Chilwell School

Chilwell School (formerly known as Chilwell Comprehensive School) is a secondary school located in Chilwell, near Nottingham, England. The school is located adjacent to the Chilwell Olympia sports complex and has an attached sixth-form college, known as the Chilwell Sixth-Form. In January 2005, the school was designated a specialist school in "Arts, Maths and Computing".^[2]

The school's typical enrolment is around 1,000 students aged 11 to 18, of which roughly 100 are enrolled at the sixth-form.^[3]

The sixth-form was formerly known as Lakeview College and was run in collaboration with nearby school Alderman White. In September 2006, Chilwell governors made the decision that the college would be entirely managed and staffed by Chilwell School from September 2008.

Ofsted inspections

The ratings below refer to the "overall effectiveness" of the school.^[4]

• 2006 - "Good" (Grade 2). The school was featured in the Nottingham Post following this inspection.^[5]
• 2009 - "Inadequate" (Grade 4).
• 2010 - "Satisfactory" (Grade 3).
• 2012 - "Requires Improvement" (Grade 3). Note the change in nomenclature between 2010 and 2012; the school remained at Grade 3.
• 2014 - "Good" (Grade 2).

Following the latest inspection (carried out on 7–8 October 2014) the report observed, "Effective leadership has led to consistently good teaching and achievement across the school."^[6]

Specialisms

Arts

As a result of the school's specialist status, the curriculum was re-designed to integrate ICT into art and textile design: textile art was designed by students while they learnt CAD/CAM skills. One of the aims of the programme was to combat gender stereotyping. According to teacher Sue Bedford, "many of the boys who completed the project said their perception of textiles had changed and that they were ... surprised that it wasn't all about sewing - even the girls were enlightened".^[7]

Thanks to the programme's success, the school was named a "Textile Centre for Excellence" and was featured in an Adobe case study.^[7] The students' work was also exhibited at a local gallery.^[8]

Computing

The school was a regional host for the Adobe/MTV Boom Music Video Academy in 2006, and had a computer suite donated by the company Educational Ideas in 2004.

BAC³

BAC³ was a project for gifted and talented pupils run by Chilwell in collaboration with nearby schools Alderman White and The Bramcote School.^[9] It involved pupils from each school taking part in "activities days" reflecting the schools' respective specialisms.

Extra-curricular activities

Another Day film

In 2006, as part of a media initiative known as The Project, students at Chilwell produced a short film entitled Another Day.^[10] After starting as a pupil-run media literacy initiative, The Project eventually involved a large portion of the school in the film's planning, writing and production. The film premiered at the Broadway Cinema in Nottingham and was screened at the August 2006 Bang! Film Festival.^[11]

The Project featured in the Nottingham Post on numerous occasions^[12][13] and was covered by the BBC.^[14]

The Feeling music video

As a result of the very successful Another Day film project, pupils were offered the opportunity to make a music video for English rock band The Feeling. The band offered a B-side track ("Sun is Shining") for the music video.^[15] The project was again led by students, overseen by media teachers. In December 2006, while still in its early stages, The Project 2 received local media coverage.^[16][17]

Debating Matters competition

In 2010 and 2013, Chilwell Sixth-Form students reached the national finals of the Debating Matters competition in London.^[18][19]

Notable alumni

• Paul Evans - Master and Chief Executive of the Royal Armouries, 2003 – 2008.
• Tina Stowell, Baroness Stowell of Beeston - Leader of the House of Lords, July 2014 – July 2016.^[20]

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Chilwell School.

External links

• Chilwell School website