Infobox UK school
name = Cantell Maths and Computing College
|Cantell School logo
phone = 023 8032 3111
fax = 023 8032 2433
established = 1986
type = Secondary
head = Ruth Evans
ofsted = 116469
street = Violet Road
city = Southampton
county = Hampshire
country = England
enrollment = 1300
lower_age = 11
upper_age = 16
publication =
website = http://www.cantell.co.uk Cantell School
Cantell School is a secondary comprehensive school in the Bassett area of Southampton, England. The School has Specialist status for Mathematics and Information and Communication Technology, awarded in September 2003 and is thus now officially referred to as Cantell Mathematics and Computing College. The school has also been largely rebuilt funded through the Private Finance Initiative. When Cantell was inspected in 2004 it was judged to require special measures because it was failing to give its students an acceptable standard of education. Her Majesty's Inspectors of schools (HMI) visited the school on four occasions to monitor its progress, and reinspected the school in June 2006. The inspection was carried out by one HMI and four additional inspectors.
Cantell is situated to the north of Southampton City Centre, close to University of Southampton. It serves a socially mixed area, including some districts with high levels of social deprivation.
History
The school occupies the site that was previously home to Glen Eyre School. [cite web|url=http://www.hants.gov.uk/scrmxn/m04841.html|title=FORMER HAMPTON PARK SECONDARY SCHOOL SOUTHAMPTON - PROPOSED COMMUNITY USE |date=24TH MARCH, 1988 |publisher=Hampshire County Council Land Subcommittee|accessdate=2008-08-06] Cantell was formed as an amalgamation of this and Hampton Park Secondary School in 1986. In 1988 the school occupied an area of some 4 hectares (9.9 acres) and it was proposed that 0.1 hectares (0.25 acres) of this be sold off for housing. [cite web|url=http://www.hants.gov.uk/scrmxn/m03500.html|title=CANTELL SCHOOL, SOUTHAMPTON - SURPLUS LAND|publisher=Hampshire County Council Schools Subcommittee|accessdate=2008-08-06]
Present
The head teacher is Mrs. Ruth Evans who took over from Mrs. Ruth Johnson in 2008. Mr. Burge was headteacher before Mrs. Johnson. He left in 2004 to go into retirement.
The school last received an OFSTED inspection in Autumn 2004 and was in the "special measures" category. As a result, the school was receiving visits from Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Education to inspect its progress. The school considerably improved and as of July 2006 the school is out of special measures after the last inspection in June 2006.
In January 2006 there were 1,177 students at Cantell (532 boys and 645 girls) out of the full capacity of 1,300.[ [http://www.edubase.co.uk/EstablishmentView.aspx?EstablishmentID=16454 Edubase: Details for Cantell Maths and Computing College] Accessed 24th March 2007] . The school has a code of conduct that reads:]:"At Cantell we believe that a safe environment of mutual respect and co-operation results in the most effective climate for learning and teaching."
:"We believe that the highest standards of challenge and expectation result in the highest levels of achievement and attainment."
The current school building was built in 2003 at the cost of £109 million Fact|date=February 2007, it replaced the previous building which was constructed in the 1960s, which was in a state of disrepair.
As Cantell is formally known as "Cantell Maths and Computing College" and is a specialist ICT centre, during the two-week school break over Christmas 2006 and 2007, Cantell installed 90 brand new laptop desks (split between 3 ICT rooms) costing £2500 each. Over the 2007 summer holidays for students, 30 more of these laptop desks were installed in another ICT room. The laptops are set up so that teachers can monitor the students' work, thus, the amount of inappropriate behaviour in ICT lessons has decreased.
Students
Uniform
Year 7 students (the first year at secondary school) must wear black trousers, black shoes and a navy blue polo shirt with the 'Cantell' logo. Years 8-10 Students must wear black trousers, light blue shirts, blue ties with the 'Cantell' logo and black shoes. Optional blue sweatshirts and fleeces with the Cantell logo are also available for these years. For Year 11 (the last year at secondary school), students must wear the same uniform but with white shirts and black ties. Optional jumpers must also be black. Prefects have their own special tie with 'Prefect' above the school logo. Girls have an option to wear skirts which may not be too long or short, unless for religious reasons.
Ability
Although the students have a wide range of ability, their standards on entry to the school are marginally below those found nationally. The proportion of students for whom English is an additional language is approximately 23% and increasing. In addition to a higher than average proportion of students from ethnic minority backgrounds there are a number of students who are refugees or asylum seekers. Approximately 25 % of all the students have learning difficulties, which is above the national average. However, only four students have a statement of special educational need which is low. The school includes a specialist 24 place unit for students with specific learning difficulties. In addition the school offers its own provision off-site for more challenging students and on-site provision for vulnerable students. The proportion of students entitled to free school meals is 25% which is above average.
References
External links
* [http://www.cantell.co.uk Official school website]
* [http://www.cantell.southampton.sch.uk/ Cantell Secondary School on Southampton Cityweb]
* [http://www.ofsted.gov.uk Ofsted Website]
