Brooke Weston Academy

Brooke Weston College
Address
Coomb Road Corby , Northamptonshire , NN18 8LA England
Information
Type	Academy
Established	1991
Local authority	Northamptonshire
Ofsted	Reports
Principal	Dr William Downey
Gender	Mixed
Age	11 to 18
Enrollment	1200
Colour(s)	Blue and Silver
Website	http://www.brookeweston.org/

HI GARETH

Brooke Weston College is an Academy in Corby, Northamptonshire, England, teaching students from age 11 to 18. It has consistently placed very highly in GCSE league tables and has above average scores in measures of added value. Attainment on entry is well above average and the proportions of students with learning difficulties and disabilities or eligible for free school meals are much lower than average. Until September 2008, the school operated as a City Technology College. See below in the expansion section for more information on this transition.

Background

Founded in 1991, the school was opened as a City Technology College. The college's catchment area includes Corby, Kettering and surrounding towns and villages. Two businessmen, Hugh de Capell Brooke, a local landowner, and Garry Weston, owner of Associated British Foods donated land and funded the initial building of the school respectively, along with additional grants from the Weston Foundation. The Brooke and Weston families gave their name to the school and still play a large role in supporting it today. The current Principal is Dr William Downey pHD.

The School Day

Lessons begin within school at 8:35am, with all students signed into the school using their cards by 8:30am. There are five lessons within a school day all lasting 1 hour 15 minutes long, allowing for extra curricular learning. The school day ends at 4:05pm with school buses departing at 4:15pm from the front of the college. After school activities and clubs are also available for students wishing to stay on.

Principals

• Gareth Newman: 1991 - 1999. The library at Brooke Weston is named after him in his honour.
• Peter Simpson: 1999 - 2007. Was awarded an OBE in recognition of his services to the school (see below ).
• William Downey: 2007 - present.

Information Technology

The school makes use of electronic whiteboards in all classrooms, learning bases and study rooms. Every student and member of staff have their own user accounts and storage areas. The school also houses a large internal local area network, allowing students to access their work from any computer.

Online Curriculum

The school produces and sells an ‘online curriculum’. This consists of a wide range of interactive learning materials and online tasks which all relate to various subject areas. The school's subsidiary company, @tain, then sells access to the content to other schools. In addition, the school also provides training days which allow teaching staff from other schools to attend seminars at the school and learn the methods in which the school teaches the courses provideed on its online curriculum and how to maximise the effectiveness of using it in a classroom environment.

Other Facilities

The school also has a Design Technology suite, with CAD/CAM facilities and a laser cutter. The CAD/CAM suite also includes an A3 colour laser printer. The department also includes two workshops containig CNC lathes, wood-turning lathes, metal working lathes, scroll saws and pillar drills, as well as plenty of other equipment. It was recently refurbished at a cost of £250,000 [1].

The school also has its own video editing studio with chroma-key (blue-screen) facility.

Achievements

The school is also well known for its sporting prowess, with regular success in many sports at county and regional levels.

Previous principal of the college, Peter Simpson, was awarded an OBE in 2006 for services to education and the community.

Academic Ranking

In 2005, 100% of Brooke Weston pupils gained the equivalent of 5 or more A*-C GCSEs.

In 2006 the scoring system for Secondary Schools league tables was adjusted to stipulate that GCSE Mathematics and English must be included in pupil’s performance. Brooke Weston achieved 89% of 5 or more top grade passes under the new system.

In 2007 86% of Brooke Weston pupils achieved the equivalent of 5 or more A*-C GCSEs.

In 2008, Brooke Weston achieved a 100% A level pass rate. [2]. Similar success was shared with GCSE results.

Expansion

In September 2008, Brooke Weston converted to an Academy. £5 million of Government money has been invested in the school, which allowed the construction of the Creative and Digital Arts Centre. This has expanded the school's music and drama performing facilities, as well as providing kitchens for Food Technology, and a new TV studio.

The school is in partnership with the Corby Business Academy [3], which has replaced the former Corby Community College. The former principal of Brooke Weston, Peter Simpson, is the Executive Principal of the Brooke Weston Partnership [4], with principals Dr Andrew Campbell and Trish Stringer respectively in charge of each school.

External links

• Brooke Weston website