King-Ed Prospectus 2022
Create successful ePaper yourself
Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.
<strong>King</strong> <strong>Ed</strong>ward VI School<br />
Inspiring young people in Bury St <strong>Ed</strong>munds since 1550
We<br />
Kin
lcome<br />
to<br />
g <strong>Ed</strong>ward<br />
VI<br />
School<br />
Welcome to <strong>King</strong> <strong>Ed</strong>ward VI, a proudly inclusive 11-<br />
16 School which has been focused on providing world<br />
class education for nearly 500 years. We boast a strong<br />
history of academic excellence and a deep commitment<br />
to helping every child achieve. We are proud of every<br />
student in the school and work tirelessly to nurture and<br />
guide them so they can grow into happy, successful<br />
young adults who take pride in what they know and<br />
have confidence in what they do. As an 11-16 school<br />
we are specialists in child development for this critical<br />
period of ‘growing up’ and experts in preparing<br />
students for GCSE success.<br />
Embedded deep within the community of Bury St<br />
<strong>Ed</strong>munds we have long standing links within the area<br />
which create educational opportunities way above what<br />
is normally possible. We are proudly part of a local<br />
partnership which provides high quality education for<br />
children from 3-18 years, working closely with many<br />
local primary schools as well as Abbeygate Sixth Form<br />
and West Suffolk colleges.<br />
Each year, many students come to us directly as a<br />
result of parental preference rather than catchment<br />
area. We believe that every member of our school<br />
community should demonstrate care for others,<br />
strive to achieve their best (no matter how tough the<br />
challenge), develop their creative talent and critical<br />
thinking.<br />
If, after reading this brochure, you would like further<br />
information please look at our extensive website and in<br />
particular the resources and videos in the JOINING US<br />
section.<br />
Deri O’Regan<br />
Headteacher
Amazing curriculum<br />
With 17 subjects taught in Year 7 we believe we have a<br />
curriculum second to none. Alongside the important subjects<br />
of Mathematics and English we teach Biology, Chemistry and<br />
Physics as separate sciences from Year 7. We have an amazing<br />
range of humanities at Key Stage 4 including Psychology,<br />
Sociology, Economics and Politics alongside History,<br />
Geography, Philosophy and Ethics taught in Year 7. We teach<br />
Art, Music and Drama as well as a special Artsbox course. We<br />
teach Computer Science, Design Technology, Food Technology<br />
and an exciting project to build a computer. We teach French,<br />
German and Spanish in the school as well as Physical <strong>Ed</strong>ucation<br />
and Dance.<br />
Academic Excellence<br />
Last year 80% of all GCSE grades were Grade 4 and above<br />
and students achieved a record 151 Grade 9s. Our Attainment 8<br />
was 49 which is above national average. Our results have been<br />
strong for many years with the school always having a strong<br />
positive Progress 8 (most recent, in 2019, was +0.26 which<br />
means students at <strong>King</strong> <strong>Ed</strong>ward VI School, achieve well above<br />
national rates of progress).<br />
Great learning<br />
Learning is at the heart of everything we do and to make<br />
this happen we invest heavily in teaching. We have great<br />
teachers at the school and train up many new teachers<br />
every year working with Cambridge University to get<br />
the very best people in front of our students. We value<br />
deep subject knowledge and have three teachers with<br />
PhDs. We work tirelessly to provide exciting learning<br />
experiences on a daily basis, delivered with inspirational<br />
and research-based teaching methods. We want your<br />
child to love coming to school and love learning.
‘It feels<br />
exciting<br />
to be in a<br />
bigger school<br />
with lots of<br />
opportunities’<br />
George, Yr 7
Student Leadership<br />
We are committed to developing the leaders<br />
of tomorrow and develop student leadership<br />
across all year groups. Our top student leaders<br />
are the Year 11 Prefect Team which consists of<br />
a Head Boy and Head Girl, four Deputy Heads<br />
and a team of Prefects. We also have a strong<br />
sports leadership pathway which visits local<br />
primary schools and supports the West Suffolk<br />
School Games activities.<br />
We have a well-established Duke of <strong>Ed</strong>inburgh<br />
programme allowing students to complete both<br />
Bronze and Silver before heading to college to<br />
complete Gold.
