Aylestone School is a co-educational

secondary school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' secondary education, lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) ...

Herefordshire Herefordshire () is a county in the West Midlands of England, governed by Herefordshire Council. It is bordered by Shropshire to the north, Worcestershire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south-east, and the Welsh counties of Monmouthshire ...

, England. The school has an enrolment of 419, and caters for the

Key Stage 3 Key Stage 3 (commonly abbreviated as KS3) is the legal term for the three years of schooling in maintained schools in England and Wales normally known as Year 7, Year 8 and Year 9, when pupils are aged between 11 and 14. In Northern Ireland the ...

and

Key Stage 4 Key Stage 4 (KS4) is the legal term for the two years of school education which incorporate GCSEs, and other examinations, in maintained schools in England normally known as Year 10 and Year 11, when pupils are aged between 14 and 16 by August 31. ...

education of students aged 11–16.

History

The school was established as the comprehensive Aylestone School following the merger of Hereford High School for Girls and Hereford High School for Boys in 1976. The school was known as Aylestone High School before it was renamed Aylestone Business and Enterprise College in the 2000s following the introduction of

Business and Enterprise College Business and Enterprise Colleges (BECs) were introduced in 2002 as part of the Specialist Schools Programme in England. The system enabled secondary schools to specialise in certain fields. Schools that successfully applied to the Specialist Schoo ...

s as part of the specialist schools programme. In 2017, the school's name reverted to Aylestone School. The school's administration building is Broadlands House, a 19th-century

Grade II In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

Governance

Along with Broadlands Primary School and Withington Primary School, Aylestone School forms a federation with a single governing body. The school is led by an executive headteacher, Simon Robertson, and a team of twelve

governors A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political_regions, political region, ranking under the Head of State, head of state and in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of ...

. A

student council A student council (also known as a student union, associated student body or student parliament) is an administrative organization of students in different educational institutes ranging from elementary schools to universities and research or ...

consists of a representative from each tutor group.

School structure

Admissions

The school has an enrolment of 419 students. It is co-educational; approximately 53% of students are female and 47% male. Entrance is non-selective. The school's

catchment area In human geography, a catchment area is the area from which a location, such as a city, service or institution, attracts a population that uses its services and economic opportunities. Catchment areas may be defined based on from where people are ...

lies primarily to the north of

Hereford Hereford () is a cathedral city, civil parish and the county town of Herefordshire, England. It lies on the River Wye, approximately east of the border with Wales, south-west of Worcester and north-west of Gloucester. With a population ...

in the Lugg valley, and covers the outlying settlements of

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

to the north west, Withington to the east, and Hereford city centre to the south.

Academic

The

(KS3) curriculum includes English, Mathematics, Science, Humanities (History, Geography, Religious Education, and Empowerment),

Modern Foreign Languages Language education – the process and practice of teaching a second or foreign language – is primarily a branch of applied linguistics, but can be an interdisciplinary field. There are four main learning categories for language education ...

(MFL), Art and Design, Computing, Music, Physical Education, and Design and Technology. At

(KS4), the curriculum is widened to cover the mandatory subjects of both English Language and English Literature, the specific science disciplines of Biology, Chemistry, and Physics, and Issues and Ethics subjects including

PSHE Personal, social, health and economic education is a school curriculum subject in England that focuses on strengthening the knowledge, skills, and connections to keep children and young people healthy and safe and prepare them for life and work. ...

, Sex Education, Citizenship and Careers. Optional courses introduced at KS4 include Business Studies, specific technology disciplines such as Food Technology and Resistant Materials, Psychology, as well as BTEC qualifications in Music and Sport and Leisure. During the 2019–2020 academic year, the school employed 59 full- and part-time staff, including 33 teachers, 13

teaching assistant A teaching assistant or teacher's aide (TA) or education assistant (EA) or team teacher (TT) is an individual who assists a teacher with instructional responsibilities. TAs include ''graduate teaching assistants'' (GTAs), who are graduate school ...

s, and 13 members of non-classroom support staff. The pupil–teacher ratio at this time was 12.8:1.

Attainment

The school's 2016 and 2018

Ofsted inspection The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted) is a non-ministerial department of His Majesty's government, reporting to Parliament. Ofsted is responsible for inspecting a range of educational institutions, includ ...

s showed that it "requires improvement". Monitoring inspections in 2019 and 2021 found that the senior leaders and governors were taking "effective action" for improvement. The school's

Progress 8 benchmark The Progress 8 benchmark is an accountability measure used by the government of the United Kingdom to measure the effectiveness of secondary schools in England. It bands pupils into groups based on their scores in English and mathematics during the ...

score is deemed to be "well below average" and is in the lowest 12% of schools in England. The school's

Attainment 8 The Progress 8 benchmark is an accountability measure used by the government of the United Kingdom to measure the effectiveness of secondary schools in England. It bands pupils into groups based on their scores in English and mathematics during t ...

and

EBacc The English Baccalaureate (EBacc) is a school performance indicator in England linked to the General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) results. It measures students' attainment by calculating an average score from specified subject grades. ...

scores are also below the national average. At

GCSE The General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) is an academic qualification in a particular subject, taken in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. State schools in Scotland use the Scottish Qualifications Certificate instead. Private sc ...

level, 16% of student attain

Grade 5 Fifth grade (called Grade 5 in some regions) is a year of education in many nations, and some other regions call it Year 5. In the United States, the fifth grade is the fifth and last year of elementary school in most schools. In other schools, it ...

or above compared to the national average of 43%. In previous Ofsted inspections, the school was described as "good" or "satisfactory".

Pastoral

The school uses a

house system The house system is a traditional feature of schools in the United Kingdom. The practice has since spread to Commonwealth countries and the United States. The school is divided into subunits called "houses" and each student is allocated to o ...

, comprising four houses: * Mortimer * Clare * Delacy * Coningsby The houses compete in events throughout the academic year, including cookery, poetry, and language competitions, as well as sports day.

Notable alumni

Paul Keetch Paul Stuart Keetch (21 May 1961 – 24 May 2017) was a Liberal Democrat politician and lobbyist who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Hereford from 1997 to 2010. Early life He went to Hereford High School for Boys (now Aylestone Business ...

, Liberal Democrat

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

for

(1997–2010) * Susan Powell, broadcast meteorologist ( BBC Weather) * Jo Stone-Fewings, actor (

Royal Shakespeare Company The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs over 1,000 staff and produces around 20 productions a year. The RSC plays regularly in London, St ...

) *

Josh McNally Joshua James McNally (born 21 August 1990) is an English rugby union lock (rugby union), lock for Bath Rugby in the Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby union. He is also a Royal Air Force weapons technician and has been in the RA ...

, rugby union player (

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...

)

Former headteachers and notable staff

At least five people have held the post of headteacher since the school's establishment in 1976. Deputy headteachers have assumed the role of interim headteacher when the role has been vacant. *Bob Howe *Tony Wray (1989–2003) *Steve Byatt (2004–2007) *Sue Woodrow (2008–2015) For a time in the 1970s, the school employed conman and

bigamist In cultures where monogamy is mandated, bigamy is the act of entering into a marriage with one person while still legally married to another. A legal or de facto separation of the couple does not alter their marital status as married persons. I ...

Robert Peters as its head of Religious Education. Peters, who used his birthname (Robert Parkins) to take the role, formed a relationship with the Head of the Lower School and they married. Peters left the school when his falsified qualifications were discovered.

Footnotes

References

External links

* {{authority control Secondary schools in Herefordshire 1976 establishments in England Educational institutions established in 1976 Schools in Hereford Community schools in Herefordshire