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Future Barnwell

Barnwell is a thriving and passionate school with learning and the community at its heart.

Established in 1959 Barnwell has always been a successful local school in the heart of the community. In 2006, Barnwell took on the students of a local secondary school that was in Special Measures and was being closed by the Local Authority. To ensure a smooth transition for the students of both schools, it added to its vision and provided Stevenage with its only middle and upper school based education system.

The larger Barnwell has become an extremely popular and over-subscribed school which has been confident and yet not complacent in its ambition to provide every student with a world class education.

In 2011, the opportunity arose for Barnwell to react to local demand for child placement for secondary education and after a full and in-depth consultation, the Governing Body published its decision to expand further by utilising the site of a neighbouring secondary school.

The Governing Body took advice from the Local Authority and members of other educational establishments to use the expansion to alter the current model of separate KS3 and KS4 education to the more widespread and successful 11-16 model over two campuses with the third site being a Centre of Excellence for Post-16 study.

This change will enable Barnwell School to move forward whilst offering its students, both current and future, the very best education that a large school can offer whilst keeping the ethos and community spirit of a smaller school.

The school is currently working closely with educational consultants and the Local Authority to provide a seamless transition to Future Barnwell.

Previous News:

Monday 26th March 2012

Parents and carers have been sent a letter explaining possible changes to the plans of Future Barnwell. Brief extracts from letter:

The Local Authority are currently running a study to see if it is viable to continue to have the plan of the three campuses. There is a likelihood that the three campus model is not a viable option for Barnwell School and so the Governors have gone back to the drawing board and are suggesting that we;

- have Barnwell West and Heathcote site

- keep the key stages – KS3 & KS4

- have one campus for Key Stage 4 & Sixth Form – with Year 10 and 11 in forms with only Year 10s and 11’s – so no vertical tutoring. The Sixth Form will have premises on this site but will move to the other campus for some lessons.

- The KS3 campus will have 100 students from each year group in a House (school) with one Head of School. (300 students of Years 7,8 &9 over-looked by one teacher with a named teacher of English and maths that stays in this House/School and doesn’t move.

- The Head of School (House) will also have a designated pastoral and admin departments, so parents only have to deal with a small number of staff.

A copy of the letter is available below. Comments may be sent to futurebarnwell@barnwell.herts.sch.uk

Update: 1 February 2012
Year 10 students met with the Future Barnwell team and discussed their thoughts and concerns about the plans for Future Barnwell under three categories:

1. What is going well at Barnwell
2. Areas that can be improved
3. Concerns/views on Future Barnwell

Briefly, here is some of their feedback:

What is going well at Barnwell?

1. We are treated like adults on East
2. We have matured on East as we are in a grown up environment which prepares us for Post 16, colelge and work.
3. We are getting extra help.
4. 25% of students liked the vertical tutoring.
5. 80% of students liked the sports clubs available.
6. 22% of students did not want any change in uniform
7. Learning in the LRC is good on East.

Area's that can be improved.

1. 66% of students would like lesson time reduced.
2. 35% of students would like a Barnwell logo'd hoodie.
3. Girls would like to wear cardigans and not jumpers.
4. Boys would like the option of wearing shorts in the summer
5. 70% of students would like Year group forms.

Update: 16th December 2011

The Local Authority agreed to finance £4.6million for remodelling work on the Heathcote site for the use of Barnwell and Greenside. Due to work being scheduled for Autumn and to allow for the least disruption for students, it has been decided to delay the transition onto the Heathcote site until all works have been completed.

In addition, our original vision for a three Campus school, with Sixth Form being located on the East Campus, was reliant on securing a suitable educational partner to co-locate on the East Campus. Earlier this year Hertfordshire University made an application to the DFE to open a University Technical College (UTC) on the East Campus. Unfortunately their application was unsuccessful. This development gives us the opportunity to reconsider if a two campus or three campus model would be best to deliver the vision of Barnwell School.

During the Spring term the Local Authority will be assisting us with a feasibility study to see what would be the best way to re-structure the school.

12th December 2011

Thank you to those parents/carers that were able to take part in one of the three workshops that took place on November 9th. The feedback given was extremely valuable and will help us take many of the positive aspects with us in Sept 2012.

Please see below a downloadable version of the feedback received.

Additional note: parents were concerned about the potential for students moving between sites for lessons. Key Stage 4 students may have to move sites to access specialist provision depending on their GCSE choices, however they would be escorted by a member of staff. Key Stage 3 students would only move sites during the day to take part in whole school events or theme days and would also be escorted.

Update: 8th October 2011

Information letter sent to all parents/carers. Please see downloadable version below.

Update: 2nd June 2011

The Barnwell Governing Body has announced that is it pushing ahead with the proposal for the future of the school.

Please scroll to the bottom for a downloadable copy of the decision letter and summary of the findings from the consultation, plus documentation regarding the consultation and questions & answers from that period.

Barnwell School

Future Barnwell

futurebarnwell@barnwell.herts.sch.uk

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