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COOMBE

WOOD

SCHOOL

DISCOVERING OPPORTUNITIES FOR THE FUTURE

SECTION 10 CONSULTATION

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COOMBE

WOOD

SCHOOL

Exciting, new

comprehensive

school for boys

and girls aged

11 to 18

I wish you a warm welcome to this brochure where you can read more about Coombe Wood School. Our proposed school has progressed successfully through the pre-opening phase, and we are now required to undertake a public consultation as to whether Folio Education Trust should enter into a funding agreement with the Secretary of State for Education, prior to the planned opening of the school in September 2018.

Folio Education Trust is a collaboration of schools which includes Coombe Wood School, Park Hill Junior School, St Peter’s Primary School and Wallington County Grammar School. Folio aims to ensure support for young people to develop their character, reach their personal best and unlock improved life chances through memorable experiences.

Coombe Wood School has been planned to meet the growing local demand for secondary school places as identified by Croydon Council. Our preferred site for the school is Coombe Road playing fields in South Croydon. We look forward to opening our doors to welcome up to 180 students into Year 7 in September 2018, growing year on year to our capacity of 1680 students, including a 6th form of 480 students.

We propose to educate our young people in bright and spacious areas for learning which will include a creative and performing arts centre and outstanding sports facilities. Outdoor learning will form an important part of the appreciation of the rich ecology of the local area.

We look forward to receiving your views so that we can provide parents/carers and the community with the best school that is possible.

Jonathan Wilden, Executive Headteacher,

Folio Education Trust

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The motto ‘Discovering Opportunity’ stems from our guiding aim to help students, regardless of background, to uncover skills, develop confidence and to maximise the many exciting opportunities on offer. Students of all abilities will be given the support and challenges needed to become more than they think they can be.

Coombe Wood School aims to be an ambitious and aspirational school. It will focus on delivering an outstanding all-round education, ensuring students are prepared for life in the 21st century. The School will engage and inspire its students through a varied enrichment programme to follow their interests and passions - be that sport, creative and performing arts or as part of the academic curriculum - all of which can lead to professional training or opportunities for further and higher education.

Discovering Opportunity

Coombe Wood School Core Values The five core values at the heart of Coombe Wood School provide a consistent direction for students, staff and parents alike, by permeating and shaping every aspect of school life. These core values will give structure to the learning in every classroom and learning environment.

Teamwork – the School community will act like a team around the child and all staff who work within it. Through a motivational team spirit all challenges will be overcome. Together we can aspire, together we will achieve.

Respect – learning from the habits and actions of others, the School community will model high expectations at all times. Through respect for one another and our school we develop trust and a positive attitude.

Enjoyment – schools are full of opportunity for children, staff and parents. Through memorable experiences we can encourage all to participate. Even when things are difficult we ask people not to give up but know that when you win you will be happy and when you have lost but done your best you will be satisfied.

Discipline – children will learn to self-regulate their behaviour and be thoughtful of others. Living a disciplined life inside and outside of school, making the right life choices and meeting with triumph and disaster with the same positive attitude will lead to a well-rounded and well-grounded existence.

Sportsmanship – there is nothing more satisfying than giving something your all and being able to say to others – ‘I admire your courage’. Sportsmanship is an empathetic attitude which celebrates others’ achievements and raises the performance of others who require support.

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Curriculum

Key Stages

All students will have access to a challenging, traditional, academically rigorous curriculum with an emphasis on traditional core subjects to make sure that the right building blocks, particularly literacy and numeracy, are firmly in place. In the younger years specific literacy lessons with additional teachers are timetabled allowing extra small-group support for targeted students without them missing other aspects of the curriculum. We will deliver History and Geography as separate subjects rather than a generic humanities mixture, and students will be taught Biology, Chemistry and Physics as distinct subjects from Year 7. We believe in the importance of students studying additional languages to broaden and inspire opportunities in an increasingly global society. All students will take a range of subjects in Creative and Performing Arts including Music, Drama, Dance, Art, Design Technology. All year groups will have a games afternoon as well as dedicated PE lessons and Health Related Fitness during the week. The core sports will include basketball, netball, football, gymnastics, athletics and cycling. There will be an emphasis on healthy living throughout the curriculum.

