The Weald School, Billingshurst
Encyclopedia
The Weald School is a maintained comprehensive
secondary school
for pupils aged 11 to 18. It caters for around 1500 pupils in years 7 to 13, including over 200 in its sixth form
. It is now a specialist Technology school
and a sports college
. The school opened in 1956, and celebrated its 50th anniversary in the academic year 2006-7. In December 2008 Mr P May, headteacher since 1998, retired and Mr P Woodman became the new Head having left Arrow Vale High School
to take up the post.
The school is located in the West Sussex
town of Billingshurst
. Its campus adjoins the main road through the town, and is shared with the local leisure facilities at Weald Recreation Centre. On 20 September 2008, the Weald Recreation Centre became the Billingshurst Leisure Centre. The facilities have greatly improved with a new pool opening and a larger Gym with new, state of the art equipment. The Centre is run by D C Leisure on behalf of Horsham District Council.
) was the original car, followed by the Super Trug and Slippery Trug. The cars have all ended the 6 hour races on the podium with only a few exceptions. In October 2006 the Slippery Trug won the Final making the school UK Champions. Due to the parent running the project ending his work with the school after many years the project did not run in the 2007-8 school year but starting in September 2008 a student led group has begun slowly getting the project running again.
The project has now been running successfully now for two years and the school now has a new car called The Black Bullet named because it looks like a bullet the team has been very successful over the two years come second in the final in 2010 and coming second again at the final in 2011.
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...
for pupils aged 11 to 18. It caters for around 1500 pupils in years 7 to 13, including over 200 in its 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,...
. It is now a specialist Technology school
Specialist school
The specialist schools programme was a UK government initiative which encouraged secondary schools in England to specialise in certain areas of the curriculum to boost achievement. The Specialist Schools and Academies Trust was responsible for the delivery of the programme...
and a sports college
Sports College
Sports Colleges were introduced in 1997 as part of the Specialist Schools Programme in the United Kingdom. The system enables secondary schools to specialise in certain fields, in this case, PE, sports and dance. Schools that successfully apply to the Specialist Schools Trust and become Sports...
. The school opened in 1956, and celebrated its 50th anniversary in the academic year 2006-7. In December 2008 Mr P May, headteacher since 1998, retired and Mr P Woodman became the new Head having left Arrow Vale High School
Arrow Vale High School
Arrow Vale High School is a co-educational comprehensive school for pupils aged 13–18, located in Redditch, Worcestershire, England. It currently has around 700 pupils on roll with 120 in the sixth form. In 1999 the school was the first in Worcestershire to be designated as a Sports College.The...
to take up the post.
The school is located in the West Sussex
West Sussex
West Sussex is a county in the south of England, bordering onto East Sussex , Hampshire and Surrey. The county of Sussex has been divided into East and West since the 12th century, and obtained separate county councils in 1888, but it remained a single ceremonial county until 1974 and the coming...
town of Billingshurst
Billingshurst
Billingshurst is a village and civil parish in the Horsham District of West Sussex, England. It lies thirteen kilometres south-west of Horsham, and nine kilometres north-east of Pulborough....
. Its campus adjoins the main road through the town, and is shared with the local leisure facilities at Weald Recreation Centre. On 20 September 2008, the Weald Recreation Centre became the Billingshurst Leisure Centre. The facilities have greatly improved with a new pool opening and a larger Gym with new, state of the art equipment. The Centre is run by D C Leisure on behalf of Horsham District Council.
Greenpower Car Project
The school has been very successful in the Greenpower Car Competition with three cars. The Sussex Trug (named due to it looking like a local style of Garden Basket: Sussex trugSussex trug
A Sussex Trug is a wooden basket mainly used for gardening. It is made from a handle and rim of coppiced sweet chestnut wood which is hand-cleft then shaved using a drawknife. The body of the trug is made of five or seven thin boards of cricket bat willow, also hand-shaved with a drawknife. Most...
) was the original car, followed by the Super Trug and Slippery Trug. The cars have all ended the 6 hour races on the podium with only a few exceptions. In October 2006 the Slippery Trug won the Final making the school UK Champions. Due to the parent running the project ending his work with the school after many years the project did not run in the 2007-8 school year but starting in September 2008 a student led group has begun slowly getting the project running again.
The project has now been running successfully now for two years and the school now has a new car called The Black Bullet named because it looks like a bullet the team has been very successful over the two years come second in the final in 2010 and coming second again at the final in 2011.
Radio Weald
Radio Weald is a Student Radio Station and has been running since 2001 and broadcasts over 87.7FM and across the school computer network once a year for a week at the end of the summer term. In July 2008 the station broadcast for the first time over the internet as well as on FM and in school. Since September 2007 there have also been regular Friday Lunchtime broadcasts played in the School Canteen. From September 2008 Radio Weald began sending out Friday Broadcasts over the internet through the Radio Weald website. Radio Weald now also has a forum for listeners and crew to have their say on the broadcasts and suggest ideas for upcoming shows. In the week commencing 13th July 2009, Radio Weald hosted their annual Week Broadcast, but with a difference. This time there was no broadcast over FM radio on 87.7FM like in previous years. Instead, it was heavily focused on the internet and inschool audience. With their new self op system they are now gaining real world professional skills. The idea came from a visit by two students to the BBC, enjoying a whole day of media.The Africa Project (Classrooms for Kenya)
Since a visit to Kenya by a number of staff and now ex-students in the summer of 2006 the school has had close links with a number of schools in Kenya. When the project started after this visit all of these schools had mud buildings which regularly got washed away and needed re-building. In the Schools 50th Year (2006-7 Academic Year) the school decided to try and raise £50,000 to build new Brick Classrooms at these schools. The Students rose to the challenge; in the summer of 2007 another set of staff and students went out to Kenya again to help build the new classrooms the school had paid for. Another trip was planned for the summer of 2008, but due to the political unrest in the country it was cancelled, and a teacher is going out instead to deliver a large amount of clothing, stationery and computer equipment to the rebuilt schools. There are number of videos and pictures of the earlier trips on the website. After the failed trip of 2008 another big push is planned for the 2008-9 academic year. The plan is to raise another £30,000 to finish completely re-building Lumuli Primary School. This was and is in the worst state of all the schools the project has been working with and it is hoped that by the end of 2009 that it will be completely re-built to brick classrooms.Noted alumni
- Hinda HicksHinda HicksHinda Hicks is a Tunisian born singer, with British nationality having moved to West Sussex as a child.-Introduction:Hicks originally sang with an R&B band called the Fabulous Fug Band and at one time sent a demo of her vocals alongside Aretha Franklin's "Giving Him Something He Can Feel" to Phil...
- R'n'B singer - Jon EdgarJon EdgarJon Edgar is a British artist born in Rustington, West Sussex in 1968, the grandson of British cartoonist Brian White. He direct-carves in wood and stone using methods of improvisation, and works in clay.-Biography:...
Sculptor (1979-1986)