The Canterbury Academy is a co-educational 11-19

academy school An academy school in England is a state-funded school which is directly funded by the Department for Education and independent of local authority control. The terms of the arrangements are set out in individual Academy Funding Agreements. Most ...

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. ...

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. It is a specialist Sports College and 15% of its 1081 pupils are selected on musical aptitude. The school was founded as a non-selective

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 ...

foundation school In England and Wales, a foundation school is a state-funded school in which the governing body has greater freedom in the running of the school than in community schools. Foundation schools were set up under the School Standards and Framework A ...

before gaining academy status in 2010.

Location

The school is on the London Road estate in the west of the city. The high school and primary school are collectively known as The Canterbury Campus. The Canterbury Adult Education Centre is now on the same site.

Academic selection

Kent is the largest county in England to operate academic selection at the age of eleven. Children in Kent sit the Kent test (eleven plus) to determine whether they are suitable for an academic education, or for a modern education. In a country that abandoned selection in 1967, this is an anachronism. No new grammar schools may be built, though existing grammar schools may expand or open annexes. In Canterbury there are few mixed grammar school places though an undoubted need. The Canterbury Academy is legally deemed to be a non-selective school but has a close working partnership with the grammar school,

Simon Langton Boys Simon Langton Grammar School for Boys (also known as The Langton Grammar School for Boys and simply referred to as The Langton) is an 11–18 foundation grammar school for boys and mixed sixth form in Canterbury, Kent, England. It was establish ...

. Together they run a mixed grammar school band within the Canterbury Academy Comprehensive School.

Academics

Middle school (years 7- 9)

The school is obliged to teach to the

National Curriculum (England) The National Curriculum for England was first introduced by the Education Reform Act 1988. At the time of its introduction the legislation applied to both England and Wales. However, education later became a devolved matter for the Welsh government. ...

as are all state funded schools. They follow a 3-year Key Stage 3, which prescribes a broad based course of study, weighted to Maths, English and Science with a humanity and a modern foreign language. These are the subjects chosen as the

English Baccalaureate The English Baccalaureate (EBacc) is a school performance indicator in England linked to the General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) results. It measures students' attainment by calculating an average score from specified subject grades. ...

. The school quotes Section 89(1)(d) of the Education and Inspections Act 2006 which gives schools the legal right to ensure that pupils complete any tasks 'reasonably assigned to them', to set two types of obligatory homework. EH (examination homework) task will be marked and given a GCSE type grade, while Love of Learning homework allow the students to develop other areas of interest. Throughout Key Stage 3 students are, to use the schools terminology offered 'Pillar Lessons', a series of stand alone lessons in separate disciplines- such as Hair, Forensic Science, Photography, Musical theatre. These taster lessons lead into exam options offered at Key Stage 4.

Senior School (years 10-11)

Students are encouraged but not forced to study the

. All students work towards at least 8 GCSEs, or equivalents. They follow a core curriculum of English Language, English Literature, maths, statistics, science, history or geography with core PE and learning skills. In addition, options include RE, languages, computing, dance, drama, music, art, design technology, resistant materials food, sport,business and enterprise, social sciences, childcare, health and socialcare, hair and beauty, photography, and construction. This is achieved by having extended lessons after the Middle School day has finished.

Sixth Form (years 12-13)

The Four Pillars

The school sees itself as built on Four Pillars of Excellence, that reflect the specialisms it has built up in the past. They are *Academic- bolstered with it partnership with

*Practical- which includes the manual skills,

NVQ National Vocational Qualifications (NVQs) are practical work-based awards in England, Wales and Northern Ireland that are achieved through assessment and training. The regulatory framework supporting NVQs was withdrawn in 2015 and replaced by the ...

s City and Guilds but alslthe Business and Enterprise skills that come through BTEC and bolstered by the Peter Jones Business Academy *Elite Sporting facilities with partners in Rugby, Hockey, Cricket, Golf, Triathlon sharing training facilities *Performance Arts with programs in Acting, Dance, Music, Musical theatre and Production skills. While involved in one of these programs, sixth former are given student leadership rôles in middle school and the primary school.

Ofsted judgement

Ofsted rated this as a good school. Saying :" That board members, leaders and staff passionately oversee a unique, large, vibrant and increasingly popular school, with a quite exceptional curriculum delivered in outstanding facilities. They never sway from doing what they believe is right for a pupil, regardless of any reduction to their headline measures" This article contains quotations from this source, which is available under th
Open Government Licence v3.0
© Crown copyright

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Canterbury High School The Secondary schools in Kent Schools in Canterbury Academies in Kent