We will operate a two-year Key Stage 3 with a three-year Key Stage 4 model, and a Sixth Form offering a two-year programme of studies.

Throughout all subjects we value both the accumulation of knowledge and the development of skills, and at Key Stage 3 we will coordinate subjects so that major themes are taught across different lessons; for instance students might study war poetry in English lessons while learning about the First World War in History. This will combine a thoroughly academic system in which individual subjects can flourish with a method to engage students and ensure they build links between different areas of learning.

Key Stage 4 students will be given the chance to gain knowledge, and also acquire skills, going deep and making links, using a three year GCSE KS4 model to give them to time to do this rather than just cramming for exams. Some KS4 students will also receive additional small-group support, depending on their needs.

In the Sixth Form traditional A Levels as well as at least two vocational routes will be offered The academically rigorous subjects on offer will be able to deliver students the skills and knowledge they need to succeed whether their dream be university, employment or training.

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Coombe Wood School will offer enhanced sporting opportunities for girls and boys. Throughout every Key Stage there will be an emphasis on participation in sport. This is not only because it brings a healthy lifestyle. It is because it develops, through participation, skills relating to the values of Teamwork, Respect, Enjoyment, Discipline and Sportsmanship. These will improve a person’s life chances through heightened social and emotional intelligence.

We believe that all young people must embrace the importance of a healthy lifestyle, what it means to win and lose, and to find enjoyment in participating with their peers in a team or in individual sporting opportunities.

Core sports will include basketball, netball, football, gymnastics, athletics and cycling. In addition, a Health Related Fitness programme and games afternoons provided in partnership with specialist local sporting organisations to enrich the sports instruction on offer, will allow young people from the local area to explore pathways to advanced participation.

Furthermore, 10% of our Pupil Admission Number (PAN) will be offered to those students who demonstrate an aptitude in our specialist subject area of sport.

Discovering Opportunities in Sport

Coombe Wood School will offer sporting opportunities to the community through their participation in the clubs who will use the enhanced sporting facilities and the site at evenings and weekends. We aim to achieve a participative and thriving sporting community for local people to embrace a healthy lifestyle, and to provide opportunities for sporting development, competition and socialisation.

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In addition to sport, Coombe Wood School aims to be a centre for music, art and drama. The School’s Creative and Performing Arts centre aims to provide outstanding facilities and learning experiences in this area as part of the curriculum, but will also offer activities after school and at weekends.

Our outstanding facilities comprising drama and dance studios, music classrooms and practice rooms, music technology suite, recording studio, art and photography studios, design technology, textiles and food technology suites will give students a broad exposure to Creative and Performing Arts as well as the chance to follow a more specialist pathway in this area. In addition to indoor facilities we aim to have an outdoor performance area.

Supported by enthusiastic and experienced staff, students will have the opportunity to be part of dramatic, music and dance productions whether performing or whether staging the events with light, sound, special effects, backdrops, scenery, costume, backstage, front of house, marketing and all that it take to present a first rate event.

Discovering Opportunities in Creative and Performing Arts

Coombe Wood School seeks to help develop the child as a whole. Students will be encouraged to participate in sport and the performing arts at their own level of comfort. There will be an emphasis on establishing a lifelong, positive attitude towards healthy living that not only benefits the body and mind, but also develops social skills that will have a positive impact on a student’s future well-being.

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Enrichment

Environment

Students will be guided into an extensive extra-curricular programme which for most will extend the time spent in school. This will include sport and the performing arts, as well as being introduced to clubs and academic societies. Students will also be able to complete personal learning tasks in supervised study areas after school, with teachers on hand to give assistance.

The clubs and societies will range from debating and chess to societies linked to becoming a medic, a lawyer, an engineer and other professions. Folio Education Trust Alumni will visit as much as possible to share their experiences of the world of work with sixth form students who are applying to university, Year 10 students who are arranging work experience and Year 8 students thinking about their GCSE options.

The societies are designed to be run by the older students who are closer to their dreams of university or employment, although in the early years of the school opening the staff will play a larger role in setting them up. The societies offer older students leadership opportunities and the chance to give something back to the school as well as experience for CVs and UCAS applications.

The preferred site for the school is rich in its natural surroundings. We aspire to nurturing in our students a love of nature, ecology and conservation. There are ample opportunities for outdoor learning, achieving Forest School status and encouraging students to show leadership in conservation activities, especially in imparting their knowledge and enthusiasm to children from urban schools who might visit our site.

