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St Benedict's Catholic School

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Coordinates: 52°15′30″N 0°42′07″E / 52.25821°N 0.70199°E / 52.25821; 0.70199
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St Benedict's Catholic School
Address
Map
Beetons Way (Upper School) and St Andrew's Street South (Lower School)

Bury St Edmunds
,
Suffolk
,
IP32 6RH (Upper School) and IP33 3PH (Lower School)

England
Coordinates52°15′30″N 0°42′07″E / 52.25821°N 0.70199°E / 52.25821; 0.70199
Information
TypeComprehensive
MottoOra et Labora
Religious affiliation(s)Roman Catholic
Established1967
Local authoritySuffolk
Department for Education URN124861 Tables
OfstedReports
HeadteacherKate Pereira
GenderCoeducational
Age11 to 19
Enrollmentc.560
Colour(s)Green, Silver and Black
Websitehttp://www.st-benedicts.suffolk.sch.uk

St Benedict's Roman Catholic Upper School is a co-educational Roman Catholic state school in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, England.[1] Opened in 1967, it is part funded by the Catholic diocese of East Anglia and Suffolk Local Education Authority. The school has around 560 students.Cite error: The <ref> tag has too many names (see the help page).

St Benedict's is a Mathematics and Computing Specialist School.[2] Whilst the school is based in Bury St. Edmunds, many of its students travel from a wide area, including Haverhill, Thetford, Sudbury, Stowmarket, Newmarket and other surrounding villages, because it is the only Catholic upper school in the vicinity.

Ofsted

In September 2014, a snap Ofsted inspection (which were introduced after Operation Trojan Horse), was held at the school.[3] Following the inspection, the school's previous rating of good was downgraded to "needs improvement".[4] Inspectors found St Benedict's to be in breach of rules surrounding guarding against extremism and radicalisation, and were failing to prepare students “for life and work in modern Britain”.[5] The report was withdrawn within hours[5], with Ofsted stating that "quality assurance checks" were required.[4][5] In November 2014, the school was one of 11 highlighted by Ofsted as failing to promote British values.[6]

The wording of the report was later revised, with references to extremism and radicalisation removed, but the needs improvement rating was maintained.[7][8] The decision to downgrade the school was criticised both by the Head teacher of the school and the Catholic Education Service.[6] An interim inspection then took place in January 2015, and Oftsed wrote to the school to confirm "the school has made progress in key areas since the inspection."[7] Later that month the school was ranked second in the West Suffolk league table, with Head Teacher Hugh O'Neill stating, “The results vindicate the work we do here. I think you will find that there is a disparity between schools’ Ofsted ratings and their position in the league table across the county.”[9]

The school was graded as Outstanding or Good in all areas in its most recent Ofsted inspection carried out in September 2016.[10]

Curriculum

The school follows the National Curriculum and offers a range of subjects at GCSE and A-Level. As a Catholic school, Religious Education is taught from that standpoint and is compulsory at GCSE and sixth form students are obliged to enrol in a course leading to a certificate in Religious Education.

The school offers a sixth form for students over the age of 16, covering Year 12s and Year 13s. Overlapping timetables with neighbouring County Upper School has given students the opportunity of taking A-Level courses from both schools. A range of compulsory courses such as Finance Management are mandatory.[11]

References

  1. ^ Suffolk County Council school profile. Retrieved 15 May 2009.
  2. ^ Ofsted Profile. Retrieved 15 May 2009
  3. ^ "Bury St Edmunds: Why did Ofsted inspectors choose to spot check highly regarded St Benedict's Catholic School?". Emma Brennan. East Anglian Daily Times. 17 September 2014.
  4. ^ a b "Bury St Edmunds: Ofsted accused of being 'heavy handed' following judgement of St Benedict's School". Mariam Ghaemi. Ipswich Star. 5 October 2014.
  5. ^ a b c "Catholic school breaches 'Trojan Horse' Ofsted rules". Richard Adams. The Guardian. 3 October 2014.
  6. ^ a b "Catholics demand apology after Ofsted makes 'unsubstantiated' extremism claim against school". Graeme Paton. The Telegraph. 15 December 2014.
  7. ^ a b "Inspector's visit puts St Benedict's Catholic School on track to 'reclaim' 'good' Ofsted rating". Matt Reason. East Anglian Daily Times. 13 February 2015.
  8. ^ "Ofsted backs away from 'British values' claims in Suffolk school row". Richard Adams. The Guardian. 14 November 2014.
  9. ^ "St Benedict's Catholic School 'vindicated' by high flying league table position after Ofsted rating downgrade". Matt Reason. East Anglian Daily Times. 29 January 2015.
  10. ^ "St Benedict's Catholic School". Ofsted. Retrieved 6 August 2018. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  11. ^ St Benedict's Catholic School - Sixth Form Brochure 2011/2012 Archived 13 April 2014 at the Wayback Machine


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