St Edmund's Catholic School is a

co-educational 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 ...

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

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

Dover Dover () is a town and major ferry port in Kent, South East England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies south-east of Canterbury and east of Maidstone ...

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

, England. The school is named after

Edmund of Abingdon Edmund of Abingdon (also known as Edmund Rich, St Edmund of Canterbury, Edmund of Pontigny, French: St Edme; c. 11741240) was an English-born prelate who served as Archbishop of Canterbury. He became a respected lecturer in mathematics, dial ...

, and is under the jurisdiction of the

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Southwark The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Southwark (Latin: ''Archidioecesis Southvarcensis'') is a Latin Church archdiocese of the Catholic Church in England. It is headed by the Archbishop of Southwark. The archdiocese is part of the Metropolitan Pr ...

History

St Edmund of Canterbury Roman Catholic (RC) School opened in 1962 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 ...

to serve the Catholic community in and around Dover. The school was the 4th and last secondary modern to establish in Dover. The school’s catchment area is large and serves eight Roman Catholic parishes in Deal, Dover, Folkestone, Hythe and Aylsham and initially catered for 280 pupils. 4 houses were created, all named after English Catholic martyrs. John Ireland (1543),

John Stone (martyr) John Stone was an English Augustinian friar who was executed, probably in December 1539; he was canonized in 1970 by Pope Paul VI. He was a doctor of theology from Canterbury. Life Nothing is known of Stone's early life, education, or activiti ...

(1538),

Margaret Clitherow Margaret Clitherow (1556 – 25 March 1586) was an English saint and martyr of the Roman Catholic Church, known as "the Pearl of York". She was pressed to death for refusing to enter a plea to the charge of harbouring Catholic priests. She was c ...

(1556-1586) and Ann Line (1563-1601). In 1988, the school approached

Kent County Council Kent County Council is a county council that governs most of the county of Kent in England. It is the upper tier of elected local government, below which are 12 district councils, and around 300 town and parish councils. The county council h ...

to purchase the site occupied by Castlemount Secondary School earmarked for closure in 1991 and vacate existing premises to meet growth plans. This was agreed in principle but the council eventually reneged to explore other options and the land was sold-off to developers. In 1990, its

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 ...

was expanded with exchange arrangements with

Dover Grammar School for Girls Dover Grammar School for Girls is a community grammar school for girls, aged between 11 and 16, and a joint sixth-form with boys between the age of 16 and 18, in Dover, England. School History The school can trace back its origins to 1904 when ...

in some

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 ...

subjects. In 1997, new purpose-built blocks providing teaching areas for English, mathematics, design and technology, and information technology were constructed on an existing playing field to replace mobile classrooms and increase teaching space outside of the main 1960s edifice. In 2003, as part of the

Specialist schools programme The specialist schools programme (SSP), first launched as the Technology Colleges programme and also known as the specialist schools initiative, specialist schools policy and specialist schools scheme, was a government programme in the United ...

, the school was awarded specialist status in the

arts The arts are a very wide range of human practices of creative expression, storytelling and cultural participation. They encompass multiple diverse and plural modes of thinking, doing and being, in an extremely broad range of media. Both hi ...

with an emphasis on the

performing arts The performing arts are arts such as music, dance, and drama which are performed for an audience. They are different from the visual arts, which are the use of paint, canvas or various materials to create physical or static art objects. Perform ...

. A new Business Enterprise Centre with adult education facilities and an internet café was erected adjacent to Charlton Church of England (C of E) Primary School. In 2004, a recording and broadcasting studio, complete with a feed to local and national media joined the new dance studio, both visited by

Archbishop Kevin McDonald Kevin John Patrick McDonald KC*HS (b. 18 August 1947, Stoke-on-Trent) is the Archbishop Emeritus of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Southwark, England. Life Born in Stoke-on-Trent, from 1958 to 1965 McDonald attended the Christian Broth ...

in 2007. Further participation in a 6th form consortium including the 2 grammar schools ensured a greater breadth of choice for students at A Level. In 2008, the school joined the Federation of Dover Catholic Schools comprising St Richard's Catholic Primary School with the executive head responsible for both educational entities. In 2013, an OFSTED inspection rated the school as 4 or "Inadequate" and was placed into special measures with a rescue mission from

St George's Church of England Foundation School St George's C of E Foundation School, often abbreviated to St George's, is an all-through school in Broadstairs, Kent, catering for students for 4 to 19 years (primary and through secondary). The official school as it currently stands was f ...

in Broadstairs providing initial support. The school later partnered with

St Thomas More Catholic School, Eltham St Thomas More Catholic School is a mixed Roman Catholic secondary school, located in the Eltham area of the Royal Borough of Greenwich in London, England. The school was first established in 1964, and is supported by the Roman Catholic Archdi ...

.. Previously a

voluntary aided school A voluntary aided school (VA school) is a state-funded school in England and Wales in which a foundation or trust (usually a religious organisation), contributes to building costs and has a substantial influence in the running of the school. In mo ...

administered by Kent County Council, in July 2016 St Edmund's Catholic School converted to academy status. The school is now sponsored by the Kent Catholic Schools Partnership. In 2017, with falling numbers and budget constraints, the school announced it was planning to close its existing sixth form with students wishing to further their studies to make provisions elsewhere.

Admissions

The school is non-selective and participates in the Kent County Council Co-ordinated Admission Scheme.

Headteacher s

* Michael Mummery, (1962–1985) * Thomas Connolly, (1985–1999) * Christopher Atkin, (1999–2013) * Kim Stoner (Interim), (2013–2014) * Catrina Hamilton, (2014–2015) * Michael Wilson, (2015–2020) * G Parsons, (2020-)

Recent School Inspections

In 2014, OFSTED rated the school as 3 or "Requires Improvement" and, again, in 2019, as an academy.

Academic Results

* GCSE In 2018, the school’s progress 8 score was rated “Well below average” by the UK dept of education. The number of students entered for the English Baccalaureate (or EBacc) and taking up to 8 GCSEs across 5 "subject pillars" was 35%. Average grade point score for those entered was 2.94 (or legacy GCSE grades D/E). 21% achieved grade 5 (or legacy GCSE high grade C) and above in English Language and Mathematics.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Edmund's Catholic School Secondary schools in Kent Catholic secondary schools in the Archdiocese of Southwark Academies in Kent