Shapwick School
Encyclopedia
Shapwick School, also known as Shapwick Prep and Shapwick Senior School, is a special school based on two sites in Shapwick
and Burtle
, small villages on the Somerset Levels
in Somerset
, England. The fee-paying school specialises in educating pupils with dyslexia
and its related learning disabilities
such as dyscalculia
, dyspraxia, pragmatic language impairment, and specific language impairment
. It has 141 pupils aged 8 to 18, 94 of which are boarders
and the rest are day pupil
s. The school is unusual for having two headteachers
, split across the two sites, one of whom directs the academic programme, while the other is head of boarding and pastoral care. Pupils aged 8 to 12 attend Shapwick Prep in Burtle, those aged 13 to 16 attend Shapwick Senior School in Shapwick, and A-level
students receive direct support from the school, board in Burtle, but study at Bridgwater College
.
The school is accredited by the Council for the Registration of Schools Teaching Dyslexic Pupils (CReSTeD),
and the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists.
In November 2010, the school gained national attention when it was featured in a BBC Three
documentary Kara Tointon: Don't Call Me Stupid about actress Kara Tointon
who suffers from dyslexia. Tointon visited the school to see how it approaches the teaching of pupils with dyslexia. She sat in a class, learning new techniques for addressing her own dyslexia, and talked to some of the pupils about their experiences.
, a former cricketer for Somerset County Cricket Club
and head of Millfield
, established the Chalice School in Glastonbury
to teach pupils with dyslexia
. It used the old school in Burtle
, where in 1981 Edington Senior School was started. In 1984, Shapwick Senior School was established. The two schools worked together until 1994 when they merged to become came Edington & Shapwick School, operating on the two sites in Shapwick and Burtle, and run by joint headmasters. In 2009, the schools were renamed to Shapwick Prep and Shapwick Senior School.
From 1994 Jon Whittock and David Walker where joint headmasters, until Walker's death in May 2011.
Shapwick, Somerset
Shapwick is a village on the Somerset Levels, in the Sedgemoor district of Somerset, England. It is situated to the west of Glastonbury.-History:Shapwick is the site of one end of the Sweet Track, an ancient causeway dating from the 39th century BC....
and Burtle
Burtle
Burtle is a village and civil parish on the Somerset Levels in the Sedgemoor district of Somerset, England.-History:Burtle Priory originated as a hermitage on a site called Sprauellissmede, endowed by William son of Godfrey of Eddington in 1199...
, small villages on the Somerset Levels
Somerset Levels
The Somerset Levels, or the Somerset Levels and Moors as they are less commonly but more correctly known, is a sparsely populated coastal plain and wetland area of central Somerset, South West England, between the Quantock and Mendip Hills...
in Somerset
Somerset
The ceremonial and non-metropolitan county of Somerset in South West England borders Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west. It is partly bounded to the north and west by the Bristol Channel and the estuary of the...
, England. The fee-paying school specialises in educating pupils with dyslexia
Dyslexia
Dyslexia is a very broad term defining a learning disability that impairs a person's fluency or comprehension accuracy in being able to read, and which can manifest itself as a difficulty with phonological awareness, phonological decoding, orthographic coding, auditory short-term memory, or rapid...
and its related learning disabilities
Learning disability
Learning disability is a classification including several disorders in which a person has difficulty learning in a typical manner, usually caused by an unknown factor or factors...
such as dyscalculia
Dyscalculia
Dyscalculia is a specific learning disability involving innate difficulty in learning or comprehending simple arithmetic. It is akin to dyslexia and includes difficulty in understanding numbers, learning how to manipulate numbers, learning maths facts, and a number of other related symptoms...
, dyspraxia, pragmatic language impairment, and specific language impairment
Specific language impairment
Specific language impairment is diagnosed when a child's language does not develop normally and the difficulties cannot be accounted for by generally slow development , physical abnormality of the speech apparatus, autistic disorder, acquired brain damage or hearing loss.-Overview:Specific...
