The Billericay School
| The Billericay School[1] | |
|---|---|
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| Address | |
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School Road Non-denominational[5] , , CM12 9LH[1] | |
| Information | |
| Type | Academy |
| Motto | Caring about success[2] |
| Established | 1938[3] (predecessor institution 1923)[4] |
| Local authority | Essex[1] |
| Specialist | Maths and Computing College[6] |
| Department for Education URN | 115384 Tables |
| Ofsted | Reports |
| Chair | Mr Robert Orr[7] |
| Headteacher | Mrs Susan Hammond[6] |
| Gender | Mixed[10] |
| Age | 11[6] to 18[6] |
| Enrollment | 1655[8] (233 in sixth form)[9] |
| Houses | Scott, Keller, Edison, Curie and Newton.[11] |
| Colour(s) | Black and gold |
| Website | http://www.billericay.essex.sch.uk/ |
The Billericay School[12] is a co-educational secondary academy school with a mixed-ability intake[10][10] and sixth form college[13] in Billericay, England.[14] The school is led by headmistress Sue Hammond.[15] The enrollment of the school is 1655[8] The school has Artsmark[16] and Sportsmark[17] designations and is one of the largest secondary schools in Essex by student numbers.[18] The school was opened on the 4th May 1938 by admiral Sir Vernon Haggard using a ceremonial silver key handed to him by the first head teacher Mr P.G. White. (Mr White later gained the nickname 'Tiggy White' amongst pupils).[19] The school originated from The Great Burstead Senior Mixed School[20] which was built in 1923 but became too small as the population of Billericay grew. The Billericay School, originally, had one main building that today would be recognised as 'A Block'. The school is according to Ofsted: "an over-subscribed Mathematics and Computing specialist school mainly serving the town of Billericay but also drawing students from Basildon and nearby areas".[21]
Head teachers
| Year | Head Teacher |
|---|---|
| 1938–1949 | louis williams |
| 1949–1955 | Ronald Eden |
| 1955–1968 | John Goldwin |
| 1968–1991 | Arthur Lingard |
| 1991–1997 | Robert Goodier |
| 1997–present | Sue Hammond |
Alumni and visitors
Locally it is well known as the secondary school that the comedian Lee Evans attended[22] The sixth form was visited in May 2006 by the former MP Tony Benn[23] who delivered a speech on politics to sixth form students. Other guests who have visited the school include survivor of the Auschwitz concentration camp Josef Perl.[23][24] Annually John Baron MP, a Conservative Party politician and MP for Billericay, comes to debate with students on political issues of a local, national and international nature.[25] Other alumni include Michael Todd the former chief constable of Greater Manchester Police,[26] and Josh Dubovie, a singer who has been selected to represent the UK at the 2010 Eurovision Song Contest.[27] One pupil Charlie Wernham has had success on ITV's Britain's Got Talent.[28]
Recent history
Mathematics and Computing
The School achieved Maths and Computing College status in 2003 allowing some use of selection based on aptitude in these subjects. It was thought that this status would generate an additional £1 million worth of funding, but a government policy on foundation schools had reduced this sum significantly.
New Development
Following the success of a land sale adjacent to the school in 2008, the school has raised funds for further improvement to its existing facilities. The sensitive refurbishment designed by Sprunt Architects will involve remodelling the music department to meet a growing need in popularity and specialism; the performing arts department and an extension to the school hall to provide additional dining space with a more contemporary environment. The new extension which is also designed by Sprunt Architects will provide science laboratories, media and English classrooms.[29] Initially there was opposition to this as the land forms part of the green belt.[30][31] Development was initially refused[32] but was appealed.[33] In 2009 approval was gained to develop 51 new homes upon a six acre plot.[33][34][35]
Day structure changes
The current day structure is as follows:
| Time | Activity / Event | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8:35 | Registration or Year/House assembly | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 8:50 | -
Gas explosion fearsIn January 2007 the school was at scene of a BBC London news report after a gas explosion scare in near-by South Green, down Southend Road. The school was used to house those evacuated from the surrounding area. No explosion from the acetylene and oxygen cylinders occurred but one man suffered burns from the fire. The scare scene was 3 houses away from the South Green Memorial Hall, heading towards the Kings Head Pub. It was basically a junk yard where a man collected scraps, although he had his house very close to the road.[36] Community TrustIn 2009 it was proposed that the a Billericay Community Trust be formed in order to increase standards at the school.[37] This would involve a partnership with the multinational technology corporation Dell, something that the Essex branch of the National Union of Teachers has objected to.[38] In 2010 The School suffered from the cuts from the Conservative Liberal Democrat coalition government and was one of several schools in Essex which lost out on money promised under the Building Schools for the Future programme.[39] Twitter controversyIn 2011 the school received media attention when a local newspaper called the Billericay Gazette printed indiscreet Twitter comments made by Charlotte Berry who was a Deputy Headteacher at the school. Responding to the incident headmistress Sue Hammond stated: The member of staff’s Twitter account appears to have been individually targeted, accessing conversations with friends unconnected with the school and taken completely out of context. The school is saddened that the decision has been taken to print these individual unrelated comments, however indiscreet, in a newspaper medium to an audience for whom they were not intended".[40] Campus As of 2009[update] Billericay School has A, C, D, E, F and V blocks. The book Images of England: The Billericay School by Sylvia Kent shows that a B block did at one time exist - it was situated where F block and the carpark are currently located.