The Forest School is an all-boys secondary school in Horsham, West Sussex. It is a specialist school in Engineering and Business and Enterprise. The school's ex-headmaster Mr. J A Fadden left the school in July 2006 after many years with the school. Mrs J Godly was then, for a short period of time, acting Head standing in as Acting Head, though interviews were held for the permanent position during the week beginning 13 November 2006. On Thursday 16 November 2006, an announcement was made that a new headteacher has been appointed. The new Headteacher is Ms Siobhan Denning and is now the current Headteacher.
| Forest School | |
|---|---|
| File:Forest logo.png | |
| Location | |
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| Information | |
| Type | Boys, State school |
| Headmistress | Ms Denning |
| Grades | Year 7 - Year 11 |
| Number of students | 1,035 |
| Website | http://www.theforestschool.com |
In 2004, the school achieved a 62% 5 A* - C pass rate, and a 100% 5 A* - G pass rate, for subjects resulting in a GCSE qualification. In 2005 and 2006, the school continued its 100% A* - G pass rate. The 2005 A* - C pass rate was 66%, and the 2006 rate was 64%. The amount of tutor groups per year group has expanded from 6 to 8 in just 2 years.
On 30 November - 1 December 2006 the school had its first OFSTED inspection since 2002. This was arranged in short notice, 3 days before the it began. The inspection resulted in the school being given 'satisfactory' status.
Staff and structure
The school changed its management structure in 2006. This involved the merging of formerly separate departments into five curriculum teams. The teams are: Technologies; Communications; Sciences; Living, Lives and Ethics (incorporating Geography, History, PSE and RE); and Activity and Aesthetics (incorporating PE, Drama, Music and Art).
School houses
Pupils and staff (excluding the Headteacher) attending the Forest School are sorted into 4 Houses - Tudor (Yellow), Stuart (Green), York (Blue) or Lancaster (Red). Pupils with brothers already at the school are usually placed in the same house as their brothers. These houses compete with each other in an annual merit competition (merits are given for achievements or community work), in various sports events including Cross-Country and Sports Day. Each house has a staff member appointed as its head. Each year representatives from each house are chosen from each year group. House Captains are taken from Year 11.
At the beginning of the term starting September 2007, the four houses will be changing the names from the old Lancaster, Tudor, Stuart and York to new names, which represent their status as a business and enterprise college. These names have not yet been decided and during a house assembly that took in the week beginning 12th March 2007 the current key stage 4,which consists of year 10 and 11 were asked to nominate any business that they thought would be suitable, which should be local based businesses. Whilst the senior management decide what the new names should be, the possible businesses will be contacted and asked if they can sponsor the school to help pay for the events such as sports day.
Discipline
There are several internal methods of discipline in the school. For example, like many schools, the school uses Report Cards which are issued to students who need to meet targets in lessons in general. The card must be checked in every lesson by the teacher, who will write a tick or a cross underneath the targets (there are usually three targets). There are 3 levels of Report Card, with Yellow being the least serious(Form Tutor), Blue being the most serious (Senior Staff Member) and Pink being in between (Key Stage Co-ordinator / Home-School Liaison Officer).
School events
Awards Evening
Around mid November, the Forest School holds an Awards Evening. The awards are given to pupils who have performed particularly well in curriculum subjects, and there are also awards given for gaining a certain number of merits. Previous Year 11s are also awarded special awards and trophies for various reasons. A Guest of Honour attends every year to present the awards. Speeches are also made by the Head teacher, the Head Boy and the Chairman of the Governors, as well as the Guest of Honour.
Activities Week & Work Experience Week
In July each year, the entire school is brought off timetable for one week. Key Stage 3 pupils participate in a series of activities based on a specific, enterprise-related theme. For example, the Languages Department had pupils create foreign language posters for a space-themed restaurant in Activities Week 2005 (the theme was Space-Enterprise). In Activities Week, pupils are placed in groups based on their Houses rather than ability or tutor group. The Activities Week "lessons" last 90 minutes rather than the usual 60, and there are three "lessons" each day rather than five.
Year 10 pupils spend the week at Work Experience placements within the community (the pupils can arrange their own placements or the school may organise one for them). Pupils are given a booklet in which to chart their progress in the placement and record key information, and all pupils are visited by a member of staff at some point during the week.
Prefects
Forest School is also known for its prefects which, under the guidance of the acting headmistress and the senior management staff, now play a vital role in the day-to-day running of the school. The most notable of these roles is carrying out duties during break and lunch times. There are several teams of Prefects, and each team is assigned to an area of the school, such as the Maths Department or the Canteen. In the current 2006/07 Year 11, there are more prefects than in any previous Forest Year 11. Before this academic year the prefects were easily identifiable for their maroon/red jumpers but this year, through popular demand, the school has opted for a sky-blue, long-sleeved shirt and a blue tie with white stripes and one Forest School crest, also in white.
Business & Enterprise Centre
£1.5 million has been spent on a new Business and Enterprise centre. The Business and Enterprise Centre was officially opened by Mrs Godly and members of the local business community on Friday 13 October 2006. It comprises over 180 brand new PCs spreading over 6 rooms which are used by Year 11 as tutor bases. Other features include a kitchen area and a conference / assembly hall. The school has also made the Centre available for hire by the general public, its vision being to use the BEC as a hub in the community.
References
- West Sussex County Council. "Members Information Service", West Sussex County Council, 2006-11-21. Retrieved on December 12, 2006.
See "Appointment of New Headteachers" on Page 5.