The Deepings 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 ...

secondary school 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 ...

with academy status, located on Park Road in

Deeping St James Deeping St James is a large village in the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England. The population of the civil parish (including Frognall) was reported as 7,051 at the 2011 census. History Based around a now lost 12th-century Bened ...

(near

Peterborough Peterborough () is a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, east of England. It is the largest part of the City of Peterborough unitary authority district (which covers a larger area than Peterborough itself). It was part of Northamptonshire until ...

) in

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a Counties of England, county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-we ...

, England. , the school is attended by almost 1,500 pupils aged 11 to 18 taught by 90 teaching staff. It includes pupils from Stamford, Spalding, Langtoft, Baston, Bourne and the Deeping area.

Construction

The site was on nine acres, on the main Spalding to Market Deeping road. It had steel and reinforced concrete, faced with Stamfordstone bricks from Williamson Cliff Ltd. Structural steelwork was from Robert Stevenson Structural of Norwich The classrooms were decorated in soft pastels, so as not to distract, with stronger shades in the circulation areas of corridors and stairways. In the domestic science room were facilities for cooking on gas, electricity and solid fuel. On the ground floor was a general science room, with island benches. The gym was 16ft high, and had 2,800 sq ft, with mahogany herringbone sprung flooring.The assembly hall and dining room were combined, with the kitchens at the back of the hall; it was served around 200 meals a day. The practical handicraft room was joined to the main building with a concrete archway - it taught wood and forge work, metal

turning Turning is a machining process in which a cutting tool, typically a non-rotary tool bit, describes a helix toolpath by moving more or less linearly while the workpiece rotates. Usually the term "turning" is reserved for the generation ...

and lathe operating.

History

Secondary modern school

Deepings County Secondary Modern opened on Tuesday 9 September 1958 with 247 pupils. It was opened by

Kesteven The Parts of Kesteven ( or ) are a traditional division of Lincolnshire, England. This division had long had a separate county administration (quarter sessions), along with the two other Parts of Lincolnshire, Lindsey and Holland. Etymology Th ...

Education Authority, based in

Sleaford Sleaford is a market town and civil parish in the North Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England. Centred on the former parish of New Sleaford, the modern boundaries and urban area include Quarrington to the south-west, Holdingham to the nor ...

. It cost £100,000, and it was hoped to have around 300 boys and girls. The headmaster was Mr E Lamb. It was co-educational, which was Kesteven's policy. It took in those from Market Deeping, West Deeping, Deeping St James, Langtoft, Baston and Greatford.

Comprehensive

It became a comprehensive school from September 1972 with around 450 pupils. The Design Centre started construction in July 1973, to be completed by March 1974 and open by September 1974; it was a two-storey building, with two science laboratories and a staffroom, in preparation for a comprehensive intake. The headteacher from Easter 1972, 44-year-old John Sweet, lived in

Uffington Uffington is the name of several places: ; England *Uffington, Lincolnshire :* Uffington and Barnack railway station :* Uffington Rural District *Uffington, Oxfordshire :* Uffington railway station (Uffington Junction) *Uffington, Shropshire ;Un ...

; he had taken over from Jack Lamb, and had been the deputy headteacher since 1964; John Sweet was previously head of English at a school in Devon, and was from South Wales. John Sweet died on 2 October 1974 in a car accident.

Academy

The school converted to academy status on 1 February 2012. In 2022, the school made national headlines for sending into isolation 50 children for minor violations of its uniform policy, such as wearing the wrong kind of black socks. The headteacher,

evangelical Christian Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide interdenominational movement within Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being " born again", in which an individual expe ...

Buildings

Admissions rose to 360, with the addition of a rural science block, built away from the main building, to teach soil study and vegetable growing, and greenhouse cultivation. In 1990 a new library and sixth form centre was built, opened in 1991. A language and mathematics block was built in 1997, and a drama studio in 1998. In 2005 a Business and Enterprise block was built. A new staff room was built, and in 2011 a new school reception, sixth form facilities, and conference centre were completed. A new sixth form block was completed in 2013. In 2015 a new science centre was built after the original science classrooms were knocked down.

Reports

The 2010 Ofsted report for the 2009 inspection rated the school as grade 1 "outstanding" overall. In 2013 the school also achieved grade 1 "outstanding" from Ofsted.

Staff

In 2011 school head teacher Chris Beckett became one of 100 UK teachers selected by the National College for Schools Leadership as a National Leader of Education.

Curriculum

School teaching provision is in line with

National Curriculum A national curriculum is a common programme of study in schools that is designed to ensure nationwide uniformity of content and standards in education. It is usually legislated by the national government, possibly in consultation with state or other ...

, and includes the

humanities Humanities are academic disciplines that study aspects of human society and culture. In the Renaissance, the term contrasted with divinity and referred to what is now called classics, the main area of secular study in universities at the t ...

, sciences, mathematics, English language and literature, technology, communications and foreign languages. Subjects can be taken towards GCSE and A-level examinations.

Notable alumni

Jade Etherington Jade Etherington (born 9 March 1991) is a British former alpine skier who, with her sighted guide Caroline Powell, won silver in the women's downhill skiing, combined and slalom, and bronze medals in the Super-G at the 2014 Winter Paralym ...

, Paralympian downhill skier *

Jonathan Foyle Jonathan Foyle is an architectural historian, broadcaster and advocate for heritage sites. He is also an artist. Background Foyle grew up in Market Deeping in Lincolnshire and attended The Deepings School. He has a Master of Arts from the ...

, architectural broadcaster * Johnathan Hoggard, BRDC British Formula 3 driver *

Julie Hollman Julie Caroline Hollman (born 16 February 1977 in Peterborough) is an English heptathlete. She grew up in Deeping St James, attending The Deepings School. Her sister Anne was also a heptathlete. Her mother Carol was a team manager aPeterborough ...

, heptathlete * Jake Jarman, gymnast * Ben Wright, footballer

References

External links

*
Meningitis outbreak in March 1987
{{DEFAULTSORT:Deepings School The Educational institutions established in 1957 Secondary schools in Lincolnshire The Deepings 1957 establishments in England Academies in Lincolnshire