Quarrydale School is a comprehensive

Comprehensive school

A comprehensive school is a state school that does not select its intake on the basis of academic achievement or aptitude. This is in contrast to the selective school system, where admission is restricted on the basis of a selection criteria. The term is commonly used in relation to the United...

 secondary school

Secondary school

Secondary school is a term used to describe an educational institution where the final stage of schooling, known as secondary education and usually compulsory up to a specified age, takes place...

 located in the ex-mining

Mining

Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, from an ore body, vein or seam. The term also includes the removal of soil. Materials recovered by mining include base metals, precious metals, iron, uranium, coal, diamonds, limestone, oil shale, rock...

 and textile

Textile

A textile or cloth is a flexible woven material consisting of a network of natural or artificial fibres often referred to as thread or yarn. Yarn is produced by spinning raw fibres of wool, flax, cotton, or other material to produce long strands...

 community of Sutton in Ashfield, Nottinghamshire

Nottinghamshire

Nottinghamshire is a county in the East Midlands of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west...

, 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 2010 the school achieved its best results yet, with 56% or more A*-C grades in total. This has led to its specialism in science and mathematics .

School day

Under the revised timetable, the school day now starts at 8:35am, and finishes at 3:00pm, with 5 one hour lessons, a 15 minute break between first and second lessons, and a 40 minute dinner break between third and fourth lessons. Each year group has 6 tutor groups (with the exception being the lower years, with more tutor groups being added as the number of students increased), Q, U, A, R, Y and D. In years 7, 8, and 9, these years classes are split into two "halfs". One "half" contains Q, U and A, while R, Y and D are in the other "half". Each half has their classes together, but split into ability groups for various subjects. For years 10 and 11, the "halfs" are joined for their GCSE's.

Sixth form

The sixth form

Sixth form

In the education systems of England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, and of Commonwealth West Indian countries such as Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago, Belize, Jamaica and Malta, the sixth form is the final two years of secondary education, where students, usually sixteen to eighteen years of age,...

 is relatively small, with 20 students in year 13, and around 60 in year 12. There is a range of AS/A2 level courses available to take, and the classes are small. As of September 2006, the Quarrydale sixth form

Sixth form

In the education systems of England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, and of Commonwealth West Indian countries such as Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago, Belize, Jamaica and Malta, the sixth form is the final two years of secondary education, where students, usually sixteen to eighteen years of age,...

 have entered into a programme where several of their students travel to Kirkby College for some of their courses (e.g. Chemistry

Chemistry

Chemistry is the science of matter, especially its chemical reactions, but also its composition, structure and properties. Chemistry is concerned with atoms and their interactions with other atoms, and particularly with the properties of chemical bonds....

), and vice versa, were students from Kirkby College travel to Quarrydale for various courses (e.g. Biology

Biology

Biology is a natural science concerned with the study of life and living organisms, including their structure, function, growth, origin, evolution, distribution, and taxonomy. Biology is a vast subject containing many subdivisions, topics, and disciplines...

). The sixth form is a close community

Community

The term community has two distinct meanings:*a group of interacting people, possibly living in close proximity, and often refers to a group that shares some common values, and is attributed with social cohesion within a shared geographical location, generally in social units larger than a household...

, with the students having spent five years in mainstream

Mainstream

Mainstream is, generally, the common current thought of the majority. However, the mainstream is far from cohesive; rather the concept is often considered a cultural construct....

 school together, and now an additional two more in the sixth form. Everyone knows everyone else, and old social groups have disappeared after the rest of the students leaving in year 11. The school has recently received a grant in order to refurbish the ground floor of the sixth form block.

In order with the rest of the school to keep its smart apparel the sixth form has a uniform: shirt, shoes, and trousers. There is still choice as to what type they are.

School

The school has recently undergone redecoration in several areas. The science block has had its classrooms refurnished, and modernised. And other classrooms have been converted into new computer rooms. Several of the subject blocks have been moved around, with only English

English studies

English studies is an academic discipline that includes the study of literatures written in the English language , English linguistics English studies is an academic discipline that includes the study of literatures written in the English language (including literatures from the U.K., U.S.,...

, P.E, Science

Science

Science is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe...

, Technology

Technology

Technology is the making, usage, and knowledge of tools, machines, techniques, crafts, systems or methods of organization in order to solve a problem or perform a specific function. It can also refer to the collection of such tools, machinery, and procedures. The word technology comes ;...

 and the sixth form

Sixth form

In the education systems of England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, and of Commonwealth West Indian countries such as Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago, Belize, Jamaica and Malta, the sixth form is the final two years of secondary education, where students, usually sixteen to eighteen years of age,...

building being exempted from this re-arrangement.

The school has 6.9% authorised absences which is marginally above the national average. It also experiences 3% unauthorised absences which is over three times the national level. Sutton Centre school often under-performs to Quarrydale in the league tables and general image.

Notable alumni
Kris Commons - Professional football player for Celtic.