Chailey Secondary School is a comprehensive

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) ...

located in the village of

South Chailey South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþaz' ...

Chailey Chailey is a village and civil parish in the Lewes District of East Sussex, England. It is located 7 miles north of Lewes, on the A272 road from Winchester to Canterbury. The Prime Meridian passes just to the east of Chailey. The parish consists ...

, just outside

Lewes Lewes () is the county town of East Sussex, England. It is the police and judicial centre for all of Sussex and is home to Sussex Police, East Sussex Fire & Rescue Service, Lewes Crown Court and HMP Lewes. The civil parish is the centre of ...

East Sussex East Sussex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England on the English Channel coast. It is bordered by Kent to the north and east, West Sussex to the west, and Surrey to the north-west. The largest settlement in East Su ...

, UK. Chailey School was awarded specialist

Language College Language Colleges were introduced in 1995 as part of the specialist schools programme (SSP) in the United Kingdom. The system enabled secondary schools to specialise in certain fields, in this case, modern foreign languages. Schools that successf ...

Status in July 2002. In the year 2007, the school was also awarded

Humanities College Humanities Colleges are a type of specialist school introduced in 2004 as part of the Specialist Schools Programme in the United Kingdom. The system enabled secondary and primary schools to specialise in certain fields, in this case, humanities ...

status. The school also provides adult classes in

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

, and

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...

. It does not have a sixth form. In 2007 at least 99% of students acquired one

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 ...

at grades A*–G and in 2009, 82% of students achieved 5 or more A*–C grades with 72% achieving 5 or more including English and maths. The school academic program spans a range of disciplines including arts, sciences or humanities. The current

head teacher A head master, head instructor, bureaucrat, headmistress, head, chancellor, principal or school director (sometimes another title is used) is the staff member of a school with the greatest responsibility for the management of the school. In som ...

is Helen Key. She has been head teacher since 2016. In 2008 it celebrated its 50th anniversary since opening as a

secondary modern A secondary modern school is a type of secondary school that existed throughout England, Wales and Northern Ireland from 1944 until the 1970s under the Tripartite System. Schools of this type continue in Northern Ireland, where they are usually ...

in 1958. On 6 June 2008,

The Duchess of Gloucester Duke of Gloucester () is a British royal title (after Gloucester), often conferred on one of the sons of the reigning monarch. The first four creations were in the Peerage of England and the last in the Peerage of the United Kingdom; the curren ...

visited the school to attend a citizenship ceremony, the first of its kind to be held in a school with students present. This was to coincide with the school's 50th anniversary.

Drama and music

The school usually presents two shows each year, performed by the students. This normally consists of one musical and one showcase piece each academic year, with the musical most commonly taking place in the last week of the Christmas term. In the last few years, such shows have included

Annie (musical) ''Annie'' is a Broadway theatre, Broadway musical theatre, musical based upon the popular Harold Gray comic strip ''Little Orphan Annie'' and loosely based on the 1885 poem "Little Orphant Annie" written by James Whitcomb Riley. The musical incl ...

and

13 (musical) ''13'' is a musical with music and lyrics by Jason Robert Brown and book by Dan Elish and Robert Horn. Following a move from New York City to small-town Indiana, young Evan Goldman grapples with his parents' divorce, prepares for his impending ...

Chailey School has taken part in the

Shakespeare Schools Festival Please note: Shakespeare Schools Festival became Shakespeare Schools Foundation in 2016. The Festival is the charity's flagship project. The Shakespeare Schools Festival is the world's largest youth drama festival. Schools who participate perform ...

for several years. It is a national event and each school taking part produces a 30-minute adaptation of a famous Shakespearean play. The last few years have seen Chailey produce pieces such as ''

As You Like It ''As You Like It'' is a pastoral comedy by William Shakespeare believed to have been written in 1599 and first published in the First Folio in 1623. The play's first performance is uncertain, though a performance at Wilton House in 1603 has b ...

'', ''

A Midsummer Night's Dream ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' is a comedy written by William Shakespeare 1595 or 1596. The play is set in Athens, and consists of several subplots that revolve around the marriage of Theseus and Hippolyta. One subplot involves a conflict amon ...

'' and ''

Twelfth Night ''Twelfth Night'', or ''What You Will'' is a romantic comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written around 1601–1602 as a Twelfth Night's entertainment for the close of the Christmas season. The play centres on the twins Vio ...

''.

Houses

The house groups, known as forms, are named after local hills and landmarks. The most forms in a year group has been seven. * Ashdown * Charington * Ditchling * Firle * Ringmer, main sports rival, school, same design. * Weald (only used for year groups with six forms or more, currently only the class of 2015 and 2016) * Keymer (only used for year groups with seven forms) * Caburn * Glynde

Notable former pupils

Piers Morgan Piers Stefan Pughe-Morgan (; né O'Meara; born 30 March 1965) is a British broadcaster, journalist, writer, and television personality. He began his Fleet Street career in 1988 at '' The Sun''. In 1994, aged 29, he was appointed editor of the ...

, television presenter and former ''

Daily Mirror The ''Daily Mirror'' is a British national daily tabloid. Founded in 1903, it is owned by parent company Reach plc. From 1985 to 1987, and from 1997 to 2002, the title on its masthead was simply ''The Mirror''. It had an average daily print ...

'' editor *

Perou perou by frances, right Ralph John Perou (born May 1970), known professionally as Perou and @mrperou on social media, is a Great British fashion, portrait and music photographer who has also appeared as a judge on '' Make Me a Supermodel UK'' ...

, fashion, portrait and music photographer *

Cleo Demetriou Cleopatra "Cleo" Demetriou (; el, Κλεοπάτρα Δημητρίου; born 23 April 2001) is a Cyprus-born Olivier Award-winning child actress most known for playing the main role in ''Matilda the Musical'' in London's West End. She is also ...

So Awkward ''So Awkward'' is a sitcom series on CBBC following the lives of a group of friends in secondary school. It stars Cleo Demetriou as Lily Hampton, Ameerah Falzon-Ojo and Emily Burnett (in series 6) as Jas (Jasmine) Salford, Sophia Dall'aglio as ...

actor

References

External links

{{authority control Secondary schools in East Sussex Educational institutions established in 1958 1958 establishments in England Community schools in East Sussex Specialist language colleges in England Specialist humanities colleges in England