The King Edmund School is a

coeducational Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to t ...

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

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 ...

located in

Rochford Rochford is a town in Essex, England, north of Southend-on-Sea, from London and from Chelmsford, the county town. At the 2011 census, the Civil parishes in England, civil parish, which includes the town and London Southend Airport, had a popu ...

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

, England. It is a specialist

BEC BEC may refer to: As an acronym House * Bapatla Engineering College * Basaveshwar Engineering College * Bengal Engineering College Curriculum * Business Environment and Concepts, a section of Uniform Certified Public Accountant Examination * Bus ...

and

applied learning college Applied Learning Colleges, formerly Vocational Colleges, were introduced in 2006 as part of the Specialist Schools Programme in England. The system enabled secondary schools to specialise in certain fields, in this case, vocational education. Sc ...

. It teaches a variety of subjects including: modern foreign languages, hospitality, technology, performing arts, business studies, humanities, social sciences, law as well as the core subjects including: Maths, English and Science. The Sixth Form is mixed with Year 12 and 13 students.

History

Established in 1961, the King Edmund school was formed by the merging of the Wakering secondary school, and the Rochford secondary school located at the schools current site. The school converted into an

academy An academy ( Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy ...

in July 2011. In 2012, the school celebrated its 50th anniversary with a community fun day and exhibition. in 2022, was closed from November to late January due to the discovery of asbestos during construction work for a new building. Approximately 1,570 students were taught off-site or through virtual learning during the closure, and the Department for Education expressed regret for the disruption, citing the need to learn lessons from the incident. As of 2023, the school has since reopened.

Controversies

Crowded Corridor Incident

On 8th October 2020, concerns related to the COVID-19 pandemic spread due to a photograph depicting students crowded in a hallway within the school premises, raising alarm among parents and the wider community. This incident occurred shortly after the school confirmed a positive COVID-19 case in one of its Year 13 pupils. Headteacher Jonathan Osborn attributed the crowding to adverse weather conditions and a high student volume inside the school, but some parents expressed anxieties about their children's safety, fearing potential virus transmission. The situation prompted discussions about adherence to social distancing measures and safety protocols within the school, and the headteacher acknowledged the need for a review of processes concerning student re-entry into the building.

Former Teacher Jailed

In 2022, Bobby Rudd, a former teacher who had previously served as the Head of Music at King Edmund School, was incarcerated due to a string of child sex offenses. He was jailed for two years and four months with five counts of sexual activity with a child by a person in a position of trust and engaging in sexual communications with a child and causing a child to watch a sexual act. He was also a music teacher at Shoebury High School

Academics

In the academic year 2014/2015; 52% of students achieved five

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 ...

grades at A* to C, 67% of

A level The A-Level (Advanced Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education, as well as a school leaving qualification offered by the educational bodies in the United Kingdom and the educational aut ...

students achieved three A level grades of A* to E. As of 2023, the school's most recent inspection by

Ofsted The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted) is a Non-ministerial government department, non-ministerial department of Government of the United Kingdom, His Majesty's government, reporting to Parliament of the U ...

was in 2019, with a judgement of Requires improvement.

Notable former pupils

Keith Huewen Keith Alan Huewen (born 23 August 1956 in Southend-on-Sea, Essex) is an English former professional Grand Prix motorbike road racer, and ex sports commentator with BT Sport BT Sport is a group of pay television sports channels in the Un ...

- former motorcycle racer now TV sports broadcaster *

Mike Penning Sir Michael Alan Penning (born 28 September 1957) is a British Conservative Party politician, who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Hemel Hempstead since 2005. Penning was the Minister of State for the Armed Forces from 2016 to 20 ...

- MP for Hemel Hempstead

References

External links

* Academies in Essex Secondary schools in Essex Specialist applied learning colleges in England Specialist business and enterprise colleges {{Essex-school-stub