The Forest School is an all-boys
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) ...
and mixed
sixth form
In the education systems of England, Northern Ireland, Wales, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and some other Commonwealth countries, sixth form represents the final two years of secondary education, ages 16 to 18. Pupils typically prepare for A-l ...
with
academy status, located in
Winnersh
Winnersh is a large suburban village and civil parish in the borough of Wokingham in Berkshire, England. The village is located around northwest of Wokingham town centre and around southeast of central Reading. It is roughly bounded by the ...
,
Berkshire
Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berk ...
,
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 ...
. It is located on Robin Hood Lane, the B3030 road, next to
Winnersh railway station
Winnersh railway station, previously known as Sindlesham and Hurst Halt and then Winnersh Halt, is a railway station located in the centre of the village of Winnersh in Berkshire, England. It is served by South Western Railway (train operating ...
. Since September 2012, the Forest has educated academy players from local
Football League Championship
The English Football League Championship (often referred to as the Championship for short or the Sky Bet Championship for sponsorship purposes) is the highest division of the English Football League (EFL) and second-highest overall in the En ...
football club
Reading FC
Reading Football Club ( ) is a professional football club based in Reading, Berkshire, England. The team play in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. The club is managed by Paul Ince.
Reading are nicknamed ...
.
History
The Forest School began as Woodley Hill Grammar School in 1957, becoming the Forest Grammar School. The school was founded by Walter G. Jackson (also the mayor of Wokingham in 1953), the first headmaster of the school. Jackson retired in 1968, to be replaced by J. Piercy.
In November 1965, the
Nestlé
Nestlé S.A. (; ; ) is a Switzerland, Swiss multinational food and drink processing conglomerate corporation headquartered in Vevey, Vaud, Switzerland. It is the largest publicly held food company in the world, measured by revenue and other me ...
company donated an
Elliott 405 computer to the school, which was a first generation valve computer. The BBC science television programme ''
Tomorrow's World
''Tomorrow's World'' is a former British television series about contemporary developments in science and technology. First transmitted on 7 July 1965 on BBC1, it ran for 38 years until it was cancelled at the beginning of 2003. The ''Tomorro ...
'' broadcast a story on 5 February 1969 about how the school used this computer to teach the pupils.
Houses during the grammar period were named after local watercourses,
Kennet Kennet may refer to:
Places in the United Kingdom
*Kennet, Clackmannanshire, Scotland
People
*Baron Kennet, a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom
* D. Mark Kennet (born 1957), American economist
*Josh Kennet (born 1987), English-Israel ...
,
Thames
The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...
,
Enborne
Enborne is a village and civil parish, in West Berkshire, England that bounds to the east, across a road from Newbury. The River Enborne shares its name, although it does not run through the village; rather, it runs through and rises near the ne ...
, and
Loddon Loddon may refer to:
*Loddon, Norfolk in England, UK
*Shire of Loddon in Victoria, Australia (since 1995)
**Bridgewater On Loddon, Victoria in Australia
*River Loddon, flows into the River Thames near Reading
*Loddon River, flows north from south of ...
.
The Forest School became a comprehensive school in 1974. It has been a
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 ...
since 2003 and was appointed by the
Specialist Schools and Academies Trust
SSAT (The Schools Network) Limited (branded as SSAT, the Schools, Students and Teachers network) is a UK-based, independent educational membership organisation working with primary, secondary, special and free schools, academies and UTCs. It ...
as the "Enterprise Hub School for Berkshire" in 2006. On 1 July 2013 Forest School formally converted to academy status.
Sport
In 2006 the school's under 15s (U15) football team won the National Cup. In 2007 the school's under 16s (U16) football team were runners up in the National Cup, losing narrowly to the opposition. In 2009 the school's under 14s (U14) football team were runners up in the National Cup, losing 2–1 to
Audenshaw School
Audenshaw School is an all-boys secondary school in Audenshaw, Greater Manchester, England. Previously, the school was known as Audenshaw Grammar School. It opened to boys in 1932.
History
On 29 July 1932, Audenshaw Grammar School for Boys was ...
. The match took place at
Manchester United
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...
's
Old Trafford
Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,310 it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after Wemb ...
Stadium in front of over 600 Forest School supporters.
The school has also produced several rugby players, the most notable being
Rhodri McAtee
Rhodri McAtee (born 2 August 1984 in Newport, Wales, Newport) is a Wales, Welsh rugby union player. A Wing (rugby union), winger, he was selected for the victorious Wales national rugby sevens team, Wales Sevens squad to play at the 2009 Rugby ...
, ex-England school boy who is now consistently selected for the Welsh International Sevens team, whilst playing for Cornish Pirates in National League One.
House system
There are currently seven houses at The Forest School, all named after English forests. Students are given a house upon entry in Year 7, and any future siblings are placed in the same house. The houses were assigned animals in September 2015.
