Forest School (Winnersh)
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| Motto | Esse Quam Videri |
|---|---|
| Established | 1957 |
| Type | Comprehensive community school |
| Headteacher | Keith Quine M.Ed |
| Chair | Bill Crawford |
| Founder | Walter G. Jackson |
| Specialism | Business & Enterprise |
| Location | Robin Hood Lane Winnersh Wokingham Berkshire RG41 5NE England |
| Local authority | Wokingham |
| DfE number | ???/4050 |
| DfE URN | 110061 |
| Ofsted | Reports |
| Students | 1150 |
| Gender | Boys |
| Ages | 11–18 |
| Houses | Ashdown, Windsor, New, Sherwood, Kielder, Langdale, Bramshill |
| Colours | Blue and Yellow |
| Formerly named | Forest Grammar School |
| Gender of Sixth Form | Mixed |
| Website | Forest School |
Coordinates: 51°25′54″N 0°52′40″W / 51.43174°N 0.87773°W
Forest School is a comprehensive, all-boys' secondary school in Winnersh, Berkshire, England judged to be "Good" with some "Outstanding" aspects in its most recent OFSTED inspection.[1] It is located on Robin Hood Lane, the B3030 road, next to Winnersh railway station.[2]
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[edit] History
[edit] Grammar school
Forest School began as Woodley Hill Grammar School in 1957, becoming the Forest Grammar School. The school was founded by Walter G. Jackson (also the mayor of Wokingham in 1953) who was the first headmaster of the school. In November 1965, the Nestlé company donated an Elliott 405 computer to the school, which was a first generation valve computer.
[edit] Comprehensive
It became a comprehensive school in 1974. It has been a Business and Enterprise College (BEC) since 2003 and was appointed by the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust as the "Enterprise Hub School for Berkshire" in 2006.
The headteacher is Keith Quine, who replaced Stanley Grue in 2001.
[edit] Incidents
On 5th Feb 2006 the school met the headlines, in a less than favourable light. Stephen Hunt, the school's caretaker, murdered his wife Donna. Donna, the school's lab technician, regularly went drinking in Reading with teachers on a Friday night. Mr Hunt dumped her body on the school grounds, behind the school's minibus.[3]
On 6th July 2009 Paddy Higgins, son of a teacher who worked at the Forest School at the time, died after falling off a cliff while on a trip to Cornwall. He was 16 and he, along with his friends, were celebrating after finishing their GCSEs.[4]
On the 19th January 2012, it was reported that Assistant Headteacher Joe Holyer had died. The details were posted to the school website in a message by Headteacher J K Quine.
"It is with immense personal sadness that I must share with you the tragic news that Joe Holyer, Assistant Head at The Forest, died suddenly during Thursday. Colleagues were informed at the end of the day and students have been informed this morning. From what the police have informed me he drove to Dover overnight where his family live, and took his own life. His sister has gone to great lengths to stress that there was no aspect of his life at The Forest that contributed to this tragedy – indeed he appears to have made this particularly clear in a message he left."
[edit] Sport
In 2006 The school U15 Football team won the National Cup. In 2007 The school U16 Football team (identical to the Under 15 squad) were runners up in the National Cup, losing narrowly to the opposition. In 2009 The school U14 Football team were runners up in the National Cup, losing 2 - 1 to Audenshaw School, the match was staged at Manchester United's Old Trafford Stadium in front of over 600 Forest School supporters.
The school has also produced several fine rugby players, the most notable being Rhodri McAtee, ex-England school boy who is now consistently selected for the Welsh International Sevens team, whilst playing for Cornish Pirates in National League One.
[edit] Business and Enterprise Specialism
As part of it's business and enterprise specialism, students at the Forest are encouraged to take part in a wide range of business-related extra curricular activities. These have involved enterprise days, work experience, mock interview days, a young chamber of commerce,[5] and more recently the Forest Podcast,[6] Wokingham Business Academy[7] and a Young Enterprise group.
[edit] Magistrates Mock Trial
The Forest entered a team into the Citizenship Foundation competition for several years now, led by Mrs R Noble. In 2007, the team came 4th in the Reading heat, the case was a charge of animal cruelty. In 2008, the team came first in the Reading heat, went through to the regional final, at Reading Crown Court, on 17 May 2008. The Forest team failed to get through to the national finals.
On March 14, 2009, Forest School battled it out against other schools in the Reading area. The Forest School came 3rd, and received a place in the Regional Finals later in the year, in May. Unfortunately, after two successful cases, against two very good schools, The Forest team lost out on a place at the National Finals in Manchester.
[edit] Alumni
- Ashley Mitchell, Reading (2002-)
- Former Reading and England Under-20 side Nathan Tyson who was at Reading and now is playing at Derby County
[edit] Forest Grammar School
- Prof Ivor Goodson, Professor of Learning Theory since 2004 at the University of Brighton, and Professor of Education from 1996-2004 at the University of East Anglia
- Dr Trevor Hince, Director since 2004 of The Lister Institute of Preventive Medicine
- Michael Anthony Price LVO, High Commissioner to Fiji from 2000-2
[edit] References
- ^ OFSTED Page
- ^ "The Forest School, Winnersh". Geograph. http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1647434. Retrieved 21 January 2011.
- ^ "Caretaker guilty of wife's murder". BBC News. 6 November 2006. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/berkshire/6113486.stm.
- ^ Boy, 16, plunged 100ft to his death from cliffs during booze-fuelled holiday to celebrate end of GCSEs
- ^ The Forest School ::: Business and Enterprise
- ^ Pupils create first Forest School podcast - Education - News - getwokingham - The Wokingham Times
- ^ Wokingham Business Academy
