Cambourne Village College

Sheepfold Lane, Cambourne, Cambs, CB23 6FR

www.cambournevc.org Tel: 01954 284000

General Information for Applicants

Cambourne is a new settlement, eight miles west of Cambridge. It is already a significant community and construction of Cambourne West, a further 2400 new homes with associated facilities, is under way on land adjacent to our campus.

Cambourne Village College opened as a new 11-16 Academy and Free School of the Cam Academy Trust (formerly the Comberton Academy Trust) in September 2013. The College opened with six forms of Year 7 pupils and grew by one new intake each year, our fourth intake reaching Year 11 in September 2020. CamVC was initially built for a roll of 750 students, but has expanded rapidly to accommodate nine forms of entry, with a current roll of approximately 1180. Our intake is truly comprehensive, with 30% of the dwellings in Cambourne comprising social housing whilst the remainder is mainly mixed, new, privately-owned houses. We are now working with the Local Authority to expand our accommodation to admit up to 1650 students (11 forms of entry) in our 11-16 school. As the logical sequence to our rapid and successful growth, a 350 place sixth form, with 175 students in each of Years 12 and 13, will open from September 2024. The school has rapidly gained the support of the local community and co-operates strongly with its four catchment primary schools, all situated in Cambourne.

The Cam Academy Trust

All staff at Cambourne Village College, along with those at Comberton Village College, Melbourn Village College and St Peter’s School, Huntingdon, are employees of the Cam Academy Trust. The Trust has recently become significantly cross-phase with the membership of seven primary schools and more under negotiation. The schools share a number of high-level executive Trust staff, for example in Finance, IT and HR, and seek to collaborate on educational matters wherever possible. Cambourne Village College has worked in particularly close partnership with Comberton Village College from the outset; it is envisaged that our new sixth form will work in close collaboration with those at Comberton and St Peters. The Trust is working on strengthening the educational links across the schools; all secondaries now use an online platform, the CATalogue, to allow the sharing of resources across our schools. The College is fortunate to be supported by a team of skilful and dedicted school governors, led by Dr Kris Stutchbury.

Designations

Following its first, highly successful, Ofsted inspection, the College gained Leading Edge status and successfully bid to become a Teaching School within the Cambridge Area Teaching Schools Alliance. From September 2019, CamVC also became a partner school of the Faculty of Education at the University of Cambridge. We are actively developing our work with trainee teachers, and employ a number of Specialist Leaders of Education to increase our capacity to take on a range of school-to-school support work. The College encourages research, with staff participating in projects at a range of levels, including the SSAT Lead Practitioner programme and Masters level degree courses.  We are continually developing our CPL offer for our staff, with many teachers participating in the Trust-based Developing Effective or Developing Outstanding Teacher programmes. The Cambridge Maths Hub is located at the College.

In 2018, Cambourne Village College was a finalist in the Pearson School of the Year Awards, winning Silver in the ‘Making a Difference’ category – a huge accolade for a school only five years old, and a reflection of the very strong relationships already developed with the local community. In 2019 we were further awarded International School status.

Standards

Extremely high standards of achievement and pastoral care have been quickly established, as recognised by the ‘Outstanding’ grade in all four Ofsted inspection categories, awarded to the College in May 2015 – a rare achievement for a new secondary school in its fifth term of opening. An annual Cross-Trust Review process confirms these high standards are maintained.

The first set of GCSE results for the College were awarded in summer 2018, the school achieving above the national average ranking for the KS4 Overall Progress 8 measure at 0.34. Results for summer 2019 were also very pleasing with Progress 8 reported at +0.45, with 52% of pupils gaining 5 GCSEs including English and Maths at Grade 5+, and 71% at Grade 4+. We are building on these very strong results with projects under way to develop whole-school reading and vocabulary acquisition, pupils’ skills of metacognition, and to narrow the differential between boys’ and girls’ achievement.

Broad Education

The school’s formal day runs from 8.35am to 3.00pm with 6 timetabled lessons of 50 minutes per day, run over a two-week cycle. Details of the curriculum taught in each subject can be found on our website under the Parent, Carer and Student Information tab. However, we believe that education should be broad and should give opportunities to develop individual interests. Many members of staff also offer activities within a very full and wide-ranging extra-curricular programme that runs each day from 3.00 p.m. There are many school trips and visits, both national and international, supported by a central Trips Administrator.

The College has engaged in a rolling programme to equip all pupil with iPads to enhance their learning, with all pupils in Years 7-11 having their own device from September 2021. Teaching staff and teaching assistants all have their own iPad; teachers also have laptop computers and all classrooms are equipped with Apple TV.  Extensive training and support for development of staff IT skills has been a feature of school life since our opening, and has received a tremendous boost during the recent lockdowns!

The Village College

The outlook and ethos of Cambourne Village College are fully in line with the tradition of Village Colleges established as the vision of Henry Morris in the first part of the twentieth century for community-based schooling. Cambourne Village College has, from the outset, sought to be at the heart of its community and to serve the needs of the whole town, not just our 11-16 year olds during the designated school day. In normal times, the College is open on almost every evening and weekend for adult educations classes and extensive community use of our excellent facilities.