The seven houses and their animals are:
Ashdown ''Antelope''
Bramshill ''Bear''
Kielder ''Kite''
Langdale ''Lion''
New ''Nighthawk''
Sherwood ''Shark''
Windsor ''Wolf''
Pastoral care
Whenever possible, students keep the same Form Tutor and Head of Year throughout Years 7–11. The school currently has a 'Drop In Centre' which consists of the Pastoral Support Officer's office, confidentiality boxes, support rooms and the school counsellor's office for each year group.
Business and Enterprise specialism
As a Business and Enterprise specialist, the school encourages pupils to develop their own businesses. Students are involved in managing a business, talking to potential clients, producing quotes and providing goods and services to both internal and external clients.
Forest Enterprises
Forest Enterprises is a group of student-run businesses. All of the divisions are managed by students.
Forest Design is a graphic design company run by students. Clients include Wokingham Borough Council and BBC Radio Berkshire.
Forest Sixth
![FORESTSIXTH EASTER2015](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/96/FORESTSIXTH_EASTER2015.jpg)
The school won a bid in early 2014 to build a new sixth form centre. The planning application was approved on Monday 19 January 2015. The building has ten classrooms, ICT work space, a lecture theatre and a cafe.
Significant events
* Caretaker murders wife and leaves body on school grounds (2006).
* Mary Sandell calls for funding; "6 million" short; gains national attention (2015).
Subjects taught
* Further Maths is optional at A Level.
^ Students can opt for one of the following: Electronics, Graphics or Product Design.
Notable former pupils
The Forest School
*
Jake Cooper, footballer, defender currently playing for
Millwall F.C.
Millwall Football Club () is a professional football club in Bermondsey, South East London, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. Founded as Millwall Rovers in 1885, the club has retained its name ...
*
Sam Duggan –
Team GB
Team GB is the brand name used since 1999 by the British Olympic Association (BOA) for their British Olympic team. The brand was developed after the nation's poor performance in the 1996 Summer Olympics, and is now a trademark of the BOA. I ...
athlete currently playing for
Cardiff Devils
The Cardiff Devils are a Welsh ice hockey team who play in the British Elite Ice Hockey League. The team play at Ice Arena Wales in Cardiff Bay.
Cardiff are the reigning EIHL play-off champions, winning their third title in a row after beating ...
*
Tyler Frost, footballer, midfielder currently playing for
Crawley Town F.C.
Crawley Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Crawley, West Sussex, England. The club was founded as Crawley Football Club in 1896, changed its name to Crawley Town Football Club in 1958. The team com ...
*
Jon Harper
Jonathan Daniel Harper (born 15 February 1978) is an English session musician and started his musical career as the drummer for Reading-based British alternative rock band, The Cooper Temple Clause. He filled-in the vacancy for drummer in the B ...
– former drummer from the
Cooper Temple Clause
The Cooper Temple Clause was an English alternative rock band, formed in Wokingham, Berkshire in 1998. The band released three albums before announcing their split on 24 April 2007, following the departure of Daniel Fisher.
After signing a rec ...
*
Daniel Howell
Daniel James Howell (born 11 June 1991) is an English YouTuber, presenter, comedian and author. He gained prominence through his YouTube channels ''Daniel Howell'' (formerly known as ''danisnotonfire''), which reached over six million subscrib ...
–
YouTube personality
A YouTuber is an online personality and/or influencer who produces videos on the video-sharing platform YouTube, typically posting to their personal YouTube channel. The term was first used in the English language in 2006.
Influence
Influent ...
and former
BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...
DJ
*
Danny Kingston – European Judo Champion 1996
*
Steven Lewington
Steven Paul Lewington (born 25 February 1983) is an English professional wrestler. He is best known for his time in World Wrestling Entertainment, where he performed under the ring name DJ Gabriel on the ECW brand. Lewington currently wrestles i ...
– former professional wrestler, known for performing as DJ Gabriel on ECW
*
Mark Littlewood
Mark James Littlewood (born 28 April 1972) is the director general of the libertarian free market Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) think tank. He was formerly the chief press spokesman for the Liberal Democrats and the Pro-Euro Conservative P ...
– political commentator and Director General of the Institute of Economic Affairs, a free market think tank based in Westminster, London
*
Danny Loader, footballer, forward currently playing for
FC Porto
Futebol Clube do Porto, MHIH, OM (), commonly known as FC Porto or simply Porto, is a Portuguese professional sports club based in Porto. It is best known for the professional football team playing in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portu ...
*
Rhodri McAtee
Rhodri McAtee (born 2 August 1984 in Newport, Wales, Newport) is a Wales, Welsh rugby union player. A Wing (rugby union), winger, he was selected for the victorious Wales national rugby sevens team, Wales Sevens squad to play at the 2009 Rugby ...
– ex-England school boy and former winger for
Wales Sevens
The Wales national rugby sevens team competes in the World Rugby Sevens Series, the Rugby World Cup Sevens and in the Commonwealth Games.
Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by Engl ...
*
Gabriel Osho, footballer, defender currently playing for
Luton Town F.C.
Luton Town Football Club () is a professional association football club based in the town of Luton, Bedfordshire, England, that competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1885, it is nicknam ...
*
Ian Parton – lead singer and founder of the
Go! Team
The Go! Team are an English six-piece band from Brighton, England. The band initially began as a solo project conceived by Ian Parton; however, after the unexpected success of The Go! Team's debut album, '' Thunder, Lightning, Strike'', Parton r ...
*
Steve Seddon
Steven Jeffrey Seddon (born 25 December 1997) is an English professional footballer who plays as a left-back for Cambridge United, on loan from fellow club Oxford United.
Seddon was on the books of Reading as a youngster before joining Birmin ...
, footballer, defender currently playing for
Birmingham City F.C.
Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Since 2011, the first tea ...
*
Nathan Tyson
Nathan Tyson (born 4 May 1982) is an English professional footballer who plays as a forward for Grantham Town. He represented the England under-20 team in February 2003.
A pacey, left-footed forward, he began his career at Reading, where he ...
, footballer, former
Reading
Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch.
For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...
and
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 ...
Under-20 side; was at
Reading F.C.
Reading Football Club ( ) is a professional football club based in Reading, Berkshire, England. The team play in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. The club is managed by Paul Ince.
Reading are nicknamed ...
and now plays at
Chesterfield F.C.
Chesterfield Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Chesterfield, Derbyshire, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Chesterfiel ...
*
Johnny Williams – centre currently playing for
Scarlets
The Scarlets () are one of the four professional Welsh rugby union teams and are based in Llanelli, Wales. Their home ground is the Parc y Scarlets stadium. They play in the United Rugby Championship and the European Rugby Champions Cup (which ...
*
Marcus Willis
Marcus Willis (born 9 October 1990) is a British professional tennis player. Willis made his tour debut at the 2016 Wimbledon Championships after qualifying for the main draw, where he gained recognition after playing against Roger Federer in the ...
– British tennis player ranked 772th in the world, playing at Wimbledon 2016
*
Joshua Zeller –
Team GB
Team GB is the brand name used since 1999 by the British Olympic Association (BOA) for their British Olympic team. The brand was developed after the nation's poor performance in the 1996 Summer Olympics, and is now a trademark of the BOA. I ...
Hurdles athlete, Commonwealth Games and World Athletics Finalist
Forest Grammar School
* Dr John Bramley – Professor Emeritus of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics; President of the
University of Vermont
The University of Vermont (UVM), officially the University of Vermont and State Agricultural College, is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Burlington, Vermont. It was founded in 1791 and is amon ...
, 2011-2012
* Prof Martin Chalkley - Professor of Health Economics from 2011 at the
University of York
, mottoeng = On the threshold of wisdom
, established =
, type = Public research university
, endowment = £8.0 million
, budget = £403.6 million
, chancellor = Heather Melville
, vice_chancellor = Charlie Jeffery
, students ...
and Professor of Economics at the
University of Dundee
The University of Dundee; . Abbreviated as ''Dund.'' for post-nominals. is a public university, public research university based in Dundee, Scotland. It was founded as a University college#United Kingdom, university college in 1881 with a donation ...
, 1999–2011; President of the Scottish Economic Society, 2006-2008
* Prof
Ivor Goodson
Ivor Frederick Goodson (born 1943) is a British educationalist. He is a professor at Tallinn University.
Education and career
Goodson was born in 1943 in Woodley, a village near Reading, Berkshire. He went to a grammar school and was unsucce ...
-
Ivor Goodson
/ref> Professor of Learning Theory since 2004 at the University of Brighton
The University of Brighton is a public university based on four campuses in Brighton and Eastbourne on the south coast of England. Its roots can be traced back to 1858 when the Brighton School of Art was opened in the Royal Pavilion. It achieve ...
; Professor of Education at the University of East Anglia
The University of East Anglia (UEA) is a public research university in Norwich, England. Established in 1963 on a campus west of the city centre, the university has four faculties and 26 schools of study. The annual income of the institution f ...
, 1996-2004
* Dr Trevor Hince – Director since 2004 of The Lister Institute of Preventive Medicine
The Lister Institute of Preventive Medicine, informally known as the Lister Institute, was established as a research institute (the British Institute of Preventive Medicine) in 1891, with bacteriologist Marc Armand Ruffer as its first director, u ...
* Michael Anthony Price LVO – High Commissioner to Fiji, 2000–02
References
External links
Official website
Ofsted: The Forest School (pre-Academy)
Ofsted: The Forest School (Academy)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Forest School, Winnersh, The
Secondary schools in the Borough of Wokingham
Boys' schools in Berkshire
Educational institutions established in 1957
1957 establishments in England
Academies in the Borough of Wokingham