Pershore High School

PERSHORE HIGH SCHOOL 

Introduction

Since July 2011, Pershore High School has been an Academy for students aged 12 to 18. In August 2017 we joined with 3 other schools to form Avonreach Academy Trust. From September 2021 we will take our first cohort of 90 Year 7 students from Avonreach Primary Schools. We have a committed team of well qualified staff who work hard to ensure that students achieve well both academically and personally.

We are highly regarded in our community as a very good local school and in September 2017 enjoyed a very successful OFSTED inspection. The inspectors reported that:

Pershore High School is a good school with significant outstanding features.

 Students make good progress during Key Stages 3 and 4;

· Students’ achievement in the Sixth Form is outstanding;

· There is a positive climate for learning in all classrooms;

· Teachers have good knowledge of their subjects;

· Behaviour and safety are outstanding;

· Students have good attitudes to learning and behave exceptionally well around the  school. They have impeccable manners and are extremely welcoming and polite to visitors;

· Students are proud to attend the school and many were keen to tell inspectors how much they are enjoying their time there;

· Students are kind, helpful and respectful towards one another. They say that bullying, in any form, is simply not tolerated and that they are committed to ‘looking after each other’;

· An outstanding feature of the school’s work is the way in which it promotes the development of leadership skills amongst students

· Students have a very secure awareness of how to keep themselves safe;

· The school offers a wide range of courses and subjects, both in the main school and the sixth form;

· There is an excellent variety of extra-curricular and enrichment activities. Staff run various revision and homework clubs, including an equestrian team;

· These activities, together with the school’s international links, promote spiritual, social, moral and cultural development particularly well;

Visitors to the school appreciate the calm, friendly and caring atmosphere, good discipline and purposeful ethos. Our aim is to provide a high quality education in a safe, supportive and stimulating environment. In our school community, all people are valued and we expect them to make a positive contribution that will allow them to become responsible and independent members of society.

The School and its Community

Pershore High School serves the large, predominantly rural area between Worcester and Evesham. Within this area there are three tiers of education. Eleven first schools serve three middle schools which in turn feed into the high school at the start of Year 8. There are 1129 students on roll, around 210 of whom are in the Sixth Form.

The School and its Students

We are proud of our house system, the students are divided into one of three houses; Armstrong, Kingsley and Magellan, and within these into vertical tutor groups. There is also a discrete Sixth Form team. There are three heads and deputy heads of House. Teaching is arranged into a fortnightly timetable of 50 one hour lessons. Students are encouraged to take advantage of the numerous extra-curricular opportunities which the school provides, both on the premises and further afield.

Debating, public speaking and the Duke of Edinburgh's Award Scheme are just three examples of the range of activities available. A school award scheme encourages a high level of participation, and twice a week a late bus is available to students taking part in activities after school. The school was rated by OFSTED as providing outstanding international opportunities and community links.

Our Sixth Form is a particular strength of the school and we are rightly proud of our students. Not only is their achievement excellent, they also give an enormous amount to the life of the school, as again recognised by OFSTED

The School and its Staff

There are currently 82 full and part-time teaching staff and 88 support staff.  Professional development has a high priority and there are carefully supportive arrangements for new and newly qualified colleagues.  We participate in the Initial Teacher Training programme for PGCE teachers at the University of Worcester and the University of Gloucestershire.

The School and its Buildings

The school stands on a very pleasant 27 acre site. The oldest buildings date from the foundation of the school in 1932. Successive extensions and developments have created an extensive range of specialist accommodation, including an enlarged Sixth Form Centre (2003), a renovated Design and Technology facility (2003) and an all-weather sports surface (2005) renamed the Scott Holden Football Centre in 2012. The Richardson Building, a block of eleven new science laboratories, was built at a cost of over £3 million in 2005. In 2007 the Hampton Centre, a purpose built provision for students on the autistic spectrum and those with other special educational needs, along with a new main entrance, was created. The Training Room was opened in 2008. A new Mathematics block a was opened in 2010, and work on extending the dining room and refurbishment of the main hall was completed in 2011.  A new Art and Design block and 10 classroom Humanities block were built at a cost of £3.4 million and opened in 2016. In summer 2020 work on a new eight classroom English Block, costing £1.8 million was completed. A further investment of in excess of £2 million pounds will shortly be underway to enhance the current sports facilities.