Tomlinscote School | |
---|---|
Address | |
Tomlinscote Way , , GU16 8PY | |
Coordinates | 51°19′13″N0°43′23″W / 51.320389°N 0.72319°W |
Information | |
Type | Academy |
Established | 1970 |
Trust | The Prospect Trust |
Department for Education URN | 140117 Tables |
Ofsted | Reports |
Principal | Robert Major |
Staff | 160 [1] |
Gender | Coeducational |
Age | 11to 16 |
Enrolment | 1502 [2] |
Houses | Pankhurst, Attenborough, Rowling, Hawking, Mandela |
Colour(s) | Gold and black |
Website | www |
Tomlinscote School is a coeducational secondary school with academy status, located in Frimley, Surrey, England. [3] The school previously held specialist Language College status [4] before converting to academy status in September 2013. [5] On 1 September 2018, Tomlinscote School joined The Prospect Trust. [6]
Tomlinscote was opened in 1970 as Surrey's first purpose-built comprehensive. [7] Students enter Tomlinscote at the age of 11 years from local junior, primary and independent Preparatory feeder schools, for example, Lakeside Primary School, Ravenscote Junior School, Pirbright Primary School, Crawley Ridge Junior School or The Grove Primary School.
In March 2011 Surrey County Council proposed that Tomlinscote take over the Kings International College and that years 7, 8 and 9 be based on the Kings site and 10, 11 and Sixth Form on the Tomlinscote site. Initial meetings with parents at both schools suggested united opposition to the plans and sparked a heated internet debate. [8] In the end, after a due diligence report, letters written by teachers, parents and councillors stating their disapproval of the plan, the Governing Body of Tomlinscote voted unanimously against authorising a merger. This left the Surrey County Council no choice but to scrap the plan. [9]
From September 2023, the school day changed to start at 8:35 AM and finish at 3:10 PM. [10] Students attend five lessons lasting 50 minutes each, along with one lesson lasting 55 minutes, except for Fridays where all Years finish at 2:15 PM. This reaches the mandated weekly lesson time of 32.5 hours.
In September 2018, Tomlinscote stopped taking on additional A-level students in order to focus on providing vocational courses. [11] Ian Hylan, then principal, attributed the decision to the large number of students attending the Sixth Form College, Farnborough instead of continuing their studies at the school.
Tomlinscote's grounds house a sports centre which was started in 1990 and has undertaken several changes of management in the past two years. The sports centre is run as a dual-use centre, with the school using it during the day for lessons, and then during the evenings, weekends and holidays it is open to the public. [12] The sports centre has a fully equipped fitness gym, changing facilities and hires out its sports hall and outside courts to local clubs and the public. [13]
On 1 September 1996 Tomlinscote was formally awarded the status of a Language College. [14] To attain Language College Status the school had to put together a detailed submission including the aims and targets over a three-year period. These targets were assessed against strict criteria by the Department for Education and Skills each year. The Language College submission related to aspects of the whole school curriculum as well as specific objectives in Modern Foreign Languages. A successful first three years led to a re-designation for a further three years in 1999 and the school was one of the first Language Colleges to be designated for a further four years in September 2002.
The school provides iPads through two lease schemes, one three years in length, and the other two years. A new iPad scheme begins when students enter year 7 or year 10. At the beginning of each scheme, parents can place an order for an iPad using an online registration portal. iPads are used throughout the school day to assist within lessons as well as completing home learning tasks. [15] The scheme is operated by Albion Computers who provide an insurance policy. [16]
The school says it chose the devices due to "performance and security" as well as the "amount and quality of apps". [17]
In 2018, Tomlinscote was awarded Apple Distinguished School status until 2021 for using "iPad and Mac products to inspire student creativity, collaboration and critical thinking". [18]
Tomlinscote operates a system of an E-Learning Co-ordinator, 7 Digital Champions and 34 Digital Leaders to teach each other the new skills needed to integrate technology into the classroom environment. [17]
Additionally, the school changed their device management framework to "JAMF" (Just Another Management Framework). Year 9 started using the framework in July 2020 with their new iPads. [19]
Tomlinscote School uses an app called "Notifyd" to send notices from staff to students. Developed by four of their pupils, they claim "it improved our communication system with students". [20]
One of the students who created the app explained how the design "encourages short and accurate messages" to avoid the alternative system of long emails and overflowing inboxes. [21]
The "Notifyd" app is published on the Apple App Store where it has received multiple 5 star reviews. [22] In addition to an iOS app, the staff area of their website prominently links to a web-based version. [23]
In connection to their app development efforts, Tomlinscote School is a verified organisation on the GitHub software development website. [24]
Notifyd continued to play an important role in Tomlinscote's communication with students during the COVID-19 pandemic, with pupils encouraged to check it for messages daily. [25]
The General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) is an academic qualification in a range of subjects taken in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, having been introduced in September 1986 and its first exams taken in 1988. State schools in Scotland use the Scottish Qualifications Certificate instead. However, private schools in Scotland often choose to follow the English GCSE system.
