Wellsway School

Wellsway School is a mixed comprehensive school on the eastern side of Keynsham, Somerset, England, for students aged 11 to 18. In February 2014, there were 1335 students attending the school, including 270 in the sixth form.[1] The school, which is run by the Wellsway Multi Academy Trust, has been an academy since October 2011.

Wellsway School
Address
Chandag road

Keynsham
,
Somerset

England
Coordinates51.4111°N 2.4871°W / 51.4111; -2.4871
Information
TypeAcademy
Established1971
TrustWellsway Multi Academy Trust
Department for Education URN137523 Tables
OfstedReports
PrincipalMatthew Woodville
Executive PrincipalAndrea Arlidge
Age11 to 18
Enrolment1,256 as of 2019[1]
Websitewww.wellswayschool.com

History

Wellsway School was established in 1971, by amalgamating Keynsham Grammar School and Wellsway County Secondary School both of which opened on a shared site in the mid 1950s.[2]

Headteachers
Year
1966–1974, Stanley Jarvis
1974–1989 John Narey
1989–1990 Helen Dance (acting)
1990–1994 Martin Whittle
1994–1995 John Smith and Patricia Baker (joint acting)
1995–2005 Paul Kent
2005-2016 Andrea Arlidge
2016–present Matthew Woodville

House system

The house system has been maintained since the opening of both the Keynsham Grammar School and Wellsway County Secondary School in 1956. The house system was first implemented in 1956. The pupils of Wellsway were divided into three Houses, each with their own House Master, Staff and Captains. The three houses were Bridges House, Chandos House and Rodney House. The house system as it is today, was created when Wellsway School opened in 1971. The four houses are named after local villages; Burnett, Compton, Newton and Stanton. These are then represented by a certain colour, purple for Burnett, blue for Compton, orange for Newton and red for Stanton.

2015 onwards

In September 2015 it was announced that Andrea Arlidge would move into the full-time role of Chief Executive of Wellsway Multi Academy Trust (WMAT) ( the role she currently had as well as Head of Wellsway School). In December Matthew Woodville was appointed as the new Principal (the name Head Teacher was changed to principal to be in line with other WMAT schools).

In March 2016 Head of School Simon White announced that he would leave WMAT to become Principal at John Cabot Academy in Kingswood Bristol.

On 1 April 2016 Andrea Arlidge became Chief Executive and Matthew Woodville became Principal.

Structural changes

The school has gone through many changes since its opening in 1956, however, many of these are new builds, or extensions, with the original buildings still standing and fully functional.

Key structural changes through the years have been:

Date
1956 The Keynsham Grammar school was built, and officially opened on 4 October 1957. (Later to be Lansdown Building).
1957 The start of the south east extension began (later to be Mendip Building)
1959 Wellsway County Secondary School was opened
1971 Both schools merged to form a new comprehensive school "Wellsway School'.
1990s New Art block was built, (known as Quantock building)situated at the front of the building, next to the Drama Studio (used to be an Art Room), and built up to the perimeter fence, next to the secondary entrance (also the Chandag School entrance).

Removal of the Swimming pool, which was situated on the edge of Lansdown Courts, next to the Kitchens.

Construction of the Sixth Form Extension Block – an extension further out towards the Mendip Playing Courts] extending off the original building.

2000 The Lansdown Hall stage, was ripped out, and turned into Room 30, a full-time Music Room.
2001 New Science Lab – now Room 2a. This build looks out onto the playing fields, adjoining to Room 2, replacing the old greenhouse, which was built on the side of it.
2003 The hut, previously used as Room 30, was demolished to make way for a Car park behind the new building.
2003–2004 A Modern Languages Building was built (known as Claverton) where the Swimming Pool once stood.

2004 also saw the Technology Extension, extending the Technology building outwards.

2004 Demolition of Temporary Huts – Rooms 55 & 56. The quad is now known as the Laura Allen Garden, in memory of Laura Allen who died in January 2004.

Further demolition of temporary huts, with Room 4a, originally a Science Lab, then a Special Needs Classroom knocked down.

2005 Construction of the Artificial turf pitch, built on top of the Cricket Square, situated on the upper tier of the playing fields.
2007 Construction of new Youth and Community Centre – built on the south end of the school.
2008 During the summer of 2008, the new Sixth Form Learning Centre was created.
2015-16 The new IKB studio school was built next to the Landsdown Building.

Minor structural changes:

Date
2007 The replacement of Mendip building's roof.

A new cricket square was added after receiving a grant of £8,500 from the MCC for the square.[3]

The Resources Centre]was relocated to make way for the new Student Support Centre. The Resources Centre was relocated to where the Careers Centre (and previously a Staffroom) had been located. The Careers Centre was also relocated — to one end of the Library which was renamed the Learning Resource Centre. Structural changes saw windows knocked through the existing wall.

