Rydon Community College was a maintained comprehensive middle-deemed-secondary school for pupils aged 10 to 13. The school was located just outside

Storrington Storrington is a small town in the Horsham District of West Sussex, England, and one of two in the civil parish of Storrington and Sullington. Storrington lies at the foot of the north side of the South Downs. it has a population of around 4,60 ...

, West Sussex, England, in the village of

Sullington Sullington is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Storrington and Sullington, in the Horsham district of West Sussex, England. The village lies on the A283 road west of the A24 road, 20 miles (32 km) south of Horsham. In ...

. It was one of only 7 schools of its type in the United Kingdom, and had around 400 pupils. Rydon had specialisms in Science College and

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 ...

. All subjects were taught to Year 6 pupils and above as secondary pupils. The school permanently closed in July 2017.

History

The school was first opened in 1940 as the Storrington council senior school. It was developed and extended over the following years, being renamed as Rydon county secondary school. The roll continued to rise until the mid-1960s, but had fallen to just 328 by 1968. Accordingly, in 1969, the school was modified to become an intermediate school offering education for pupils aged between 10 and 13 years. In 2002, consultations were undertaken to review provision in the area to revert to the more usual two-tier structure of education. However, a parental ballot demonstrated clear support for the existing arrangements, and the status quo emerged as the preferred option. Further consultations in 2015 led to the announcement of the closure of the school from July 2017, at which point it became a campus of

Steyning Grammar School Steyning Grammar School is a coeducational day and boarding, senior school and sixth form, located in Steyning, West Sussex, England. The school has two lower school sites catering for Years 7 and 8. The original site was located in Church Str ...

for pupils in Years 7 and 8.

Campus

The campus was in a rural area, just north of the village of Storrington in West Sussex. The school was largely housed in original buildings from original secondary school opened during World War II. Several additions and adaptations were made, including modifications to accommodate the change to an intermediate school.

Organisation

Pupils in the school were organised into three year groups, aligned to the National Curriculum years of Year 6, Year 7 and Year 8. Pupils were taught mainly by specialist teachers as in

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) ...

s, although pupils in the first year of the school were in

Key Stage 2 Key Stage 2 is the legal term for the four years of schooling in maintained schools in England and Wales normally known as Year 3, Year 4, Year 5 and Year 6, when the pupils are aged between 7 and 11 years. England and Wales Legal definition The t ...

Notable former pupils

* Connor Swindells, actor ('' Sex Education'', ''

Vigil A vigil, from the Latin ''vigilia'' meaning ''wakefulness'' (Greek: ''pannychis'', or ''agrypnia'' ), is a period of purposeful sleeplessness, an occasion for devotional watching, or an observance. The Italian word ''vigilia'' has become genera ...

'')

References

External links

Rydon Community College website

Rydon information on West Sussex Grid for Learning
{{Schools in West Sussex Educational institutions established in 1940 Educational institutions disestablished in 2017 Horsham District Defunct schools in West Sussex 1940 establishments in England 2017 disestablishments in England