Debating<br />
We have a lively and fun debating society led by Sixth Form students from Abbeygate<br />
who enter national competitions such as the English Speaking Union’s Churchill Cup.<br />
Church of England<br />
We are a Church of England school and enjoy very close links with St <strong>Ed</strong>mundsbury<br />
Cathedral through our involvement in Lunchtime Recitals, Remembrance Day services,<br />
Christmas Celebrations and our Musician in Residence - the Cathedral’s Organ Scholar.<br />
‘The teachers are really<br />
kind and they make<br />
learning fun’<br />
Lily, Yr 7
Extra-Curricular<br />
We have a large and wide ranging<br />
extra-curricular programme with<br />
over 50 activities put on either at<br />
lunchtime or after school. We have<br />
a large number of sports on offer<br />
and aim to have something for<br />
everyone with our amazing sports<br />
facilities (which includes a floodlit<br />
astroturf).<br />
Music<br />
Music is central to life at the school and<br />
our link with the cathedral. We believe<br />
in providing regular performance<br />
opportunities both in concerts and<br />
school events. Music is most fun<br />
when done together so we run a wide<br />
range of ensembles. Many students<br />
receive music lessons via the school<br />
and our most accomplished musicians<br />
perform with the Sixth Form students<br />
at Abbeygate to push their musicianship<br />
further.<br />
Drama<br />
Drama is exciting and thriving<br />
at <strong>King</strong> <strong>Ed</strong>ward VI School. Our<br />
students give regular performances,<br />
many of which they direct and/<br />
or devise themselves. Recent<br />
collaborations with the Music and<br />
Dance departments include: ‘Sister<br />
Act’, ‘The Phantom of the Opera’,<br />
‘Oliver!’, ‘Joseph and the Amazing<br />
Technicolour Dreamcoat’ and<br />
‘Grease’. In addition to examination<br />
showcases, Drama productions<br />
include ‘Attempts on her Life’,<br />
‘Amadeus’, ‘Chatroom’ and ‘Songs<br />
for a New World’. Students have<br />
also taken part in performances<br />
of ‘Macbeth’, ‘Othello’ and ‘A<br />
Midsummer Night’s Dream’ at the<br />
Shakespeare Schools Festival and<br />
performed at professional theatre<br />
venues such as The Apex. Our current<br />
school production is School of Rock<br />
and will be performed in December.
Dance<br />
The school has partnerships with The Royal Ballet School,<br />
Dance East and Hofesh Shechter Dance Company. The<br />
annual Performing Arts Showcase is held at The Apex, Bury<br />
St <strong>Ed</strong>munds and is always a dazzling success. The range of<br />
Dance genres, skills and performance opportunities on offer for<br />
students in Year 7 upwards is vast and this, along with our staff<br />
expertise, leads to many students going on to a career in dance.
Your child’s future starts<br />
Your child’s<br />
learning<br />
The recent success of our students<br />
is testament to our commitment<br />
to the individual – to your<br />
child. We have regular and indepth<br />
communications with<br />
our feeder primary schools, and<br />
respond to our students’ hugely<br />
diverse learning needs, setting<br />
suitable learning challenges and<br />
overcoming barriers to learning<br />
for all. We are exceptionally proud<br />
of our Deaf Resource Unit which<br />
offers places for 15 deaf students<br />
from across the county.
here....<br />
Your child’s transition<br />
We manage the transfer of each child from primary school to <strong>King</strong><br />
<strong>Ed</strong>ward VI School with very great care. If your child secures a place<br />
we will invite you to a transition evening in April and start building<br />
the partnership with you to make your child’s education a success.<br />
There will be further events in the summer term including a full day<br />
at <strong>King</strong> <strong>Ed</strong>wards for your child. Further transition and induction<br />
will then happen for your child in September so that we really get to<br />
know your child before the whole school starts for the new academic<br />
year.<br />
During their time at <strong>King</strong> <strong>Ed</strong>ward VI School students can take part<br />
in maths challenges, workshops with industry professionals, physics<br />
competitions, festivals of learning, higher education conferences and<br />
careers workshops. All students are inspired, guided and supported<br />
by our expert teaching and teaching-assistant teams, and one-to-one<br />
support from tutors and Heads of Year.<br />
‘The pastoral<br />
care, staff and<br />
leadership at<br />
this school are<br />
exemplary.<br />
The choice of<br />
extra-curricular<br />
activities is<br />
amazing.’ Parent
<strong>King</strong> <strong>Ed</strong>ward VI School<br />
Grove Road Bury St <strong>Ed</strong>munds<br />
Suffolk IP33 3BH<br />
Telephone 01284 761393<br />
admin@king-ed.suffolk.sch.uk<br />
www.king-ed.suffolk.sch.uk<br />
<strong>King</strong><strong>Ed</strong>wardVISchool