[19] 'B Block did in fact exist on the greenery, next to the car park, where the footpath now leads from the main gate to 'F' Block. B block was a two storey wooden structure housing metal and woodworking classrooms on the ground floor and art, pottery, home economics and technical drawing classrooms, on the first floor. During the early 1980, the school Bank was also housed in the block along with classrooms used primary for Economics, Business Studies and typing. It was demolished on the last day of term 1989, it took around 2 hours to pull. In 2004, this trend was reversed when a V block was created. It is thought that this refers to the concept of the block being a 'village' community. The V block was built to house the English department, whilst we awaited the new build block. There was a small fire in one of the D block demountables, but the fire itself did not contribute to a the installation of V block. However 2 of the 5 buildings still remain which were not touched by the fire. V block houses the school's English department. A Block contains mostly Maths classes but some science, French, German, and humanities classes also exist within the building. This was the original building from when the school was first opened. It holds the language department, maths department and Mr Broomhead's science classroom who as been working at the school for about 35 years. It also once had the year 11 common room that was painted by a number of students. The biggest block at the school. C block It contains mainly Science classrooms. The main wing of the block is a 3 stories high with roughly 1 and a half of these rooms as Science labs. This block also contains the RBLC (Resource Based Learning Centre) more commonly known as the Library, which houses over 30,000 books.[41] It also contains (on the top floor) R.E, Media and Biology science rooms and on the ground floor there are Drama Studios, Music rooms, Student Services and the important sick bay. Due to a fire only four D block rooms remain. Three of the rooms can be used for a few functions. One is a drama room which is also serves as the Year 11 common room. Two others are used primarily for maths. The last of these rooms is known as the "D-Munchable", it is used primarily as an area where food/drinks can be purchased during the Break and Lunch times. The interior was designed and painted by the School's own students. E Block is a raising of the school-leaving age (Rosla) building built to house the additional students capacity needed when the school leaving age was raised to a compulsory 16. It is understood that it was sixth form area and common room. This block contains the Art classrooms and the Food Technology and Textiles rooms. Also the Child Development room. F block opened for the first time in September 1988. The original F Block contained the, then CDT Department (downstairs) and the Business Studies Department (upstairs). There were 2 computer rooms, F9 and F5. The server was an RM 286 with 60Mb of hard disk and 1Mb of RAM.There were 3 staff offices downstairs.As ICT (IT then) expanded, the Business Studies rooms, F7 and F10 became computer rooms. Recently F12 has been converted to house a number of PCs as has F1 with the addition of 30PCs to augment the DT graphics lessons.The old print room from A block, now a Humanities room, (previously heads of lower school office) also moved to a purpose designed room in the new F Block. With the progression in print technology, the old ink-based offset printer, that took a whole day to set up, print and clean for a whole school run, was consigned to the recycle bin. New photocopiers and new small self-contained offset printers took its place. Sixth-formSixth-form students (years 12 and 13) are located in an exclusive area of the school and have their own study areas and common room.[43] although the unit does not have its own classrooms and so shares these with the rest of the school. However, many sixth form classes take place in converted rooms that are much smaller than ordinary classrooms (such as A9, A24 and C13) and therefore can be classified as 'for' the sixth form exclusively.[44] The sixth form elects a sixth form committee which aims to raise money for the end of year prom held annually, and performs other duties within the 6th form. A group of year 12 students are voted on to a Sixth-Form committee by their peers every year. The members of the committee arrange Sixth-Form events, decide amongst themselves how the Sixth-Form area is used and decide how the Sixth-Form fund is used and what the money is spent on. The committee is also responsible for arranging the Year 13 Prom.Every year students who have left the school are invited back for an awards evening to present their A-level certificates. HousesHouse crests incorporate a windmill because at one time a windmill stood near the school site.[41]
School lifeThe school's music department has appeared on Blue Peter.[46] and has received recognition from the British Naturalists’ Association for ecological work at Mill Meadows.[47] The school is active in local public speaking competitions.[48] and has organised a trip to Argentina in order to do community work.[49] A magazine, run and published in the school library under the title of Reviewz Books, reviewed new and classic fiction and has had interviews with authors such as Stephen Fry, Sheila Norton, Iain Banks and Sharon Osbourne. The magazine was edited by Barnaby Walter (founder editor), Rebecca Bedding (deputy editor) and Frankie Burt (co-editor). It was merged in 2008 with the Speak Up website initiative which now features reviews, articles and blog posts from current and past Billericay School students. It can be found at www.billericayschool.net/speakup FOBS or Friends of Billericay School is a charity which raises money for the school. Most of their income comes from various evening events, usually with singers or comedians, and the '200 Club', a monthly prize draw. The latest funding drive was used to fund the school receiving 'maths and computing college' status, and the organisation has recently raised enough funds to purchase a new school minibus.[50] The schools council is called Backchat. The house captains form a group known as Student Voice.These two groups debate with both students and the Head to work towards a better life within the school. Reputation
In 2005, 59% of students gained 5 A*-C grades at GCSE, higher than then national average. A-level students gained an average points score of 278.7.[52][53] In 2006, the Billericay School Sixth Form ranked higher in terms of A-level performance than the private Brentwood School Sixth Form (see BBC league tables). As of 2009, 68% of students achieved A*-C grades at GCSE. See alsoReferences
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