Brookfield Community School, Fareham
| Brookfield Community School and Language College | |
|---|---|
| Address | |
 | |
Brook Lane , , SO31 7DU | |
| Information | |
| Type | Comprehensive secondary |
| Motto | Working together for a better future |
| Local authority | Hampshire |
| Specialist | Languages |
| Ofsted | Reports |
| Head teacher | Mrs M Allan |
| Staff | 150 - 200 |
| Gender | Mixed |
| Age | 11 to 16 |
| Enrollment | 1800 |
| Website | http://www.brookfield.hants.sch.uk/ |
Brookfield Community School & Language College is a large state-funded secondary school located in the Locks Heath ward of the Borough of Fareham. Brookfield serves 5 feeder schools in the local area, due to the shortage of secondary schools in the local area Brookfield is an extremely over-subscribed school, the school has already increased its maximum limit to try and allow more pupils to attend the school. Brookfield is one of the largest co-educational, comprehensive secondary schools in Hampshire, the school currently has approximately 1800 students on-roll, there are approximately 150 teachers employed at the school. The school teaches years 7 to 11. The School attracts 98% of the local 11-16 cohort and there are large waiting lists in a number of year groups. The school has recently undergone changes in layout to provide access for disabled students.
Status
Specialist Status as Language College was awarded to the school in 2002. In May 2005 the OFSTED Inspection report described the school as, “good with some outstanding features. It provides a good quality of education to the students".[citation needed] The Senior Leadership Team is made up of the Headteacher, two Deputy Headteachers, four Assistant Headteachers and the Support Services Manager. Three additional members of staff are seconded for a one-year period to contribute to strategic development and policy discussion. In 2008 Brookfield didn't have a good year due to a report from OFSTED stating that they needed to improve teaching and languages, on a grade of 1-4 with 1 = Outstanding and 4 = Inadequate, Brookfield received only a 3, which is 'Satisfactory'.
Each year group is organised into thirteen mixed-ability tutor groups led by the Year Learning Leader (YLL). The YLL oversees students’ academic progress and personal development. Three Pastoral Support Officers provide specialist support but this is now mainly taking responsibility for behaviour management.
Problems
Although the measures above are in place, the 2008 Ofsted report stated that there is a 'Significant minority of students who can be challenging', and for the behaviour of learners the school received a poor grade of 3, on a scale of 1 - 4. In the past parents have contacted the school to voice their concerns over the bad behaviour at the school, but there does not appear to be much of an improvement with false fire alarm evacuations repeatedly taking place, many pupils getting suspended from school and local police sometimes called to the school.
Despite the school's apparent enthusiasm to promote home learning, severe lacks in communication can occur in which the medical nurse isn't even told about a students illness, even years after the school know. This makes children with difficulties attending school due to illness fall behind severely beyond what is acceptable. The OFSTED report also stated that parents did not feel that there was enough communication between the school and the parents and that parents were often unaware of how their child was progressing in school.
Another problem for the school is overcrowding and large class sizes, but the school has recently made some minor changes to try and facilitate the huge amount of people at the school.
School life
The school also has an on-site LRC (Library Resource Center). The LRC has almost 18,000 resources available for students and staff to use, the LRC is open from 8am - 4:15pm each school day. The LRC includes a projector, interactive whiteboard, Connexions advisors available, DVD and Video rental facilities and one of the 9 computer areas around the school.
The school also has many different after-school classes for both children and adults, including Adult education classes and the on-site Gym is also open to student & adult memberships. Student after school activities usually all end by 5:30pm, but the entire school actually closes at 10:30pm, this is mainly due to adult classes.
The school is highly technological with every classroom fitted with a Projector, while some classrooms (predominantly in Maths and Modern Foreign Languages) are fitted with Interactive whiteboards with computer connections, Every teacher is also given a Laptop which is able to connect with the interactive whiteboards and projectors. The school does not use traditional "paper registers" for student registration, instead every teacher registers children via their Laptops and transmits registration details over the school wireless network using SIMS. In late 2008 the school introduced an SMS messaging service to ensure that parents are always informed as to whether their child is in school and whether there are any important upcoming events, but this service provides no individual information on students progress. The school currently has a VLE (Virtual Learning Environment) in which staff can upload any resources they want to the VLE for students to access anywhere in the world, soon parents will be able to monitor their childs progress in a small way from the VLE.
There is also a very large facility for Music and Drama which are very popular at Brookfield. It was built in memory of Richard Bowler. Many music lessons go on everyday teaching students to play instruments such as piano, guitar and also singing. Also, every year the school puts on a production for all years. This year the production is Annie The Musical which the students (and staff) have been preparing for since before the summer.