SET Beccles School (formerly Beccles Free School) is a coeducational secondary free school located in

Beccles Beccles ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the English county of Suffolk.OS Explorer Map OL40: The Broads: (1:25 000) : . The town is shown on the milestone as from London via the A145 and A12 roads, north-east of London as the crow fl ...

in the English county of Suffolk.

History

The school opened in September 2012, the first free school to open in the Waveney district. The school was first located at the site of the former Carlton Colville Primary School in

Carlton Colville Carlton Colville is a civil parish and suburb of Lowestoft in the English county of Suffolk. It is south-west of the centre of the town, in the East Suffolk (district), East Suffolk district. The area lies along the A146 road, A146 Lowestoft to ...

. However, in 2014 it relocated to the former lower school site of

Sir John Leman High School Sir John Leman High School is a coeducational 11–18 secondary school with academy status serving part of the Waveney region in north Suffolk, England. The school is located on the western edge of the town of Beccles and serves the surroundin ...

(formerly Beccles Middle School) in Beccles.New permanent home for Beccles Free School
''Beccles and Bungay Journal'', 12 September 2014. Retrieved 2015-09-30. The school is operated by the Seckford Education Trust, an educational charity based in Woodbridge.Overall rise in GCSE results in Norfolk and Suffolk masks day of wide disparities between schools and districts
''Beccles and Bungay journal'', 20 August 2015. Retrieved 2015-09-30. The headteacher is David Lees.Beccles Free School headteacher and deputy to step down at Easter
''East Anglian Daily Times'', 6 March 2018. Retrieved 2018-09-14. There was considerable opposition to the opening of Beccles Free School from local campaigners, head teachers and senior politicians, including the local Conservative Member of Parliament

Peter Aldous Peter James Guy AldousPeter Aldous - Declaration of In ...

.Beccles Free School gets 37 applications for next year
BBC news website, 28 June 2012. Retrieved 2015-09-30.The expensive free schools no one needs
''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', 9 July 2012. Retrieved 2015-09-30.Beccles and Saxmundham free schools to open half-empty
BBC news website, 30 August 2012. Retrieved 2015-09-30.New chapter in Beccles Free School row
''

Eastern Daily Press The ''Eastern Daily Press'' (''EDP'') is a regional newspaper covering Norfolk, northern parts of Suffolk and eastern Cambridgeshire, and is published daily in Norwich, UK. Founded in 1870 as a broadsheet called the ''Eastern Counties Daily P ...

'', 4 January 2013. Retrieved 2013-04-03.Beccles Free School attracts 34 more students
BBC news website, 8 January 2013. Retrieved 2013-04-03. The school attracted further controversy when it was revealed that only 68 pupils had enrolled at the school when it opened in September 2012, leading to accusations that the school was a waste of taxpayers money. The school opened with 12 teachers employed and had attempted to attract pupils with offers of free uniforms, school meals and iPod Touch devices. By January 2013 an additional 34 pupils had joined the School, and in 2019 there were 296 in a building with the capacity for 600. In 2013 the Advertising Standards Authority upheld two complaints about the way in which the school had misrepresented the former roles of its then head teacher, John Lucas, and the results of an Ofsted health and safety check.Advertising Standards Authority upholds complaint against free school trust
''

'', 12 January 2013. Retrieved 2015-09-30. The school amended some literature as a result. Following an inspection of the school in May 2014 pupil achievement, teaching and leadership were rated "good" by Ofsted, with behavior of pupils "outstanding". The overall report rated the school as "good". In May 2018 the a short inspection took place in which the school continued to be rated as "good".

Academics

This is a free school, not constrained by the

National Curriculum A national curriculum is a common programme of study in schools that is designed to ensure nationwide uniformity of content and standards in education. It is usually legislated by the national government, possibly in consultation with state or other ...

; the Trust board choose to run a longer day 30 teaching hour week. They choose a broad, balanced, traditional curriculum, which includes enrichment. As in a traditional state academy, they divide the students into a 3-year Key Stage 3, and 2-year

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 ...

. Key Stage 4 is GCSE-oriented for years 10 and 11. There are no options as such, except a choice between Art, Drama, Music, Food or Resistant Materials. The trust believes that traditional GCSE studies provide the students with the range of skills necessary for them to progress to further studies and the life beyond.

Enrichment

Every Wednesday all students take part in a whole range of sporting, art, and drama activities, work experience or an extra GCSE. There is a Combined Cadet Force and the school runs

Duke of Edinburgh Award The Duke of Edinburgh's Award (commonly abbreviated DofE) is a youth awards programme founded in the United Kingdom in 1956 by Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, that has since expanded to 144 nations. The awards recognise adolescents and young ...

activities. Enrichment activities are part of the school day, and off-timetable days each term. Enrichment is compulsory, but there are also opt-in clubs before during and after school.

Academic performance

In August 2015 the school received its first set of GCSE results. Just 39% of pupils achieved the government benchmark 5 A*-C grades including English and Maths.GCSE results joy for Waveney Valley pupils
''Beccles and Bungay Journal'', 20 August 2015. Retrieved 2015-09-30.Free school disappoints with 28% GCSE rate
Schoolsweek, 20 August 2015. Retrieved 2015-09-30.GCSE results round up: Grades up in Norfolk and Suffolk; record success for some schools; other schools fall below minimum standard
''

'', 21 August 2015. Retrieved 2015-09-30. These results were below the government "floor" standard for schools and resulted in an external enquiry being launched by the Seckford Foundation. The school described itself as "disappointed" by the results which compared with 67% of pupils achieving the same results at the

, the main competitor for Beccles Free School. The 2016 GCSE results were again below the national average, with a Progress 8 score of -0.37. 47% of pupils earned grades A*-C in GCSE English and Maths. The 2017 GCSE results showed improvement and were above the national average, with a Progress 8 score of 0.44, eighth best in Suffolk out of 43 mainstream secondary schools. 64% of pupils achieved Grade 4 or above (equivalent to Grade C) in English and Maths. In 2018 the school received its highest GCSE results, with 67% of pupils achieving at least Grade 4 in English and Maths.

References

External links

Beccles Free School official website
{{authority control Secondary schools in Suffolk Free schools in Suffolk Educational institutions established in 2012 2012 establishments in England Beccles