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School Day

After School Activities

Breakfast Clubs 7.30 - 8.20

Registration 8.30 - 8.40

Period 1 8.40 - 9.40

Period 2 9.40 - 10.40

Morning Break – 20 minutes 10.40 - 11.00

Period 3 11.00 - 12.00

Period 4 12.00 - 13.00

Lunch Break – 40 minutes 13.00 - 13.40

Registration/Assembly 13.40 - 14.10

Period 5 14.10 - 15.10

Extra-Curricular Activities, Clubs

& Societies; Academic Support

Programme

15.30 - 17.00

The school day includes five one hour lessons, with four during the morning. There is a short registration in the morning, but an extended registration in the afternoon allowing for assemblies and tutorials. Sports and other clubs and societies as well as academic support and personal learning will take place after core school hours run by members of staff.

Coombe Wood School will be a place where students can develop their interests and talents after the core school hours. From 15.30 until 17.00 students will be able to take part in such activities as football, gymnastics, basketball, dance, cycling, athletics, drama, music, art, technology, politics, ecology, fitness training. These activities will be run by members of staff or specialist coaches to allow students to grow to the highest level of achievement. Academic support sessions will also take place between 15.30 and 17.00, run by teachers.

From 17.30 onwards a programme of sporting activities will be available within the School, run by external providers, which parents/carers may wish their sons or daughters to join to extend their immersion into their chosen sport.

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Pastoral

Behaviour

it is the personal moral, spiritual, cultural and social development which is central to the business of creating young men and women who are responsible and fulfilled members of our world. We aim to provide extensive support to help nurture our students so that they may achieve their potential both academically and socially. All members of staff at Coombe Wood School have a role in supporting a student’s well-being. Form tutors play a key part in providing pastoral care to students during the two sessions each day when they meet with their tutor group. Form tutors develop working relationships with their tutees to ensure they feel happy and safe at school. We encourage the support of parents/carers in matters relating to pastoral care, especially keeping in touch with a student’s form tutor. Additionally, Year Leaders, Senior Leaders and non-teaching staff all offer support to meet students’ needs to ensure they thrive at school and beyond.

Coombe Wood School will be a busy and purposeful environment with multiple opportunities for learning and enjoyment. Students will be engaged and driven by the opportunities offered. Their school day will be full and focused. The core values of Teamwork, Respect, Enjoyment, Discipline and Sportsmanship will permeate all aspects of school life whether in the classroom, corridors, dining room, sports facilities or any part of the school, and all students and staff will adopt those values so that a happy and safe environment is enjoyed by all. Those who deviate from the core values will be given the opportunity to reflect on their behaviour and, supported by members of staff and parents/carers, will modify and self-regulate their behaviour for the future.

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Parents and Carers Working in partnership with parents/carers is Coombe Wood School’s approach to providing the very best support to our students. We will keep in touch with parents/carers regularly to ensure their child is making the very best progress, and we encourage parents/carers to keep in touch with us. At the beginning of the school year and on other occasions we will run parent/carer workshops. Throughout the year subject working levels or grades and agreed targets which are shared with students will be reported to parents/carers as well as a student’s progress in effort, conduct and organisation. We will also provide written comments to students and their parents/carers giving praise to a student for ‘what went well’ and areas for ‘how to improve’. Parents/carers will be invited to a Parents’/Carers’ Evening once a year to discuss their child’s progress with their teachers. Online systems will show the after-school personal learning that has been set so that parents/carers can support their children in their endeavours. The extended school day until 17.00 and the option of staying beyond 17.30 for specialist sport clubs provides the opportunity for students to fulfil their sporting aspirations all on one site, removing the burden for parents/carers to take their children to multiple sites after school. Nutritious food will be available for students who stay after school for activities.

SEN

Coombe Wood School makes provision for students with needs in communication and interaction, cognition and learning, social, mental and emotional health, sensory and/or physical. Our SENCo will lead the provision but all staff will share the responsibility for delivering the support. Parents/carers and students will be involved in decision making to tailor support to the needs of the individual, supplemented by relevant professionals where appropriate.