Camberley is a town in northwest Surrey, England, around 29 miles south-west of central London. It is in the Borough of Surrey Heath and is close to the county boundaries with Hampshire and Berkshire. Known originally as "Cambridge Town", it was assigned its current name by the General Post Office in 1877.
Education in England is overseen by the Department for Education. Local government authorities are responsible for implementing policy for public education and state-funded schools at a local level. State-funded schools may be selective grammar schools or non-selective comprehensive schools. All state schools are subject to assessment and inspection by the government department Ofsted. England also has private schools and home education; legally, parents may choose to educate their children by any suitable means.
Surrey Heath is a local government district with borough status in Surrey, England. Its council is based in Camberley. Much of the area is within the Metropolitan Green Belt.
Collingwood College is a coeducational secondary school and sixth form located in Camberley, Surrey, England.
Poynton High School is a coeducational secondary school and sixth form located in Poynton, Cheshire, just outside Greater Manchester. The school was maintained by the Cheshire East Local Education Authority until December 2018 when it converted and became a founder member of the True Learning Partnership. The school was opened in 1972, and was awarded Arts College status in 2002. It has 1,421 pupils between Years 7 and 13. This includes a sixth form of 285 pupils.
St Birinus School, previously known as Didcot Boy's County Modern and Didcot Senior Boys, is a boys' academy in Didcot, Oxfordshire, England. St Birinus was founded in 1936 as a secondary modern before becoming a comprehensive in 1973. In September 2012 the school became an academy with the same name. St Birinus' key catchment area includes the town of Didcot and the surrounding rural area, from Harwell in the west to South Moreton in the east and from Long Wittenham in the north to Chilton in the south, however the school also caters for parents in other parts of Oxfordshire who wish their children to be educated in a single-sex environment. As of September 2019 the headteacher is Will Manning. The school is a dual specialist technology college and language college.
The Henry Box School is a secondary school with academy status located in Witney in Oxfordshire, England. The school has a catchment area of the town of Witney and many surrounding villages such as Ducklington and Aston. It has approximately 1400 students, aged 11–18. The Latin motto of the Henry Box School is Studio Floremus, which can be translated as 'By study we flourish'. In the school's most recent inspection, Ofsted judged the school to be "good".
Calthorpe Park School is one of two secondary schools in Fleet, Hampshire, England. for pupils aged 11–16. The school was awarded specialist status as a Maths and Computing College in 2005. In the 2013 OFSTED report the school received an overall effectiveness of 'good'.
The Westwood Academy is an academy school for children aged 11–18 in Canley, Coventry, England. Its sports centre was completed in July 2008.
The Gryphon School is a Church of England secondary school with academy status for 11 to 18-year-olds in Sherborne, Dorset, England. The school has been the largest member of the Academy Trust "Sherborne Area Schools' Trust" (SAST) since June 2017. Established in September 1992, student numbers have grown steadily from 850 to almost 1,600 as of September 2017. The sixth form has around 400 students and teaches a variety of A-levels. In September 2005, the school achieved Business and Enterprise Specialist School. - However the school no longer uses this as its title following the re-brand in 2013. The school includes the Main Gryphon Secondary School, The Gryphon Sixth Form and Little Gryphons Nursery.
The Canterbury Academy is a co-educational 11-19 academy school in Canterbury, Kent, England. It is a specialist Sports College and 15% of its 1081 pupils are selected on musical aptitude. The school was founded as a non-selective secondary modern foundation school before gaining academy status in 2010.
Thomas Clarkson Academy is a mixed secondary school and sixth form located in Wisbech, Cambridgeshire, England. A new school building has been constructed that was designed by Ken Shuttleworth and Make Architects.
Jane Austen College is a secondary free school located in Norwich, owned by the Inspiration Trust, that opened in September 2014.
Oasis Academy Isle of Sheppey is a coeducational secondary school and sixth form with academy status, located over two sites in Minster-on-Sea on the Isle of Sheppey in the English county of Kent. It is currently managed by the Oasis Community Learning Multi-academy Trust.
Shortcuts is a visual scripting application developed by Apple and provided on its iOS, iPadOS, macOS, and watchOS operating systems. It allows users to create macros for executing specific tasks on their device(s). These task sequences can be created by the user and shared online through iCloud. A number of curated shortcuts can also be downloaded from the integrated Gallery.
Swift Playgrounds is an educational tool and development environment for the Swift programming language developed by Apple Inc., initially announced at the WWDC 2016 conference. It was introduced as an iPad application alongside iOS 10, with a macOS version introduced in February 2020. It is available for free via Apple's App Store for iPadOS and Mac App Store for macOS.
Reigate St Mary's Preparatory and Choir School is a mixed private prep and choir school in Reigate, Surrey, England.
Harris Invictus Academy Croydon is an 11–18 mixed, free secondary school and sixth form in Croydon, Greater London, England. It was established in September 2014 and is part of the Harris Federation.
The Prospect Trust is a multi-academy trust of 3 primary, secondary and sixth form academies in and around Surrey and Hampshire. Formed in 2017, they are currently educating 4,860 students.