Corfe Hills School
Encyclopedia
Poole
Poole is a large coastal town and seaport in the county of Dorset, on the south coast of England. The town is east of Dorchester, and Bournemouth adjoins Poole to the east. The Borough of Poole was made a unitary authority in 1997, gaining administrative independence from Dorset County Council...
and Wimborne, located in Broadstone
Broadstone, Dorset
Broadstone is a town and suburb of Poole in Dorset, England. It is located from Hamworthy railway station and from Bournemouth International Airport. The town has a population of 10,256 according to the 2001 Census....
, Poole
Poole
Poole is a large coastal town and seaport in the county of Dorset, on the south coast of England. The town is east of Dorchester, and Bournemouth adjoins Poole to the east. The Borough of Poole was made a unitary authority in 1997, gaining administrative independence from Dorset County Council...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. In 2001, the school was given Technology College status. The school has over 1600 students and over 100 teaching staff. It is one of the largest secondary schools in Dorset
Dorset
Dorset , is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The county town is Dorchester which is situated in the south. The Hampshire towns of Bournemouth and Christchurch joined the county with the reorganisation of local government in 1974...
, and serves Corfe Mullen
Corfe Mullen
Corfe Mullen is a village in Dorset, England, on the north-western urban fringe of the South East Dorset conurbation and is part of the rural district of East Dorset. The population is 10,147 ....
, Broadstone
Broadstone, Dorset
Broadstone is a town and suburb of Poole in Dorset, England. It is located from Hamworthy railway station and from Bournemouth International Airport. The town has a population of 10,256 according to the 2001 Census....
, Wimborne, Merley
Merley
Merley is a large housing estate in the borough of Poole, a mile south of Wimborne Minster. Originally called Myrle, Merley was a manor in the tithing of Great Canford...
and Sturminster Marshall
Sturminster Marshall
Sturminster Marshall is a village and civil parish in east Dorset in England, situated on the River Stour between Blandford Forum and Poole. The parish has a population of 1,895 , and includes the village of Almer west of Sturminster Marshall, near Winterborne Zelston and the hamlet of Henbury to...
. It also has a small sixth form college. The school was established in 1976 and has since grown every decade, with a periodical expansion of buildings. The current headteacher is Alan Hinchliffe, appointed in 2003, succeeding Andrew Williams, who led the school for over ten years.
Productions
For over 25 years the school has produced a musical for a week at the PoolePoole
Poole is a large coastal town and seaport in the county of Dorset, on the south coast of England. The town is east of Dorchester, and Bournemouth adjoins Poole to the east. The Borough of Poole was made a unitary authority in 1997, gaining administrative independence from Dorset County Council...
Lighthouse theatre
The Lighthouse (Poole)
The Lighthouse is an arts centre in Poole, Dorset, England. According to the Arts council of England it is the largest arts centre in the United Kingdom outside London....
, a regional arts centre. Further music and drama productions take place in the spring and summer terms - a Christmas carol service is held at Wimborne Minster and as a spring concert at the St. Nicholas church in nearby Corfe Mullen. The school also enters a team into the annual Rock Challenge Dance competition, coming second at the 2006 southern finals. Recent productions include Crazy for You, Godspell, Tommy, In to the Woods, Hot Mikado, "Anything Goes
Anything Goes
Anything Goes is a musical with music and lyrics by Cole Porter. The original book was a collaborative effort by Guy Bolton and P.G. Wodehouse, heavily revised by the team of Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. The story concerns madcap antics aboard an ocean liner bound from New York to London...
" and Sweet Charity. Most recently Fiddler on the Roof was performed at the Lighthouse.
Sports tour
The school has international links, of which its rugbyRugby football
Rugby football is a style of football named after Rugby School in the United Kingdom. It is seen most prominently in two current sports, rugby league and rugby union.-History:...
, hockey and Netball tours are the best known. The most recent tour was to New Zealand and Cook Islands in summer 2007, and in recent years the teams have travelled to South Africa, New Zealand and Fiji, led by coaches Lyn and Di Lewis, Lyn being the chairman of the English Schools Rugby Association. The school sporting facilities include an indoor sports hall, gym, and outside area, including football and rugby pitches, a cricket strip, an all weather clay hockey pitch, a 400m running track and four tennis courts.
Ofsted attendance inspection, summary
Date of Inspection: September 2006- The school has sustained an attendance rate over a number of years which compares very favourably with the local authority average. The modest increase in absence in 2005/6 is mainly reflected the application by the school of stricter rules for the registration of pupils arriving late.
- For the few pupils tracked on the inspection, levels of engagement and achievement were at least satisfactory and in many cases good.
- Academically the school GCSE results are above the LEA and the national average.
Quality of teaching and learning
- The school uses a good range of measures to emphasise to pupils and parents the links between attendance and achievement.
- The pupils interviewed who had been supported by the “TOPS” facility within the school spoke particularly positively about the help they had received.
- However, most reported variations between members of staff across the school in terms of support when returning to lessons after a period of absence.
- The quality of teaching and learning in the few lessons seen on this visit were satisfactory.
Quality of curriculum
- The quality of the curriculum in supporting attendance is good.
- The school has substantially expanded the range of activities offered at Key Stage 4 and this has enabled more customised packages to be put together to meet pupils’ individual needs.
Leadership and management of attendance
- Leadership and management in relation to attendance are outstanding.
- Attendance is an integral part of the school’s overall development planning and is given high priority within this.
- The school makes good use of its very detailed registration information to analyse patterns of attendance for both individual pupils and groups.
- Attendance is monitored regularly and planning and review for individual cases is detailed and rigorous.
- Appropriate use is made of rewards and sanctions, both for pupils and parents.
- There is effective collaboration with other agencies and schools.
Inclusion
- The provision for inclusion in relation to attendance issues is good.
- All the pupils interviewed said that there was at least one member of staff who took a particular interest in their well-being and progress.
- All said similarly that there was at least one person who they could approach with confidence about any problems.
- There are a number of sources of individual support for pupils with problems.