. It has 141 pupils aged 8 to 18, 94 of which are boarders
Boarding school
A boarding school is a school where some or all pupils study and live during the school year with their fellow students and possibly teachers and/or administrators. The word 'boarding' is used in the sense of "bed and board," i.e., lodging and meals...
and the rest are day pupil
Day pupil
Day pupils are students who attend boarding school but who are not boarders and who travel between home and school every day...
s. The school is unusual for having two headteachers
Head teacher
A head teacher or school principal is the most senior teacher, leader and manager of a school....
, split across the two sites, one of whom directs the academic programme, while the other is head of boarding and pastoral care. Pupils aged 8 to 12 attend Shapwick Prep in Burtle, those aged 13 to 16 attend Shapwick Senior School in Shapwick, and A-level
GCE Advanced Level
The Advanced Level General Certificate of Education, commonly referred to as an A-level, is a qualification offered by education institutions in England, Northern Ireland, Wales, Cameroon, and the Cayman Islands...
students receive direct support from the school, board in Burtle, but study at Bridgwater College
Bridgwater College
Bridgwater College is a further education college primarily based in Bridgwater, Somerset, England. It has centres in Cannington, Yeovil, and Paignton....
.
The school is accredited by the Council for the Registration of Schools Teaching Dyslexic Pupils (CReSTeD),
and the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists.
In November 2010, the school gained national attention when it was featured in a BBC Three
BBC Three
BBC Three is a television network from the BBC broadcasting via digital cable, terrestrial, IPTV and satellite platforms. The channel's target audience includes those in the 16-34 year old age group, and has the purpose of providing "innovative" content to younger audiences, focusing on new talent...
documentary Kara Tointon: Don't Call Me Stupid about actress Kara Tointon
Kara Tointon
Kara Louise Tointon is a British actress, best known for playing Dawn Swann in BBC soap opera EastEnders. Tointon was the 2010 winner of BBC television series Strictly Come Dancing.-Early life:...
who suffers from dyslexia. Tointon visited the school to see how it approaches the teaching of pupils with dyslexia. She sat in a class, learning new techniques for addressing her own dyslexia, and talked to some of the pupils about their experiences.
History
In 1974, Colin AtkinsonColin Atkinson
Colin Ronald Michael Atkinson CBE - Cricketer, schoolmaster and headmaster of Millfield School....
, a former cricketer for Somerset County Cricket Club
Somerset County Cricket Club
Somerset County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Somerset...
and head of Millfield
Millfield
Millfield is an independent school in Street in Somerset, in south-west England.The school currently has a roll of 1,260 pupils, of whom 910 are boarders...
, established the Chalice School in Glastonbury
Glastonbury
Glastonbury is a small town in Somerset, England, situated at a dry point on the low lying Somerset Levels, south of Bristol. The town, which is in the Mendip district, had a population of 8,784 in the 2001 census...
to teach pupils with dyslexia
Dyslexia
Dyslexia is a very broad term defining a learning disability that impairs a person's fluency or comprehension accuracy in being able to read, and which can manifest itself as a difficulty with phonological awareness, phonological decoding, orthographic coding, auditory short-term memory, or rapid...
. It used the old school in Burtle
Burtle
Burtle is a village and civil parish on the Somerset Levels in the Sedgemoor district of Somerset, England.-History:Burtle Priory originated as a hermitage on a site called Sprauellissmede, endowed by William son of Godfrey of Eddington in 1199...
, where in 1981 Edington Senior School was started. In 1984, Shapwick Senior School was established. The two schools worked together until 1994 when they merged to become came Edington & Shapwick School, operating on the two sites in Shapwick and Burtle, and run by joint headmasters. In 2009, the schools were renamed to Shapwick Prep and Shapwick Senior School.
From 1994 Jon Whittock and David Walker where joint headmasters, until Walker's death in May 2011.