their own bands with friends or acquaintances. In addition to their academic studies, these bands meet regularly and practise music as an extra-curricular activity. Just some of these bands include AstroManiacs, Common Side Effects, The Legion and The People Versus. They are encouraged to practise and are able to record in the school's music department.

Sport

The college is well known for producing sports stars, most recently currently playing for Leicester City Football Club is Joe Mattock.

External links

• Countesthorpe Community College official website
• Kasabian's official website