2015 The windows in the Landsdown Building were replaced.

Statistics

Most students that attend the school live in Keynsham and Saltford or the nearby villages.[1] In 2006, 64% of pupils achieved 5 or more A-C grades at GCSE.[4] In February 2014, there were 1335 students attending the school, including 270 attending Wellsway Sixth Form Centre.[1] There are also around 85 members of teaching staff, supported by approximately 25 support staff.

Campus

Wellsway School is on the eastern side of Keynsham in a spacious campus with open and green fields. The campus contains 3 main areas; Lansdown Building, Mendip Building & The Playing Fields. A review of schools within Bath and North East Somerset during 2010 identified some buildings which were in poor condition and proposed expanding Wellsway and closing Broadlands School to create a single school in Keynsham,[5] though a decision was made not to proceed with this proposal.[6][7]

Uniform

Wellsway requires students to wear uniform consisting of green blazers and colour-coded house ties, worn by all pupils except sixth-form students.

Curriculum teams and subjects

In 2005/2006, the staff structure was reviewed at Wellsway, resulting in the departmental structure being revised. From September 2006, the previous structure was replaced by curriculum teams, which in some cases, comprises more than one subject team.

In 2016 the structure was as follows:

Curriculum Teams Subject Teams
Maths Maths, Further Maths, Computing
English English (Language and Literature)
Science Biology, Chemistry, Physics
Physical Education and Performing Arts PE, Dance, Drama, Music
Humanities History, Geography, Religious Studies
Modern Foreign Languages French, German, Business
Design, Art and Technology Technology, Food, Art

Initiatives

Sports & Science Centre of Excellence

Wellsway's bid for specialist school status was accepted in September 2007, giving it Sports and Science College status.[8] A joint bid was unusual as there were only six schools in the country with a combined Sports and Science specialism.[9] This status provided additional funding of £129 per student per year to spend on teaching and learning. The specialist schools programme ended in 2020.[10]

Playing for Success

Wellsway School is part of the Playing for Success scheme run by the Department for Children, Schools and Families. Wellsway School takes part in the initiative that takes place at the Bath Rec. This support centre is a 'classroom within a club' which offers after school study support to pupils in Year 8–9.

Fairtrade status

On 29 March 2007, the school was the first school in the district to be awarded Fair Trade status. Fair Trade coffee, tea and sugar are used in the staff room and other products sold in the school canteen, in Shades, the Sixth Form cafe, and in a weekly tuck shop run by students. Fair Trade issues are integrated in the curriculum and taught in subjects such as Business Studies, Citizenship, Geography, Religious Studies.

Wellsway Sixth Form College

Wellsway Sixth Form has grown significantly during the past few years, with many students going on to university. Over 60% of Year 11 stay on for the 6th Form.[11] In 2006, the Sixth Form had 280 students aged between 16 and 19,[12] having the choice to study from a range of 25 subjects at AS/A2 level.[13] In 2006, 45% of students gained A-B grades, and 67.9% of students gained A-C grades.[14] The students also get the chance to take part in a range of extracurricular opportunities, such as Teacher Support sessions, Team building exercises, Tutorials and Theatre trips for example. A brand new sixth for learning centre which hosts a computer suite, private study and office area was opened in October 2008.

Sport

Students represent the district, county or region in various sports. Wellsway has received good reports from Sports Mark Gold 3 times.[15] Sporting success has been achieved in many sports including cricket, football, rugby union, athletics, netball and especially field hockey. A new artificial turf pitch was constructed in 2005.[16]

Since the opening of the Artificial pitch, Wellsway has played XI Mixed Hockey against local schools and in the 2006–2007 season, won the U18 Mixed District Tournament. Players About Wellsway Schoolfrom the school have gone on to play at club level in the area and around the country.

In netball, the U14 team reached the National Championships in Bournemouth and teams for other age groups have been district and regional champions.

Wellsway also supports students who want to pursue a career in Sport, including the RFU Referee's foundation course.

Other extracurricular activities

In May 2006, students composed music for a concert at Wellsway involving over 60 local musicians. In September 2006 over 200 students sang together for World Peace Day. Wellsway hosted the regional heat for a national schools rock idol competition and musicians from the school performed live on BBC Radio Bristol. A fundraising concert for the Royal United Hospital brought together the musicians and Radio Wellsway with a live broadcast and video link involving the whole school. Every student has the opportunity to study music and nearly 200 opt to learn an instrument in school.

'A' level dance is now offered in the sixth form and has become part of Wellsway's extracurricular activities. Wellsway pupils presented their own Evening of Dance which included junior, senior and sixth form students. This event involved year 6 pupils from Chandag Junior School, giving them a chance to take part in a dance workshop.

