Kingdown School is a mixed

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 ...

Warminster Warminster () is an ancient market town with a nearby garrison, and civil parish in south west Wiltshire, England, on the western edge of Salisbury Plain. The parish had a population of about 17,000 in 2011. The 11th-century Minster Church of S ...

, Wiltshire, England for students aged 11 to 18. Since 1 August 2011, the school has been 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 ...

History

Kingdown School was built in 1960 in the east of Warminster as a replacement for the Avenue and Sambourne

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 ...

schools. It became a comprehensive in 1973 and gained

status in 2011. The school is run by Acorn Educational Trust, which manages several primary schools in the area as well as (from September 2018)

The Clarendon Academy The Clarendon Academy (formerly The Clarendon College, The Clarendon School and Nelson Haden School) is a mixed secondary school and sixth form located in Trowbridge in the English county of Wiltshire. History Nelson Haden Senior Boys' Secon ...

, a secondary school in the town of

Trowbridge Trowbridge ( ) is the county town of Wiltshire, England, on the River Biss in the west of the county. It is near the border with Somerset and lies southeast of Bath, 31 miles (49 km) southwest of Swindon and 20 miles (32 km) southe ...

Houses

In September 2006, Kingdown adopted a

house system The house system is a traditional feature of schools in the United Kingdom. The practice has since spread to Commonwealth countries and the United States. The school is divided into subunits called "houses" and each student is allocated to o ...

, aimed at giving students a sense of community, family, and belonging, and eliminating hostile subcultures by allowing older students to provide a positive role model. Originally there were five houses, each named after a notable British sporting venue and led by a Head of House. In 2017 a sixth house, Silverstone, was added. Each House consists of about a sixth of the students from each of Years 7 to 13, so about 280 students altogether. There are also tutor groups, each with approximately twenty-four students: four from each of Years 7 to 12/13, who meet their tutor for 20 minutes on every school day, beginning at 10.30 am. Members of each House come together for a house assembly once a week. Siblings are put into the same House, but usually not into the same tutor group.

Ofsted and academic achievements

The school was awarded dual specialisms in

Sports Sport pertains to any form of competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to spectators. Sports can, th ...

and Applied Learning, also achieving ''

Artsmark Artsmark is the creative quality standard for schools and education settings, awarded by Arts Council England Arts Council England is an arm's length non-departmental public body of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. It is ...

Silver'' and ''

Sportsmark Sportsmark is Sport England's accreditation scheme for secondary schools. The scheme recognises a school's out of hours sports provision.

Gold'' awards. In its 2003 report, Ofsted rated the school "good" overall, rating the quality of education as "very good". The 2008 inspection rated both the school and sixth form "outstanding''"''. Following the 2013 inspection its rating had returned to ''"''good''"'', on which the school commented ''"''It is very hard to compare previous (2008) and current inspections (2013) not least as the four headings are a new addition since 2008 and the bar to achieve an outstanding rating has truly been raised''".''

Notable staff

John Atyeo Peter John Walter Atyeo (7 February 1932 – 8 June 1993) was an English footballer who played as a striker. He spent the majority of his career at Bristol City. He won six England caps between 1955 and 1957, scoring five goals. Atyeo made 645 a ...

(1932–1993), prolific goal-scorer for Bristol City who also scored for England, taught mathematics after retiring from football and rose to deputy headmaster.

Notable pupils

Ceawlin Thynn, 8th Marquess of Bath Ceawlin Henry Laszlo Thynn, 8th Marquess of Bath (; ; born 6 June 1974), styled Viscount Weymouth between 1992 and 2020, is a British businessman and the first son and second child of Alexander Thynn, 7th Marquess of Bath, and his wife Anna Gy ...

References

External links

*
Acorn Education Trust
{{authority control Secondary schools in Wiltshire Academies in Wiltshire Warminster