Pastoral Organisation

Pastoral care in the College is overseen by the Deputy and Assistant Principals responsible for the supervision of the year teams. Each year team consists of a Head of Year, Assistant Head of Year, Pastoral Support Assistant, and team of tutors, this team remaining in place as the cohort moves up the school.  Most teaching staff will have responsibility for a tutor group and most teachers carry out 4 supervisory duties around school over the two-week cycle. Pupils see their tutors for morning registration and have a weekly assembly. The school has a strong and ever-developing focus on inclusion and wellbeing, with a team of counsellors in place and a wide range of inclusion support available to pupils.

The Premises

We are fortunate to work in a newly-built school, furnished, decorated and equipped to a high standard, with excellent facilities for teaching and learning. Sports facilities include 3G pitch, sports hall and gymnasium; performance facilities are under further development and include drama/dance studio and large performance hall. Music is taught in a separate, dedicated wing. High speed broadband, good access to computers and sets of class iPads enhance learning. Since its outset, the College has employed a full-time, qualified librarian. The library is a vibrant learning space and is highly valued by pupils and staff.

The Staff

Our staff are highly skilled, highly committed, innovative, mutually supportive and sociable. Joining Cambourne Village College represents a remarkable and exciting professional opportunity. It offers the chance to help to establish a new and rapidly growing school whilst working within a wider high-quality Academy Trust which gives excellent possibilities for professional and career development. Staff morale is extremely high, evidenced in our Investors in People report: ‘People describe high levels of camaraderie and teamwork, also the opportunity to influence change. There is shared motivation to achieve and people are loyal and enthusiastic about the Academy. There is a culture of praise and recognition, which people buy in to’. In our most recent staff survey (November 2021), over 90% of all staff agreed or strongly agreed with the statement: ‘I am proud to work at Cambourne Village College.’

School Ethos

All of our work is carried out in the context of our Ethos Statement, to which all members of the College were invited to contribute in the summer of 2017:

Cam VC: Aspiring to Excellence

• We are a dynamic, innovative and outward-looking school.
• We value every individual and seek the best possible outcomes for each one.
• Our staff is highly qualified, exceptionally committed and continually learning.
• We nurture mutually-beneficial partnerships which enhance our pupils’ opportunities and well-being.
• We are sustained by collaboration, mutual support and trusting relationships.
• We are an open, friendly school, where all people feel they belong.
• We are proud to serve our community of Cambourne and want Cambourne to be proud of us.

Teaching and Learning

• We have the highest aspirations for all pupils and the utmost belief in each individual.
• We deliver a rich and diverse curriculum, rooted in the needs of our pupils.
• We strive to remove all barriers to learning and refuse to allow disability or social disadvantage to limit our expectations or the achievements of our pupils.
• We inspire our pupils through excellent teaching.
• We value the expertise of our subject specialists, entrusting them to hone pupils’ skills and to ensure access to powerful knowledge.
• We access technology for optimum impact.
• Our teaching is underpinned by meaningful data and rigorous, accurate assessment.
• We work together and across departments, sharing good practice to enhance performance and relationships.
• We create opportunities for research and professional learning for all members of staff, through our Teaching School and wider partnerships.

Our Pupils

• Our pupils enjoy school. They engage actively in their learning, inspired by excellent      teaching and a sense of shared purpose.
• Our pupils are confident learners; they build self-esteem and are willing to challenge themselves, take risks and learn from mistakes.
• Our pupils attain standards which reflect their full academic potential.
• We foster imagination, adaptability, resilience and ambition.
• We create opportunities for every pupil to build independence, teamwork and leadership.
• Pupils treat each other and staff with respect and consideration.
• Positive behaviour is an inherent expectation.

Leadership

• Our leadership teams guide the school with vision and discernment.
• All leaders are role models: they act with integrity, are highly visible, and are approachable by all.
• Teaching and learning is at the heart of all decision-making.
• We believe in devolved leadership; middle leaders are highly trusted and empowered to have impact.
• All staff have opportunities to contribute their expertise to strategic school decisions.
• Communication across the school is direct and timely.
• Our leaders know the staff, communicate how much they are valued, and seek to sustain their well-being.

Parents

• We seek to engage with all parents in relationships based on mutual trust and respect.
• We believe in frequent and open communication, aiming to work with parents to maximise each child’s school experience
• We have policies that are clear and easily understood, encouraging parental engagement and support.
• We maximise the use of technology to ensure full and swift communication.

Community and Partnership

• We are a Village College and embody this ethos.
• We work in full co-operation with our Trust partners to enhance all our pupils’ education.
• We build local partnerships across all phases of schooling to ensure cohesive educational experiences.
• We engage with our local business community to sustain growth and      opportunities for our mutual benefit.
• We work with our Locality Team, social and health workers, and all other relevant agencies to integrate support and sustain our pupils’  well-being.
• We seek international partnerships to widen our pupils’ understanding of their place in our world.