A Level Theatre Studies students regularly take part in evening performances which are either an extension of ideas explored in class or formal practical exams. In November 2005 Year 13 students performed their devised pieces as part of the Endgames Festival at the Egg Theatre, which is a part of the Theatre Royal, Bath whose education department are working with the school.

The Green Team is the name of the school's environmental group. The group meets regularly for sessions looking after the environment both in and outside school.

Wellsway Multi Academy Trust
Wellsway Multi Academy Trust
Location
Information
Key peopleAndrea Arlidge (CEO and Executive Principal)
SloganLeading The Way
Websitehttps://wellswaymat.com

Wellsway Multi Academy Trust is a Multi Academy Trust (MAT) that comprises six academy schools. It was formed in 2014 by lead school Wellsway School. The hub school is also Wellsway.

History

The trust has expanded significantly since its creation. The trust has constructed two studio schools, one in Bath and one on the Wellsway site.

The trust also sponsors the Sir Bernard Lovell Academy after its inadequate Ofsted report.[17]

In 2018 Ofsted found that all the secondary schools other than Wellsway School in the MAT required improvement. The MAT noted that Sir Bernard Lovell Academy had come out of special measures, and the other two schools were first inspections.[18] In 2018 the MAT proposed that Bath Studio School should close in 2020, largely because only 126 places of the school's 300 capacity were in use so the school was being heavily subsidised by the MAT.[19][20] During 2019, work was put into deciding a new name for the trust as Wellsway was only one of several schools in it. Students were asked about what they thought would be a good name. As of now, a new name has not been decided.

Academies
Name Type
Wellsway School Secondary
Aspire Academy Special needs school
The Bath Studio School Studio School
IKB Academy Studio School
St Johns CEVC School Keynsham Primary School
Sir Bernard Lovell Academy Secondary
Chandag Infant School Infant School
Chandag Junior School Junior School
Saltford Church of England Primary School Primary School

The MAT also operates three "Aspire AP" sites offering provision for about 30 children with serious mental health, behavioural and emotional problems.[21]

Zest Catering

The Trust has its own in-house catering service called Zest. It was formed in 2016 and has since expanded to most schools in the trust.

References
  1. "Wellsway School". Ofsted. Retrieved 8 November 2015.
  2. "Wellsway School". eTeach. Retrieved 24 February 2011.
  3. "Wellsway School Archive: MCC Grant new Cricket Square". Wellsway School. Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 24 July 2007.
  4. "Wellsway School achievement tables". Department for children schools and families. Archived from the original on 14 May 2011. Retrieved 24 July 2007.
  5. "A Review of Secondary Schools in Keynsham — a Consultation Document" (PDF). Bath and North East Somerset Council. Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 August 2011. Retrieved 24 February 2011.
  6. "Decision made on Secondary School provision for Bath and Keynsham". Bath and North East Somerset. 21 July 2010. Retrieved 9 November 2010.
  7. "Revised Bath schools proposals recommended". BBC. 12 July 2010. Retrieved 27 July 2010.
  8. "Wellsway School" (PDF). 2012 Youth Sport Trust. Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 July 2011. Retrieved 24 February 2011.
  9. "Specialist School Status". thisisbath.co.uk. Retrieved 25 July 2007.
  10. Paton, Graeme (19 October 2010). "Coalition to scrap specialist schools funding". The Telegraph. Retrieved 15 October 2020.
  11. "Wellsway School — Sixth Form". Wellsway School. Archived from the original on 6 August 2007. Retrieved 24 July 2007.
  12. "Wellsway School — Post 16". Department for children, schools and families. Archived from the original on 24 July 2012. Retrieved 24 July 2007.
  13. "Wellsway School — Sixth Form Prospectus". Wellsway School. Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 25 July 2007.
  14. "Wellsway School — Examination Results". Wellsway School: public examination results analysis. Archived from the original on 5 August 2007. Retrieved 24 July 2007.
  15. "Wellsway School — Sportsmark Gold presentations (2000)". Wellsway School. Archived from the original on 5 August 2007. Retrieved 25 July 2007.
  16. "Opening of Artificial turf pitch (2005)". Wellsway School. Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 25 July 2007.
  17. "SBL to become part of Wellsway Multi-Academy Trust". The Week In. Retrieved 12 July 2016.
  18. Cameron, Amanda (27 June 2018). "Ofsted finds three of four secondary schools in Bath academy trust 'require improvement'". Bath Chronicle. Retrieved 28 June 2018.
  19. Mills, Richard (23 October 2018). "Trust that runs Bath school reveals reason behind its planned closure". Bath Chronicle. Retrieved 24 October 2018.
  20. Camden, Billy (25 October 2018). "Another studio school to close - meaning nearly half have wound up". Schools Week. Retrieved 26 October 2018.
  21. Cameron, Amanda (24 June 2018). "Bath school trust accused of using 'appalling' premises for vulnerable children's education". Bath Chronicle. Retrieved 28 June 2018.
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