SEN

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House System

Careers

Our aim is to develop well-rounded and well-grounded individuals, ready for a higher course of study or interesting employment. One element which will assist in this will be the competitive nature of the House System. Belonging to one of eight houses, each named with local relevance, a student will feel they are part of something bigger than a tutor group. Students will love their House, and contribute in many activities throughout the year to earn points in the Inter-House competitions in areas such Art, Drama, Dance, Music, Poetry, Sport and Science. The award of the School Cup, for the leading House at the end of each academic year, will be established as an honoured occasion, with students keen to support their House to victory. The vertical nature of the House System gives many opportunities for student leadership. No sanctions will be attached to the House System; only rewards for participation and success.

Student leadership forms an important part of a young person’s preparation for the world of work and Coombe Wood School will provide many opportunities for students to lead others. A specialist careers member of Coombe Wood staff will support students in their career choices, giving guidance and inspiration whether at the Year 8 stage of selecting GCSE options, seeking work experience in Year 10 or making university, apprenticeship or employment choices in the Sixth form. The many and varied opportunities for self-development and expression that a student will experience at Coombe Wood will be character-forming and a sure step to success beyond school. We will use our network of Folio Education Trust Alumni to visit our students at school to broaden their horizons and give insight into the world of work.

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School Organisation and Staffing The school will be zoned into faculty areas for teaching: Communications, Mathematics and Computing, Science, Humanities, Creative and Performing Arts, Sport, each headed up by a Faculty Leader with a team of inspirational teachers to deliver the curriculum. The student support areas will be in one convenient location whilst Senior Leadership will be distributed throughout the school building. In Folio Education Trust we take pride in how we are able to attract and retain the highest calibre staff. Our envied Continuing Professional Development programme keeps our staff at the forefront of their profession

Admissions

We will admit up to 180 students into Year 7 in September annually until 2021 when the PAN will increase to 240 to meet the local need for places. We will have a sixth form and will admit up to 150 students into Year 12 in September 2020 and 2021, thereafter growing to an intake of 240 Year 12 students in 2026.

Coombe Wood School is a local school for local children. We will admit up to our Published Admission Number (PAN) of 180 boys and girls into Year 7 in September 2018. Priority will be given to children from feeder schools: 54 students from Park Hill Junior School, CR0 5NS, and 36 from St. Peter’s Primary School, CR2 7AR. These feeder schools are the primary schools closest to the preferred site for Coombe Wood School. Up to 10% of the PAN will be allocated to children who have demonstrated an aptitude in our specialist subject area of Sport. See our full Admissions Policy at www.cws-croydon.co.uk/Admissions.

Students will be housed in first class temporary accommodation until the new building is ready, which we anticipate will be during the academic year 2019-2020. We plan for a phased use of the new building as parts of it become ready and safe. We intend the temporary accommodation to be on our preferred site, safely zoned away from the construction of the new building.

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Consultation Thank you for reading this booklet which we hope has given you a good insight into the future of Coombe Wood School and how it will serve the local community.

We have provided this booklet as part of our statutory duty to undertake a public consultation on whether Folio Education Trust should enter into a funding agreement with the Secretary of State for Education prior to the planned opening of the school in September 2018.

We would encourage you to complete our short online survey which can be found at www.cws-croydon.co.uk/Section-10-Consultation because we want to hear your views and act on any feedback. You can also request a paper copy of the survey. We will record all views that are shared with us during the formal consultation window which opens on 28 September and closes on 9 November 2017

Please note that this consultation is not related to any planning applications surrounding the new school. That will take place separately.

Contact us: Coombe Wood School,

c/o Folio Education Trust,

Croydon Road,

Wallington,

SM6 7PH

Telephone: 020 8289 4745

Email: enquiries@cws-croydon.co.uk

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COOMBE WOOD SCHOOL IS PART OF FOLIO EDUCATION TRUST

FOLIO IS A COLLABORATION OF SCHOOLS WHO IMPLEMENT A SELF-IMPROVING SYSTEM WITH A

CHILD CENTRED FOCUS. WE SUPPORT YOUNG PEOPLE TO DEVELOP THEIR CHARACTER, REACH THEIR PERSONAL BEST AND UNLOCK IMPROVED

LIFE CHANCES THROUGH MEMORABLE EXPERIENCES.

WWW.FOLIO-EDUCATION.CO.UK