Thomas Gainsborough School

Thomas Gainsborough School, formerly Great Cornard Upper School, is a secondary school and sixth form in the village of Great Cornard, part of the town of Sudbury in the English county of Suffolk that educates approximately 1,400 pupils.[1]

Thomas Gainsborough School
Address
Head Lane

Great Cornard, Sudbury
,
Suffolk
,
CO10 0NH

England
Coordinates52°01′28″N 0°44′59″E
Information
TypeAcademy
MottoExcellence: For Each, For All
EstablishedSeptember 1973
Local authoritySuffolk
Department for Education URN141639 Tables
OfstedReports
Chair of GovernorsSue Leon
HeadteacherWayne Lloyd
Deputy Head TeachersHelen Yapp, Chris Ryall
GenderCoeducational
Age11 to 18
Enrolment1,400
HousesAbbas, Chamberlain, Houghton, Peyton, Tollemache
Websitehttp://www.tgschool.net

It was granted the status of Specialist School in 1998, and was re-designated Technology College in 2001.[2] The school converted to academy status in January 2015, when it became a member of the Samuel Ward Academy Trust

Facilities

Included in the school is Great Cornard Sports Centre, which is open to the public outside of school hours, funded in part by a £563k grant from the English Active lottery fund. The complex features a youth drop-in-centre, dance and martial arts studios, changing rooms, fitness studios, a coach education unit and a social area.[3] The school also completed the building of a Sixth Form study block and library in 2009.

Reconstruction

In 2012, the school was granted funding for a total rebuild.[4] Work commenced on the new building in June 2014 and was completed in August of 2015.[5] The new facilities of the £17 million pound site include a reading room, roof terrace and 9,124 sqm of space.[6] Whilst the main complex of the old school site were demolished, the library and sports centre were not and are still utilized by the school. Additionally, the old site of Great Cornard Middle School that was acquired by Thomas Gainsborough School after the switch to a two-tier system remained, with the building now being used as a Sixth Form and Media centre.[6]

Academic performance

In their report on the school in September 2017 Ofsted gave an overall rating of the school as Good, point two on a four-point scale. The personal development, behaviour and welfare of pupils was described as outstanding.[1]

Results for pupils at age 16 showed clear improvement between 2006 and 2009 outperforming both local and national indicators for pupils gaining 5 GCSE grades between A* and C, including English and Maths.[7] In 2009 the school had the best contextual value added scores of any school in Suffolk.[8]

Headteachers

Mr Wayne Lloyd became the current headteacher in January 2012.[9] The previous headteacher Mr Michael Foley moved to become headteacher of the Thomas Hardye School in September 2011.[10] Andy Samways (Deputy Headteacher) was Acting Headteacher between these dates.[11]

Incidents
  • Former head of religious studies and head of year Steve Morris, who had moved to Aldershot, was sentenced to 15 months in prison in May 2007 having admitted three counts of indecently assaulting a pupil at Great Cornard Upper School.[12]
  • On 10 June 2004, three girls needed medical attention for the effects of gas after raiders struck at the hotel where they were staying during a school trip in Villepinte, France.[13]
  • Across the 25, 26 and 27 January 2019, the school was victim to a series of acts of vandalism outside of school hours, resulting in an estimated £10,000 worth of damage. Similar incidents also occurred at the neighboring school of Ormiston Sudbury Academy.[14]

Notable former pupils

Additionally, the school contains memorials to a former learning mentor, Mrs. Wait, who suffered a long and hard battle with cancer, former teacher, Shelley Baisden, who died of cancer and to a popular teenager, Yibi Matthews, who died of HIV contracted at birth.[20][21] Yibi Matthews was remembered as the boy with the big smile and his father, Rev David Matthews described Yibi's times at the school as "among his happiest".[22]

References
  1. Ofsted. "Thomas Gainsborough School". 2017 Report.
  2. Suffolk County Council, retrieved 16 March 2007
  3. "Lottery Grant ‘Activates’ Great Cornard", retrieved 9 July 2007
  4. "EADT Bid Backed"
  5. Brennan, Emma. "Great Cornard: Work starts on new Thomas Gainsborough School building". East Anglian Daily Times. Retrieved 5 December 2019.
  6. Brennan, Emma. "£17m Thomas Gainsborough school in Great Cornard officially opened". East Anglian Daily Times. Retrieved 5 December 2019.
  7. "Department for Education, Performance Table 2009"
  8. "BBC News School Performance Tables, Secondary Schools in Suffolk", BBC News, 13 January 2010
  9. East Anglian Daily Times, 24 June 2011
  10. Dorset Echo, 5 May 2011
  11. Suffolk County Council School Information
  12. "Inquiry launched after teacher arrest", David Gooderham, East Anglian Daily Times, 6 July 2007
  13. "Pupils caught in hotel gas attack", BBC News, 17 June 2004
  14. "Headteachers condemn acts of vandalism at schools in Great Cornard and Sudbury". Suffolk Free Press. 31 January 2019. Retrieved 5 December 2019.
  15. "Martial Arts: Gemma eyes Euro title", Suffolk Free Press, 17 August 2006
  16. "Rocky Road to Success", Suffolk Free Press, 30 July 2007
  17. , Suffolk Free Press, 8 October 2011
  18. Ian Walker (footballer),
  19. http://jonathanadamsgb.com/results.cfm
  20. "Upper school cancer victim was 'amazing'". Suffolk Free Press. 28 June 2012.
  21. "School remembers Shelley and Yibi", Suffolk Free Press, 20 March 2008
  22. "Boy's ashes buried at school he loved", Suffolk Free Press, 20 July 2006
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